A Reply to an Answer Made by Doctor Whitgift, Reply · Part 29
To the next ſection beginning at the. 79. page / and holding on vntill the. 82. page.
MAiſter D. requireth that it ſhould be proued vntounto him / that by priuate baptiſme is ment baptiſme by wemen. Firſt it is ment / that it ſhuld be done by ſome other then the miniſter / for that the miniſter is bid to geue them warning / that they ſhuld not baptiſe the childe at home in their houſe wythout great cauſe and neceſſity. Secondarily / I would gladly aſke him who they be that are preſent / when ye childe is ſo ſhortly after it is borne in great danger of death. And laſt of all M. Doctor dothe not ſee / howe he accuſeth all the magiſtrates of thys realme of the neglect of their duety / in that they allowe of the daily practiſing by women in baptiſing children / if ſo be that the boke did not ſo appoynt it or permit it. If he ment plainly heerein / there needed not ſo much adoe.
The place of S. Mathew is as ſtrong againſt womens baptiſing / as it is Chap. 28. 19.againſt their preaching. For the miniſtery of the word and ſacraments can not be pulled in ſonder / whych the Lord hathe ioyned together from time to time. For Noah whych was a preacher vntounto the olde world of the wil of God / was ordained alſo of God to make the Arke / whych was a Sacrament and ſeale of hys 2. Peter. 2. 5. Geneſ. 6. 14. Geneſ. 18. 19. Geneſ. 17. 23.preaching touching the deſtruction of the world. And Abraham whom the Lord would hauehave to be the Doctor of hys church / whych was then in his family / was alſo commaunded to miniſter the Sacrament of circumciſion vntounto hys familye. The prieſtes and Leuites whych were appoynted to teache the people / were alſo appoynted to ſacrifice / and to miniſter other ſacraments in the churche. Likewiſe the ſame Prophets whych God ſtirred vp to preache / he alſo ordained to cō firme the ſame by ſignes and ſacraments. The ſame may be alſo brawne through out the new Teſtament / as vntounto eueryevery of the twelue / and afterward to the. 70. power was geuen / bothe to preache the goſpell / and alſo to confirme with ſignes Luke. 9. 1. Luk. 10. 1. 17.and miracles whych were ſeales of their doctrine. And S. Paule by the commaundement that oure ſauioure Chriſte gaue him to Acts. 22. 15. 1. Cor. 1. 17.preache / vndertoke alſo to baptiſe / althoughe there were no expres wordes that licenſed hym therevnto: for he knewe right well that it was the perpetuall ordinance of God / that the ſame ſhould be the miniſters of the word and ſacraments. Whervpon it followeth / that for as much as women may not preach the goſpel / no not by the lawes of the realme / that they ought not to miniſter baptiſme. But M. Doctor riſeth vp and ſayeth / that a woman in the time of neceſſitye / and when there is none other that eyther can or will preache / may preache the goſpell in the churche.
This is ſtraunge doctrine / and ſuche as ſtrengtheneth the Anabaptiſtes handes / and ſauoureth ſtronger that wayes / then any one thyng in all the admonition / whych is ſo often condemned of Anabaptiſme. Hys firſt reaſon to proue it / is yt there are examples therof. When we alledge the examples of all the churches of the apoſtles times / to proue the election of the miniſter by the church / and in other caſes whych are generall examples approued and executed by the apoſtles / contrary to no commaundement nor inſtitution of God / yea / and as hathe bene proued according to the commaundement of God / M. Doctor geueth vsus oure anſwere in a worde / that examples proue not: nowe that the queſtion is to make good womens preaching in the churche / examples I will not ſaye of all churches / but of no one church / only of a fewe ſingulare perſons / not according to the commaundement of the worde of God / but cleane contrary to the preſcripte 1. Cor. 14. 34. 1. Tim. 2. 12.worde of God / I ſay / nowe examples / and ſuche ſingulare examples are good proufes and ſtrong arguments.
Now / if the ſpeache be a true meſſenger of the heart / I perceiue M. doctor is of this minde / that he would hauehave women preach in the church of England at thys time: for he can not deny (and he alſo confeſſeth it ſometimes) that thys is the time of neceſſity / & in dede it muſt be needes an extreme neceſſity / that driueth to make one man paſtor of two churches / eſpecially ſo far diſtant / that driueth to make men which are not able to teach / miniſters / and diuers more things which are contrary to the word of God. Therfore this being a time of neceſſity / by M. Doctors iudgement we ought to hauehave women to preach. Beſides this he ſayth / if neither none other can or wil preache / that then women may preach / but in the moſt churches of thys realme / there is none that eyther can or will preach / therefore there / and in thoſe churches women (at the leaſt if they be able) may preache the goſpell / and conſequently miniſter the ſacraments.
In the. 187. page / he citeth M. Caluin in the. 13. chap. ſection. 32. to proue that women may teach: wherein I maruell what he meaneth ſo to alledge M. Caluin continually / he alledgeth the. 13. chapter and no booke / as thoughe he had wrytten but one boke / and in deede there is no ſuch thing in no ſuch chapter of any boke of hys inſtitutions / or in any other place throughout his whole workes / as I am perſwaded. If this faulte had bene but twiſe or thriſe / I woulde hauehave thought it had bene the printers / but now that it is continuall and ſo oftentimes / ſurely he geueth great ſuſpition / that eyther ſome bodye hathe mocked hym wyth theſe places / or els he would abuſe others / and eſpecially him that ſhould anſwer hys boke / ſetting him to ſeeke that he ſhould neuer finde.
As for M. Caluins iudgement / what it is of womens preaching / it maye 4. lib. Inſtit. cap. 15. ſect. 20appeare by that he will not by any meanes / no not in the time of neceſſitye (as they terme it) ſuffer either woman or any lay mā to baptiſe or miniſter any ſacrament / and therfore not to preache. And as for the examples of Mary the ſiſter of Moyſes / of Olda / of Anna / and the daughters of Philip the euangeliſt / whych are all called prophetiſſes (for I thinke M. doctor meaneth theſe exāples) as for them I ſay / it wil be hard for to ſhew that they euer propheſied / or taught openly in any publike meeting or congregation. But the ſurer anſwer is / that although the Lorde doe ſometimes not being vnderunder any law chaunge the order which he hath ſet / in rayſing vp certayne women / partly to the ſhame of men / and to humble them / partly to let them vnderſtand that he can / if he would / want their miniſtery: yet it is not lawfull for vsus to draw that into example / and to follow it: or that for as much as he breaketh the law which is not ſubiect vntounto it / and which he made not for hym ſelfe / that therefore we may breake the law whereunto we be ſubiect / and to whom it is geuen. But we muſt goe in the broade hygh way of the commaundement / and of the ordinary vſage of God in gouerning hys church / and not in the biepath of certayne ſingulare examples which hauehave beene in diuers ages. And as often as God hath vſed thys extraordinary meanes of the miniſtery of women / ſo often alſo hath he confirmed their calling eyther by miracle or ſome wonderfull iſſue / or with ſome other ſingulare note and marke / wherby he hath made their calling otherwyſe ſtraunge and monſtruous / moſt certayne and vndoubted to all men.
There is greater difficultie then M. Doctor mentioneth / in the wordes of 1. Cor. 11. 5.S. Paule / where he ſayth a woman praying or Propheſying ought to be vailed / and hauehave her head couered / in which words it ſeemeth that the Apoſtle lycenceth a woman to prophecie / ſo that ſhee do it with her head couered. But to hym that ſhall diligently conſyder the place / it ſhall appeare / that the women of Corinth / dyd paſſe the boundes of modeſty and of ſhamefaſtneſſe / two wayes / whereof one was / that they came into the congregation contrary to the cuſtome of thoſe countreys / with theyr heades & faces vncouered: an other was / that they alſo tooke vponupon them to ſpeake in the congregation / both which faultes S. Paule condemned / but in their ſeuerall and proper places. Although therfore ſpeaking agaynſt the abuſe of vncouering theyr head / he doth not condemne their boldneſſe in teaching / yet he dyd not therefore approue it / the confutation whereof he reſerued to a more commodious place. But ſayeth hee / if women do baptiſe / it is in priuate houſes.
I hauehave ſhewed before that they may not baptiſe at all / therefore not in priuate houſes: beſides that that I hauehave in the Reply vntounto the ſection in the one and twenty page ſhewed / how it is not lawfull neyther to preach the word / nor to miniſter the Sacramentes in priuate corners / for the which matter of not miniſtring the Sacramentes in priuate houſes / to the authors of the Admonition / citing the eleuenth Chapter of the firſt Epiſtle vntounto the Corrinthians / M. Doctor anſweareth that he reproueth the prophanation of the ſupper by banketting and contempt of their brethren / and exhorteth to tary one for an other.
But what is thys to the purpoſe? we aſke not M. Doctor the interpretation of thys place / as we doe not of all the reſt which he interpreateth / where there is no occaſyon in the world to interpreate them / being of them ſelues very cleare / and the interpretation which is brought neuer almoſt making ▪ any thing for the ſolution of that which is obiected / which I deſire the Reader to marke throughout hys whole booke. For what if S. Paule reproue the prophanation of the ſupper of the Lord / doth it follow therefore that he doth not geue to vnderſtand / that the Sacrament ſhould be adminiſtred in a common aſſembly? What if hee exhorte to tary one for an other / therefore dothe he not dehorte from celebrating of the ſacrament in a priuate houſe?
And ſurely me thincke / you can not be ſo ignoraunt as you make your ſelfe / that you ſhould not vnderſtande their argument / and therefore I thinke you do rather diſſemble it / as you doe in diuers other places. For all men may eaſely perceyue / that as S. Paule oppoſeth the ſupper of the Lord / to the common ſupper: hys banket / to the common banket: ſo he oppoſeth there manifeſtly the church 1. Cor. 11. 20. 21. 22.and congregation / vntounto the pryuate houſe: and declareth that as the common ſupper or banket / ought to be kept at theyr houſes / ſo the Lordes ſupper and hys banket / ought to be celebrated in the congregation.
To the Admonition obiecting in the ninetie and two page that Iohn baptiſed Marc. 1. 5.openly amongſt the congregation / he anſweareth and ſayth / that it may bee as well concluded that we ſhould baptiſe only in the riuer of Iordane / and none but thoſe that be of age. By which ſaying he geueth to vnderſtand / that to baptiſe in the church / hath no greater neceſſitie thē ye baptiſing in Iordane / nor it ſkilleth no more whether baptiſme be myniſtred in the publike aſſembly / thē it is neceſſary or ſkilleth / whether we be baptiſed in the riuer of Iordane / & that the baptiſme of yong infantes / hath no better groundes then priuate baptiſme hath. The later whereof (both being abſurde) is too too iniurious vntounto the baptiſme of yong infantes. For as of our ſauioure Chriſtes preachinges in publyke places / and refuſing pryuate places / we doe gather that the preaching of the woorde ought to bee publike: euen ſo of S. Iohns preaching and baptiſing in open meetings / wee conclude that bothe preaching and baptyſing / oughte to bee in publike aſſemblies.
And although to ſome one action there concurre dyuers things / which partly are not to be followed at all / partly are indifferent to be followed or not followed: yet neyther the vnlawfulneſſe of the one to be followed / nor the indifferency of the other / can hynder / but there are other ſome things in the ſame action neceſſary to bee followed. Which may be conſidered both of the place of the Actes / Act. 1.touching the election / where I hauehave proued ſome things there mentioned to be neceſſary to be done in elections / although other ſome be not conuenient nor fit for vsus to follow. And I hauehave ſhewed it alſo by M. Caluine / which Maiſter Doctor alleageth for hym ſelfe / and by Cyprian / whoſe authoritie he woulde be loth to reiect I am ſure / leaſt he ſhould loſe the opynion of hys ſtudiouſneſſe of the olde wryters / which he hunteth ſo dyligently after in thys booke / and wherof he maketh the authors of the Admonition ſo great contemners. And it is not harde to ſhew the ſame in .xx. places more / as in S. Mathew and S. Luke / Math. 10. Luk. 9. Luk. 10.where / as there are dyuers things not to be followed of the myniſters now / other things indifferent to be followed / ſo are there alſo other things that be as well commaunded to all the myniſters that now are / as they were then eyther to the 12. or. 70. diſciples. And other reaſon he addeth there / that S. Peter baptiſed in Cornelius houſe. But M. Doctor maketh not the beſt choyſe of hys argumentes / for S. Paules baptyſing in the houſe of the gayler / had bene more fit 16. Act. 33.for hym. For vntounto hys place it may be eaſely anſweared / that Cornelyus hauing ſo great a family as it is lyke he had / and beſides that dyuers ſouldiours vnderneath hym / and further hys freendes and hys acquaintance which he had called / had a competent number / and as many as woulde make a congregation / and as coulde commodiouſly be preached vntounto in one place. But the anſwere to both theſe examples and other ſuche lyke / as that S. Paule baptyſed the houſe of 1. Cor. 1. 16.Stephana is eaſie. For there being perſecutions at that tyme / ſo that it was not ſafe neyther for the myniſter / nor for the people to be ſeene / it was meete that they ſhoulde doe it in houſes / which otherwiſe they woulde hauehave done in open places. And then / thoſe houſes which receiued the congregation / were not as I hauehave ſhewed for the tyme to be counted priuate houſes. And further in places where the goſpell hath not bene receiued / nor no church gathered / but one only houſholde embracing the goſpell / I ſay in ſuche a caſe / and eſpecially in the tyme of perſecution / where ſhould the myniſters preach or myniſter the ſacramentes more conueniently / then in that houſe where thoſe profeſſors of the goſpell bee? Now to draw thys into our churches / which may ſafely come into open places / and where the church and congregation ſtandeth of dyuers houſholdes / is a token of great want of iudgement / in ſhuffelyng thoſe thyngs together / which for the great diuerſitie of their natures will not be mingled.
And in the page. 152. he bringeth other reaſons to proue that the ſacraments may be myniſtred in a priuate houſe / whereof the firſt is / that our ſauiour Chriſt celebrated his ſupper in a priuate houſe / and in an inner parlour / the reaſon wherof is eaſely to be knowne / for the law of God ordayned that eueryevery houſholder in hys houſe ſhould eate the paſſeouer with hys owne family / if it were ſo great / as that they might well eate vp a whole Lambe.
Our ſauiour Chriſt therfore with hys houſholde / obſerueth thys law / and for becauſe he would declare that the paſſeouer had hys ende / and that hys holy ſacrament of the ſupper ſhould come in place thereof / he doth forthwith celebrate it in ye ſame place. Which if he had not done / neyther could he hauehave done it at al (the houre of hys apprehenſion then approching) neyther ſhould it ſo liuely hauehave appeared / that eyther the paſſeouer was abolyſhed / or that the ſupper came in place of it / being celebrated both at an other tyme / & in an other place. For the celebrating of the ſupper in houſes in the Apoſtles tymes / and in Iuſtins and Tertullians tymes / which were tymes of perſecution / I hauehave ſpoken before / where alſo I declared that ſuch houſes for the tyme are not priuate but publike.
And theſe are hys reaſons wherewith he wold proue / that the ſacraments / and therefore alſo the ſacrament of baptiſme / may be myniſtred in a priuate houſe. He hath certayne other to proue that women may baptiſe / whereof the firſt is in the. 93. page / and that is / that Sephora Moſes wyfe / circumciſed her chylde / whereunto I hauehave anſweared partly before / that particular examples / eſpecially contrary to generall rules / are not to be followed / and will further anſwere / if I firſt admoniſhe the reader / wherupon thys baptiſme of mydwiues and in priuate houſes roſe / that when we know of how rotten a ſtocke it came / the frute it ſelfe may be more lothſome vntounto vsus. It firſt therfore roſe vponupon a falſe interpretation of the place of S. Iohn. Vnleſſe a man be borne againe of vvater & of the ſpirite, 3. Iohn. 5.he can not enter into the kingdome of heauen. Where certayne doe interpreate the worde water for the materiall & elementall water / wherewith men are waſhed / when as our ſauiour Chriſt taketh water there / by a tranſlation or borowed ſpeach / for the ſpirite of God / the effect whereof it ſhadoweth out. For euen as 3. Math. 11.in an other place by the fire and the ſpirite / he meaneth nothing but the ſpirite of God / which purgeth and purifyeth as the fire doth: ſo in thys place / by the water and the ſpirite / he meaneth nothing elſe / but the ſpirite of God / which clenſeth the filth of ſinne / and cooleth the broyling heate of an vnquiet conſcience / as water waſheth the thing which is foule / and quencheth the heate of the fire. Secondarily / thys error came by a falſe and vnneceſſary concluſyon drawne of that place. For although the ſcripture ſhould ſay / that none can be ſaued / but thoſe which hauehave the ſpirite of God / and are baptiſed with materiall and elementall water / yet oughte it to bee vnderſtanded of thoſe which can conueniently and orderly bee brought to baptiſme / as the ſcripture ſaying / that who ſo doth not beleeue the goſpell / is already condemned / meaneth thys ſentence of thoſe which can 3. Iohn. 18.heare the goſpell / and hauehave diſcretion to vnderſtande it when they heare it / and can not heere ſhut vnderunder thys condemnation / eyther thoſe that be borne deafe / and ſo remayne / or little infantes / or naturall fooles / that hauehave no wit to conceiue what is preached.
And heereupon * S. Auguſtine concludeth / that all not baptiſed are condemned / 106. Epiſt. ad Bonifac. In lib. de meritis, & remiſ. peccar. 1. ca. 24.which is as abſurdly concluded of hym / as that of our ſauiour Chriſtes wordes (except one eate the fleſhe of the ſonne of man / hee hath not lyfe) he concludeth that whatſoeuer he bee which receiueth not the ſacrament of the ſupper / is damned.
VponUpon thys falſe concluſion of S. Auguſtine / hath ryſen thys prophanation of the ſacrament of baptiſme / in being myniſtred in pryuate houſes / & by women or lay men / as alſo vponupon hys other abſurde concluſion / ſprong a horrible abuſe of the Lords ſupper / whyleſt they dyd thruſt the bread and wyne into yong infants mouthes / for that men were perſuaded / that otherwyſe if their children ſhoulde die before they were baptiſed or had receiued the ſupper / they were damned for euer. And what better token can there be / that thys was the cauſe of thys blynde baptiſme / then that the papiſtes from whome thys baptiſme by women is tranſlated / were of the ſame iudgement / and for that cauſe brought in theyr baptiſme by women. Hereupon may be added an other cauſe / which is that as (when the church began not only to declyne / but to fall away from the ſincerity of relygion) it borowed a number of other prophanations of the Heathen: ſo alſo it borowed thys. For as the Heathen had women prieſtes / ſo it would hauehave alſo her women prieſtes / and that thys was an other occaſion of bringing in the baptiſme by women / it appeareth by your Clement / if he can ſpeake any truth.3. Lib. 9. ca.
Now I returne to the example of Sephora / and ſay that the vnlawfulnes of that fact doth appeare ſuffyciently in that ſhee dyd it / before her huſband Moſes / which was a Prophet of the Lord / and to whome that office of circumcyſion dyd appertayne: ſo that vnleſſe M. Doctor would hauehave mydwyues baptiſe in the preſence of the byſhop or the myniſter / there is no cauſe why he ſhould alledge thys place. Beſides that ſhee dyd cutte of that foreſkin of the infant not of mynde to obey the commaundement of God / or for the ſaluation of the childe / but in a choler only / to the ende that her huſbande myght be eaſed and hauehave releaſe: which mynde appeareth in her / both by her wordes / and by caſting away in anger the forſkin which ſhe had cutte of. And if it be ſayde that the euent declared that the act pleaſed God / becauſe that Moſes forthwith waxed better / and was recouered of hys ſickneſſe / I hauehave ſhewed before / how if we meaſure thinges by the euent / we ſhall oftentymes iuſtifie the wicked / and take the righteouſneſſe of the righteous from them. An other reaſon he hath / which is / that the dignitie of the ſacramentes doth not depende vponupon the man / whether he be myniſter or no myniſter / good or euill.
In deede vponupon thys poynt whether he be a good or an euill myniſter it dependeth not / but on thys poynt / whether he be a myniſter or no / dependeth not only the dignitie / but alſo ye being of the ſacrament: ſo that I take the baptiſme of women / to be no more the holy ſacrament of baptiſme / then I take any other daily or ordinary waſhing of the childe. Neyther lette any man thincke / that I hauehave at vnwares ſlipped into thys aſſeueration / or that I hauehave forgotten / that ſone after the times of the Apoſtles / it was the vſe of certayne churches / that deacons ſhould baptiſe in the tyme of neceſſitie (as they call it.) For as for the baptiſme of deacons / I holde it to be lawfull / for becauſe although (as it is wyth vsus) they geue hym the name of deacon / yet in deede he is / as he then was in the elder tymes a myniſter / and not a deacon. And although he dyd then prouide for the poore / and ſo had two functions (which was not meete) yet hys office ought to be eſteemed of the principall part of hys function / which was preaching and myniſtring of the Sacramentes / in certen caſes. And as for the baptyſing by lay men / conſydering that it is not only agaynſt the word of God / but alſo founded vponupon a falſe grounde / and vponupon an imagined neceſſitie (which is none in deede) it moueth me nothing at all / although it be very auncient / for ſo much as the ſubſtance of the ſacrament depended cheefely of the inſtitution and worde of God / which is the forme / and as it were the life of the Sacrament / of which inſtitution thys is one / and of the cheefe partes / that it ſhould be celebrated by a myniſter. For although part of the inſtitution / in that the name of the holy Trinitie is called vponupon / be obſerued: yet if the whole inſtitution be not / it is no more a Sacrament / then the papiſtes communion was / which celebrating in one kynde / tooke a part of the inſtitution / and left the other. And for ſo much as S. Paule ſayeth / Rom. 10. 15.that a man can not preach which is not ſent / no not although he ſpeake the words of the ſcripture and interpreate them: ſo I can not ſee / how a man can baptiſe / vnleſſe that he be ſent to that end / although he poure water and rehearſe the words which are to be rehearſed in the miniſtery of baptiſme. I know there be dyuers difficultyes in thys queſtion / and therefore I was lothe to enter into it / but that the anſwearer ſetteth downe ſo confidently / that it maketh no matter for the truth of baptiſme / whether he be myniſter or no myniſter / and ſo whether one hauehave a calling or no calling. Wherein notwithſtanding he doth not only by hys often handling of one thing / confounde hys reader / but hym ſelfe alſo / and forgetteth that he is in an other queſtion then which is propounded. For although it ſhould be graunted hym / that the ſacrament doth not depende vponupon that / yet hath he not that which he would hauehave / that women may baptiſe. For it is one thing to ſay the baptiſme which is myniſtred by women / is good and effectuall / and an other thing to ſay that it is lawfull for women to myniſter baptiſme. For there is no man doubteth: but that the baptiſme which is myniſtred by an hereticall myniſter is effectuall / and yet I thincke that M. Doctor will not ſay / that therefore an hereticall myniſter may baptiſe / and that it is lawfull for heretikes to baptiſe in the church. And therfore men muſt not only take heede (as M. Doctor ſayth) that they vſurpe not that which they are not called vntounto / but they muſt alſo take heede that they receyue not functions and charges vponupon them / whereof they are not capable / although they be thereunto called.
In the 153. page M. Bucers cenſure vponupon the communion booke is cited / for the allowance of that it hath touching priuate baptiſme / and conſequently of the baptiſme by women. It may be / that as M. Bucer although otherwyſe very learned hath other groſe abſurdities / ſo he may hauehave that. But it had bene for the credite of your cauſe / if you had ſhewed that out of thoſe wrytinges / which are publyſhed and known to be his / and not out of thoſe wherof men may doubt / whether euer he wrote any ſuche or no: and if hee wrote / whether they be corrupted by thoſe into whoſe handes they came. And if you would take any aduantage of M. Bucers teſtimony / conſidering y• a witneſſe is a publike perſon / you ſhould hauehave brought hym out of your ſtudy into the Stationers ſhop / where he mought hauehave bene common to others as well as to you / where by hys ſtile and maner of wryting / as it were by hys geſtures & countenaunces / & by thoſe things that go before and come after / as it were by hys head & hys feete / we might the better know whether it were the true Bucer or no. For although I will not ſay but that thys may be Bucers doing / yet it ſeemeth very ſtraunge / that Bucer ſhould not only contrary to the learned wryters now / but alſo contrary to all learned antiquity / and contrary to the practiſe of the church / whileſt there was any tollerable eſtate / alow of womens baptiſing. a.De …irginive.Tertullian ſayeth it is not permitted vntounto a woman to ſpeake in the churche / nor to teache / nor to baptiſe / nor to do any worke of a man / muche leſſe of a myniſter. b.Lib. de Bapt.And in an other place / although he do permit it to be done of lay men in the tyme of neceſſitie (as it is termed) yet he geueth not that lycence to the woman. c.Epiph. li. 1. contra hereſes.Epiphanius vpbraydeth Marcian that he ſuffred women to baptiſe / and. d.Lib. 2. vbi. de phrygib. & Priſcil.in an other booke he derydeth them that they made women byſhops / and. e.Lib. 3.in an other booke he ſayth / it was not graunted onto the holy mother of Chriſt to baptiſe her ſonne. f.1. Li. de merit. & remiſ. peccata 24. ca.Auguſtin although he were of that minde / that children could not be ſaued without baptiſme / yet in the tyme of neceſſitie (as it is called) he doth not allow eyther of baptiſme in priuate houſes or by women / but when there was daunger the women haſted to cary the children vntounto the church / and although. g.Contra ep. parmen. lib. 2. 13. cap.he doe ſeeme to allow of the baptiſme of a lay man in the tyme of neceſſitie / yet there alſo he mentioneth not womens baptiſme / and further he doubteth whether the childe ſhould be baptiſed agayne / which was baptiſed by a lay man. h.Tom. 1. con, ca. 100.And in ye fourth councel of Carthage it is ſimply without exception decreed / y• a woman ought not to baptiſe. The authors of the Admonition obiect that neceſſitie of ſaluation is tyed to the ſacramentes by thys meanes / and that men are confirmed in that olde error / that no man can be ſaued with out baptiſme / which in deede is true. For muſt it not bee thought to be done of neceſſitie / and vponupon great extremity / for the doing whereof the orders that God hath ſet (that it ſhould be done in the congregation / & by the myniſter of the goſpell) are broken? Yes verely. And I will further ſay / that although that the infants which dye without baptiſme ſhould be aſſuredly damned (which is moſt falſe) yet ought not the orders which God hath ſet in his church / to be broken after thys ſort. For as the ſaluation of men ought to be deare vntounto vsus: ſo the glory of God which conſiſteth in that hys orders be kept / ought to bee much more deare / that if at any tyme the controuerſy could be betwene hys glory and our ſaluation / our ſaluation ought to fall that hys glory may ſtand.
Now in the 187. page M. Doctor anſweareth heereunto / that thys implyeth no more that the ſaluation is tyed to the ſacramentes / then when it is taught that infants muſt be baptyſed / and not tary vntill they come to the age of diſcretion. Which how truely it is ſpoken / when as the one hath ground of the ſcripture / the other hath none / the one approued by the continuall / and almoſt the generall practiſe of the church / the other vſed in the corrupt and rotten eſtate thereof / let all men iudge. Therefore for ſo much as the myniſtery of the worde and ſacramentes goe together / & that the myniſtery of the word may not be committed vntounto women / and for that thys euill cuſtome hath ryſen fyrſt of a falſe vnderſtanding of the ſcripture / and then of a falſe concluſion of that vntrue vnderſtanding (which is / that they can not be ſaued which are not baptiſed) and for that the authors them ſelues of that error / did neuer ſeeke no remedy of the miſcheefe in womens or priuate baptim: And laſt of all for that if there were any remedy agaynſt that miſchefe in ſuch kynde of baptiſme / yet it ought not to be vſed / being agaynſt the inſtitution of God & hys glory / I conclude that the priuate baptiſme / and by women is vtterly vnlawfull. There followeth the priuate communion which is found fault with / both for the place wherein it is myniſtred / & for the ſmall number of communicants which are admitted / by the bocke of ſeruice. Touching the place before is ſpoken ſufficiently / it reaſteth to conſider of the number. But before I come to that / I will ſpeake ſome thing of the cauſes & beginning of receiuing in houſes / & of the myniſtring of the Communion vntounto ſicke folkes. It is not to be denyed / but that thys abuſe is very auncient / and was in Iuſtin Martyrs tyme / in Tertullians and Cyprians tyme / euen as alſo there were other abuſes crept into the ſupper of the Lord / and that very groſe / as the mingling of water with wine / and therein alſo a neceſſitie and great myſtery placed / as it may appeare both by Iuſtine Martyr and Cyprian. Which I therefore by the way doe admoniſh the reader of / that the antiquity of thys abuſe of pryuate communion / bee not preiudiciall to the truthe / no more then the mingling of water / with that opynion of neceſſitie / that thoſe fathers had of it / is or oughte to bee preiudiciall to that that wee vſe in myniſtring the cuppe with pure wine according to the inſtytution. I ſay therefore that thys abuſe was auncient / and roſe vponupon theſe cauſes. Firſt of all in the prymitiue church the dyſcipline of the churche was ſo ſeuere and ſo extreame / that if any which profeſſed the truth / and were of the body of the church / did through infirmitie deny the truth / & ioyned hym ſelf vntounto the idolatrous ſeruice / although he repenting came againe vntounto the church / yet was he not receiued to the communion of the Lords ſupper any more. And yet lying in extremitie of ſickenes / and redy to depart thys lyfe / if hee dyd require the communion in token that the church had forgeuen the faulte / and was reconcyled altogether vntounto that perſon that had ſo fallen / they graunted that he might be partaker of it / as may appeare by the ſtory of Serapion. Another cauſe was Euſeb. lib. 6. cap. 43.that which was before alleaged / which is the falſe opynion which they had conceiued / that all thoſe were condemned / that receiued not the ſupper of the Lord / & therfore when as thoſe that were (as they called thē cathecumeni) which is yong nouices in relygion neuer admitted to the ſupper / or yong children fell ſicke daungerouſly / they myniſtred the ſupper of the Lord vntounto them / leaſt they ſhould want their voyage victuall (as they termed it) which abuſe notwithſtanding was neither ſo auncient as the other / nor ſo generall. And there wanted not good men which declared their miſlyking / and dyd decree agaynſt both the abuſes / & agaynſt all maner communicating in priuate houſes. As in the councell of * Laodicea it Tom. 1. canon. 58.was ordayned that neyther byſhop nor elder ſhuld make any oblation / that was / myniſter any communion in houſes. Beſides therfore that I hauehave before ſhewed the vnlawfulneſſe generally of myniſtring the ſacrament in priuate places / ſeeing that the cuſtome of myniſtring thys ſupper vntounto the ſicke / roſe vponupon corrupt cauſes and rotten foundations / & conſidering alſo (God be prayſed) in theſe times there are none dryuen by feare to renounce the truth / whereupon any ſuch excommunication ſhould enſue / which in the extremitie of ſickneſſe ſhould be mitigated after thys ſort (for no man now that is in extreame ſickneſſe / is caſt downe or elſe aſſaulted with thys temptation yt he is cut of from the church) I ſay theſe things conſidered / it followeth that thys myniſtring of communion in priuate houſes & to the ſicke is vnlawfull / as that which roſe vponupon euil groundes: & if it were lawfull / yet that now in theſe times of peace / & when the ſicke are not excommunicated / there is no vſe of it. And ſo it appeareth / how little the cuſtome of the olde church doth helpe M. Doctor in thys poynt.
And as for that he ſayth Peter Martyr & Bucer / doe allow the communion exhibited to the ſicke perſons / when he ſheweth that / he ſhal hauehave anſwer. For wher he ſaith he hath declared it in an other treatiſe / either ye Printer hath left out ye treatiſe / or M. Doc. wonderfully forgetteth hym ſelfe / or elſe he meaneth ſome odde thing / that he hath written / & layd vp in ſome corner of his ſtudy. For ſurely there is no ſuch ſaying in all hys boke before / nor yet after / ſo far as I can finde.
Now remayneth to be ſpoken of the number of communicants / & that there is fault in the appoynting of the ſeruice booke / not only for that it admitteth in the tyme of plage / that one with ye myniſter may celebrate the ſupper of the Lord in the houſe / but for that it ordayneth a communion in the church / when of a great number which aſſemble there / it admitteth three or fower / the abuſe and inconuenience whereof may thus bee conſidered. The holy ſacrament of the ſupper of the Lorde / is not only a ſeale and confirmation of the promiſes of God vntounto vsus / but alſo a profeſſion of our coniunction / as well with Chriſt our ſauiour and with God / as alſo (as S. Paule teacheth) a declaration and profeſſion that wee 1. Cor. 10. 17.are at one with oure brethren: ſo that it is fyrſt a ſacrament of the knitting of all the body generally / and of eueryevery member particularly with the heade / and then of the members of the body one with an other. Now therefore ſeeing that eueryevery particular church and body of Gods people / is a repreſentation / and as it were a liuely portraiture of the whole church and body of Chriſt / it followeth that that which we can not doe with all the church ſcattered throughout the whole world (for the diſtances of places whereby we are ſeuered) we ought to doe with that church whereunto God hath raunged vsus / as much as poſſibly or conueniently may be. The departing therefore of the reſt of the church from thoſe three or fower / is an open profeſſion that they hauehave no communion / fellowſhippe / nor vnitie with them / that doe communicate: and lykewiſe of thoſe three or foure / that they hauehave none with the reſt that ioyne not them ſelues thereunto: when as both by the many grapes making one cuppe / and cornes making one loafe / that whole church being many parſons / are called as to the vnitie which they hauehave one with an other / and altogether amongſt them ſelues: ſo to the declaration and profeſſion of it / by receiuing one with an other / and altogether amongſt them ſelues: And as if ſo be that we do not celebrate as we may poſſibly and conueniently / the ſupper of the Lord / we thereby vtter our want of louelove towardes the Lord which hath redeemed vsus: ſo if we doe not communicate together with the churche / ſo farre forth as we may do conueniently / we betray the want of our louelove that we hauehave one towardes an other. And therefore S. Paul dryuing heereunto / willeth 1. Cor. 11. 33.that one ſhoulde tary for an other / reprehending that when one preuenteth and commeth before an other / ſaying: that that is to take eueryevery man hys owne ſupper / and not to celebrate the Lords ſupper. Not that ſo many men or women as there came / ſo many tables were / for that had not bene poſſible in ſo great aſſemblyes / but that they ſorted them ſelues into certayne companyes / and that they came ſcattering one after an other / and that in ſtead of making one ſupper of the Lord / they dyd make dyuers.
Theſe things being conſidered / the reaſon which the Admonition vſeth in the 185. page / where thys matter is ſpoken of / which is / drinke you all of thys / is not ſo rydiculous as M. Doctor maketh it. For although that it doe neyther proue that 12. or 20. or any other definite number muſt of neceſſitie receyue / yet it proueth that as all they which were preſent / dyd communicate: And ſo as many as in the church are fit to receiue the ſacraments / or may conueniently receiue them together / ſhoulde follow that example in celebrating the ſupper together. And it is probably to be thought / that if our ſauiour Chriſt had not bene reſtrayned by the law of God touching the paſſeouer vntounto hys owne family and to as many onelyonly as would ſerue to eate vppe a Lambe by them ſelues / that he would Exod. 12. 3.hauehave celebrated hys ſupper / amongſt other of hys diſciples and profeſſoures of hys doctryne. But for ſo muche as it was meete that hee ſhoulde celebrate hys ſupper there and then / where and when hee dyd celebrate hys paſſeouer / for the cauſe before by me alleaged / it pleaſed hym to keepe hys firſt ſupper with the fewer / for that the law of communication vntounto the paſſeouer / which was ioyned wyth the ſupper / woulde not admit any greater number of communicants / then was ſufficient to eate vp the paſſeouer.
And althoughe it be cleare and playne / that when it is ſayde drincke ye all of thys / and tary one for an other / theſe ſayinges are ment of that particulare congregation or aſſembly / which aſſemble themſelues together to be taught by one mouth of the myniſter: yet I hauehave therefore put thys caution (as muche as may be poſſyble) leaſt any man ſhoulde cauill / as though I would hauehave no communion / vntill all the godly through the world ſhould meete together. Likewiſe I hauehave put thys caution (as much as may be conueniently) for although it be poſſible / that a perticulare church may communicate at one table in one day and together: yet maye the ſame be inconuenient for dyuers cauſes. As if the number ſhould be very great / ſo that to hauehave them all communicate together / it would require ſuche a long tyme / as the tarying out of the whole action / would hazarde eyther the lyfe / or at leaſt the health of dyuers there. Agayne / for as much as other ſome being at the churche / it is meete that other ſhould be at home / vppon occaſyon of infantes and ſuche lyke thinges / as require the preſence of ſome to tary at home. In theſe caſes and ſuche lyke / the inconueniences doe delyuer vsus from the gilte of vncharitablenes / and forſaking the fellowſhip of the church / for that wee doe not heere ſeuere oure ſelues / but are by good and iuſt cauſes ſeuered: which gilte wee ſhall neuer eſcape / if beſide ſuche neceſſarye cauſes wee pretende thoſe that are not / or hauing not ſo muche as a pretence / yet notwythſtanding ſeperate our ſelues / as the dayly practiſe thorough out the church doth ſhew.
But it may be obiected / that in thys poynt the booke of Common prayer is not in fault / which doth not only not forbid that all the church ſhould receiue together / but alſo by a good & godly exhortation moueth thoſe that be preſent / that they ſhould not departe / but communicate altogether. It is true that it doth not forbid / and that there is godly exhortation for that purpoſe / but that (I ſay) is not enough / for neither ſhould it ſuffer that three or foure ſhould hauehave a communion by them ſelues (ſo many being in the church meete to receiue / and to whom the ſupper of the Lord doth of right appertaine) & it ought to prouide / that thoſe whych woulde wythdrawe them ſelues / ſhoulde be by Eccleſiaſticall diſcipline / at all times / and now alſo vnderunder a godly Prince by ciuill puniſhment brought to communicate wyth their brethren. And thys is the law of God / and thys is now and hath bene heeretofore the practiſe of churches reformed. All men vnderſtand that the paſſeouer was a figure of the Lords ſupper / and that there ſhould be as ſtraight bonds to binde men to celebrate the remembrance of our ſpirituall deliuerance / as there was to remember the deliuerance out of Egipt. But whoſoeuer did not then communicate with the reſt at that time / when the paſſeouer was eaten / was excommunicated / as it may appeare in the boke of Numbers / where he Num. 9. 13.ſayeth / that whoſoeuer did not communicate being cleane / his ſoule ſhould be cut off from amongſt the people of God. Therfore thys neglect / or contempt rather of the Lordes ſupper / ought to be puniſhed wyth no les puniſhment / eſpecially when as (after the church hath proceeded in that order whych our ſauior Chriſt appoynteth of admoniſhing) they be not ſory for their fault / and promiſe amendement. And that this was the cuſtome of the churches / it may appeare by the. 9. of thoſe canons / whych are fathered of the apoſtles / wher it is decreed that all the Conc. Apo. canon. 9.faithfull that entred into the congregation / and heard the ſcriptures red / and dyd not tary out the prayers & the holy Communion / ſhould be as thoſe whych were cauſers of diſorders in the church / ſeperated from the church / (or as it is tranſlated of an other) depriued of the Communion. Alſo in the councell of Braccara it Conc. 2. Bracca cap. 83. tom. 2.was decreed / that if any entring into the church of God / heard the Scriptures / and afterward of wantonnes or loſenes / wythdrewe hym ſelfe from the communion of the ſacrament / and ſo brake the rule of diſcipline in the reuerende ſacraments / ſhould be put out of the church / till ſuch time as he had by good frutes declared hys repentaunce.
But heere alſo may riſe an other doubt of the former wordes of Moſes in the boke of Numbers / for ſeing that he maketh thys exception (if they be cleane) it may be ſayd / that thoſe that depart / do not fele themſelues mete to receiue / and therfore depart / the other .iij. or .iiij. or moe / feele themſelues meete and diſpoſed for that purpoſe: whervpon it may ſeeme that it is neither reaſon to compell thoſe to come / which feele not themſelues meete / nor to reiect them that feele that good diſpoſition and preparation in themſelues. For anſwer whervnto / we muſt vnderſtand that the vncleannes whych Moyſes ſpeaketh of / was ſuch as men could not eaſely auoid / and whervnto they might fall ſometimes by neceſſary duety / as by handling their dead / whych they were by the rule of charitye bound to burye / ſometimes by touching at vnwares a deade body / or by ſitting in the place where ſome vncleane body had ſitten / or by touching ſuch things whych the law iudged vncleane / which thing cannot be alleaged in thoſe that are now of the church. For as many as be of it / and wythall of ſuche diſcretion as are able to proue and examine themſelues / can hauehave no excuſe at all / if they may be at the church / to withdraw themſelues from the holy ſupper of the Lord. For if they will ſay that they be not meete / it may be anſwered vntounto them / that it is their owne fault: and further / if they be not meete to receiue the holy ſacrament of the ſupper / they are not meete to heare the woord of God / they are not meete to be partakers of the prayers of the church / and if they be for one / they are alſo for the other. For with that boldnes / and wyth that duetye or lawfulnes (I ſpeake of thoſe whych are of the church / and of diſcretion to examine themſelues) I ſay wyth what lawfulnes they may offer themſelues to the prayers / and to the hearing of the word of God / they may alſo offer themſelues vntounto the Lordes ſupper. And to whomſoeuer of thē the Lord wil communicate himſelfe by preaching the word / vntounto the ſame he wil not refuſe to communicate himſelfe by receiuing of the ſacramēts. For whoſoeuer is of Gods houſholde and familye / he neede not be afraide to come to the Lords table / nor dout but that the Lord will fede him there: and whatſoeuer he be that is a membre of the body of Chriſt / may be aſſured that he receiueth life frō Chriſt the head as well by the arteries & condints of the ſupper of the Lord / as by the preaching of the word of God. So that it muſt needes folow / that the not receiuing of thoſe whych depart out of the church / whē there is any communion celebrated / procedeth either of vaine and ſuperſtitious feare / growing of groſe ignorance of themſelues and of the holy ſacraments: or elſe of an intollerable negligence or rather contempt / of the whych neither the one nor the other ſhuld be either borne wyth or nouriſhed / either by permitting .iij. or .iiij. to communicate alone / or els in letting them whych depart / go ſo eaſely away with ſo great a fault / whych ought to be ſeuerely puniſhed. And vponupon thys either contempt or ſuperſtitious feare drawne from the papiſts Lenton preparation of. 40. dayes / eareſhrift / diſpling. &c. it commeth to pas / that men receyuing the ſupper of the Lord but ſeldome / when they fall ſicke muſt hauehave the ſupper miniſtred vntounto them in their houſes / whych otherwiſe being once eueryevery weke receiued before / ſhould not brede any ſuch vnquietnes in thē / when they can not come to receiue it. Although as I hauehave before ſhewed / if they had neuer receiued it before / yet that priuate receiuing were not at any hand to be ſuffered. And thus hauing declared what I thinke to be faulty in the communion boke in thys poynt / and the reaſons why / and wyth all anſweared to that whych eyther M. doctor alleageth in thys place of the. 80. and. 81. and likewiſe in the. 152. &. 185. pages touching thys matter / I come now vntounto that whych is called the Iewiſhe purifying by the admonition / and by the ſeruice boke afore time the purification of women.
Now to the churching of women / in the which title yet kept / there ſeemeth to be hid a great part of the Iewiſh purification. For lyke as in the old law ſhee that had brought forthe a childe / was holden vncleane / vntill ſuche time as ſhee Leu. 12. 2. 4. 5came to the temple to ſhew her ſelfe after ſhee had brought forthe a man or a woman: ſo thys terme of churching of her / canſeme to import nothing els / thē a baniſhment / & (as it were) a certen excommunication from the church / during the ſpace yt is betwene the time of her deliuery / & of her comming vntounto y• church. For what doth els thys churching implie / but a reſtoring her vntounto y• church / whych cā not be wtout ſome bar or ſhutting forth preſuppoſed. It is alſo called ye thanks giuing / but the principall title whych is the directory of this part of the Liturgie / & placed in the top of the leafe / as ye whych the tranſlator beſt liked of is (churching of women.) To pas by ye / that it wil hauehave thē come as nigh the communion table as may be / as they came before to y• high altare (becauſe I had ſpoken once generally againſt ſuch ceremonies) y• of all other is moſt Iewiſh / & approcheth nereſt vntounto the Iewiſh purification / y• ſhe is commaūded to offer accuſtomed offrings. Wherin beſides that / the very word offring caryeth wt it a ſtrong ſent & ſuſpitiō of a ſacrifice (eſpecially being vttered ſimply wtout any addition / it can not be wt out danger / that the boke maketh the cuſtome of ye popiſh church (whych was ſo corrupt) to be ye rule & meaſure of this offring. And although the meaning of the boke is not / ye it ſhuld be any offring for ſin / yet this manner of ſpeaking may be a ſtūbling ſtock in the way of y• ignorant & ſimple / & the wicked & obſtinate therby are confirmed & hardned in their corruptions. The beſt which can be anſwered in this caſe is / ye it is for ye relief of ye miniſter / but thē it ſhuld be remēbred / firſt that the miniſter liueth not any more of offerings. Secondarily / yt the paiment of the miniſters wages is not ſo conuenient either in the church or before all the people. And thirdly / y• therby we fal into y• fault whych we condemne in popery / & that is / y• beſides the ordinary liuing apoynted for the ſeruice of the prieſts in ye who…e / they toke for their ſeueral ſeruices of maſſe / baptiſme / burying / churching. &c. ſeueral rewards / which thing being of ye ſeruice boke wel aboliſhed in certain other things / I cānot ſee what good cauſe there ſhuld be / to retain it in this and certain other. Now wheras m. D. ſaith yt the place of the. 15. of the Acts alledged by the admonition / maketh nothing againſt this / he ſhuld hauehave conſidered / that if it be a Iewiſh ceremony (as they ſuppoſe it / ) it is to be aboliſhed vtterly. For it being ſhewed there ye all the ceremonial law of Moſes is don away through our ſauior Chriſt / this alſo a part thereof muſt nedes be therin compriſed. And whereas he ſaith / that it being nothing els but a thanks geuing for her deliuerance / can not be therfore but chriſtian & very godly / I anſwer ye if there ſhuld be ſolemne and expres geuing of thanks in the church for eueryevery benefit / eyther equal or greater thē thys / whych any ſingular perſon in the church dothe receiue / we ſhould not only hauehave no preaching of the word / nor miniſtring of the ſacramēts / but we ſhuld not hauehave ſo much leyſure as to do any corporal or bodily worke / but ſhuld be like vntounto thoſe heretikes / which wer called of the Syriake word Meſsalians, or continual Theodor. lib. 4. 11. ca.prayers / & whych did nothing els but pray. For the Pſalme. 121. ſpoken of in the 155. page / it being ſhewed that it is not meete to hauehave any ſuch ſolemne thankes geuing / it is needeles to debate of the Pſalme / wherewyth the thankes geuing ſhuld be made. And wheras in. 101. and. 102. pages vntounto the admonition / obiecting that the comming in the vaile to the church more then / thē at other times / is a token of ſhame or ſome folly committed / M. D. ieſtingly leaueth the matter to the womēs anſwer. A little true knowledge of diuinity would hauehave taught him / that the bringing in or vſurping wythout authority any ceremony in the congregation / is bothe an earneſter matter / then may be ieſted at / and a waightier then ſhoulde be permitted vntounto the diſcretion of eueryevery woman / conſidering that the ſame hath bene ſo horribly abuſed in time of poperye.
The holy dayes folow / of whych M. Doctor ſayth / that ſo they be not vſed ſuperſtitiouſly or vnprofitably they may be commaūded. I hauehave ſhewed before / that they were. If they were ſo indifferent as they are made / yet being kept of the papiſtes whych are the enemies of God / they ought to be aboliſhed. And if it were as eaſy a matter to pull oute the ſuperſtition of the obſeruing of thoſe holydayes out of mennes heartes / as it is to proteſt and to teache that they are not commaunded for any religion to be put in them / or for any to make conſcience of the obſeruing of them / as thoughe there wereſome neceſſary worſhyp of God in the keping of them: then were they much more tollerable. But when as the continuance of them doth noriſhe wicked ſuperſtition in the mindes of men / and that the doctrine whych ſhuld remedy the ſuperſtition through the fewnes & ſkarcitye of able miniſters / can not come to the moſt part of them whych are infected wyth this diſeaſe / and that alſo where it is preached / the frute therof is in part hindred / whyleſt the common people attend oftentymes rather to that whych is done / thē to that whych is taught / being a thyng indifferent (as it is ſayd) it ought to be abolyſhed / as that whych is not only not fitteſt to holde the people in the ſincere worſhypping of God / but alſo as that whych keepeth them in their former blindnes and corrupt opinions whych they hauehave conceyued of ſuch holy dayes. And if they had bene neuer abuſed neyther by the Papiſtes nor by the Iewes (as they hauehave bene and are daily) yet ſuche making of holy dayes is neuer wythout ſome great daunger of brynging in ſome euill and corrupt opinions into the mindes of men. I will vſe an example in one / and that the chefe of holy dayes / & moſt generally & of longeſt time obſerued in ye church / whych is the feaſt of Eaſter / whych was kept of ſome more dayes of ſome fewer. How many thouſands are there / I will not ſay of the ignorant papiſtes / but of thoſe alſo whych profeſſe the goſpell / whych when they hauehave celebrated thoſe dayes wt dilygent heede taken vntounto their life / and wyth ſome earneſt deuotion in praying and hearing the word of God / do not by and by thinke / that they hauehave well celebrated the feaſt of Eaſter / and yet hauehave they thus notably deceiued them ſelues. For S. Paul teacheth that the celebrating 1. Cor. 5. 8.of the feaſt of the chriſtians Eaſter / is not as the Iewes Eaſter was / for certen dayes / but ſheweth that we muſt keepe thys feaſt all the dayes of oure life in the vnleauened bread of ſincerity and of truth. By whych we ſee that the obſeruing of the feaſt of Eaſter for certain dayes in the yeare / doth pul out of our mindes or euer we be aware / the doctrine of the goſpell / and cauſeth vsus to reſt in that neare conſideration of our dueties for the ſpace of a few dayes / which ſhould be extended to alour life. But beſides the incommodities that riſe of making ſuch holy dayes / and cōtinuing of thoſe whych are ſo horribly abuſed / where it is confeſſed that they are not neceſſary: beſides this / I ſay the matter is not ſo indifferent as it is made. I confes that it is in the power of the churche to appoynt ſo many dayes in the weeke or in the yeare (in the whych the congregation ſhal aſſemble to heare the word of God / and receiue the ſacraments / and offer vp prayers vntounto God) as it ſhall thinke good according to thoſe rules whych are before alleaged. But y• it hath power to make ſo many holy dayes (as we hauehave) wherin no man may worke any parte of the day / and wherin men are commaunded to ceaſe from their daily vocations of plowing and exerciſing their handy crafts. &c. that I deny to be in the power of the church. For proufe wherof I will take the fourth commaundement / and no other interpretation of it / then M. doctor alloweth of in the. 174. page / whych is / that God licenſeth / and leaueth it at the liberty of eueryevery man to worke ſixe dayes in the weeke / ſo that he reſt the ſeuenth daye. Seeing that therefore that the Lord hath left it to all men at libertye / that they myght labor (if they thinke good) ſixe dayes: I ſay the church nor no man can take thys liberty away from them / and driue them to a neceſſary reſt of the body. And if it be lawfull to abridge the liberty of the church in thys poynt / and in ſtead that the Lord ſayth ſixe dayes thou mayſt labor if thou wilt / to ſay thou ſhalt not labor ſixe dayes: I do not ſee why the church may not as well / wheras the Lord ſayth thou ſhalt reſt the ſeuenth day / commaunde that thou ſhalt not reſt the ſeuenth day. For if the church may reſtraine the liberty that God hath geuen thē / it may take away the yoke alſo that God hath put vponupon them.
And whereas you ſay in the. 173. page / that notwithſtanding thys fourthe commaundement / the Iewes had certaine other feaſtes whych they obſerued: in deede the Lord whych gaue thys generall law / might make as many exceptions as he thought good / and ſo long as he thought good. But it foloweth not becauſe the Lord did it / that therfore the church may do it / vnles it hath commaundemēt and authority from God ſo to do. As when there is any generall plague or iudgement of God either vponupon the churche / or comming towardes it / the Lorde commaundeth in ſuche a caſe that they ſhould ſanctifie a generall faſt / and proclaime Ioel. 2. 15.ghnatſarah, whych ſignifieth a prohibition or forbidding of ordinary works / and is the ſame Hebrewe word wherwyth thoſe feaſtes dayes are noted in the lawe wherin they ſhuld reſt. The reaſon of whych commaūdement of the Lord was / that as they abſtained that day as much as might be conueniently from meat / ſo they might abſtaine from their daily workes / to the ende they might beſtowe the whole day in hearing the word of God / and humbling themſelues in the congregation / confeſſing their faultes / and deſiring the Lorde to turne away from hys fearce wrathe. In thys caſe the churche hauing commaundement to make a holy day / may and ought to do it / as the church which was in Babilon did / during the time of their captiuity: but where it is deſtitute of a commaundement / it may not preſume by any decree to reſtraine that liberty whych the Lord hath geuen.
Nowe that I hauehave ſpoken generally of holy dayes / I come vntounto the apoſtles and other ſaints dayes / whych are kept wyth vsus. And thoughe it were lawfull for the church to ordaine holy dayes to our ſauioure Chriſte or to the bleſſed Trinity: yet it is not therfore lawfull to inſtitute holy dayes to the apoſtles and other ſaintes / or to their remembrance. For although I confes as muche as you ſay in the. 153. page / that the church of England doth not meane by thys keping of holy dayes that the ſaintes ſhoulde be honoured / or as you alledge in the. 175. and. 176. pages / that wyth vsus the ſaints are not prayed vntounto / or that it doth propoūd them as meritorious / yet that is not enough. For as we reaſon againſt the popiſh purgatorie / that it is therfore naught / for as much as neyther in the olde Teſtament nor in the newe / there is any mention of prayer at any time for the dead: ſo may it be reaſoned againſt theſe holy dayes ordained for the remēbrance of the ſaintes / that for ſo much as the old people dyd neuer keepe any feaſt or holy day for the remembrance eyther of Moſes or Daniel / or Iob / or Abraham / or Dauid / or any other / how holy or excellent ſo euer they were: nor the apoſtles nor the churches in their time neuer inſtituted any eyther to kepe the remembrance of Stephen / or of the virgin Mary / or of Iohn Baptiſt / or of any other notable and rare perſonage / that the inſtituting and erecting of them nowe / and thys attempt by the churches whych folowed / whych hauehave not ſuch certen and vndoubted interpreaters of the will of God / as the prophets and apoſtles were whych lyued in thoſe churches / is not wythout ſome note of preſumption / for that it vndertaketh thoſe thyngs whych the primitiue churche in the apoſtles times (hauing greater giftes of the ſpirite of God then they that folowed them had) durſte not venter vponupon.
Moreouer I hauehave ſhewed before / what force the name of eueryevery thyng hath to cauſe men to thynke ſo of eueryevery thyng / as it is named / and therfore although you ſay in the. 175. page that in calling theſe holy dayes the dayes of ſuche or ſuch a Sainte / there is nothyng elſe meante but that the Scriptures whych are that day red / concerne that ſaynte / and contayne eyther hys callyng / preachyng / perſecution / martyrdom. &c. yet eueryevery one doth not vnderſtand ſo much. For beſides that the corrupt cuſtome of popery hath caryed theyr mindes to an other interpretation / the very name and appellation of the day teacheth otherwiſe. For ſeing that the dayes dedicated to the Trinity / and thoſe that are conſecrate to our ſauior Chriſt / are in that they be called Trinity day or the Natiuity day of our ſauior Chriſt / by and by taken to be inſtituted to the honor of our ſauyor Chriſte and of the Trinity: ſo lykewyſe the people / when it is called S. Paules day / or the bleſſed virgin Maryes day / can vnderſtand nothing therby / but that they are inſtituted to the honor of S. Paule or of the virgin Mary / vnles they be otherwyſe taught. And if you ſay let them ſo be taught / I hauehave anſweared that the teaching in thys lande can not by any order whych is yet taken come to the moſte parte of thoſe / whych hauehave drunke thys poyſon: and where it is taught / it were good that the names were abolyſhed / that they ſhould not helpe to vnteach that / whych the preaching teacheth in thys behalfe.
Furthermore / ſeeing the holy dayes be ceremonies of the church / I ſee not why we may not heere renue Auguſtines complaint / yt the eſtate of the Iewes was more tollerable then oures is (I ſpeake in thys poynt of holy dayes) for if their holy dayes and oures be accompted / we ſhallbe foūd to hauehave more then double as many holy dayes as they had. And as for all the commodityes whych we receiue by them / whereby M. doctor goeth about to proue the goodnes and lawfulnes of their inſtitution / as that the ſcriptures are there red and expounded / the patience of thoſe ſaintes in their perſecution and Martyrdome is to the edifying of the church remembred / and yearely renewed: I ſay / that we myght hauehave all thoſe commodities wythout all thoſe dangers whych I hauehave ſpoken of / & wythout any keping of yearely memory of thoſe ſayntes / and (as it falleth out) in better and more profitable ſorte. For as I ſayd before of the keping of Eaſter / that it tyeth / and (as it were) fettereth a meditation of the Eaſter to a fewe dayes / whych ſhould reache to all our age and time of oure lyfe: ſo thoſe celebrations of the memories of ſaintes and martyrs / ſtreighten our conſideration of them vntounto thoſe dayes / whych ſhould continually be thought of / & daily as long as we liue. And if that it be thoughte ſo good and profitable a thyng that thys remembrance of them ſhould be vponupon thoſe dayes / wherin they are ſuppoſed to hauehave dyed / yet it foloweth not therefore that after thys remembrance is celebrated by hearing the ſcriptures concerning them / and prayers made to folowe their conſtancy / that all the reſt of the day ſhould be kept holy in ſuch ſorte / as men ſhould be debarred of their bodely labors / and of exerciſing their daily vocations.
Nowe where as maiſter Doctor citeth Auguſtine and Ierome / to proue that in the Churches in their times / there were holy dayes kepte beſydes the Lordes day / he myght hauehave alſo cited Ignatius and Tertullian / and Cyprian / whych are of greater auncienty / and would hauehave made more for the credit of hys cauſe / ſeeing he meaſureth all hys truthe almoſte throughe the whole booke / by the croked meaſure and yarde of time. For it is not to be denyed / but thys keeping of holy dayes (eſpecially of the Eaſter and Pentecoſt) are very auncient / and that theſe holy dayes for the remembrance of Martyrs / were vſed of long time. But theſe abuſes were no auncienter then other were / groſer alſo then thys was / as I hauehave before declared / and were eaſy further to be ſhewed / if nede required. And therefore I appeale from theſe examples to the ſcriptures / and to the examples of the perfecteſt church that euer was / whych was that in the apoſtles times. And yet alſo I hauehave to ſay / that the obſeruation of thoſe feaſtes firſt of all / was much better then of later times. For Socrates (confeſſing / that neyther Lib. 5. c. 22.our ſauioure Chriſt nor the apoſtles / dyd decree or inſtitute any holy dayes / or lay any yoke of bondage vppon the neckes of thoſe whych came to the preaching) addeth further / that they did vſe firſt to obſerue the holy dayes by cuſtom / and that as eueryevery man was diſpoſed at home. Whych thing if it had remained in that freedome / that it was done by cuſtome / and not by commaundement / at the will of eueryevery one / and not by conſtraint / it had bene much better then it is nowe / and had not drawne ſuche daungers vponupon the poſteritye / as did after enſue / and we hauehave the experience of.
As touching M. Bucers / M. Bullingers & Illiricus allowance of them / if they meane ſuch a celebration of them / as that in thoſe dayes the people may be aſſembled and thoſe partes of the ſcriptures which concerne them whoſe remembrance is ſolemniſed / red / and expounded / and yet men not debarred after from their daily works / it is ſo much the les matter: if otherwiſe / that good leaue they giuegive the churches to diſſent from them in that poynt / I do take it graunted vntounto me / being by the grace of God one of the churche.
Althoughe as touching M. Bullenger it is to be obſerued / ſince the time that he wrote that vppon the Romaines / there are about .xxxv. yeares / ſythens whych time although he holde ſtill that the feaſtes dedicated vntounto the Lord (as of the Natiuity / Eaſter / and Pentecoſt) may be kept / yet he denyeth flatly that it is lawfull to keepe holy the dayes of the apoſtles / as it appeareth in the confeſſion of the Tigurine church ioyned wyth others.Confeſs. eccle. Tigur. & aliarum eccle. c. 24.
As for M. Caluine / as the practiſe of hym and the church where he lyued was and is / to admit no one holy day beſides the Lords day: ſo can it not be ſhewed out of any parte of hys workes (as I thynke) that he approued thoſe holy dayes / whych are nowe in queſtion. He ſayeth in deede in hys Inſtitution: that he wil not condemne thoſe churches whych vſe them: No more do we the church of Englande / neyther in thys nor in other things / whych are meere to be reformed. For it is one thing to miſlike / another thyng to cōdemne / and it is one thing to condemne ſome thing in the church / and an other thing to condemn the church for it. And as for the places cited out of the epiſtles to the Galathians and Colloſſians / there is no mention of any holy dayes / eyther to ſaintes or to any other. And it appeareth alſo that he defendeth not other churches / but the church of Geneua / and anſweareth not to thoſe whych obiect againſt the keping of ſaintes dayes or any holy dayes (as they are called) beſides the Lords day / but againſt thoſe whych would not hauehave the Lords day kept ſtill / as a day of reſt from bodely labor / as it may appeare both by hys place vponupon the Colloſſians / and eſpecially in that whych is alleaged out of hys Inſtitutions. And that he meaneth nothing les then ſuche holy dayes / as you take vponupon you to defende / it may appeare firſt in the place of the Coloſſians / where he ſayeth that the dayes of reſt whych are vſed of them / are vſed for pollicy ſake. Nowe it is well knowne / that as it is pollicy and a way to preſerue the eſtate of things / and to keepe thē in a good continuance and ſucces / that as well the beaſtes as the men whych labor ſixe dayes ſhould reſt the ſeuenth: ſo it tendeth to no pollicy nor wealth of the people or preſeruation of good order / that there ſhould be ſo many dayes / wherin men ſhould ceaſe from worke / being a thyng whych breedeth idleneſſe / and conſequently pouerty / beſides other diſorders and vices / whych alwayes goe in company wyth idlenes. And in the place of hys Inſtitutions he declareth hym ſelfe yet more plainly / when he ſayeth / that thoſe odde holy dayes then are wythout ſuperſtition / when they be ordained only for the obſeruing of diſcipline and order. Whereby he geueth to vnderſtand / that he would hauehave them no further holy dayes / then for the time whych is beſtowed in the exerciſe of the diſcipline and order of the churche / and that for the reſt / they ſhoulde be altogither / as other dayes / free to be laboured in. And ſo it appeareth / that the holy dayes aſcribed to Saintes by the ſeruice booke / is a iuſt cauſe why a man can not ſafely without exception ſubſcribe vntounto the ſeruice.
Nowe wheras maiſter Doctor ſayeth / it maketh no matter whether theſe things be taken out of the Portuis / ſo they be good. &c. I hauehave proued firſt they are not good / then if they were / yet being not neceſſary / & abuſed horribly by the papiſtes / other being as good / and better then they / ought not to remaine in the church. And as for Ambroſe ſaying all truthe of whome ſo euer it be ſayde / is of the holy ghoſte: it I were diſpoſed to moue queſtions / I coulde demaund of him whych careth not of whome he hauehave the truthe / ſo he hauehave it / what our ſauioure Marke. 1. 24. Luke. 4. 41.Chriſte meant to refuſe the teſtimony of Deuils / when they gaue a cleare teſtimony that he was the ſonne of God / and the holy one: and what S. Paule ment to be angry / and to take it ſo greuouſly / that the Pithoniſſe ſayd / he and his companion Actes. 16. 17.were the ſeruaunts of the high God / whych preached vntounto them the way of ſaluation. Heere was truthe / and yet reiected / and I would knowe whether maiſter Doctor would ſay that theſe ſpake by the ſpirite of God. Thus whileſt wythout all iudgement he ſnatcheth heere a ſentence / and there another out of the Doctors / and that of the worſte / as if a man ſhould of purpoſe chuſe oute the droſſe / and leaue the ſiluer: wythin a while he wil make no great difference / not only betwene the prophets and apoſtles / and prophane wryters / as Ariſtotle and Plato / but not betweene them / whych ſpeake not by the conduite and leading of the holy ghoſt / but by the violent thruſting of the wicked ſpirite.