A Reply to an Answer Made by Doctor Whitgift, Reply · Part 28
To the next ſection contayned in the. 77. 78. and a peece of the. 79. page.
BEfore I come to ſpeake of prayers / I will treate of the faults that are committed almoſt thrughout the whole Leyturgy / & publike ſeruice of the church of England. Whereof one is that / which is often obiected by the authors of the admonition / that the forme of it / is taken from the church of Antichriſt / as the reading of the Epiſtles and Goſpels ſo cutte & mangled / as the moſt of the prayers / the maner of myniſtring the Sacraments / of Mariage / of Buriall / Confirmation / tranſlated as it were word for word / ſauing that the groſſe erroures and manifeſt impieties be taken away. For although the formes & ceremonies which they vſed / were not vnlawfull / and that they contayned nothing which is not agreeable to the word of God (which I would they dyd not) yet notwithſtanding / neyther the worde of God / nor reaſon / nor the examples of the eldeſt churches both Iewiſhe and chriſtian / doe permitte vsus to vſe the ſame formes and ceremonies / being neyther commaunded of God / neyther ſuch / as there may not as good as they / and rather better be eſtabliſhed.
For the word of God I hauehave ſhewed before / both by the example of the apoſtles conforming the Gentiles vntounto the Iewes in their ceremonies / & not contrariwiſe the Iewes to the Gentiles / & by that the wiſedom of God hath thought Act. 15. 20.it a good way to keepe hys people from the infection of idolatry and ſuperſtition / to ſeuere them from idolaters by outwarde ceremonies / and therefore hath forbidden them to do things which are in them ſelues very lawfull to be done.Leuit. 19. 27. Deu. 22. 11. 12 Leuit. 11. Deut. 14. 2 Exheſ. 2. 14.
Now I will adde thys further / that when as the Lord was carefull to ſeuere them by ceremonies from other nations / yet was he not ſo carefull to ſeuere them from any / as from the * Egiptiās amongſt whom they liued / & from thoſe nations which were next neighbors vntounto them / becauſe from them was the greateſt feare of infection. Therefore by this conſtant & perpetuall wiſedome which God vſeth to keepe his people from idolatry / it followeth / ye the religion of God / Leuit. 18. 3. Deut. 17. 16.ſhould not only in matter & ſubſtance / but alſo (as far as may be) informe & faſhion differ from ye of the idolaters / & eſpecially the papiſtes which are round about vsus / and amongſt vsus. For in deede it were more ſafe for vsus to conforme our indifferent ceremonies to the Turkes which are far of / then to the papiſtes which are ſo neare.
Common reaſon alſo doth teach / that contraries are cured by their contraryes: now Chriſtianitie and Antichriſtianitie / the goſpell and popery / be contraries / therefore antichriſtianitie muſt be cured not by it ſelfe / but by that which is (as much as may be) contrary vntounto it: So that a medled & mingled eſtate of the order of the goſpell / & the ceremonies of popery / is not the beſt way to baniſh popery. And therfore as to aboliſhe ye infection of falſe doctrine of the papiſtes / it is neceſſary to eſtabliſh a diuers doctrine / & to aboliſh the tirāny of ye popiſh gouernment / neceſſary to plant the diſcipline of Chriſt: ſo to heale y• infection y• hath crept into mens myndes by reaſon of the popiſh order of ſeruice / it is meete that the other order were put in the place thereof. Philoſophie which is nothing elſe but reaſon / teacheth / that if a man will draw one from vice which is an extreeme vntounto vertue / which is the meane / that it is the beſt way to bring hym as far from that vice as may be / and that it is ſafer and leſſe harme for him to be led ſomewhat too farre / then he ſhuld be ſuffered to remayne within the borders and contines of that vice wherewith he is infected. As if a man would bring a droncken man to ſobrietie / the beſt and neareſt way is to cary hym as farre from hys exceſſe in druicke as may be / and if a man could not keepe a meane / it were better to fault in preſcribing leſſe then he ſhoulde drincke / then to faulte in geuing hym more then he ought. As we ſee to bring a ſticke which is crooked / to be ſtraight / we doe not only bow it ſo farre vntill it come to be ſtraight / but we bende it ſo far / vntill we make it ſo crooked of the other ſide / as it was before of the firſt ſide / to thys end / that at the laſt it may ſtand ſtraight / and as it were in the mid way betwene both the crookes / which I do not therfore ſpeake / as though we ought to aboliſhe one euill and hurtfull ceremony for an other / but that I would ſhew / how it is more daungerous for vsus that hauehave bene plunged in the mire of Popery / to vſe the Ceremonies of it / then of any other idolatrous and ſuperſtitious ſeruice of God. Thys wiſedome of not conforming it ſelfe vntounto the ceremonies of the Idolaters in things indifferent / hath the church followed in times paſſed.
Tertullian ſayth / O ſayth he / better is the relygion of the heathen / for they Libro de Idolatria.vſe no ſolemnitie of the Chriſtians / neyther the Lordes day / neyther the Pentecoſte / and if they knew them / they woulde hauehave nothing to doe with them / for they would be afrayd / leaſt they ſhould ſeeme Chriſtians / but we are not afrayd to be called heathen.
Conſtantine the Emperor ſpeaking of the keeping of the feaſte of Eaſter / Euſe .li. 3. c. 17.ſayth that it is an vnworthy thing to hauehave any thing common with that moſt ſpitefull company of the Iewes. And a little after he ſayth / that it is moſt abſurd and agaynſt reaſon / that the Iewes ſhould vaunt and glory / that the Chriſtians Socr. 1. li. ca. 9.could not keepe thoſe things without their doctrine. And in an other place it is ſayd after thys ſort: It is conuenient ſo to order the matter / that we hauehave nothing common with that nation.
The Councelles although they dyd not obſerue them ſelues alwayes in making of decrees thys rule / yet hauehave kept thys conſideration continually in making theyr lawes / that they would hauehave the chriſtians differ from others in their ceremonies.
* The councell of Laodicia / which was afterward confirmed by the ſixthe Tom. 1. conc. Laod. cano. 38.generall councell decreed / that the Chriſtians ſhould not take vnleauened breade of the Iewes / or communicate with their impietie.
* Alſo it was decreed in an other councell / that they ſhould not decke theyr 2. Tom. Braccar canon. 73.houſes with baye leaues and greene bowes / becauſe the Paganes dyd vſe ſo / and that they ſhould not reſt from their laboures thoſe dayes that the paganes dyd / that they ſhould not keepe the firſt day of eueryevery monethmonth as they dyd.
* An other councell decreed / that the chriſtians ſhould not celebrate feaſtes Affrica. concil. c. 27.on the birth dayes of the Martyrs / becauſe it was the maner of the heathen: whereby it appeareth / that both of ſingulare men and of councels / in making or abolyſhing of Ceremonies / heede hath beene taken / that the Chriſtians ſhoulde not be lyke vntounto the Idolaters / no not in thoſe things which of them ſelues are moſt indifferent to be vſed / or not vſed. It were not harde to ſhewe the ſame conſiderations in the ſeuerall things which are mentioned of in thys admonition / as for example in the ceremonies of prayer / which is heere to bee handled / wee reade that Tertullian would not hauehave the Chriſtians ſitte after they had prayed / Lib. de anima.becauſe the idolaters dyd ſo / but hauing ſhewed thys in generall to be the pollicy of God firſt / and of hys people afterwarde / to put as muche difference as can be commodiouſly betwene the people of God and others whych are not / I ſhal not neede to ſhewe the ſame in the particulares.
Furthermore / as the wiſedome of God hathe thoughte it the beſt way / to keepe hys people from infection of idolatry / to make them moſt vnlike the idolaters: ſo hath the ſame wiſedome of God thought good / that to kepe hys people in the vnity of the truth / there is no better way / then that they ſhould be moſte like one to an other / and that as much as poſſibly may be / they ſhuld hauehave all the ſame ceremonies. And therfore S. Paule to eſtabliſhe this order in the church of Corinth / 1. Cor. 16. 1.that they ſhoulde make their gatherings for the pore vponupon the firſte day of the Saboth (whych is our ſunday) alleageth thys for a reaſon / that he had ſo ordained in other churches / ſo that as children of one father / and ſeruauntes of one family / he will hauehave all the churches / not only hauehave one diet / in that they hauehave one word / but alſo weare / as it were one liuery / in vſing the ſame ceremonies.
Thys rule did the great councell of Nice follow / when it ordained / y• where Concil. Nice. canon. 20.certaine at the feaſt of Pentecoſt / did pray kneeling / that they ſhould pray ſtanding / the reaſon wherof is added / whych is / that one cuſtome oughte to be kepte throughout all the churches. It is true / that the diuerſity of ceremonies ought not to cauſe the churches to diſſent one wyth an other / but yet it maketh much to the auoyding of diſſention / that there be amongſt them an vnity / not only in doctrine / but alſo in Ceremonies. Nowe we ſee plainely / that as the forme of oure ſeruice and Leyturgie commeth to neare that of the papiſtes / ſo it is farre different from that of other churches reformed / and therfore in bothe theſe reſpectes to be amended.
An other faulte there is in the whole ſeruice or Lyturgie of Englande / for that it maintaineth an vnpreaching miniſtery / and ſo conſequently an vnlawfull miniſtery. I ſay it maintaineth / not ſo muche in that it appoynteth a number of pſalmes and other prayers and chapters to be red / whych may occupye the time whych is to be ſpent in preaching / wherin notwythſtanding it ought to hauehave bene more wary / conſidering that the deuil vnderunder this coloure of long prayer / did thus in the kingdome of antichriſte baniſh preaching / I ſay not ſo much in that poynt / as for that it requireth neceſſarily nothyng to be done by the miniſter / whych a childe of ten yeare olde can not doe / as well and as lawfully / as that man wherewyth the boke contenteth it ſelfe. Neyther can it be ſhifted / in ſaying this is done for want of able men to be miniſters / for it may be eaſely anſweared / that firſt the want of ſufficient miniſters ought to be no cauſe for men to breake the vnchāgeable lawes of God / whych be / that none maye be made miniſter of the churche / whych can not teache / that none miniſter the ſacraments whych do not preache. For althoughe it might be graunted / (whych thing I woulde not denye / no not when there are enough ſufficient miniſters / ) that they may appoynt ſome godly graue man whych can do nothing elſe but reade to be a reader in the churche / yet that may not be graunted / that they maye make of one that can doe nothyng but reade / a miniſter of the goſpell / or one whych may hauehave power to miniſter the ſacramentes.
Beſides that / howe can they ſay that it is for want of ſufficient miniſters / when as there be put out of the miniſterye men that be able to ſerue God in that calling / and thoſe put in their roumes / whych are not able / when there are numbers alſo whych are fit to ſerue and neuer ſought for / nor once required to take any miniſtery vponupon them? If therfore it were lawfull to plead want of able miniſters / for this dumbe miniſtery whych is altogither vnlawfull / yet woulde thys plea neuer be good / vntill ſuche time as bothe thoſe were reſtored whych are put out / and all other ſought forth and called vponupon whych are fit for that purpoſe.
Againe / it can not be ſayde iuſtly / that they hauehave taken theſe reading miniſters / vntill ſuche time as better may be gotten / for if the church could procure able miniſters / and ſhould deſire that they mighte be ordained ouer them / they can not obtaine that / conſidering that theſe reading miniſters hauehave a free hold / and an eſtate for terme of their liues in thoſe churches / of the whych they are ſuch miniſters: ſo that by thys meanes / the ſheepe are not only committed to an idoll ſhepheard / I might ſay a wolfe / and ſpeake no otherwiſe then Aug. ſpeaketh / in that a not preaching miniſter hath entrance into the church / but the dore alſo is ſhutte vponupon him / and ſparred againſt any able miniſter / that might haply be found oute.
There is a third fault / whych likewiſe appeareth almoſt in the whole body of this ſeruice and Liturgie of England / and that is that the profit whych might hauehave come by it vntounto the people / is not reaped. Whereof the cauſe is / for that he whych readeth / is not in ſome places heard / and in the moſt places not vnderſtā ded of the people / through the diſtance of place betweene the people and the miniſter / ſo that a great part of the people can not of knowledge tell / whether he hathe curſſed them or bleſſed them / whether he hath red in Latine or in Engliſh / all the whych riſeth vponupon the words of the boke of ſeruice / whych are that the miniſter ſhould ſtand in the accuſtomed place. For therevpon the miniſter in ſaying morning and euening prayer / ſitteth in the chauncell / wyth hys backe to the people / as thoughe he had ſome ſecreate talke wyth God / whych the people myghte not heare. And herevpon it is likewiſe / that after morning prayer for ſaying a nother number of prayers / he climeth vp to the further end of the chauncel / and runneth as farre from the people / as the wall wil let him / as though there were ſome variance betwene the people and the miniſter / or as though he were afraide of ſome infection of plage. And in dede it renueth the memory of the Leuitical prieſthode / whych did withdrawe himſelfe from the people into the place called the holyeſt place / where he talked wyth God / and offered for the ſinnes of the people.
Likewiſe for Mariage he cometh backe againe into the body of the church / and for baptiſme vntounto the church dore / what comelines / what decency / what edifying is thys? Decencie (I ſay) in running and trudging from place to place / edifying: in ſtanding in that place / and after that ſort / where he can worſt be harde and vnderſtanded. S. Luke ſheweth / that in the primitiue church both the prayers Actes. 1. 15.and preachings / and the whole exerciſe of religion was done otherwyſe. For he ſheweth howe S. Peter ſitting amongſte the reſt / to the ende he myght be the better heard / roſe / & not that only / but that he ſtode in the midſt of the people / that his voyce might as much as might be / come indifferently to all their eares / and ſo ſtanding / both prayed and preached. Now if it be ſaid for the chapters & Letany / there is commaundement geuen / that they ſhuld be red in the body of the church / in deede it is true / and therof is eaſely perceiued this diſorder whych is in ſaying the reſt of the prayers / partly in the hither end / and partly in the further end of the chauncell. For ſeeing that thoſe are red in the body of the church / that the people may both heare and vnderſtand what is red / what ſhuld be the cauſe why the reſt ſhould be red farther of / vnles it be / that either thoſe things are not to be heard of them / or at the leaſt not ſo neceſſary for them to be heard as the other whych are recited in the body or midſt of the church. And if it be further ſayd / that the boke leaueth that to the diſcretion of the ordinarye / and that he may reforme it if there be any thing amis / then it is eaſely anſwered again / that beſides that it is againſt reaſon / that the commoditye and edifying of the church ſhould depende vponupon the pleaſure of one man / ſo that vponupon hys eyther good or euill aduiſe and diſcretion / it ſhould be well or euell wyth the church: Beſides this (I ſay) we ſee by experience of the diſorders whych are in many churches and dioceſes in thys behalfe / how that if it were lawfull to commit ſuch authority vntounto one man / yet that it is not ſafe ſo to doe / conſidering that they hauehave ſo euill quitten them ſelues in their charges / and that in a matter / the inconuenience wherof being ſo eaſely ſene / and ſo eaſely reformed / there is notwythſtanding ſo greate and ſo generall an abuſe. And the end of the order in the boke is to be obſerued / which is to kepe the praiers in the accuſtomed place of the church / chappell / or chauncell / whych how maketh it to edification? And thus for the generall faultes committed either in the whole Liturgy / or in the moſt part of it / both that I may hauehave no nede to repete the ſame in the particulares / and that I be not compelled alwayes to enter a new diſputation / ſo ofte as M. Doctor ſayeth very vnſkilfully / and vnlike a deuine / whence ſo euer thys or that come / ſo it be not euill / it may be well eſtabliſhed in the church of Chriſt.
Nowe I come to the forme of prayer whych is preſcribed / wherin the authors of the admonition declare / that their meaning is not to diſalow of preſcript ſeruice of prayer / but of thys forme that we hauehave. For they expound themſelues in the additions vntounto the firſt part of the admonition. It is not to any purpoſe / yt M. Doctor ſetteth himſelfe to proue / that there may be a preſcript order of prayer by Iuſtine Martyrs teſtimony / which notwithſtanding hath not one word of preſcript forme of prayers / only he ſayth there were prayers. He ſayth in dede the auncient fathers ſay that there hathe bene alwayes ſuch kinde of prayers in the churches / & although they do ſay ſo / yet all men may vnderſtand eaſely / that M. doctor ſpeaketh thys rather by coniecture / or that he hath heard other mē ſay ſo: for ſo much as that Doctor whych he hathe choſen out to ſpeake for all the reſt / hath no ſuch thing / as he fathereth on him. He ſayeth that after they hauehave baptiſed / they pray for them ſelues / & for hym that is baptiſed / and for all men that they may be mete to learne the truth / and to expres it in their honeſt conuerſation / and that they be found to kepe the commaundements / that they may attaine to eternal life / but is this to ſay ye there was a preſcript forme of prayer / when he ſheweth nothing els but the chefe poynts vponupon ye whych they conceiued their prayers? If you had alleaged thys to proue what were the matters or principall poyntes that the primitiue church vſed to pray for / you had alleaged thys to purpoſe / but to alleage it for a profe of a preſcript forme of prayer / when there is not there mē tioned ſo much as the eſſentiall forme of prayer (whych is the aſking of our petitions in the name / and through the interceſſion of our ſauior Chriſt) without the whych there is not / nor cannot be any prayer / argueth that either you litle know what the forme of prayer is / or that you thought (as you charge the authors of the admonition ſo often) that this geare of yours ſhould neuer hauehave come to the examination. But for as muche as we agree of a preſcript forme of prayer to be vſed in the church let that go: thys that I hauehave ſayd / is to ſhew that when M. Doctor hapneth of a good cauſe / whych is very ſeldome in this boke / yet then he marreth it in the handling. After he affirmeth / that there can be nothing ſhewed in the whole boke / whych is not agreeable vntounto the word of God.
I am very lothe to enter into this field / albeit M. Doctor dothe thus prouoke me / bothe becauſe the Papiſtes will lightly take occaſion of euill ſpeaking / when they vnderſtand that we do not agree amongſt our ſelues in eueryevery poynte / as for that ſome fewe profeſſors of the goſpell being priuate men / boldened vponupon ſuch treatiſes / take ſuch wayes ſometimes / and breake forth into ſuch ſpeaches / as are not meete nor conuenient.
Notwythſtanding my duetie of defending the truthe / and louelove whych I hauehave firſt towardes God / and then towards my countrey / conſtraineth me being thus prouoked / to ſpeake a fewe woordes more particularly of the fourme of prayer / that when the blemiſhes thereof doe appeare / it may pleaſe the Queenes maieſtie / and her honourable Councell / wyth thoſe of the Parliamente / whome the Lorde hathe vſed as ſingulare inſtrumentes to deliuer thys realme from the hotte furnaice and iron yoke of the popiſhe Egipte / to procure alſo / that the corruptions whych we hauehave broughte from them (as thoſe wyſh whych we being ſo deepely dide and ſtained / hauehave not ſo eaſely ſhaken of) may be remoued from amongſt vsus / to the end that we being nearelyer both ioyned vntounto the ſincerity of the goſpell / and the pollicy of other reformed churches / may therby be ioyned nearer wyth the Lord / and may be ſet ſo far from Rome / that both we may comfort our ſelues in the hope / that we ſhall neuer returne thether againe / & our aduerſaries whych deſire it / and by this too much agreement with them / and too little wyth the reformed churches / hope for it / may not only be deceiued of their expectation / but alſo being out of all hope of that whych they deſire / may the ſoner yeelde themſelues vntounto the truth / whervnto they are now diſobedient.
And as for the papiſtes triumphe in thys caſe / I ſhall not greatly neede to feare it / conſidering that their diſcords and contentions are greater / and that our ſtrife is / becauſe we would be farther from them. For the other that profes the goſpell / I will deſire in the name of God / that they abuſe not my labor to other end / then I beſtowe it / and that they keepe them ſelues in their callings / commit the matter by prayer vntounto the Lord / leauing to the miniſters of the word of god / and to the magiſtrates that / whych appertaineth vntounto them.
To come therfore to touch thys matter / I anſwer that there is fault in the The collect of Trinitye ſonday.matter / and fault in the fourme. In the matter / for that there are things there / that ought not to be / and thyngs there are wanting in the order that ſhuld be. Of the firſt ſort is / that we may euermore be defended from all aduerſity.
Now / for as much as there is no promiſe in the ſcripture / that we ſhould be free from all aduerſity / and that euermore / it ſemeth that this prayer might hauehave bene better conceiued / being no prayer of faith / or of the whych we can aſſure our ſelues that we ſhall obtaine it. For if it be ſayd that by the worde (aduerſity) is meant all euill / we know that it hath no ſuch ſignification / neither in this tongue of oures / neyther in other tongues whych vſe the ſame worde in common wyth vsus / but that it ſignifieth trouble / vexation / and calamitye / from all the whych we may not deſire alwayes to be deliuered. And whatſoeuer can be alledged for the defence of it / yet eueryevery one that is not contentious / may ſee that it needeth ſome caution or exception.
In the collect vponupon the twelfth ſonday after Trinitie ſonday / and likewiſe in one of thoſe whych are to be ſayd after the Offertorie (as it is termed) is done / requeſt is made / that God would geue thoſe thyngs whych we for oure vnworthynes dare not aſke / whych carieth wyth it ſtill the note of the popiſhe ſeruile feare / and ſauoureth not of that confidence and reuerēt familiaritie / that the children of God hauehave thorough Chriſt / wyth their heauenly father. For as we dare not wythout our ſauioure Chriſt aſke ſo much as a crumme of bread / ſo there is nothing whych in hys name we dare not aſke / being needefull for vsus / and if it be not needefull / why ſhould we aſke it? And if all the prayers were gathered together / and referred to theſe two heades of Gods glory / and of the thyngs whych pertaine to this preſent life / I can make no Geometricall and exact meaſure / but verely I beleue / there ſhalbe found more then a third part of the prayers whych are not pſalmes and texts of ſcriptures / ſpent in praying for / and praying againſt the commodities / and incommodities of this life / whych is contrary to all the arguments or contents of the prayers of the churche / whych are ſette downe in the ſcripture / and eſpecially of our ſauior Chriſtes prayer / by the whych ours ought to be directed / which of .vij. petitions / beſtoweth one only that wayes. And this / theſe foreſayd prayers do / not only in generall words / but by deducting the commodities and incommodities of thys life into their particulare kindes / & we pray for the auoiding of thoſe dangers which are nothyng neare vsus / as from lightning and thundering in the midſt of winter / from ſtorme and tempeſt / when the weather is moſt faire / and the ſeas moſt calme. &c. It is true / that vponupon ſome vrgent calamity / a prayer may and ought to be framed / whych may beg eyther the commodity for want whereof the Church is in diſtres / or the turning away of that miſcheefe whych eyther approcheth / or whych is alreadye vppon it: but to make thoſe prayers whych are for the preſent time and daunger / ordinarye and dailye prayers / I can not hetherto ſee any / either ſcripture or example of the primitiue churche. And heere for the ſimples ſake I will ſet downe after what ſorte thys abuſe crept into the church.
There was one Mamercus biſhop of Vienna / whych in the time of great Platina cap. Leo.earthquakes whych were in Fraunce / inſtituted certaine ſupplications / whych the Grecians / & we of them call the Letany / whych concerned that matter: there is no doubte but as other diſcommodities roſe in other countreys / they likewiſe had prayers accordingly. Nowe Pope Gregorie eyther made himſelfe / or gathered the ſupplications that were made againſte the calamities of eueryevery countrey / and made of them a great Letany or ſupplication / as Platina calleth it / and gaue it to be vſed in all churches: whych thing albeit all churches might do for the time in reſpect of the caſe of the caſamity whych the churches ſuffered / yet there is no cauſe why it ſhould be perpetuall / that was ordained but for a time / and why all landes ſhould pray to be deliuered from the incommodities / that ſome land hathe bene troubled wyth.
The like may be ſayd of the gloria patri, and the Athanaſius Crede: it was firſt brought into the churche / to the ende that: nen thereby ſhould make an open profeſſion in the church of the diuinitie of the ſonne of God / againſt the deteſtable opinion of Arius and his diſciples / wherwith at that time maruellouſly ſwarmed almoſt the whole chriſtendome / now that it hath pleaſed the Lord to quench that fire / there is no ſuch cauſe whye theſe things ſhould be in the church / at the leaſt why that gloria patri, ſhould be ſo often repeated.
Moreouer / to make Benedictus, Magnificat, and Nunc dimittis, ordinarye and daily prayers / ſeemeth to be a thing not ſo conuenient / conſidering that they do no more concerne vsus / thē all other ſcriptures do / and then doth the Aue Maria, as they called it. For although they were prayers of thanks geuing in Simeon / ʒacharie / and the bleſſed virgin Mary / yet can they not be ſo in vsus / whych hauehave not receiued lyke benefites / they may be added to the number of Pſalmes / and ſo ſong as they be / but to make daily and ordinary prayers of them / is not wythout ſome inconuenience and diſorder.
And ſo hauehave I anſweared vntounto thoſe thyngs whych are contained in the 202. 203. pages / ſauing that I muſt admoniſh the reader / that wheras you will proue that we ought to hauehave an ordinarye prayer to be deliuered from danger of thunder / lightnings. &c. becauſe there are examples of certen that hauehave bene killed thereby / you mighte as well bryng in a prayer / that men may not hauehave falles frō their horſes / may not fal into the hands of robbers / may not fall into waters / and a number ſuch more ſodaine deathes / wherwith a greater number are taken away / then by thundrings or lightnings / and ſuch like / and ſo there ſhould be neuer any end of begging theſe earthly cōmodityes / whych is contrary to the forme of prayer / appoynted by our ſauioure Chriſte.
And wheras you alledge the petition of the Lords prayer (deliuer vsus from euill) to proue this prayer againſt Thunder. &c. beſides that all the commodities and diſcommodities of thys life are prayed for / and prayed againſt in that petition / whereby we deſire oure daily breade: it is very ſtraunge to apply that to the thunder / that is vnderſtanded of the deuill / as the article apo tou ponerou dothe declare. And that it is a maruellous cōcluſion / that for ſo much as we ought daily and ordinarily / and publikely deſire to be deliuered from the Deuill / Ergo, we oughte daily and ordinarily / and publikely / deſire to be deliuered from thunder. It is one thing to correct Magnificat, and an other thing to ſhew the abuſe of it: And therfore I ſee no cauſe why you ſhould vſe this alluſion betwene Magnificat & ſignificat, vnles it be for yt you purpoſing to ſet out all your learning in thys boke / wold not ſo much as forget an old rotten prouerb / whych trotted amongſt the monkes in their cloiſters / of whome I may iuſtly ſay / whych Tullie ſayd in a nother thyng. Nec quicquam ingenium poteſt monaſterium: that is / the cloiſter coulde neuer bring forthe any witty thing / for heere although there be Rythmus, yet it is ſine ratione.Rime wythout reaſon.
As theſe are diuers things more then ought to be conueniently / ſo wante there ſome things in the prayers. There are prayers ſet forthe to be ſayde in the common calamities / and vniuerſal ſcourges of the realme / as plague / famine. &c. and in dede ſo it ought to be by the word of God ioyned wyth a publike faſt commaūded / not only when we are in any calamity / but alſo when any the churches round about vsus / or in any countrey receiue any generall plague or greeuous chaſtiſement at the Lordes hand. But as ſuche prayers are needefull / whereby we beg releaſe from our diſtreſſes / ſo there ought to be as neceſſary prayers of thāks geuing / whē we hauehave receiued thoſe things at the Lords hand / whych we aſked in our prayers. And thus much touching the matter of the prayers / eyther not altogither ſound / or elſe too much or too little.
Concerning the fourme / there is alſo to be miſliked: A great cauſe wherof is the folowing of the forme vſed in Popery / againſt whych I hauehave before ſpoken. For whileſt that ſeruice was ſet in many poynts as a paterne of this / it cometh to pas / that in ſtead of ſuche prayers as the primitiue churches hauehave vſed / & thoſe that be reformed / now vſe / we hauehave diuers ſhort cuts & ſhreddings / whych may be better called wiſhes then prayers. And that no man thinke that thys is ſome idle fancie / & that it is no matter of weight / what forme of prayer we vſe / ſo that the prayers be good / it muſt be vnderſtanded / that as it is not ſufficient to preach the ſame doctrine whych our ſauior Chriſt & hys apoſtles hauehave preached / vnles the ſame forme of doctrine / and of teaching be likewiſe kept: ſo is it not enough that the matter of our prayer be ſuch as is in the word of God / vnles that the forme alſo be agreeable vntounto the formes of prayers in the ſcripture. Now we hauehave no ſuch formes in the ſcripture / as that we ſhuld pray in .ij. or .iij. lines / and thē after hauing red a while ſome other thing / come and pray as much more / and ſo to the .xx. and .xxx. time / wyth pauſes betweene.
If a man ſhoulde come to a Prince / and keepe ſuche order in making hys petitions vntounto hym / that hauing very many things to demaund / after he had demaunded one thing / he would ſtay a long time / and then demaunde an other / and ſo the thirde / the prince myght well thinke / that eyther he came to aſke before he knew what he had nede of / or that he had forgotten ſome pece of hys ſute / or that he were diſtracted in hys vnderſtanding / or ſome other ſuch like cauſe of the diſorder of his ſupplication. And therfore how much more conuenient were it / that according to the manner of the reformed churches: firſt the miniſter wyth an hū ble and general confeſſion of faults / ſhuld deſire the aſſiſtance of the Lord / for the frutefull handling and receiuing of the word of God / and then after that we hauehave heard the Lord ſpeake vntounto vsus in hys worde by hys miniſter / the church ſhould likewiſe ſpeake vntounto the Lord / and preſent all thoſe petitions and ſutes at once / bothe for the whole churche and for the Prince and all other eſtates whych ſhall be thought needefull.
And if any will ſay that there are ſhort prayers found in the Actes / it may be anſweared / that S. Luke doth not expres the whole prayers at large / but only ſet downe the ſummes of them / and their cheefe poyntes. And further it may be anſweared / that alwayes thoſe praiers were continued together / and not cut off / and ſhred into diuers ſmall peeces.
An other fault is / that all the people are appoynted in diuers places to ſaye after the miniſter / wherby not only the time is vnprofitably waſted / & a confuſed voyce of the people one ſpeaking after an other cauſed / but an opinion bredde in their heads / that thoſe only be their prayers whych they ſay and pronounce with their owne mouthes / whych cauſeth them to geue the les heede to the reſt of the prayers whych they reherſe not after the miniſter / whych notwithſtanding are as well their prayers / as thoſe whych they pronounce after the miniſter / otherwiſe then the order whych is left vntounto the church of God dothe beare. For God hath ordained the miniſter to thys ende / that as in publike meetings / he only is the mouthe of the Lorde from hym to the people / euen ſo he ought to be only the mouthe of the people from them vntounto the Lorde / and that all the people ſhoulde attende to that whych is ſayde by the miniſter / and in the ende bothe declare their conſent to that whych is ſayde / and there hope that it ſhall ſo be and come to pas whych is prayed / by the worde (Amen) as S. Paule declareth in the Epiſtle to 1. Cor. 14. 16. 2. apoll. pro chriſtianis.the Corinthians. And Iuſtine Martyr ſheweth to hauehave bene the cuſtome of the churches in hys time.
Although theſe blots in the Common prayer / be ſuch as may eaſely enough appeare vntounto any whych is not wedded to a preiudicate opinion / and that there is no great difficultye in thys matter / yet I knowe that thys treatiſe of prayer will be ſubiect to many reprehenſions / and that there will not be wanting ſome probable coloures alſo / wherby theſe things may be defended / if men wil ſet them ſelues to ſtriue and to contende: yet (for the deſire that I hauehave that theſe thyngs ſhould be amended / and for the inſtruction of the ſimpler whych are ſtudious of the truthe) I hauehave bene bolde to vtter that whych I thinke / not doubting alſo but that the light of the truthe ſhall be able to ſcatter all thoſe miſtes of reaſons / whych ſhall go about to darken the clearnes therof.