A Discourse Concerning Liturgies, Part 150-198

A Discourse Concerning Liturgies · Part 150-198

p. 150To wave the Arguments uſually inſiſted on, (that we may not actum agere) theſe Liturgies were not known (nor uſed) before the Seventh or Eighth Century. For if they had been aaThe Dialogues betwixt Peter and Appion were rejected for leſs than this, foreign, Euſeb. Hiſt. l. 3. c. 38. Yea the Epiſtle of James was in danger, not becauſe it was never mentioned (it would never have been received by any under ſuch ſilence) but becauſe it was not ſo frequently mentioned, foreign, altho' it was received and approved foreign, Euſeb. l. 2. c. 22. Graec. foreign. The 2. Epiſtle of Clemens was not approved as genuine, foreign, becauſe the Antients were not known to uſe it, id. ibid. So Auguſtin rejects the writings, under the name of Andrew and John, becauſe they were not admitted by the Church, contra adverſ. Leg. l. 1. c. 70. contra Fauſt. l. 20. c. 79. Nam ut Latini ipſi & Graeci Pontifices, multa deinceps in ſuis Liturgiis, quas jam inde ab Apoſtolis acceperant, pro re nata, vel immutarunt, vel addiderunt: ita etiam ab Alexandrinis & Aegyptiis, par eſt credere, pro temporum opportunitate factitatum, Victorius Scialach. praefat. to his verſion of 3 Arabick Liturgies. Illud accedit (quod etiam apud Latinos factum eſſe conſtat) ut in ſacratiſſima Miſſa (viz. Jacobi) aliis ſuperadditis precibus, aliis autem breviori ſumma contractis, ritibuſque nonnihil auctis aut immutatis, vel tamen ſubſtantia integra permanente paulo diverſior ab illa priſtina habeatur, Baronius in Spond. ad an. 63. n. 5. Extat etiam Liturgia eidem S. Jacobo attributa, quae tamen à poſterioribus ita lecupletata eſt, ut non ſit facile dijudicium, quae pars ejus Liturgiae S. Jacobum habeat Authorem, Bellarm. de Script. Eccleſ. p. 33. And H. T. compares the pretended primitive Liturgies, to Theſeus Ship, which had been ſo changed, as no man could tell what part of it remained, Serv. of C. at relig. Aſſemb. p. 250. Of Theſeus Ship, Plutarch. in Grot. 211.known in the foregoing Ages,

p. 1511. Certainly there would have been ſome mention of them, by ſome Fathers, Councils, or other Writers; by thoſe ſure, who give an account of all Apoſtolical Writings, both queſtioned and unqueſtionable; or thoſe who lived upon the place, where theſe Counterfeits, aſſuming thoſe great names, are ſaid to have been entertained, particularly for that of James, by Euſebius, Cyril, or Jerome, who reſided in P…laeſtine.

2. Undoubtedly they would have been generally admitted, as other Apoſtolical Writings were. None would have ſeen reaſon, to have compoſed other Liturgies, nor would any other have been preferred before them.

3. Finally, none would have preſumed, or would have been ſuffered without controul, to have inlarged, curtailed, inverted them, and made all kind of alrerations therein, as ſome have done, ſo as they are quite transformed from what they were once; inſomuch as their Favourers can ſhew us no one part of them, which may with any aſſurance be aſcribed to the firſt Authors, whoever they were. This is acknowledged, and ſaid to be done in ſeveral Ages, by the Guides of thoſe Churches, where they had entertainment: Who by thus uſing them, evidently declared, either that they did not believe them to be Apoſtolical, nor would have had them ſo accounted; or elſe, that themſelves were impious wretches, in making ſo bold with that which ſhould have been preſerved inviolable as the Scripture; and wretched Impoſtors too, who would thruſt their own patches, and others no better than their own, upon Chriſtians, under Apoſtolical names: And ſo, one of theſe ways, all the credit is loſt, upon which they are recommended to the World as Apoſtolical.

p. 152But, if they were not known (as is manifeſt by the premiſſes they were not) for ſo many Ages; then, neither were they extant, and ſo, owe not their Original to the Apoſtles, or any near their times. For it is impoſſible, that, if they had been extant, and compoſed by the Apoſtles, for the conſtant and daily uſe of the Churches, they ſhould not be known to the generality of Chriſtians, ſuppoſed to have ſo uſed them: Or, if any will ſay, the Churches uſed them not, he muſt condemn them as highly impious, living in willful diſobedience to the Apoſtles orders, and open contempt of their Authority, from Generation to Generation: And further, if they were not known to be Apoſtolical, before the Seventh or Eighth Ages, there's no way left to know it after. Innate Arguments there are none, in thoſe pieces, to evidence it, but many which ſhew the contrary; no features or lineaments truly Apoſtolical, but much of the ſcurf and luxuriouſneſs of corrupt and decrepit Ages. So that there is nothing but teſtimony to rely on; and he that will admit writings to be Apoſtolical, upon the teſtimony of times, wherein deluſion and degeneracy prevailed, without the leaſt atteſtation of the Firſt Churches, and ſo many intermediate Ages, is well diſpoſed to be deluded, or delude others.

To conclude, if thoſe bbBilſon, Apol. p. 4. p. 409. When the Papiſt reaſoneth after this manner, Sure the Apoſtles had ſome preciſe Form of Service, tho' we know it not; the reply is to them: Since you know it not, why make you it your Anchor-hold, ſeeing what the Apoſtles did obſerve, none would have dared, but have obſerved it, after their example?who alledge them, p. 153did know any Prayers, in that of James, or the reſt, which they really believed to be Apoſtolical, they would uſe thoſe themſelves, they would imploy their Authority and Intereſt to have them uſed by others; they would not be ſo arrogant, as to think their own models, or ſo weak, as to judge the Forms of others better; or ſo perverſe, as to make choice of the worſe; they would not ſhew ſuch contempt of the Apoſtles, as to preferr others before them; or ſuch diſobedience, as never to obſerve what they preſcribed. All the writings of the Apoſtles (they being univerſal Officers, divinely Inſpired) oblige all; ſo that I ſee not what room there is for excuſe, unleſs they will ſay, that tho' the Apoſtles compoſed theſe Liturgies, yet they did not injoyn the uſe of them, but left it arbitrary, impoſing on none. Yet even thus, tho' there be leſs diſobedience, there is no leſs contempt. For thoſe that will have Prayers of others compoſing uſed, when there is alſo choice of them; Do they not offer an affront to the Apoſtles, with the aggravations forementioned, if they neglect theirs, and uſe and impoſe others?

And if the Apoſtles did not injoyn the uſe of their ſuppoſed Liturgies, nor would impoſe them on any, Why are they not imitated herein? Why, having leſs Authority, (to ſay nothing of Wiſdom) do our Liturgiſts take more upon them, than the Apoſtles would do, in impoſing on thoſe, whom they thought beſt to leave free; and imperiouſly preſcribing their own weak inventions, or others, weaker and worſe than their own, when the Apoſtles, Divinely Inſpired, did not ſo much as adviſe the uſe of their ſuppoſed Forms?

p. 154But if they do not know, nor really believe, (as the premiſſes perſwade me they do not) that thoſe Forms and Prayers, or any of them, are the Apoſtles; Is it ingenuous to offer that for proof, which they do not themſelves believe?

Let us then leave them to thoſe who can believe them, which I ſhall wonder if any can, but thoſe who have a Faith at Command, (when it will ſerve a turn) wide enough to ſwallow a Jacobus de Voragine without mincing.

If I have ſtayed the longer here, they will, I hope, bear with me, who tender the honour of the Apoſtles, and of the Divine and Infallible Spirit, to whoſe inſpirations we owe all their writings; and would not have them lie under the unſufferable reproach, of having ſuch deformed Brats fathered on them; which indeed were the iſſue of darkneſs and degeneracy, and the Ages wherein thoſe prevailed; but borrowed thoſe great and ſacred names, to hide their ſhame, and gain them reputation, in a World much under the power of deluſion, where alone it was to be hoped for.

Thus we have cleared the firſt Three hundred Years after Chriſt, from all ſuſpicion of Worſhipping God publickly, in the way under debate; having examined all that is alledged, either for preſcribed or arbitrary Forms; and finding nothing of weight therein, to ſway a diſintereſſed perſon, to believe there was any ſuch thing, or to procure the aſſent of any, but thoſe who are diſpoſed to yield it without proof: And ſince that is not found to have been the way of the Three Firſt Ages of Chriſtianity, it is not very conſiderable, nor ſcarce worth the inquiry, in what times elſe this may be found, a way of worſhipping God in publick Aſſemblies, p. 155for which there is nothing in the Apoſtles writings or practice, or in the practice of the Firſt Churches, and thoſe after them for Three hundred Years; and ſo, neither rule, nor reaſon, nor example, in the beſt and moſt imitable Ages; where alſo, their way of Worſhipping is deſerted, who ſerved God moſt regularly and acceptably: If it find any thing to excuſe it, it will have nothing to commend it to any, unleſs we will admit thoſe of ſuch Palates to be our Taſters, who like a Puddle better than either the Spring or the Streams while they run any thing clear.

In the two next Ages, foreign, things grew worſe and worſe, Chryſ. in 1 Cor. Hom. p. 277. as he tells us, who reſolutely ſet himſelf againſt the Stream of the then prevailing corruptions, but found it too violent for him, and warned others by what beſel him, that to ſtrive againſt it, was the way to be ſunk. Thoſe, who have no great affection for theſe Liturgies, will not envy them the honour of having their riſe in ſuch degeneracy, as the beſt Writers of thoſe days ſaw ſo much cauſe to lament. The chief, if not the only ornament of thoſe times, were thoſe great perſons, who had ſuch reaſon to complain thereof. And many there were excellently accompliſhed, in the Fourth Age, and ſome till about the middle of the Fifth. It may ſeem ſomething for the credit of theſe Liturgies, if they can be found in the Church, while there was any thing of ſuch eminency in it; let us therefore view what is produced, as a diſcovery thereof.

The Eighteenth Canon of the Council of Laodicea is alledged for preſcribed Liturgies, p. 374. Titulus in Crab. de Orationibus quotidianis, foreign p. 156foreign, That the ſame miniſtration of Prayers, ought to be both at Evening, and at the Ninth hour, viz. Three in the Afternoon.

Hence it is argued, The ſame Prayers are to be uſed, both at Nones and Veſpers; therefore Forms of Prayer are impoſed. But this is a very lame inference; for, neither is the Conſequence good, neither is the Antecedent true.

The inconſequence is apparent, ſince the ſame Prayers may be uſed often, and yet not the words thereof preſcribed or impoſed. We have inſtances enough, to clear this, in our Pulpits; where many, before their Sermons, and after, uſe the ſame Prayers Morning and Evening, whereas none preſcribe the words, or impoſe thoſe Forms on them, but themſelves. And ſo we might diſmiſs this Canon, as making nothing for preſcribed Forms. If this Synod would have had the ſame Prayers uſed; yet here's not a Syllable for preſcribing the words thereof, or injoyning what Forms ſhould be uſed.

But indeed here's nothing to ſignifie, that it was the intent of the Synod, to have the ſame Prayers uſed, at the times ſpecified; neither the whole phraſe (foreign) nor any word in it imports ſuch a thing; and they make the Fathers abſurd, who fix ſuch a ſenſe on their Decree. foreign will not ſerve the turn; for it does not here (as in later times) ſignifie a Book or Model of preſcribed and ſtinted Forms of Prayer, and other Adminiſtrations. Indeed, as ſome Papiſts, where they meet with this word, conclude they have found their Maſs; ſo others, when they p. 155find it, may fancy they have diſcovered a Service-Book: But both ridiculouſly, to thoſe who underſtand the Antient uſe of the word.

For, no inſtance hath yet been produced, nor can be, wherein it is uſed in this ſenſe, by any of the Antients, before this Council, or long after: And therefore none will believe it is ſo taken here, but ſuch, whoſe deſire to have it ſo, will ſerve for reaſon enough to believe it.

But ccforeign, Suidas Lex. foreign, Origen contr. Celſ. l. 8. p. 428. Theodoret, Hiſt. l. 2. c. 24.foreign, according to the Notation and Antient known uſe of the word, denotes ſometimes a publick Function or Office, moſt commonly the Exerciſe and Adminiſtration of it, foreign, exerciſe of their Function, Synod. Epiſt. Nic. in Theodoret. l. 1. c. 9. vid. Con. Antioch. can. in cod. 97. and then it is not the Forms of Action, but the Action it ſelf, the publick uſe, imployment, exerciſe, or miniſtration of that, to which it is applyed, Civil or Religious, applyed to Worſhip; it is not the Forms of Worſhip, but the Miniſtration of it; ſo, foreign, in Theodoret, is not a model of preſcribed Hymns, but the ſinging of Hymns; ſo foreign, in ddforeign, Anth. Collot. 2. Tit. 3. cap. 11. foreign, is in the Code, foreign, id. ibid. Prayers and Liturgy are ſometimes contradiſtinct, as when privatae domus, foreign, ſed non foreign, Novel. 58. foreign & foreign diſtinct. Cod. lib. 1. tit. 3. de Epiſt. & Cler. p. 51. Epiſcopum aleatorum aut ſpectatorum, &c. foreign, Cod. p. 87.Titus 3Juſtinian, is the Holy exerciſe of p. 158reading the Scripture, not a Rubrick preſcribing what Leſſons ſhould be read; of which the Antient Church knew nothing: And, (which comprizes all) he will have him capitally puniſhed, foreign, whoſoever foreign, Anth. Coll. 9. tit. 6. c. 31. the diſturbance ſure is of the Exerciſes of Divine Miniſtrations, not of any Written Models. So foreign, in Theophylact and others, is Preaching; which Exerciſe will not be denied to have been performed without any preſcribed Forms, for many Hundred years.

So, applyed to Prayer, foreign, here is not a Model of preſcribed Prayers, but the Exerciſe of Praying; and therefore, unleſs we will perfer a ſenſe of the word then utterly unknown to Chriſtians, before the proper and eeSo part of the Presbyters Miniſtration, foreign, Conc. An…r. is foreign and foreign, to Offer and Preach, Can. 1. And the Deacons imployment, or foreign, is foreign, Can. 2. And there's the foreign of the Deaconeſs her Miniſtration, Con. Chalced. Can. 15. foreign.uſual acception of it, foreign, is not the ſame preſcribed Forms of Prayer, or the ſame of any ſort; but the ſame Exerciſe of Prayer, when p. 159long, was better performed, and may be ſuch without ſuch Forms.

If foreign had been put by the Synod in the place of foreign ffforeign, Theoplylact. in Act. 13. So Oecumenius, ibid. So Chryſoſtom, in Act. Hom. 27. p. 766. foreign, Euſeb. vit. Conſt. l. 4. c. 45. foreign, Chryſoſt. in Rom. Hom. 29. p. 221. ver. 16.Acts 13(a word apt to be miſtaken, ſince it was applyed to a later invention) nothing would have been underſtood hereby, but a Holy Exerciſe, or as it is in Heſychius, foreign a Sacred Imployment; and by the whole, no other, than the ſame Holy Exerciſe of Prayer, inſtead of what is now made of it, the ſame Prayers: And yet theſe two words were of the ſame import Antiently. The Apoſtle expreſſes his acting as a foreign by foreign, Rom. 15. 16. and Chryſoſtom uſeth them as Synonyma's, in the place forecited, Hom. 29. in Rom. p. 221. and Balſamon in Syn. Ancyr. explains foreign by foreign.

Again, for the phraſe, let it be obſerved, that the expreſſion is not foreign: this indeed might have ſignified the uſe of the ſame Prayers. But foreign is no more here the Praying of the ſame Prayers, at Three and Six Afternoon, than foreign would have been the Preaching of the ſame Sermon Twice in one Afternoon. And as there might have been foreign, the ſame exerciſe of Singing at Nones and Veſpers, without Singing the ſame Pſalms at both Hours; and the ſame Service p. 160or Exerciſe of reading the Scripture, tho' the ſame Chapters had not been read, or any by the preſcript of a Rubrick; and the ſame Miniſtry or Exerciſe of Preaching, tho' the ſame Sermons had not been Preached twice over within Three hours, or without uſing any ſet Forms of Homilies: As well might there be foreign, the ſame exerciſe of Praying at the Third and Sixth hours, without uſing the ſame Prayers, or any ſet Forms at all.

Beſides, no rational account can be given, why the ſame Prayers muſt be uſed at Six, which were uſed at Three Afternoon. No Decree, parallel to this (if ſo taken) can be produced; nor any thing, in the practice of the Church, before or after, agreeable to it. Where can it be ſhewed, that the ſame Prayers, without variation, were always u…ed, at ſeveral hours of the ſame day, the ſame invariably at the Sixth hour, as at the Ninth, &c. Even after unalterable Forms were introduced, their ſeveral hours had their different Offices; each of them, in the Latin Church, did ſtatui tempo…is reſpondere, and were ſuited to the time, for which they were appointed, as ggSane off…cium ſextae ſtatui temporis reſpondet, ſicut & officia aliarum h…rarum; in prima namque hora eſt inchoatio, in tertia perfectus, in ſexta conſummatio, &c. Quod indicant vorba hymnorum, quae in ipſts horis, & etiam in nona permittuntur, Durand. ra…i…nal. l. 5. c. 7. p. 160.Durandus tells us: And in the Greek Church, they did foreign, as Leo, accomodate the Service to the ſeaſon.

p. 161Beda ſpeaks of a Hymn ſung, potius In Durand. l. 5. c. 9. p. 162.in veſpertinis, quam in aliis Officiis, Vita Chryſoſt. p. 288. rather at Veſpers than in any other Office. And Baſ…l, long before him, mentions one, which he calls foreign, which was uſed at hhIn the Cathemerinon of Prudentius, containing Hym…s for all parts of the day; the Fifth (in the Editions of Al…s, and all other, but thoſe of Giſelinus and Fabricius) is intituled ad accenſionem lucernae, and was afterward made uſe of as a Church Hymn, different, both from thoſe Four that go before it, (ad Galli cantum, ad M…tutim…m, ante Cibum, post Cibum) and thoſe two that follow it, vid. Rivet. crit. Sacr. l. 3. c. 26. p. 331.Candle-light, foreign, de Spir. Sanct. cap. 29. p. 276. And ſuch a one we have ſet down, by the Learnedeſt of Primates, de Symb. p. 35. called, foreign: ſo proper for the Evening, as it could not be congruouſly uſed at any other hour of the day. What reaſon is there to doubt, but their foreign, as Epiphanius calls them, … or thoſe foreign, Prayers at Candle-light, in Socrat. Hiſt. l. 5. c. 22. were alſo accommodated to the time, from whence they are denominated, and at which they were uſed, as well as their Hymns? To conclude, there is no need to make the Canon thus confound the Offices, which were always diſtinct, and without all reaſon, to run counter to all the Chriſtian World; nor to force a ſenſe upon the phraſe, which it is impatient of; nor to put a conſtruction upon foreign, which thoſe times were utterly ſtrangers to. The deſign and import of it is but this; That thoſe in that Province, ſhould aſſemble p. 162for Worſhip Twice after Noon; and as they had Prayers at one of the hours, ſo ſhould they have the ſame holy Imployment or Exerciſe at the other; or as it is more briefly expreſſed, in the Latin Editions of that Council, Quod ſemper ſupplicationes orationum, & ad horam nonam, & ad iiIn Clem. Constit. l. 8. foreign, & foreign, & foreign, are diſtinct and different, cap. 35, 36, 37, 38.veſperam oportet celebrari, Caranz. Quod id ipſum miniſterium orationum, & in nonis & veſperis fieri debeat, Cod. Juſtell. p. 73. Quod id ipſum officium precum & nona & veſpera ſemper debeat exhiberi, in Crab. t. 1. p. 377.

This Canon of the Laodicean Synod (which I have been the longer in examining, becauſe I ſee ſome apt to miſtake it, who have not ſo much byaſs as others, to miſlead them) is all conſiderable, that I find alledged for preſcribed kkLiturgy, in Martinius and others, 1. for any publick Office of Miniſtry, and eſpecially of Diſtribution. 2. for the publick ſervice of God, in Reading, Teaching, Praying. 3. for ſtated Orders and Forms of that publick Service. Bellarmin add… a fourth, for the Sacrificing Offices only.Liturgies, in the Fourth Age. For I would not diſparage all, with the unadviſedneſs of thoſe, who produce the Twenty third Canon of Con. Carth. 3. (and alſo the Twelfth of Milevis) to ſupport that, which we have ſeen, they utterly overthrow.

Only I muſt not forget, that ſome make an offer at the Liturgies, which go under the names of Baſil and Chryſostom; as tho' theſe would help their cauſe. But they do this but faintly, as knowing them to be, by Proteſtants, generally branded for counterfeits; and that for many reaſons, ſuch p. 163as their oppoſites count very cogent, in like caſe: Such being the order and matter of them, ſuch rites there uſed, ſuch perſons there mentioned, many words, many things therein, that they cannot but ridiculouſly be aſcribed to thoſe great Perſons, or to any, in, or near their times. Our Engliſh Prelates formerly had no more favour for them; take a taſte thereof in Biſhop White's cenſure of them: The Liturgies, ſaith he, Fathered upon St. Baſil and St. Chryſoſtom, have a known Mother (to wit, the late Roman Church;) but there is (beſides many other juſt exceptions) ſo great diſſimilitude between the ſuppoſed Fathers and the Children, that they rather argue the diſhoneſt dealing of their Mother, than ſerve as lawful witneſſes, of that which the Adverſary intendeth to prove by them. Againſt Fiſher p. 377. Indeed the Romaniſts are the great ſticklers, for the Legitimation of theſe Miſſals, ſeeing them full of thoſe ſores, which they count the beauty of their Church. They are made uſe of, to countenance the worſhip of Images and Altars, the Interceſſion and Invocation of Saints, the Sacrifice of the Maſs, the Real Preſence, the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, &c. And yet none of them have the confidence to affirm, that as we have them now, they were the iſſue of thoſe, on whom they are Fathered. Only ſome, very loth quite to loſe the advantages they would make of them, are willing to ſupppoſe, that tho' they have ſuffered very great changes, by additions, interpolations, inverſions, ſubſtractions, &c. yet ſomething may yet remain therein of Baſil's and Chryſoſtom's. But they give no reaſon, why they ſuppoſe this, when it is neceſſary they ſhould do it, p. 164in this caſe, if any; ſince there are the ſame grounds, for the intire rejection of theſe Liturgies, which they count (and many more than they count) ſufficient for the total rejecting of ſome others. If ſuch groundleſs ſurmizes may be admitted, no Brat, tho' evidently ſpurious, but will procure a Legitimation, in part at leaſt, if any can expect thereby to ſerve a turn; a way is hereby opened, for an equal defence of the moſt impudent and pernicious forgeries, that the Church hath been peſtered with. Some will be apt to ſuppoſe the like of the Liturgies, Fathered upon Peter, James, Mark, and all the Apoſtles, in their pretended Conſtitutions. Something therein may be theirs, and they may as reaſonably ſuppoſe it; for the Goſpels, which went under the names of Peter, llThoſe mentioned in Synopſi Scripturae, in Athanaſ. tom. 2. p. 134. foreign, &c.James, Thaddeus, Thomas, Andrew, tho' they were changed and corrupted, yet what was found therein conſentient to Primitive and Catholick Doctrine, might be the Apoſtles, and the ſubſtance of them of their compoſing. It's true, thoſe Goſpels were not received by the firſt Churches, but that makes no difference; ſince neither were thoſe Liturgies received by them, no nor known, or mentioned, as we ſhewed before, (and ſo not extant) till many Hundred years after the Apoſtles times; and upon this account, their pretence to Apoſtolicalneſs, is more ridiculous than that of the other. And they, who received thoſe ſpurious Liturgies ſo late, might, upon the ſame terms, p. 165have admitted the forged Goſpels, viz. changing and patching them, as they liſted. But enough of this before.

As for the Liturgies before us; thoſe who will ſuppoſe ſomething of them to be Baſil's or Chryſoſtom's, do not, cannot ſh…w us, what that is; nor do they, nor can they, give us any Rule by which we may know it; and ſo it is not, it cannot be known, that any Prayer in them is theirs, to whom the whole is intituled: And therefore it cannot be hereby proved, that ever either of them compoſed any Prayers, for the publick uſe of others; much leſs that they preſcribed any to be uſed, in the ſame Form and Words. And ſo, if this ſhift were honeſt, and ſafe, and reaſonable; yet is it wholly unſerviceable for the proof of preſcribed Liturgies. To be brief, It is manifeſt, in the genuine Writings of both thoſe Fathers, that they judged it neceſſary, to conceal and keep ſecret the Sacramental Rites and Prayers (which is all that is conſiderable in thoſe Liturgies) from all but the Communicants: Now, they did not take the courſe to conceal, but divulge them, if they writ and publiſhed thoſe Liturgies, tho' but for the common uſe of the Province or Dioceſs, where each of them preſided; and therefore, ſince we cannot conceive, that they would run counter to their declared principles, it cannot be believed, that they were the Authors and divulgers of thoſe, or any other ſuch Liturgies, or of any ſuch Prayers in them; and conſequently, it is injurious to them, to Father theſe Miſſals (if they were not otherwiſe ſo Leprous, and every way unlike them) upon theſe Worthies.

p. 166And ſo I leave them, ſtufft ſo full with the corruptions of later times, that none but thoſe who are fond of ſuch corruptions, and would fain have them, right or wrong, of Antient generous extract, can believe them to be the iſſue of thoſe Fathers; only let me interpoſe my conjecture, how it came to paſs, that Baſil, Chryſoſtom, and Ambroſe too, were accounted the Authors of Liturgies, tho' neither themſelves, nor any that lived with them, or near the time in which they flouriſhed, mention any ſuch thing. It is recorded of each of theſe perſons, ſignally and peculiarly, that they introduced a new mode and order of Singing, into the reſpective Churches, where they preſided, never there uſed before. Baſil's new Pſalmody, brought in by him to Caeſarea, was made more remarkable, by the offence taken thereat by the Clergy of Neocaeſarea, as an innovation in the Worſhip of God: He defends it, and gives an account what it was, Epiſt. 63. foreign: If the cauſe be asked of this implacable and perpetual quarrel, they ſay, It is the Pſalms, and the mode of ſinging, altering the cuſtom, which hath been retained amongſt us. And afterwards, foreign, There was none of this (ſay they) in the time of Gregory the Great. Now Baſil denies not, but he had begun another way of ſinging, than they had been accuſtomed to; but that it might appear, how little reaſon there was to quarrel with him for it, he declares what it was, foreign, &c. finally, riſing from Prayer, they betake p. 167themſelves to ſinging, and ſometimes the Company being diſtributed into two parts, they anſwer one another in ſinging. The Firſt who brought up this mode of ſinging, mmforeign, Theodoret Hist. l. 2. cap. 24. p. 78. And by this it appears, that the account, which Socrates gives of the Original hereof, is a fable, lib. 6. c. 8. and either not known, or not believed by Theodoret, who yet was beſt acquainted with the cuſtoms of Antioch.was Flavianus and Diodorus at Antioch, uſing it in their Conventicles, when the Arians had poſſeſt themſelves of the publick Churches, as Theodoret relates it l. From thence it paſt to other places, and was firſt at Caeſarea, practiſed by Baſil.

Ambroſe, who borrowed many other things of Baſil, liked his Pſalmody ſo well, as he introduced it into the Weſt, firſt uſing it in his Church at nnNon longe coeperat Mediolanenſis Eccleſia genus hoc conſolationis & exhortationis celebrare, magno ſtudio fratrum concinentium vocibus & cordibus.—Et ex illo in ho…ernum retentum multis, jam ac pene omnibus gregibus tuis, & per caetera orbis imitantibus, Auguſt. Confeſſ. lib. 9. cap. 7. p. 221.Milan, and this when Auguſtin was there, who aſſures us, from his own knowledge, that it was not long ſince the practice there begun; Nimirum annus erat, aut non multo amplius, cum Juſtina Valentiniani Regis pueri Mater hominem tuum Ambroſium perſequeretur haereſis ſuae cauſa; it was but a Year, or little more (before Auſtin was leaving thoſe parts) when Juſtina the Mother of the young Emperour Valentinian perſecuted p. 168the ſervant of God Ambroſe, for her Hereſies ſake (ſhe being an Arian.) Excubabat pia plebs in eccleſia mori parata cum Epiſcopo ſuo. Tunc Hymni & Pſalmi, ut canerentur ſecundum morem orientalium partium, ne populus moeroris …aedio contabeſceret, inſtitutum eſt, The Godly multitude did watch in the Church, ready to die with their Biſhop; then, leſt the People ſhould languiſh through the tediouſneſs of their grief, was the ſinging of Pſalms and Hymns, after the mode of the Orient, inſtituted. And from Milan, where Ambroſe ooAntiphona in Eccleſia Mediolanenſi celebrari primum coeperunt, cujus celebritatis devotio, uſque ad hodieruum diem, non ſolum in eadem Eccleſia, vecum per omnes pene Occidentis provincias manet, Paulin. vit. Ambroſ. Beſides, ſome Hymns were compoſed by Ambroſe; of which, there is antient and ſufficient teſtimony, tho' none ſuch for the Prayers aſcribed to him.began it, did it paſs into other Churches of the Weſt. Paulinus teſtifies as much in the Life of Ambroſe.

And Chryſoſtom was the firſt that brought in this order of ſinging amongſt the Orthodox, in the Church at Conſtantinople, tho' the Arians had a little the ſtart of him in practiſing it in the Streets; for there, in the Nights of the Weekly Feſtivals, as Socrates calls Saturday and the Lord's day, l. 6. c. 8. & foreign (which Sozomen adds) foreign, they ſung by courſe, l. c. foreign, in Socrat. ibid. Chryſoſtom, leſt any of his Flock ſhould be hereby inticed from him, puts his People upon ſinging in the ſame manner, foreign p. 169foreign; and upon ſuch an occaſion the Orthodox, firſt taking up this mode of ſinging, continued it till now, ſays he; foreign, Soz. Hiſt. lib. 8. cap. 8. Now, as theſe three Fathers were the firſt introducers of that way of ſinging, in their ſeveral Churches; ſo it is further obſervable, that ſinging was antiently called foreign. So Chryſoſtom himſelf calls ſinging of Pſalms, foreign, Homil. in Pſal. 41. And Theodoret calls that very mode of ſinging, which they in their reſpective places firſt uſed, foreign. Leontius his deſire, that the Meletians would ſing by courſe in publick, is thus expreſſed, foreign, Hiſt. lib. 2. c. 24. p. 78.

So in Juſtinian's Code, foreign, is ſaid to be foreign. And thus foreign is there foreign, L. 42. §. 10. de Epiſc. & Cler.

Now, they being found Authors of that which is called Liturgia, this might ſeem a ſufficient ground, to account them the formers of Liturgies; and foreign in after Ages, being uſed for a model of ſet Forms of Prayer and other Adminiſtrations, thoſe that found them accounted the Authors of Liturgies, might eaſily miſtake them to be the Authors of ſuch a thing, as the word then ſignified.

Nor will this ſeem improbable, if it be obſerved, that a Liturgy was actually fathered upon James (called foreign) meerly becauſe Hegeſippus in Euſebius ſtiles him foreign, Ʋnde quidam putant opinionem natam, quod Jacobus primus miſſae ritum p. 170inſtituerit, quem Hegeſippus apud Euſebium primum ab Apoſtolis conſtitutum fuiſſe Epiſcopum, & Liturgum dicit, ſays Caſſander, ppCaſſander, Liturgic. c. 6. p. 16. Egeſippus apud Euſebium, de Jacobo inquit, eum ab Apoſtolis primum conſtitutum fuiſſe Epiſcopum & Liturgum, i. e. ſacrarum & divinarum rerum Adminiſtratorem. Unde quidam putant opinionem natam, quod Jacobus primus miſſae ritum inſtituerit.in Liturgic. c. 6. Hence, ſome think, came the opinion, that James was the firſt Author of a Miſſal; Hegeſippus in Euſebius affirming, that he was by the Apoſtles firſt made Biſhop and Liturgus. And this might incourage thoſe, whoſe inclinations led them to father their own conceptions upon great and eminent Perſons; to compoſe ſuch Forms, as are the Contents of thoſe Liturgies, and expoſe them under their Names.

Add hereto, that amongſt the Latines in thoſe Ages, when the framing and counterfeiting of Liturgies was in faſhion, almoſt every part of them went under the name of Cantus, not the Prayers excepted. So qqComponuntur miſſae, ſive preces, vel orationes, ſive commendationes, ſive manûs impoſitiones, ex quibus ſi nulla decantentur in Eccleſia, vacant omnia officia eccleſiaſtica, Conc. Tolet. 4. c. 12.Syn. Tolet. 4. can. 12. all the ſeveral Offices and Prayers by name, paſs under the notion of Singing. The Law of Charles the Great, impoſing the Gregorian Office upon the Churches in his Dominions, is in theſe terms, Ʋt ſecundum ordinem & morem Eccleſiae Romanae fiat cantatus, Capit. l. 6. c. 225. So when Durandus would tell us what Liturgies they had in the primitive Church, all is compriſed under Cantare; In primitiva tamen Eccleſia diverſi diverſa quiſque p. 171pro ſuo velle cantabant, Rational. l. 5. c. 2. p. 139. In the primitive Church, ſeveral Men ſung ſeveral things, according as every one would. And Belethus after him, in primitiva Eccleſia diverſi diverſa cantabant, quiſque pro ſuo libitu. Expl. diver. Offic. cap. 19.

Now thoſe, who were the introducers of a particular way of ſinging in their Churches, might thus come to be accounted the Authors of Liturgies for them, when theſe were expreſſed and underſtood by cantus, and cantare became equivalent with foreign in its modern ſignification. And it will be hard for them, who aſcribe a Liturgy to Jer…me, to give any better account to the World than this, why they do ſo. It was believed, that by his means, the ſame mode and order of ſinging was firſt uſed at Rome. That rrUt Alleluiah hic diceretur, de Hieroſolymorum eccleſia, ex Beati Hieronymi traditione, tempore beatae memoriae Damaſi Papae traditur, tractum. Gregor. M. l. 7. Epiſt. 63.Alleluiah, after the Eaſtern mode, was by his advice there ſung; and the Doxology, ſecundum uſum ſſSecundum Antiochiae uſum, in ſine omnium pſalmorum, Gloria Patri Romae cantare, eo…inſtante, coeptum eſt ..... do emendante Roma legendos canendoſque in eccleſia 70 Pſalmos ſuſcepit, Marian. vita Hieronym. Pati item charitatem tuam, ut, ſicut à creatore tuo Alexandro coëpiſcopo noſtro didiciſti in gremio Graecorum pſallere: ita ad nos tua fraternitas dirigere delectetur, Epiſt. Damaſi, in operibus Hieronymi, tom. 9. p. 219. edit. Marian.Antiochiae, where, as I ſhewed before, Singing by courſe was firſt invented; and that Pope Damaſus writ to him for his direction, how the Grecians mode of ſinging might be practiſed at Rome. Hence Durandus p. 172ſays, cantum ordinavit, and nothing elſe, but an Order for reading the Scripture. So, upon theſe grounds, an Eccleſiaſticum Officium is aſcribed to him, and he is made the Author of a Liturgy, made up in time of a Lectionary, an Antiphonary, and a Sacramentary, as Pamelius repreſents it.

Theſe forementioned, were the moſt eminent Perſons, both in Eaſt and Weſt, in thoſe times, when the Church flouriſhed with Perſons of greateſt eminency, for Learning and Oratory. Now, when Liturgies were all in all, (the happineſs of the antient Church, and the excellency of its Paſtors in Preaching and Praying, being turned by the lamentable degeneracy of the following Ages, into ttEt poſtremo, omnes ordines, majores & minores, tandem transformati ſunt in lectores & cantatores: quid enim aliud quotidie agunt? Chemnit. exam. Pars 2. p. 415.Chanting and Reading) it behoved thoſe, who were Zealous for their honour, they having no worth of their own, to borrow or uuReſtincto inde valde ſtudiorum omnium ac religionis apud …os ardore, in paucis ejuſmodi preculis, earumque fere ſola recitatione, nimis ſegniter, vulgo amant acquieſcere & immori, Hoornb. ſum. controv. l. 11. de Graec. p. 886.ſteal ſome for them, from great names; and to have them thought of noble deſcent, that the meanneſs of their true and lawful Parents might not diſcredit them. In theſe circumſtances, a ſmaller matter, than I have inſiſted on, would ſerve to prove their title and pretence to an extract ſo honourable. This might well incourage ſome to intitle their Liturgies to thoſe Worthies, and call them their Fathers, and might perſwade others, who were p. 173willing enough to have it ſo (for the credit of their Churches that uſed them) to believe it was ſo indeed. But this, as I ſaid, is but my conjecture; but whether it were ſo or otherwiſe, let others judge, as they ſee reaſon. It ſuffices me, that theſe Liturgies are ſpurious, and ſo generally accounted, in a manner by all, but thoſe, who are engaged in a cauſe that needs ſuch a defence; and to uphold their trade, muſt deal in falſe Wares, and ſo ſee cauſe to plead for them, againſt very much of that reaſon, a little of which they themſelves count a ſufficient evidence of forgery, in caſes, where ſuch an intereſt is not concerned.

The next Authority I meet with, is the Fifteenth Canon of the Vinetick Synod, in which Six Biſhops, towards the concluſion of the Fifth Age, made this Decree, Rectum quoque duximus, ut vel intra Provinciam noſtram, ſacrorum ordo & pſallendi una ſit conſuetudo; We have alſo thought it right, that, as to the order of Sacred Adminiſtrations and Singing, there be wwAuguſt. Ep. ad Januar. 118. c. 6. Apoſtolus de hoc ſacramento loquens, ſtatim ſubiexuit: Caetera cum venero ordinabo; unde intelligi datur (quia multum erat ut in Epiſtola totum illum agendi ordinem inſinuaret, quam univerſa per orbem ſervat eccleſia) ab ipſo ordinatum eſſe, quod nulla morum variatur diverſitate. vid. Three poſitions about Publick Prayers.one cuſtom through our Province. What is intended here by ordo ſacrorum, may be beſt underſtood by the Council of Agatha, being a Synod of the ſame Country, held not long after this of Vannes, that in the beginning of the Sixth Age, an. 506. this p. 174in the latter end of the Fifth. There Can. 21. xxEt quia convenit, ordinem eccleſiae ab omnibus aequaliter custodiri, ſtatuendum eſt (ſicut ubique fit) ut poſt Antiphonas, collationes, ab Epiſcopis vel Presbyteris, dicantur. Et Hymni matutini vel veſpertini decantentur diebus omnibus, & in concluſione matutinarum vel veſpertinarum, & miſſarum, poſt Hymnos, capitula de Pſalmis dicantur, & plebs collecta oratione ad veſperam ab Epiſcopo cum benedictione dimittatur, Concil. Agath. Can. 21.Ordo eccleſiae ab omnibus aqualiter cuſtodiendus, is the diſpoſing of the Reſponſals, Prayers, Hymns, and Pſalms, each in the place thought moſt fit (according to Auguſtin's definition of Ordo, eſt parium diſpariumque rerum, ſuae cuique loca tribuens, diſpoſitio, Civ. Dei. l. 19. c. 13.) and ſo, applyed to Sacred Adminiſtrations, Ordo, eſtabliſhed by a Synod, if it reached all particulars, will amount to no more, than a Rubrick or Directory. One and the ſame might be obſerved by all the Churches in a Province, in all Offices, yea and in Prayers too; tho' the ſame expreſſions were not uſed, nor thoſe that officiated, at all tied up to Words and Syllables: For example; If, in the common Office (at which all might be preſent) they began with Pſalms, and then read ſome part of the Law, or Prophets, and next ſome part of an Epiſtle, or of the Goſpels, and afterwards proceeded to the Sermon; the ſame order was obſerved, yyHic ordo pſallendi, is not qui Pſalmi, but quot; requires not the ſame, but ſo many Pſalms to be uſed, Syn. Turon. 2. c…n. 19. in Crab. 14. in Caranza. A Council in the ſame Country with the former, an. 570. Cyril Catech. Myſtag. 5. p. 259. Vidiſtis Diaconum foreign. foreign. Poſtea clamat Sacerdos, foreign, p. 240. Vos deinde reſpondetis, foreign. Dicit deinde Sacerdos, foreign. Vos dicitis, foreign. foreign, quae in Spiritu Sancto canebat Eſaias, circumstantia Thronum Dei—atque dicentia, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth—ſic per ejuſmodi Hymnos nos ipſos ſanctificames, Deum benigniſſimum oramus, foreign.tho' the ſame Pſalms were not always ſung, nor the ſame Leſſon twice in a Year, and the ſame Sermon never twice Preached: So p. 175for the Prayers, if according to the order ſpecified, Con. Laodic. Can. 18. firſt Prayers were made for the Catechumens, then for the Penitents, after that for the Faithful. And, if in that office peculiar to the Faithful, the Prayers be ordered, as Auguſtin thought the Apoſtles method was, Epiſt. 59. ſo as firſt Prayer be made for all ſorts; then the zzDeinde, poſtquam confectum eſt illud Spirituale Sacrificium, & ille cultus incruentus ſuper ipſa propitiationis hoſtia, foreign. Then follows what Rivet ſays, is interpolated, foreign, primum Patriarcharum, …, Apoſt… lorum Martyrum; foreign, deinde pro defunctis, &c. p. 241. foreign, Lord's Prayer which he expounds, 242, 243. Expleta oratione dicit foreign. Sacerdos poſtea dicit, foreign vos reſpondetis, foreign, deinde audiſtis pſallentem, ac ad communionem adhortantem, foreign. Accedens ad communionem, oſtendit quomodo, &c. foreign. Poſtremo exaltata oratione foreign, qui te tantis myſteriis divinum reddidit.Elements be Conſecrated; after that the People p. 176Bleſſed; and the Elements being diſtributed, all be concluded with Thankſgiving: The ſame order of Prayer is obſerved, tho' the ſame Prayers be no more uſed, than the ſame Pſalms or Leſſons always, or the ſame Sermon more than once. And the ſame is to be underſtood of the 27. Can. Con. Epam. an. 517. in Bl.

But, if I minded not the diſcovery of the truth, more than upholding of my opinion, or diſproving of yours; I would grant, that by Ordo is underſtood a Liturgy with preſcribed Prayers; and it would be a great diſadvantage to your cauſe, to grant it; for here's a plain ſignification, they had no ſuch Liturgy before, and the Original hereof from Six Biſhops, in one Province of France, where Fifteen or Seventeen, and this not till the latter end of the Fifth Age, when all foreign.

And this is all, which I can find alledged in behalf of theſe Liturgies for Five hundred Years after Chriſt, that is conſiderable, unleſs the Hymns Benedicite and Te Deum may be counted worthy of conſideration: And ſo perhaps they may be accounted, if not otherwiſe, yet in reſpect of the Perſons, that ſo make uſe of them.

p. 177But the inference is not good, from Forms of Hymns to Forms of Prayer; much leſs from arbitrary Forms of Hymns, to preſcribed Forms of Prayer, or Liturgies. Hymns are more elaborate, require more Art and Ornament than Prayers: and therefore, thoſe who are not for ſet Forms of Prayer, if they admit Hymns of humane and ordinary compoſition, ſee reaſon to have them in Forms, and not without premeditation. And their Oppoſites will not deny them here more needful.

Nor will the Inference hold, from preſcribed Hymns to preſcribed Liturgies, from a ſmall part (for which there is a different reaſon) to the whole Ex. Gr. If Nicephorus his report were true, lib. 14. cap. 46. that Theodoſius Junior, with his Siſter Pulcheria, injoyned the foreign (a Hymn of ſix or eight Words) to be ſung throughout the World (which yet he makes queſtionable, by adding ſuch a Legend of its miraculous original) could it be inſer'd from thence, that they injoyned the whole World the ſame Liturgy? Beſides, Hymns there were preſcribed and ſo uſed (viz. the Pſalms of David, and others of Divine Inſpiration) in the Apoſtles times, when all our Liturgiſts in a manner, acknowledge there were no preſcribed Liturgies.

As for thoſe two Hymns alledged, there is no evidence, that they were impoſed, or ſo much as uſed, in any time, which will ſerve to prove the Antiquity of thoſe Liturgies, which is pretended, or any which is for their reputation. That which begins with Te Deum, is found by the great aaEpiſt. ante diatribam de Symbolo, p. 2.Ʋſher, p. 178in ſome Antient Manuſcripts aſcribed to Nicetius (who, if it be he of Triers, lived till after an. 565.) He concurs herein with Menardus, that it is not mentioned in any Author antienter than the Rules which Benet writ for the Monks of his Order, which was about the middle of the Sixth Age, as may be collected from Baronius; and thoſe Rules had their firſt publick approbation, an. 595. How long after this, that Hymn came to be uſed in the Church, and when it was thought fit to be impoſed, is not worth the inquiring.

The other, called the Song of the Three Children, I have no where diſcovered, before the Fourth Council of Toledo. It is mentioned, Can. 13. as uſed before, but then firſt impoſed, an. 633. Such like Hymns were ſo far from being generally preſcribed in the former Ages, that the uſe of them is forbidden in Publick, by Synods, both in the Greek and Latin Church. Conc. Laod. Can. ult. foreign: that private (or uncanonical) Pſalms ought not to be uſed in the Church, neither Books that are not Canonical, but only the Canonical (Books) of the Old and New Teſtament. Where foreign ſeems by the clauſe following, to be oppoſed to foreign, as writings foreign are, by the Apoſtle, 2 Pet. 1. 20, 21. oppoſed to thoſe of Divine Inſpiration. So that the Fathers of Laodicea, as they prohibit any Books but thoſe that were Canonical; ſo do they forbid any Pſalms or Hymns, ſave ſuch as were of Divine Inſpiration, to be uſed in the Churches; and the Canons of this Synod were received by the Church, amongſt p. 179her univerſal Rules. Add hereto, Conc. Boncar. 1. an. 565. can. 30. Extra Pſalmos ve…eris Teſtamenti nihil poetice compoſitum in Eccleſia pſallatur, Beſides the Pſalms of the Old Teſtament, let nothing Poetically compos'd be ſung in the Church.

Thus I have given an account of the Teſtimonies produced for the Antiquity of the Liturgies in queſtion, and of all that I have met with, after indeavours to meet with all, having waved none, wherein there might be conceived to be any ſtrength, or wherein I could perceive any ſhew of it. What opinion others may have hereof, I will not conjecture: For my own part, after a careful obſervance of whatever might ſeem to have any force or evidence, for that purpoſe; I may profeſs, that (as this was it, which Firſt ſwayed my Judgment to that part of the queſtion, wherein it now reſts; ſo ſtill) I am very well ſatisfied, even by theſe Teſtimonies, bbforeign, Iſidor. l. 5. Ep. 501.that there was no ſuch thing, as that for which they are alledged. To me there needs no more Arguments, nor (if I much miſtake not) will more be very needful to any other, whoſe minds are not prepoſſeſſed with ſomething too hard for their reaſon. For if there had been ſuch Liturgies uſed conſtantly in all Churches through the World, for Five hundred or Six hundred Years next after Chriſt, it is not imaginable, but there would have been ſuch remarkable traces, p. 180yea ſuch clear evidence in ſome, yea in many of the Antients (eſpecially the Writers being ſo numerous, their Writings left us ſo full and Voluminous, and the occaſions of mentioning them ſo very frequent) that there might have been had as full and clear proof thereof, and with as much eaſe, as of any one thing, whoſe antiquity hath been queſtioned. Now, when many have curiouſly ſearched antiquity for this, and being prickt on by oppoſition, have purſued the ſearch with great induſtry, under a quick ſenſe too how much they are concerned herein, and being withal, Perſons of as great ability for the diſcovery, as any we can expect will attempt it, divers of them ſeeming as well acquainted with what is obvious in antiquity (which is all that is needful in this caſe) as with their own Lodgings, and ſome of them no ſtrangers to her in her Retirements and leſs traced Receſſes; after they have, (as they tell us, and we might have believed it, if they had not ſaid ſo) made the faireſt proof thereof they can, yet produce nothing, which any that are impartial can account, or which I am apt to think they themſelves can believe to be ſufficient proof, (if their belief were beholding to nothing but their reaſon:) May it not be hence reaſonably concluded, that what, in theſe circumſtances, is not now diſcovered, was not then extant? Such Liturgies uſed every where, for ſo many Hundred years, are a matter of that nature, which would have been obvious at a ſuperficial view, and of eaſie proof to ſuch as have no intimate acquaintance with antiquity. If then, we can have no intelligence thereof from thoſe who may think themſelves wronged, if they be not counted her Secretaries; if no diſcovery thereof p. 181be made by that diligence which has ranſacked all the corners, penetrated the inwards, and dived to the bottom of antiquity for it: What ground is there to expect any diſcovery thereof hereafter? What reaſon is there left us to believe any other, but that ſuch ſearch hath been for a thing that was not, and that the ſuppoſed Liturgies of thoſe Ages had no being, but in the imagination of later times?

And now, I may from the premiſes conclude, That for Five hundred Years after Chriſt (if not more) the ordinary way of worſhipping God in publick Aſſemblies, was not by preſcribed Liturgies.

Inſtead of a more particular diſcovery of their introduction, this may ſuffice, and is enough for my purpoſe, that they were not the common uſage, while the ſtate of the Church was any thing tolerable, nor till it was ſunk deep into degeneracy, and was much worſe than when Chryſoſtom complained, foreign, Hom. 29. in Act. p. 776, 777. The Church is in an exceeding bad poſture; and compares it to one laid out for dead, foreign, &c. in 2 Cor. Hom. 7. p. 692. And again to a Houſe quite burnt down, having taken Fire at the Pillars, which ſhould have ſupported it, in Epheſ. Hom. 10. p. 816. where he ſays, it was many a day ſince the Church through the World was overturned, and laid flat on the Ground, all being equally involved in evil, but thoſe that were its Rulers more guilty than others; foreign p. 182foreign, p. 817. And elſewhere repreſents it to us, by a Woman ccforeign, Chryſ. in 1 Cor. Hom. foreign. p. 487. And this, as Iſidore adds, foreign, & l. 5. Ep. 21. foreign.robbed of her Jewels and Treaſure, having nothing left, but foreign, ſome poor empty ſignifications of what precious things once ſhe had, in 1 Cor. Hom. 36. p. 487, 488. In which he is followed by ddforeign, &c. Iſid. l. 3. Ep. 408. vid. lib. 2. Ep. 5.Iſidore of Peleuſium, lib. 3. Epiſt. 408. Zenoni.

Particularly the degeneracy of the Church was lamentable, as on many other accounts, ſo (to wave thoſe that are leſs pertinent to the buſineſs in hand) in reſpect of Worſhip, and the Perſons who ordered and adminiſtred it.

p. 183The Worſhip of God was Firſt fearfully corrupted; the native plainneſs and ſimplicity of it (foreign) moſt amiable to God, and all that are like him foreign, Orig. eeforeign, &c. Origen▪ contr. Celſ. l. 7. p. 367.contr. Celſ. l. 8. p. 418. was vitiated and defaced with the Paint and Patches of bold and wanton Fancies.

The Law of God, the only Rule and Standard of Divine Worſhip, was overlooked in the regulating of it; and that offered to God at a venture, whether it pleaſed him or no, which was pleaſing to Men; without conſulting his word, by which alone is known, what is ffforeign, Chryſoſt. in Matth. Hom. ... p. 323.acceptable to him.

There were more compliances with the Heathens, than with the Scripture; and ſo the Church too far from being, as, Origen ſays, what God, in ſending Chriſt and the Goſpel, deſigned them to be, foreign, Congregations oppoſite to the Aſſemblies of the ſuperſtitious, Contr. Celſ. l. 3. p. 123.

The Chriſtian Worſhip was made more Ceremonious than that of the Jews, and clogged oneribus ſervilibus, with more badges of Thraldom; p. 184whereby the ſtate of Chriſtians was rendred far more intolerable, than theirs under the Law: Their impoſitions being from the Pleaſure of God, but theſe from the Will of preſumptuous Men, inthralling that Religion, which God in mercy would have had free. As ggSed hoc nimis doleo, quia multa quae in divinis libris ſaluberrima praeſcripta ſunt, minus curantur; & tam multis praeſumptionibus ſic plena ſunt omnia, ut gravius corripiatur, qui per octavas ſuas terrdm nudo pede tetigerit, quam qui mentem vinolentia ſepelierit—quamvis enim neque hoc inveniri poſſit, quo modo contra ſidem ſint, ipſam tamen religionem quam pauciſſimis & manifeſtiſſimis celebrationum ſacramentis, MISERICORDIA DEI LIBERAM ESSE VOLUIT, SERVILIBUS ONERIBUS premunt, ut tolerabilior ſit conditio Judaeorum, qui etiamſi tempus libertatis non agnoverint, legalibus tamen ſarcinis, non humanis praeſumptionibus ſubjiciuntur, Auguſt. Epiſt. 119. Januario, c. 19.Auguſtin, complaining thereof, expreſſeth it; For one Inſtitution of God's, there were Ten of Man's, and their preſumptuous Devices more rigorouſly preſſed, than the Divine preſcripts: So that, if the whole had been denominated, from what was predominant therein, it was in danger to loſe the name of Divine Worſhip.

Nay, ſome of the moſt horrid hhVid. Theodoret. de curand. Graec. affect. l. 9. foreign, Theodor. Lect. Collect. l. 2. p. 189. foreign, Cedren. Comp. Hiſtor. p. 299. Nolite conſectari turbas imperitorum, qui vel in ipſa vera religione ſuperſtitioſi ſunt—novi multos eſſe ſepulchrorum & picturarum adoratores, Auguſtin l. 1. de moribus Eccleſ. Cathol. cap. 34.abuſes were invading it; Invocation of Saints, Adoring of p. 185Pictures, and giving Divine Honours to the Creatures. After ſuch company, thoſe Forms found entertainment. So was the Worſhip of God adulterated, and the corruptions ſtill increaſing and growing worſe, before theſe became the high way of Worſhipping. And by it, the reſt became general and incurable errors and abuſes, before but private and voluntary; being hereby Authorized and Inforced.

This was, after all the great Lights of the Church were extinct. Such Liturgies were not foreign, but foreign, as Baſil in another caſe, de jejun. Hom. 1. a later invention; after thoſe, whom we honour under the notion of Fathers, were dead and gone, foreign (Clem. Alex. ſtrom. 1.) Their Succeſſors (who may glory therein) were nothing like them, but too commonly under the Character of Boniface, Lignei Sacerdotes; iiMulta denique de cultu divino uſurpata ſunt, quae honoribus deferuntur humanis: ſive humilitate nimia, ſive adulatione peſtifera: ita tamen, ut quibus ea deferuntur, homines haberentur qui dicuntur colendi & venerandi: ſi autem iis multum additur, & adorandi, Id. de civit. Dei. l. 10. cap. 4. Iſidore aſcribes the lamentable condition of the Church to the degeneracy of Paſtors, foreign, Iſid. lib. 5. ep. 21. Id. l. 3. ep. 223. Horrid corruption of the Clergy, lib. 5. ep. 131. foreign, Chryſ. Hom. 37. Tom. 6. p. 442. foreign, Iſid. l. 5. ep. 272. Adding, foreign—either ſo indulgent foreign. foreign Orat. 28.and tho' ſo much of another temper than thoſe that went before them, yet ſerved the better for this turn, being imperious, or ſlothful, or inſufficient.

p. 186Prelacy was declining into tyranny long before; and Biſhops in many places, grew inſolent and intolerable, forgetting that they were ordainedNaz. Orat. 1. p. 3. foreign, not to exerciſe dominion over the Flock, but to take charge of Souls. The ſtirrings of this domineering humour were complained of in part of the Fourth, and beginning of the Fifth Ages; and ſhooting up daily and ſpeedily, we may gueſs to what height it might come by an Hundred years growth. Nazianzen complains in his time of Prelates, who, when they had overrun all things elſe with violence, in fine tyrannized over piety it ſelf, foreign,Orat. 21. in Laud. Arbanaſ. and wiſhes, that there were no Pr…lacy in the Church, not only under p. 187the notion of local preheminence, foreign, but of tyrannical prerogative,Orat. 28. foreign.

Their tyranny was one thing, if Eraſmus miſtake not, which drave Jerome out of the World into a Cell. To be ſure Chryſoſtom, ſo rigorouſly perſecuted for endeavouring to reform the then prevailing corruptions, profeſſed that he feared none ſo much as Biſhops, foreign,vid. Ep. 2. p. 64. Epiſt. 13. p. 95. And Arcadius puts one of them in mind, viz. Theophilus of Alexandria, that the audaciouſneſs and tyranny of the Biſhops before him had ruined the Nation, and diſperſed the people through the World, foreign, in Georg. Alexand. vit. Chryſoſt. c. 39. p. 212.

So in Iſidore Peluſiota kkAfter inſtances of great degeneracy, he adds, foreign, Iſid. l. 5. ep. 21. He ſays he accuſes not all, there were ſome foreign, but very few, (ep. 89.) and thoſe guilty, becauſe ſuch was the multitude of the foreign, that they were afraid, and durſt not ſpeak againſt them. Tho' things ſeemed deſperate, yet there might be ſome hopes of better, if the foreign, the Chief in the Church foreign, l. 5. ep. 126. Biſhops tyranny hindered Reformation, which was otherwiſe feſible, tho' to ſome it ſeemed impoſſible. Thoſe who obſerved the Apoſtles rule were foreign, l. 5. ep. 89. foreign, l. 3. ep. 223. vid. Having ſhewed in many particulars foreign, ibid. Some except againſt Socrates, as a Novatian. But who can except againſt Iſidore, who repreſents it worſe, and complains of it as general, ſupra, lib. 5. ep. 21. and l. 3. ep. 223. Tho' they affected the grandeur of Princes, yet were upbraided by their Piety, l. 5. ep. 89. ep. 286. foreign, l. 5. c. 2. ep. 234. l. 4. ep. 229. p. 255.Epiſcopacy, as divers exerciſed it, is foreign, a ty rannical licentiouſneſs, becauſe they turned it into domination, or rather to ſpeak freely, into tyranny; foreign, Epiſt. (ad Theodoſ.) 125. lib. 2.

p. 188The chiefeſt of them made bold to leap over the juſt bounds of their Place and Office, foreign, to ſecular domination, as Socrates tells us, Hiſt. lib. 7. c. 7. &c. 11. And as there is his Teſtimony for thoſe of Rome and Alexandria, ſo have we the Fear of the Fathers at Epheſus for others, foreign, leſt under the pretence of a ſacred Function, the pride (haughtineſs) of ſecular power ſhould creep in, Can. in Cod. 178. Alſo the obſervation of the Council of Chalcedon, p. 189foreign, Can. 12. that ſome, againſt the Eccleſiaſtical Rules, did affect domination.

llAd Spiritualem (monarchiam) captum eſt aſpirari palam & apertè, à nonullis Paparum, circa an. 400. Caſaub. exercit. 16. num. 209. p. 541. vid. exerc. 15. p. 302. Circa An. Dom. 420. primo Zoſimus, deinde Bonifacius, duo Praecoces Hildebranduli, Reges agere incipiunt, & foreign dominium exercere adverſus electos in ſpiritualibus, &c. id. ibid. Vid. Hom. 2. in Tit. 1. 5. p. 386. foreign, Chryſ. in 1 Cor. Hom. 6. p. 277, 278. & in Eph. Hom. 6. p. 792. That of Chryſoſtom was forgot, foreign, Hom. 18. p. 647. in 2 Cor.Titus 1:5The Biſhops of Rome affected it with a witneſs, aſſerting and contending for a Supremacy over all other Churches; and were ſo impotently zealous for it, as they attempted to get it acknowledged by a groſs forgery uſed by Zoſimus, Boniface and Celeſtine, to aTom. 2. Conc. Council in Africa; by Leo alſo in his Letters to Theodoſius the Emperour; and by his Legate to the Council of Chalcedon, Act. 16. Tom. 2. Conc.

Nor did the Biſhops of Rome domineer alone in the Weſt; other Prelates acted, in lower capacities, p. 190anſwerably, as appears by Proſper, complaining of the Biſhops in his time, as if they made account, that for this alone they had their power, that they might exerciſe aDe vit. contempl. l. 1. c. 21. tyrannical dominion over thoſe who were under them, Ad hoc potentes tantùm facti, ut nobis in ſubjectos tyrannicam dominationem vendicemus. Such and worſe was the tyranny and imperiouſneſs of Biſhops, before they conſpired to take order, that none ſhould uſe a word in publick Prayers, at the moſt ſolemn adminiſtrations, but what, and as they thruſt it into their Mouths.

Nor was this, before thoſe who ordered and adminiſtred the publick Worſhip, were grown negligent, and ſlothful, eaſing themſelves of the chief duties of Paſtors, viz. Thoſe which were laborious and required any intenſe exerciſe of their faculties. Particularly, it was, after diligent and frequent peaching (which was the happineſs, even of the Fourth, and part of the Fifth Age, and their ſecurity too, (ſome ſtop being hereby put to that degeneracy into which all was ſliding down) and the excellency alſo of thoſe Biſhops, who were the lights and ornaments of thoſe times,) was growing out of faſhion. When that of Maximus was too true, Qui reipſa doceant aut doceantur admodum pauci. When thoſe, who had the charge of Souls, declined the work, but were eager after the power, profits and dignity of the place; and ſo retaining the name of Paſtors, were really no ſuch thing: Which Proſper thus bewails, But we (modeſtly including himſelf, that they who were guilty might take leſs exception) delighted with things preſent, while we hunt after the advantages and p. 191honours of this life, make all haſt to be Prelates, not mmSed nos praeſentibus delectati, dum in hac vita commoda noſtra & honores inquirimus, non ut meliores, ſed ut ditiores; non ut ſanctiores, ſed ut honoratiores ſimus, praeeſſe feſtinamus. Nec gregem Domini, qui nobis paſcendus tuenduſque commiſſus eſt; ſed noſtras voluptates, dominationem, divitias, & caetera blandimenta carnaliter cogitamus. Paſtores dici v…lumus, nec tamen eſſe contendimus. Officii noſtri vitamus laborem; appetimus utilitatem & dignitatem. And after, Greges Domini paſcendos, Paſtores facti, ſuſcipimus: & noſmet ipſos paſcimus, quando non Gregum utilitati proſpicimus, ſed quod foveat & augeat noſtras voluntates attendimus. Lac & lanas ovium Chriſti, oblationibus quotidianis, aut decimis fidelium gaudentes, accipimus: & curam paſcendorum gregum ac reſiciendorum à quibus perverſo ordine volumus paſci, deponimus, de vit. contempl. l. 1. c. 2.that we may be Better, but Richer; nor that we may be more Holy, but more Honoured. Neither do we regard the Lord's Flock, which is committed to us, to be fed and preſerved; but we carnally (mind) our pleaſures, domination, riches, and other allurements. We will be called Paſtors, but we ſtrive not to be ſuch. We decline the labour of our office, affecting (only) the profit and dignity, &c. This way of Worſhip was well ſuited to the humours of ſuch Paſtors; and they were more thoroughly and generally of this temper, in Proſper's time, before it could have free entertainment.

The lamentable inſufficiency of thoſe, who took up this Miniſtration, we may judge of, by the p. 192noted nnAmbroſ. de Sacerd. dignit. cap. 5. Qui mentis torpore hebetati Sacerdotalem diffamant dignitatem.defectiveneſs of thoſe times, part whereof were in this reſpect, incomparably better. The unworthineſs of thoſe who were preferred, is noted by Ambroſe, Nazianzen, ooNazianz. Orat. Funeb. Athanaſ. foreign, &c. vid. & Orat. in laud. Baſilii, where he ſays the holy Order was in danger to be rendred moſt ridiculous—and the Biſhops Chair, not for the moſt Worthy, but moſt Potent.and almoſt every one, who was not obnoxious. Not only the Pride, but the Ignorance of the Weſtern Biſhops, and ſome of the chief of them, is cenſured by Baſil, ppDamaſus is included in that cenſure of Baſil. Siricius paſſes for a dull and ſluggiſh Perſon; a Simpleton in Jerome, ſimplicitati illuderet Epiſcopi, Epiſt. 16. and ſluggiſh even in Baronius, cauſam fidei ſegnius tractans, in Spond. ad an. 397. n. 6. And Innocentius, if we may believe Eraſmus (paſſing that judgment on him for a piece, wherein he might be preſumed to have ſhewn his beſt) had nothing in him worthy of his place. Yet we can ſcarce find two of the Biſhops of Rome in Three hundred years, better accompliſhed than theſe. What were the leſſer Lights commonly, when the greater were ſo dim?foreign Epiſt. p. 285.foreign; What belief can be expected from the ſuperciliouſneſs of the Weſt, where they neither know the truth, nor will learn? p. 193The condition of the Eaſt was not much better, for a little after we hear from Sozomen and others, that Aſia and the parts about it were ſick of their unworthy Biſhops, foreign, and languiſhed under the want of ſuch as were really Paſtors.

In the Dioceſs of the Orient, Chryſoſtom qqWhat better could be expected, when the Dignity was put to ſale, and he carried it too commonly, not who had the richeſt Soul, but fulleſt Purſe? So in the Weſt. Ambroſe complains in the Eaſt, foreign, Chryſoſt. in Epheſ. Hom. 6. p. 793. 9. vid. Iſid. l. 5. ep. 276. 470. Ʋt vides in Eccleſia peſſimos, quos non merita, ſed pecuniae ad epiſcopatus ordinem pervexerunt. Ambr. de dign. Sac. cap. 5.complains that the unworthy were preferred, and thoſe fitly qualified caſt out; foreign, a double miſery equally grievous; foreign, de Sacerdot. Orat. 3. p. 24, 25. Tom. 6. vid. Iſidor. l. 5. p. 276. foreign; not becauſe there are none ſuch, foreign, Iſid. lib. 5. ep. 276. l. 3. ep. 245. If they endeavour to reduce but a mean perſon, they are hiſſed at, as thoſe who are guilty of greater evils themſelves. foreign, ibid. ep. 27. &c. Ancient Diſcipline neglected, the Vertuous oppreſſed, the Wicked indulged, p. 194ep. 426. l. 3. ep. 259. foreign, becauſe he muſt either be evil, or hated and indangered if good, by thoſe who obſerved pernicious cuſtom as a Divine Law, and expelled thoſe that lived well, ep. 481. l. 5. How Epiſcopacy degenerately abuſed, l. 2. ep. 50. Thoſe Rulers generally worſt, ep. 71.

In Egypt, rrforeign, Soz. lib. 8. c. 7. p. foreign Georg. Alex. vit. Chryſost. cap. ... p. 202. 632. foreign, Chryſ. Epiſt. 2. foreign, id. ibid. cap. 20. p. 185. Georg. Alex.it was the cuſtom of Theophilus of Alexandria (without whom no Biſhop was to be ordained in thoſe parts) to conſecrate not knowing Men, foreign, unleſs he miſs'd of his aim; chooſing rather to have the ordering of them, as of Fools, than to be liable to the control of any that were prudent: A thing which would ſcarce have paſt as credible upon the word of George of Alexandria, had not Palladius ſaid as much before him.

p. 195And, as he in Egypt would have none, ſo they in Africa could ſcarce get any that were ſit to be Paſtors: For ſo Aurelius Biſhop of Carthage, in a Council there Aſſembled, An. 401. complains, That ſo great was their want of Miniſters, as many Churches were found to have not ſo much as one ſſEuſcbius of Peleuſium did as bad or worſe, ordaining not only foreign, ep. 81. lib. 3. himſelf being foreign, epiſt. 3. but foreign, l. 5. ep. 52, 53, 54. foreign, ep. 140. foreign, ep. 147.illiterate Deacon; and leaves them to conſider, at what a loſs they muſt needs be, for perſons qualified to be ſuperiour Officers, when they could not find ſuch as were fit to be ttCommuni periculo providendum, maxim…, quia tanta indigentia Clericorum eſt, multaeque Eccleſiae ita deſertae ſunt, ut ne unum quidem Diaconum, vel inliteratum (Graec. foreign) habere reperiantur. Nam de caeteris ſuperioribus gradibus tacendum arbitror, quia, ut dixi, ſi miniſterium Diaconi facile non invenitur, multo magis ſuperiorum honorum inveniri non poſſe, certiſſimum eſt, & quotidie nos planctus diverſarum pene emortuarum plebium jam non ſuſtinemus: quibus niſi fuerit aliquando ſubventum, gravis nobis, & inexcuſabilis innumerabilium animarum pereuntium cauſa apud Deum manſura eſt, in Cod. Afr. can. 56. in Juſtell. p. 164. in Crab. Concil. tom. 1. p. 502, 503.Deacons.

And Auguſtin tells us, there were many good Paſtors, who could not diſcern, per ignorantiae simplicitatem, p. 196through their ignorance and ſimpleneſs, when there was Hereſie in a Prayer; but made uſe of ſuch as were Heretical, accounting them to be good, de Bapt. contr. Donat. l. 6. c. 25.

Yea many Biſhops there were, (and many more conſequently of lower rank,) who knew uuHelius Epiſcopus Hadrianopolitanus definiens ſubſcripſi per Romanum Epiſcopum Myronum, eo quod neſciam literas. Caiumus Epiſcopus Phoenicenſis definiens ſubſcripſi per Coepiſcopum meum Dionyſium, propterea quod literas ignorem, Concil. Epheſ. 2. in Act. 1. Chalced. Conc. in Crab. Tom. 1. p. 830. So amongſt others, Conc. Epheſ. 1. Patricius Presbyter de vico Paradioxilo, manu utens Maximi compresbyteri, ob hoc, quod literas ignorarem. Zenon Chorepiſcopus—manum accommodavi pro eo ego Flavius Palladius, ob hoc quod praeſens dixerit literas ſe ignorare, in Act. 1. Con. Chalced. in Crab. p. 816. Theodorus Gadorenſis per alterius manum, i. e. Aetherii Diaconi, in Gr. can. Aetherius the Deacon ſubſcribed, foreign, which is likely the cauſe, tho' not expreſt, why thoſe that were preſent, ſubſcribed by others; of which ſee inſtances, Con. Eph. 2. in Cr. p. 831. Con. Conſtantinop. ſub Flaviano, contra Eutych. in Cr. p. 781. & Conc. Eph. 1. in Conc. Chalc. Act. 1. Crab. p. 819, 820. …antinus Zenenſis literas neſcit, collect. Carth. d. 1. n. 133.Eph 2Acts 1Eph 1no Letters, and could not ſo much as write their own Names, but were glad to get others to ſubſcribe for them, even in Councils, where, we may think, ſuch inſufficiency would have been aſhamed to ſhew it ſelf, if it had not been too common.

p. 197Not to be tedious, Leo the Emperour, about An. 460. is commended, as having well provided, that the Church ſhould have able Biſhops, becauſe he would have none Ordained, but thoſe who had learnt their Pſalter; foreign.Theodor. lect. collect. lib. 1. Such was the ſtate of the Church, as to the ſufficiency of her prime Guides before the Sixth Age, and much worſe afterwards, when they ſteered this courſe in their Worſhip; all ſorts of Learning, together with Holineſs, declining apace. And Barbariſm, Ignorance and Vitiouſneſs more and more prevailing. Under ſuch Planets were thoſe Liturgies born, and by their influence nouriſhed.

To conclude, They were not entertained, till nothing was admitted into the Church, de novo, but Corruptions, or the iſſues thereof; no change made in the Antient Uſages, but for the worſe; no motions from its Primitive Poſture, but downwards into degeneracy! Till ſuch orders took place, as reſpected not what was moſt agreeable to the rule and primitive Practice, or what was beſt to uphold the life and power of Religion in its ſolemn exerciſes, or what might ſecure it from that dead heartleſs formality, into which Chriſtianity was ſinking, and which is at this day the ſediment of Popery: But what might ſhew the Power, and continue occaſion for exerciſe of Authority to the imperious and tyrannical; or what might comport with the eaſe of the lazy and ſlothful; or what might favour the weakneſs p. 198and inſufficiency, and not detect the lameneſs and nakedneſs of thoſe, who had the Place wwSentio, negligente me, creſcit ſentina vitiorum, & tempeſtate fortiter obviante, jam jamque putridae naufragium tabulae …onant. Gregor. 1. foreign, Chryſ. ep. 1. p. 51. foreign, epiſt. foreign. p. 115. foreign, Epiſt. …on. p. 186.and Name, but not the real accompliſhments of Paſtors and Teachers. In a word, nor till the ſtate of the Church was rather to be pitied than imitated; and what was diſcernable therein, different from preceding times, were Wrecks and Ruines, rather than Patterns.

FINIS.

An ADVERTISEMENT. Lately PUBLISHED of the ſame Author's,

PRimitive Epiſcopacy, evincing from Scripture and Ancient Records, that a Biſhop in the Apoſtles Times, and for the ſpace of the firſt three Centuries of the Goſpel-Church, was no more than a Paſtor to one ſingle Church or Congregation. With the Contents of each Chapter at the End of the Book. Printed for N. P. and are to be ſold by Jonathan Robinſon at the Golden-Lion in S. Paul's Churchyard. 1689.

End of the text · David Clarkson, A Discourse Concerning Liturgies (1689)