Sunday a Sabbath, Chapter 14
CHAP. XIIII. Ancient evidence for calling the Lords day by the name of Sabbath, obſerved eſpecially againſt aD. Pockl. Viſitation Serm. called, Sunday no Sabbath.Dr. Pocklington his Aſſertion; viz. That no ancient Father, no learned man tooke the name Sabbath otherwiſe, from the beginning of the world till the yeere 1554. then for Saturday, obſerved by the Jewes.
USe of ſpeech (which for the name Sabbath, as applyed to the Lords day, hath for our age beene bSee c. 12. and c. 13. propè ſin.confeſſed by the adverſaries of it) is, as the c—Si volet uſus, Quem penes arbitrium eſt, & vis, & norma loquēdi Hor. de art. poet.Poet ſaith, the rule of ſpeech; and of ſuch authority, that wiſe men willingly ſubmit unto it, and that ſometimes ſo farre, as to ſpeake amiſſe, that they may bee underſtood aright: ſo did dOſſum, ſic enim potius loquamur; meliùs eſt ut reprehendant nos Grammatici, quam non intelligant populi. Auguſt. enarrat. in Pſal. 138. tom. 8. part. 2. p. 871, 872.S. Auguſtine, when he ſaid eIb. in Pſal. 36. part. 1. p. 358.oſſum for os, and foenerat for foeneratur, as being deſirous rather that Grammarians ſhould reprehend him, then that the people ſhould not underſtand him; and among us many learned men uſe to ſay with the vulgar, fThe words Chirurgus and Apoſtema are ſo engliſhed by Cooper in his Dictionary.Surgeon for Chirurgeon, and Impoſtume for Apoſteme; and there bee many more words of this ſort.
But for the name Sabbath (there being ſuch ſufficient reaſons to ſet it as a title upon the Lords day) when the more judicious make uſe of it in that ſenſe, they may well bee conceived to doe it, not as complying with the erroneous dialect of the common ſort, but as guided to it, by reaſon as well as by uſe.
And for ſuch as have ſo taken it, or the conjugate to it (which is the ſame in ſenſe) wee may mention divers of eminent place, both of ancient and of later times; as firſt Ignatius, the Diſciple of Saint John the Evangeliſt, who, having ſpoken againſt the manner of the Jewes ſpending their Sabbath in ſenſuall jollity, exceſſive feaſting, dancing, and other revelling, gforeign. Ignat. ep. ad Magneſ. pag. 57.adviſeth Chriſtians, every one of them to ſabbatize, or keep the Sabbath ſpiritually, that is, rather to beſtow the time in religious delights, then in carnall contentments.
If any one except, and ſay, that hee meaneth this of the Jewiſh Sabbath day, which in his dayes, and a good while after, was kept holy with the Lords day; wee may thence inferre, that if Ignatius could brook the obſervation of Saturdayes reſt without any feare of Judaiſme, when that day was to give up to the Lords day, the holineſſe and honour of a weekely holiday (which neceſſarily requireth both Rest and Religion) hee would not have made ſcruple to call it the Sabbath. hforeign, &c. as it is fore-cited cap. 13. lit. ….Athanaſius hath a ſentence, from whence wee may derive the like inference for his opinion of the name Sabbath, with reference to the Lords day; The Lord hath changed the Sabbath day, ſaith he, into the Lords day: Whereof, ſaith iD…. Twiſſe, in a MS. of the Sabbath.a learned Doctor of our Church, what can be the meaning, but that the Lord himſelfe hath, now in theſe times of grace, made the Lords day to become our Chriſtian Sabbath? So that, upon the change, the Saturday is not what before it was, a day of reſt; but the Lords is ſo, as before it was not.
And if the holy reſt of Saturday bee tranſlated to the Lords day, ſhall not the name that is anſwerable to the nature of it, paſſe along with it? If more expreſſe and formall Teſtimonies be expected, (for theſe are but implyed, and vertuall evidences) wee finde kOrigen in Numb. cap. 28. Hom 23. tom. 1. pag. 259.Origen in his three and twentieth Homily upon the book of Numbers, expreſly applying the name Sabbath to the day ſet apart for Evangelicall devotion.
Ob. lDr. Pockling. Sunday no Sab. pag. 16.But it will be ſaid, he addeth the word Chriſtian to it, calling it not ſimply Sabbath, but the Chriſtian Sabbath.
Anſ. Let them allow of the name Sabbath, and wee will not ſtick with them for the title Chriſtian, if (for diſtinction ſake, and to prevent miſpriſion) there bee any reaſon to make that addition; but where the word will bee readily referred to the right day, without another to explaine or reſtraine it, it is needeleſſe to adde it.
Ob. Here Doctor Pocklington, to extenuate this Teſtimonie, ſaith, mDr. Pockl. Sunday no Sab. pag. 19.That Origen his Chriſtian Sabbath is not kept on Sunday onelyonly, but every day in the weeke; he meaneth (I ſuppoſe, according to the conceipt of divers of the Ancients) a Sabbath conſiſting in ceſſation from ſinne, and ſanctity of life. Chriſt (ſaith hee out of Origen) is our Chriſtian Sabbath, and hee that lives in Chriſt, reſts from evill works, and worketh unceſſantly the works of Juſtice.
Anſw. This is no contradiction to that wee have ſaid, but a conceſſion of much more then wee demand; Chriſt himſelfe, ſaith Doctor Pocklington, and every day (in regard of the holy life of a Chriſtian) might be called a Sabbath: If ſo, the Lords day, which was ordained, and muſt bee obſerved with more generall and ſolemne holineſſe, and with more reſt and ceſſation from worldly affaires, (for holineſſe ſake) might much more bee called a Sabbath. In the Latin Fathers, the name Sabbath in this ſenſe may alſo bee obſerved.
I will give ſome inſtances, as in nNos octava die, quae & ipſa prima eſt, perfecti Sabbati feſtivitate laetamur. Hilar. Prolog. in Pſal. oper. p. 335.Hilary; Upon the eighth day, which is alſo the firſt day, ſaith he, we rejoyce in the feſtivity of a perfect Sabbath.
Whereby we are to underſtand, not an every dayes Sabbath, in forbearance of ſinne; but an eſpeciall ſabbatizing above other dayes, as in the celebration of the Lords day, by ceſſation from works of the weeke dayes, and exerciſe of religious duties belonging unto it, which hee calleth the eighth day (though it have a weekly returne in the number of ſeven) becauſe in the firſt obſervation, counting on beyond the Jewiſh tale of dayes, comming next after their ſeventh, that maketh the eighth.
To this purpoſe wee may produce Saint Auguſtine oObſerva diem Sabbati, non carnaliter, non Judaicls deliciis, quae otio abutuntur ad nequitiam. Auguſt. enar. in Pſal. 32. tom. 8. part. pag. 242.in his enarration upon the 32. Pſalme, where hee exhorteth to obſerve the Sabbath day, not carnally, with Judaicall delights, for they abuſe their Reſt, &c. And in his pObſerva diem Sabbati, Magis nobis praecipitur, quia ſpiritualiter obſervandum praecipitur; Judaei enim ſerviliter obſervant diem Sabbati, ad luxuriam & ebrietatem. Auguſt. Tract. 3. in Johan. 1. tom. 9. pag. 30.fourth Tract upon S. John, Wee Chriſtians, ſaith he, are more ſtrictly commanded to keep the Sabbath, then the Jewes; for we are to keepe it ſpiritually, they keepe it carnally, in luxurie and drunkenneſſe▪ which, in the readieſt conſtruction of the words, muſt runne thus: Wee Chriſtians are more ſtrictly commanded to keepe (not the Saturday Sabbath, from which we are diſcharged Col. 2.16. but) our Chriſtian Sabbath, then the Jewes keep their Jewiſh Sabbath: If then wee bee commanded to keep a Sabbath, wee muſt have the thing, and the thing may have the name that belongeth to it, and that name properly is Sabbath.
There is another allegation for the name Sabbath taken out of the 251. Sermon de tempore, in Augustine his name, which I forbeare to urge as his, becauſe the qB. of Elie in his Examinat. of the title Dial. pag. 107.Biſhop of Elie, in his Examination of the Dialogue of the Sabbath, taketh exceptions at it, when it is brought in to this purpoſe, and ſheweth ſome reaſons why it ſhould be ſuppoſed to be none of his, but of a later time; and if it be none of Auguſtines when it is ſo cited, it was none of his when himſelfe cited it in his name, and as his, as he did in his rB. of Elie in his Treat. of the Sab. pag. 110.former Treatiſe of the Sabbath
After Auguſtine, and as a neer follower of his, both in tract of time, and tractates of doctrine, wee may note Proſper Aquitanie, who in his ſentences collected out of ſSententiae …ine dubio ſunt Auguſtini, ſed collectae à Sancto Proſpero. Bell. de Eccleſ. ſcript. pag. 185.Saint Auguſtine, ſaith, tMalè celebrat Sabbatum qui ab operibus bonis vacat. Proſper. Aquitan. ſent. 114. ex Aug. tom. 3. part. 2. p. 1402.that ſuch celebrate the Sabbath in an ill ſort, who make it a vacation from doing good. In which words hee vertually alloweth of the celebration of a Sabbath, both for name and thing: If the like exceptions be taken at theſe Teſtimonies, out of Auguſtine and Proſper, to thoſe that have beene noted before, concerning the ſaying of Ignatius, the like anſwer may bee here returned, which there was made.
By ſuch authorities as theſe (whereof I forbeare ſome, being to bring them in upon another occaſion) I deſire not to make ſhew, that the Ancients did alwayes uſe to call the Lords day by the name of Sabbath, as ſome uSee B. White his treat. of the Sab. pag. 201.have ſaid, or for the moſt part; for no man can prove that. And it is evident, that in their Idiome it is more frequent and familiar to call the weekly holiday of the Jewes, the Sabbath, and the Chriſtians weekly holiday Lords day: but to obſerve, that they did not condemne the name, as in application to the Lords day, nor forbeare it ſo conſtantly as ſome (eſpecially Doctor Pocklington) have ſaid, nor upon ſuch conceipts, as hee and ſome others have imagined, but upon ſome conſiderations which appertained to their times, and not to ours: as I ſhall ſeaſonably ſhew in anſwer to another objection, when it croſſeth my way.
Now I will deſcend from the Primitive Church downeward, where the Doctor may finde his Aſſertion gaine ſaid by a Synod of Biſhops, and other Prelates, collected by ″Fox Mart. pag. 128. edit. 2.Cuthbert Archbiſhop of Canterbury, about the yeere 747. in which, among other Eccleſiaſticall matters, it was decreed, that the Sabbath day (and by that was meant the day wee now keepe holy) ſhould bee reverently obſerved. And in xM. Fox, Ib. Dies Sabbati ab ipſa diei Saturni hora pomeridiana tertia, uſ que in Lunaris diei diluculum feſtus agitator. Sr. Hen. Spelman de concil. &c. cap. 5. an. Chriſt. 967. pag. 445.King Edgars dayes, ann. 959. the Chriſtians weekly holiday was by a decree, under the name of the Sabbath, meaſured out from Saturday at three of the clock in the afternoone to Munday morning.
Againſt this Decree of King Edgar, yD. Heyl. hiſt. part. 2. cap. 7. pag. 216.Dr. Heylin objecteth, that though the Decree in Latine have the word Sabbath, in the Saxon copie it is onelyonly [Heald] which ſignifieth holiday; which maketh nothing againſt our preſent obſervation (unleſſe he had ſhewed that the Latine edition of that conſtitution was much later then the Saxon) and not a little for it; Becauſe,
Firſt, They that penned the Latine, in likelihood were more learned, and ſo the better able to judge of the fitneſſe of the name, then they that penned it in the Saxon language; for it requireth leſſe ability to ſpeake a native tongue, or to underſtand or tranſlate a learned one, then to pen or ſpeake it.
Secondly, As the Latine is a more learned language, ſo it is more generall, eſpecially in the Chriſtian world, where the celebration of the day ſo named is received; and ſo it implyeth, either that the word was uſually underſtood, or that they would have it commonly taken in that ſenſe. And whereas the zD. Heyl. Hiſt. Sab. part 2. c. 7. pag. 216.Doctor ſaith, There is onelyonly Heald or holiday in the Saxon Decree; hee implyeth holiday to bee leſſe then Sabbath, whereas Sabbath (in a meere Grammaticall ſenſe) ſignifieth leſſe then holiday, for ſo Sabbath ſignifieth reſt, and no more: and ſo the aLevit. 25.2. & chap. 26.34.earth hath its Sabbath, when it is not tilled, and the bOtium eſt Sabbatum Aſinorum. Biſh. Downam in his Analyſ. of the ten Commandements. Com. of the Sab.beaſts their Sabbath, when they are not toyled; whereas the holineſſe of the holiday belongeth to us as wee are cSanctius his animal, mentiſque capacius altae Deerat adhuc & quod dominari caetera poſſet. Ovid. Met. l. 1.men, and much more as wee are dEpheſ. 1.4.Chriſtians: yet I confeſſe, where both names are in uſe, ſo diſtinguiſhed, that the Sabbath ſtandeth for the Lords day, and holiday for other dayes ordained for religious exerciſes, the name Sabbath is of more and better importance then holiday is; but that maketh nothing for the Doctors purpoſe.
In the Lawes of eFox Martyr. tom. 1. p. 1017▪ col. 2. edit. ult.Canutus, anno 1016. there was a conſtitution like that in King Edgars time, concerning the Lords day by the name of the Sabbath, making the meaſure of it from Saturday noon till Munday morning, which might yet be all one for the meaſure with the Decree of Edgar, for the ninth houre (which is called nona, or noon) was at three of the clock, which now with us is the third houre after noone.
Againe, fFox Martyr. tom. 1. p. 1017. col. 1.King Edward the elder, and Gythrum the Daniſh King, forbidding buying and ſelling, and all labour upon the holiday of the Chriſtians, make their prohibition of them in the name, not of Sunday, or Lords day, but of the Sabbath.
And out of gAlbert. Krantz. Metrap. lib. 4. cap. 8.Krantzius hD. Heyl. Hiſt. Sab. part. 2. c. 15. pag. 131.Doctor Heylin noteth of Olaus King of Norway anno 1028. that taken up one Sunday (on the Lords day, ſaith Krantzius) in ſerious thoughts, and having in his hand a ſmall walking ſtick, hee tooke his knife and whirled it, as men do ſometimes when they are troubled, or intent on buſineſſe: and when it had beene told him, how hee had treſpaſſed therein againſt the Sabbath, hee gathered the ſmall chips up together, put them upon his hand, and ſit fire unto them, that hee might take a revenge upon himſelfe for violation of the divine Precept.
The matter moſt remarkeable in this ſtory, is his ſcrupulous conſcience and preciſe ſeverity, for which hee is kGlorioſiſſimus Rex Olaus — Chriſtianae Religionis obſervantiſſimus inter alia virtutum ſuarum praeconia, & hoc reliquit exemplum ſanctimoniae die Dominico, &c. Albert. Krant. metr. l. 4. c. 8. p. 106.highly commended by Krantzius; but for iCum die Dominico cogitationibus gravatum, cum gereret animum baculumque manibus reneret, cultello (ut ſit) ſcindulas f…it, —admonitus ab aſtante (per jocum) de violatione Sabbati, non leviter in ſe punivit admiſſum, ſcindulas collegit diligentiſſimè, manuique ſuae impoſitus, juſſit incendi, ut in ſe ulciſceretur, quòd contra divinum praeceptum incautus admiſiſſet. Albert. Krantz. Metrap. lib. 4. cap. 8. pag. 106.our preſent purpoſe we are eſpecially to note, that that day which Dr. Heylin calleth Sunday, was then called the Sabbath.
Ob. He ſaith, the King was told [by way of jeſt] that he had treſpaſſed therein againſt the Sabbath.
Anſ. So it might have been in jeſt, if the party had uſed another name (whether Lords day or Sunday) and in uſing the name Sabbath rather then either of them, it is moſt like that was a name rather of common uſe, then of ſpeciall choice to breake a jeſt withall.
lD. Heyl. Hiſt. Sab. part. 2. c. 5. pag. 158, 159.Hee addeth (for the yeere 1120, the time of Rupertus) an obſervation of one Petrus Alphonſus, calling the Lords day the Sabbath of the Chriſtians; but (ſaith hee) he meant none otherwiſe, then the feaſt of Eaſter is called the Chriſtian Paſſeover; for which hee bringeth nothing out of that Authour that may bee a juſt ground for ſuch a gloſſe. And on the contrary, it may be ſaid that there is a Sabbath or Reſt, according to the letter confeſſed, in the obſervation of the Lords day; but the word Paſſcover was figurative (even to the Jewes) after their comming out of the Land of Egypt: much more is it ſo to Chriſtians ſince the comming of Chriſt.
Beſides, hee bringeth in one John de Burie, Chancellor of the Univerſity of Cambridge (about the later end of the reigne of King Henry the eighth) aſſirming, That every day deſigned to divine ſervice, might be called Sabbath; which ſeemeth alſo to be the judgement of Bernard, who expounds the fourth Commandement thus; mObſerva diem Sabbati, quod eſt, in ſacris feriis te exe…ce, quatenus per requiem praeſentem diſcas ſperare aeternam. Bern. ſuper ſalv. Regina, Serm. 4. col. 1744.Obſerve the Sabbath, that is, Exerciſe thy ſelfe upon the holidayes, that by preſent reſt thou mayeſt learne to hope for reſt eternall. If ſo, much more may the Lords day be called Sabbath, which hath the preheminence of other dayes, as the old Sabbath had, every weeke throughout the yeere; and not onelyonly once a yeere, as Eaſter, and other holidayes, which have (in an anniverſary revolution) one turne, and no more.
We need ſay no more then this to confute the fond and new found conceipt of Doctor Pockl. concerning the novelty of the name Sabbath: wherein alſo nD. Heyl Hiſt. Sab. part. 2. c. 8. pag. 269.Dr. Heylins negative obſervation (That a Sabbath day was not heard of in the Church of Chriſt forty yeeres agoe) is diſproved; for, a day of ceſſation from worldly works for religious duties (which indeed is a Sabbath) hath been in uſe in the Chriſtian Church in every age ſince our Saviour aſcended; and the name Sabbath hath been often and anſwerably applyed to the thing, as hath been ſhewed.
And if the Doctor ſaid right touching the late time of the Sabbath, and made a true returne by his ″Search we did with all care and dil gence, to ſee if we could find a Sabbath in any evidence of Scripture, or Writings of the holy Fathers, or edicts of Emperours, or decrees of Councels, or finaliy, in any one of the publick acts and monumēts of the chriſtiā Churcl; but after ſeverall ſearches made upon the a…ias and the pluries, wee ſtill …eturne, non eſt inventus. So in the ſecond page of his Epiſt. to the Reader, before the ſecond part of his Hiſt. of the Sabbath.non est inventus, for the fore going ages, hee gave a wrong Title to the ſecond part of his Hiſtory, when he called it The Hiſtory of the Sabbath from the firſt preaching of the Goſpel to theſe preſent times: for, if there were no Sabbath day heard of from the beginning of the Goſpel untill forty yeers ſince, he ſhould rather have called it for that time the Hiſtory of no Sabbath: And albeit it be as ſtrange to write an Hiſtory de non ente, or of a meer nullity, as it is untrue that there was no Sabbath all that while; yet ſuch a Title had beene (though more contradictory to the truth) more correſpondent to his owne tenet, which with greater deſire, and more diligent endeavour hee ſtriveth to defend; yet haply, as the truth in his conceipt, and ſo without any conteſtation againſt his owne conſcience: I will yet think ſo charitably of him; and if hee had done ſo by others, it had been better both for them and him.