Sunday a Sabbath, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. How farre it may bee lawfull to uſe Idolatrous names. An Anſwer to the Objection againſt the name Sunday.
ANd firſt for the places of Scripture before alledged, they doe not imply, in their proprer ſenſe, ſo preciſe a prohibition of all names of idolatrous, or otherwiſe of ſinfull intimation or acception in all reſpects, that it ſhould be utterly unlawfull to mention them: the name of evill is forbidden ſometimes, to make us more eſtranged from that which is evill; yet not wholly and altogether: For,
Firſt, An evill (as it is evill) may bee reproved, and that under that name by which it is knowne; ſo though the Apoſtle forbid the naming of fornication in his Epiſtle to the Epheſ. chap. 5. ver. 3. yet himſelfe nameth fornication and fornicator, by way of reproofe, well toward twenty times in his Epiſtles: and in that very place hee could not ſo well have forbidden the thing it ſelfe, if he had not at all made uſe of the name.
Secondly, It may bee lawfull to mention an idolatrous name without reproofe, as aM. Ainſworth in Mr. Pagets arrow againſt the Browniſts p. 142, 143.Maſter Ainſworth (though a Browniſt, and ſo a vehement adverſary to all appearance of idolatry) acknowledgeth, and giveth inſtance in the names Nebuchadnezzar, and Belſhazzer, and others: to which may be added, the idolatrous name of the Ship wherein Paul was carried, which hee called foreign, (i. e.) Caſtor & Pollux, Act. 28.11. and this in an idolatrous ſenſe, though without either approbation or reproofe of Idolatry.
Thirdly, An idolatrous name may bee retained and uſed in a ſenſe not idolatrous, as Hermes the name of Mercury, mentioned Rom. 16.14. as it ſignifieth a particular perſon, and not the Idol of the Gentiles called by that name: ſo the names of Frier, Monke, Abbat, Pope, as they are names of Families, not of Offices, or Callings, may bee retained ſtill, as bM. Ainſw. Ibid. p. 143.Maſter Ainſworth hath acknowledged, though he (as well as Maſter cM. Paget. ib. p. 145.Paget) thinks the Popes have beene made great Idols by too many people of all ranks; and ſo think I.
Fourthly, Names that have beene Idolatrous, or any way impious, may in time (having beene long accuſtomed to a better ſenſe) bee ayred and purged from all impiety: for words are like to faſhions, which varie with the times, and ſo either get or loſe grace and acceptation, thereafter as the vulgar uſe, and common cuſtome giveth the conſtruction of them; in whoſe power it is, (as the dMulta renaſcentur quae jam cecidere cadentque, Quae nūc ſunt in honore vocabula, ſi volet uſus. Morat. de arte Poetic.Poet hath obſerved) to ratifie or reject them both for uſe and ſenſe.
But what is that which in the fore-cited Scriptures is forbidden then? Not all mention of idolatrous names, as we have already proved; But either ſwearing by Idols, or praiſing, or approving of them, or maintaining ſuperſtition towards them, or giving ſcandall by them; againſt which wee ſhould bee ſo carefull, as to prevent all ſuſpicion and appearance of that evill, as eAug. de Civ. Dei, li. 19. c. 22. part. 2. p. 525.Saint Auguſtine did, who fearing the tranſlation of Sacrificiendum Domino ſoli would imply that the Sun was a God, preſently brought in ſome words of caution to guide the Reader to a better ſenſe; Sacrificiendum Domino ſoli, (i. e.) Domino tantum, to the Lord alone; and with theſe limitations the ſentences of the Fathers may be interpreted: As for the Canon of the Councell of Nice, I will not (for this particular) by way of exception ſay it is one of thoſe which is ſupernumerary, and not any of thoſe which are acknowledged to bee the legitimate ordinance of the Fathers of that Councell, becauſe it is capable of a very good ſenſe: but I anſwer thus; The difference is great betwixt the new impoſing a name, and the old and received uſe; over that wee have power, over this not ſo.
And for the word Sunday in particular, though it bee no more idolatrous then the names of other dayes of the week, and ſome moneths of the yeere, it may be the better borne withall.
Firſt, Becauſe the Sunne is not as many Idols are, to which (for want of reall entity out of the fancie) wee may pertinently apply the words of Saint Paul, An Idol is nothing in the world, 1 Cor. 8.4. for it hath a true, ſolide, and glorious being of its owne, and a name it muſt have to expreſſe that being.
Secondly, For joyning it with the day in the name Sunday (as if it were devoted to the honour of the Sun) though that were the intention of the firſt impoſers, (and the like was their meaning in the names of the reſt of the dayes of the week, as many Authours have obſerved, eſpecially fHoſp. de orig. Feſtor. Jud. & Etha. c. 5. fol. 52. a. & 53. b.Hoſpinian, gVerſlegan. Reſtitut. of decayed Intellig. cap. 3. p 69.Verſtegan); yet the Chriſtians that uſed it did cleere themſelves from all participation with their impious ſuperſtition long agoe, viz. in Juſtin Martyrs, and hTertull. dpol. cap. 16. tom. 2. pag. 632.Tertullians time; ſince whom, ſo many well minded men have made uſe of it, that wee may well thinke all Pagan apprehenſions are (by this time) quite worne out of it, as well as out of the names of other dayes of the weeke, or of the moneths of the yeere, as of January, of March, of May, of June, (which are Idolatrous names, as iAuguſt. contra Fauſt. Manich. l. 18. c. 5. tom. 6 p. 420.Saint Augustine ſheweth) for where is there one of a thouſand that when he nameth kOf this, and the derivation of the reſt of the dayes, ſee Verſteg Reſtit. of decayed intellig. à p. 71. ad 77.Tueſday, hath any reverence or reference to the Idol Tuiſco? or to Woden when hee nameth Wedneſday? or to Thor when hee nameth Thurſday? or to Frigo, or Frea when he nameth Friday? or to Janus in the name of January, or to Mars in March, or Juno in the name of the monethmonth of June? It is more like that our vulgar people uſe the word without ſetting any note on the notation or etymology of it at all; or if they doe, they may think it is called Sunday from the Son of God, who is Lord of the Sabbath.
And if wee diſtinguiſh all men into two ſorts, viz. learned, and ignorant, wee may ſay of the learned, that it is not like that they (having beene trained up in Chriſtian religion) ſhould retaine any reſpective reliſh of ſuch abſurd Idolatry; and for the unlearned, they have no apprehenſions of words and things ſo obſcure and remote, as theſe etymologicall myſteries, but take the ſenſe of words according to the uſe of the times wherein they live.
But thirdly, If, as the Sunne in the Firmament makes the day, ſo the Sunne and the day make up the name Sunday: there is yet (for ought I ſee) no perill of applying unto it an idolatrous fancie; for wee may (with good congruity of reaſon) meane by it the ſplendour and glory of our Chriſtian holiday, in the many prerogatives of that day above the workdayes of the weeke (elſewhere to bee declared) as the Sun is a more bright and reſplendent Planet then any of the reſt.
And whereas lDr. Bound treat. on the Sab. part. 1 pag. 13.Dr. Bound ſaith, That the Divel, (that hee might retaine men in this errour, or hereſie rather, and thereby hee meaneth the k…eping them by the name of Sunday from inquiring into the cauſe of the name Lords day) cauſed this probable conjecture of the name Sunday to be given, namely, that ſeeing the Sun was the chiefe of all the Planets, as that which filleth all things with light; therefore in the number of the ſeven dayes, the chiefe place was given unto it.
Though it cannot bee denyed, but there is a comparative conformity betwixt this day and the other ſixe, as betwixt the Sun and the reſt of the Planets, whereby in an odd number the dayes and Planets are even, both making up the number of ſeven; yet may the name Sunday bee as ready for an orthodox, as for an erroneous ſenſe if wee come without prejudice to conſider it. Nor can it impeach the title Lords day, either for truth or evidence, any more then the calling of Chriſt ſo often the Sonne of man (in the ſacred Scripture) doth darken that glorious name, the Sonne of God: nay rather, as wee may uſe the matter, this name may give us light to ſee the ſhining beauty of that day, M. Herb. Temple pag 66.67.and in a religious and ſound ſenſe to ſay as that pious and ingenious Poet doth:
O day moſt calme and bright!
The week were dark but for thy light.
—the other dayes and thou
Make up one man, See many pertinent conformities betwixt Chriſt and the Sun in Dr. Tailors Meditat. on the creatures, from pa. 44. to 55. at the end of his treatiſe of the practice of Repentance.whoſe face thou art,
Knocking at heaven with thy brow,
The working dayes are but thy back part:
The Sundayes of mans life
Thredded together on times ſtring,
Make bracelets to adorne the wife
Of the eternall glorious King.
Thou art the day of mirth,
And where the work-daies traile on ground,
Thy flight is higher as thy birth,
O let mee take thee at thy bound;
Leaping with thee from ſeven to ſeven,
Till that we both being toſſ'd from earth,
Fly hand in hand to heaven.
If yet any bee afraid of Idolatry or Superſtition in the uſe of the word (and wee may ſo ſhun one ſuperſtition, as to ſlip into another, as Pope Sylveſter did, when he left the old names of the dayes of the week, and called them ferias, that mFeriae dictae à feriendis victimis. Polidor. Virg. de Invent. rer. l. 6. c. 5. pag. 367. The like hath Dr. Fulke obſerved (out of Iſidor. orig. l. 6. & Sext. Pomp. de verb. veteribus) in Rev. c. 1. v. 10. Sect. 6.word, as ſome give the Etymologie of it, being very much ſtained with idolatrous bloud) wee may call the day Sunday, as nDominica nobis ideo venerabilis atque ſolennis eſt, quia in ea Salvator (velut Sol oriens) diſcuſſis infernorum tenebris, luce Reſurrectionis emicuit; propterea, ipſa dies ab hominibus dies Solis vocatur, quòd ortus eum Sol Juſtitiae Chriſtus illuminet. Ambr. Serm. l. 6. tom. 3. pag. 286.Saint Ambroſe, oAug. cont. Fauſt. Manich. tom. 6. lib. 18. c. 5. p. 420.Saint Auguſtine, and others do, with eſpeciall reſpect to that of the Prophet Malachy, chap. 4. ver. 2. where Chriſt is called the Sunne of Righteouſneſſe, enlightning, as the Sunne doth, every one that cometh into the world, Joh. 1.9. And if the Lord bee likened to the Sun, and for that likeneſſe be called by that name, (as he is by David, Pſal. 19) the Lords day, as his day, may in that ſenſe bee called Sunday; and ſo the title will not (as Dr. Bound feareth) lead us from the Lord, but light us to him.
Hereto if wee add Saint Hieromes note upon the text in Malachy, the name Sunday may bee improved to a more profitable uſe, thus; pOrietur Sol Juſtitiae, quiverè omnia indicabit, & nec bona nec mala, nec virtutes nec vitia latere patietur. Hier. in Mal. 4.2. tom. 6. pag. 365. col. 2.The Lord, as the Sun, will bring every thing to light, ſo that (as he ſaith) he will ſuffer neither good nor bad, vertue nor vice any more to lye hid.
I will ſay no more for the warrant of this word Sunday (for I think I need not) ſave that it hath had the honour to bee many times named in the publick Liturgie of the Church of England, and hath beene allowed by divers, who were ſo farre eſtranged from that groſſe Idolatry of the heathens, (in offering up Sacrifice to the Sun) that they offered themſelves to be ſacrificed in the fire for the Sonne of God, rather then they would yeeld to the Idolatry of the Papiſts; for there were of thoſe that approved of the Communion Booke in King Edwards dayes, who ſuffered martyrdome in the dayes of Queene Mary; and in that Book the name Sunday is brought in (in the titles of the Epiſtles and Goſpels) five and twenty ſeverall times in order, without interruption: beſides that, it is mentioned often alſo in other places of the ſame Booke; and with that Book (for this note) agree our Service Books of all editions, in the dayes of Queene Elizabeth, King James, and our Soveraigne that now is.
And that the name Sunday was taken up by them who firſt penned the Communion Book, not as a profane, but as a Scripture name, it is very probable by this; The Epiſtles and Goſpels in the Communion Booke agree with the ancient Tranſlation of the Bible printed in the yeere 1540. (to which Archbiſhop Cranmer prefixed a Preface) and that Tranſlation rendereth Saint John, Revel. 1.10. I was in the Spirit upon a Sunday: So alſo in 1 Cor. 16.2. qIn Maſter Tindall his ſecond edition of his Tranſlation, printed 1540. hee uſeth the ſame word, thus; Upon ſome Sunday, &c. 1 Cor. 16.2.Upon ſome Sunday, let every one of you put aſide, &c. Wherein the Tranſlator deſcended to the capacity of ſimple perſons, to whom the day (in thoſe times) was beſt knowne by that name. Of that Tranſlation is the Bible of the Chapelrie of Warburton in Cheſhire, which is the eldeſt of that ſort, and beſt accordeth with the Service book in uſe, of any that I have ſeene.
That which hath beene ſaid on both ſides (if duely conſidered) will ſerve to commend a caveat unto us againſt that fault which the Prophet Iſaiah reproveth, in making a man an offendor for a word, Iſa. 29.21. either for not ſpeaking of a word, as thoſe who (with ſome ſcruple of conſcience) doe forbeare the name Sunday, whom (for Saint Hieromes, and Saint Auguſtines ſake, as before wee have produced their Authorities) wee ſhould not too ſharply cenſure: or for ſpeaking of a word, as if men could not name it without ſome ſavour of Pagan ſuperſtition. Whereas, the common people uſe it out of common cuſtome, and without any intention or intimation of ill; and the wiſer ſort may well bee thought to mention it with an intimation of good, as (out of Saint Ambroſe and Saint Hierome) we have obſerved. And ſo wee will ſhut up all (for this queſtion of the name Sunday) with a concluſion like that which the Apoſtle maketh concerning the difference of meates; Let not him that eateth deſpiſe him that eateth not; and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth, Rom. 14.3. So let not him who uſeth the word Sunday, deſpiſe him (as fooliſhly preciſe) that uſeth it not: and let not him who uſeth it not, judge him (as careleſly prophane) that uſeth it, ſince, in that ſenſe wherein wee have taken it, there is neither duty nor ſinne, either in the uſe or forbearance of it.