Works, Book 2 · Section 2
SECTION II.
THUS we have seen What is the condition and property of that Place which in my Text is called God's House. But before I proceed to speak of the Duty of those who come thither, (which was the second thing I propounded) there is one thing yet to be cleared concerning that which I last mentioned, namely, How God is said to come unto, or to be present with, men in one place more than another; seeing his Presence fills every place; Heaven being his throne, and the whole Earth his footstool. For although we read often in Holy Scripture of such a SHECINAH, or Speciality of the Divine presence, and have it often in our mouths; yet what it is, and wherein the Ratio thereof consisteth, is seldom, if at all, enquired into. When we speak of Churches, we content our selves to say, That God's special presence there is in his Word and Sacraments: But though it be true that the Divine Majesty is there specially present where his Word and Sacraments are; yet seems not this Speciality of presence to be the same with his Word and Sacraments, but a diverse relation from them. This may be gathered, in some sort, out of those words of Exodus whereupon we have so long dwelt, as where the recording of God's Name and his coming thither are spoken of as two: but is more strongly evinced by such instances of Scripture, where the Lord is said to have been specially present in places where this Record of his Word and Sacraments was not; as for example, to Moses in the Bush, to Iacob at Bethel, and the like. The true Ratio therefore of this SHECINAH or Speciality of Divine Presence must be sought and defined by something which is common to all these, and not by that which is proper to some only.
Well then, to hold you no longer in suspence, This Specification of the Divine presence, whereby God is said to be in one place more than another, I suppose (under correction) to consist in his train or retinue. A King is there where his Court is, where his train and retinue are: So God the Lord of Hosts is there specially present where the Heavenly Guard, the blessed Angels, keep their sacred station and rendezvous.
That this is consonant to the revelation of holy Scripture, I shew, first, from the collection or inference which the Patriarch Iacob makes upon that Divine vision of his at Bethel: where having seen a ladder reaching from heaven to earth, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon it; Surely, (saith he) the Lord is in this place,Gen. 28. 16, 17. and I knew it not. How dreadful is this place! It is no other but the House of God, even the gate of Heaven, that is, Heaven's Guild-hall, Heaven's Court; namely, because of the Angels: For the Gate was wont to be the Iudgment-Hall, and the Place where Kings and Senators used to sit, attended by their guard and ministers.
Secondly, I prove it from that interpretative expression used in the New Testament of the Lord's descent upon Mount Sinai when the Law was given; intimating, that the Specification of the presence of the Divine Majesty there also consisted in the Angelical retinue there encamping. For so S. Steven, Acts 7. 53. You who have received the Law by the disposition of Angels, and have not kept it. S. Paul twice; first, Gal. 3. 19. The Law was added because of transgressions, foreign, ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator: and again, Heb. 2. 2. he calls the Law, foreign, the word spoken by Angels. Howbeit in the story it self we find no such thing expressed, but only that the Lord descended upon the Mount in a fiery and smoking cloud,Exod. 19. 16, 18. accompanied with thunders and lightnings, with an earthquake, and the voice of a trumpet. Whence then should this expression of S. Steven and the Apostle proceed, but from a supposition, that the Special presence of the Divine Majesty, wheresoever it is said to be, consisted in the encamping of his sacred retinue the Angels? for that of himself, He, who filleth the Heaven and the Earth, could not descend, nor be in one place more than another.
Yea all the Apparitions of the Divine Majesty in Scripture are described by this retinue. That of the Ancient of days coming to judgment, Dan. 7. 10. Thousand thousands ministred unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; to wit, of Angels. Whence we read in the Gospel, that Christ our Saviour shall come in the glory of his Father, Matth. 16. 27.that is,Mark 8. 38. with an Host of Angels, as the Holy Ghost himself in the same places expounds it: for foreign or Glory here signifies the Presence of the Divine Majesty.
In the same style, of the same Appearing, prophesied Enoch, the seventh from Adam, Iude verse 14. foreign, Behold, the Lord cometh with his holy Myriads, or ten thousands; for so it ought to be rendred, and not, as we have it, with ten thousand of his Saints. Wherefore here the vulgar Latine comes nearer, which hath, Ecce, venit Dominus in sanctis millibus suis. A like expression whereunto of the Divine presence we shall find in Moses Blessing, Deut. 33. 2. The Lord (saith he) came *That … came unto them …esling upon …. Compare Psal. 68. vers. 17. or 18.from Sinai unto them, (i. unto Israel) and rose up from S…ir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, he came with his holy ten thousands, or holy Myriads, (for so it should be translated: then it follows,) from his right hand went a fiery law for them. From whence perhaps that notion of the Iewish Doctors, followed by S. Steven and the Apostle [That the Law was given by Angels] had its beginning. And thus you have heard out of Scripture What that is whereby the Special presence of the Divine Majesty is (as I suppose) defined, that is, wherein it consists; namely, such as is appliable to all places wherein he is said to be thus present, even to Heaven it self his Throne and Seat of glory, the proper place (as every one knows) of Angelical residence.
Now, according to this manner of presence is the Divine Majesty to be acknowledged present in the Places where his Name is recorded, as in his Temple under the Law, and in our Christian Oratories or Churches under the Gospel; namely, that the heavenly Guard there attend and keep their rendezvous, as in their Master's House: according to that vision which the Prophet Esay had thereof, Esay 6. 1. I saw the Lord (saith he) sitting upon a Throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple, [Septuagint, and Iohn 12. 41. foreign] that is, the Angels and Seraphims his stipatores; as may be gathered from that which immediately follows, verse 3. where it is said, The Seraphims cried one unto another, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his Glory.
This King Agrippa in*De Bello Iud. lib. 2. cap. 16. Iosephus intimates, in that Oration he is said to have made unto the Iews a little before that fatal siege, dehorting them from rebelling against the Romans: where speaking to the people hard by, and in view of that sacred Temple, he hath these words; foreign, I call to witness your sacred Temple and*To whom some think that voice may be referred before the destruction of the Temple, Migremus hinc, Let … depart …nce. the holy Angels of God; namely, which encamp there.
The …ame is implied in that of the 138. Psalm, ver. 1, 2. according to the translation of the Septuagint and Vulgar; foreign, In conspectu Angolorum psallam tibi; Adorabo ad Templum sanctum tuum, & confitebor Nomini tuo: Before the Angels I will sing praise unto thee; I will worship towards thy holy Temple, and praise thy Name.
And according to this sense I understand that of Solomon in this Book of Ecclesiastes within two or three verses of my Text, concerning vows to be made in God's House: When thou vowest a vow, Vers. 4, 5, 6.defer not to pay it—Better it is thou shouldest not vow, than vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou BEFORE THE ANGEL, It was an error;—that is, Let not such a foolish excuse come from thee in the house of God, before the holy Angels. For note that the word Angel may be taken*As tree for trees, leaf for leaves, Gen. 3. 2, 7, &c. collectively, for more than one.
For this cause all the curtains of the*Exod. 26. 36, 37. chap. 1 Kings 6. Tabernacle were filled with the pictures of Cherubims, and the*Exod. 26. 36, 37. chap. 1 Kings 6. walls of Solomon's Temple within with carved Cherubims; *Exod. 26. 36, 37. chap. 1 Kings 6.the Ark of the Testimony overspread and covered with two nighty Cherubims, having their faces looking towards it and the Mercy-seat, (foreign) with their wings stretched forth on high, called Heb. 9. 5. The Cherubims of glory, that is, of the Divine Presence: All to signifie, that where God's sacred Memorial is, the en…ign of his Covenant and commerce with men, there the blessed Angels out of duty give their attendance.
Nor is it to be over-passed, that the Iews at this day continue the like opinion of their modern Places of worship; namely, that the blessed Angels frequent their assemblies, and praise and laud God with them in their Synagogues: notwithstanding they have no other Memorial of his there than an imitative one only, to wit, a Chest with a Volume or Roll of the Law therein, in stead of the Ark with the two Tables. For thus speaks the Seder Tephilloth, or Form of prayer used by the Iews of Portugal; O Lord our God, the Angels, that supernal company, gathered together with thy people Israel here below, do crown thee with praises, and altogether do thrice redouble and cry that spoken of by the Prophet, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. They allude to Esay's Vision of the Glory of God, above mentioned.
You will say, Such a presence of Angels perhaps there was in that Temple under the Law; but there is no such thing in the Gospel. No? why? Are the Memorials of God's Covenant, his Insignia in the Gospel, less worthy of their attendance than those of the Law? or have the Angels, since the nature of man, Iesus Christ our Lord, became their Head and King, gotten an exemption from this service? Surely not. S. Paul, if we will understand and believe him, supposes the contrary, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, chap. 11. verse 10. where treating of a comely and decent accommodation to be observed in Church-assemblies, and in particular of womens being covered or veiled there, he enforces it from this presence of Angels; For this cause (saith he) ought the woman to have a covering on her head, foreign, because of the Angels; namely, which are there present. For otherwise the reason holds not, that she should more be covered in the Place of Prayer than any where else, unless the Angels be more there than elsewhere. This place much troubleth the Expositors: but see what it is to admit a truth; for now there is no difficulty in it.
And that the ancient Fathers conceived no less venerably of their Christian Oratories in this particular than the Iews did of their Temple, appears by S. Chrysostom…, who is very frequent in urging an awful and reverent behaviour in God's house from this motive of Angelical presence. As in his Homily*In Morali…. 36. in 1 Corinth. where reproving the irreverent behaviour of his Auditory in that Church, in talking, walking, saluting, and the like, (which he saith was peculiar unto them, and such as no Christians elsewhere in the world presumed to do,) he enforces his reproof with words that come home to our purpose: Non tonstrina, (inquit,) neque unguentaria officina, neque ulla alia opi…icum qui sunt in …oro taberna, est Ecclesia; sed Locus Angelorum, Locus Archangelorum, Regia Dei, ipsum Coelum: The Church (saith he) is no Barber's or Drug-seller's shop, nor any other crafts-mans or merchants workhouse or warehouse in the market-place; but the place of Angels, the place of Archangels, the Palace of God, Heaven it self.
And in his 4. Homily De incomprehensibili Dei natura, towards the end; Cogi…a apud quem proximè stas, quibuscum invoces Deum; s…il. cum Cherubim, cum Seraphim, cum omnibus coeli Virtutibus: animadverte quos habeas socios: satis hoc tibi sit ad sobrietatem, cùm recorderis te corpore constantem & carne coagmentatum, admitti cum Virtutibus incorporeis celebrare omnium Dominum: Think near whom thou standest, with whom thou invocatest God; namely, with Cherubims and Seraphims, and all the Powers of Heaven: consider but what companions thou hast: let it be sufficient to perswade thee to sobriety, when thou remembrest that thou, who art compounded of flesh and bloud, art admitted with the incorporeal Powers to celebrate the common Lord of all. But all this, you will say, the Angels may do in Heaven. Well, let it be so, yet is it not altogether out of our way: but the next places I shall bring will not be so eluded.
Namely, that in his 15. Homily upon the Epistle to the Hebrews, against those that laughed in the Church: Regiam quidem ingrediens, & habitu, & aspectu, & incessu, & omnibus aliis te ornas & componis: Hîc autem verè est Regia, & planè hîc talia qualia coelestia; & rides? Atque scio quidem quòd tu non vides. Audi autem, quòd ubique adsunt Angeli, & maximè in Domo Dei adsistunt, Regi, & omnia sunt impleta incorporeis illis Potestatibus: When thou goest into a King's Palace, thou composest thy self to a comeliness in thy habit, in thy look, in thy gate, and in all thy whole guise: But here is indeed the Palace of a King, and the like attendance to that in Heaven; and dost thou laugh? I know well enough thou seest it not. But hear thou me, and know that Angels are every where, and that chiefly in the House of God they attend upon their King, where all is …illed with these incorporeal Powers.
The like unto this you shall find in his 24. Homily upon the Acts of the Apostles; Knowest thou not that thou standest here with Angels, that with them thou singest, with them thou landest God with Hymns?foreign and dost thou laugh? See the rest.
I will alledge but one passage more of his, lest I should grow tedious, and that is out of his 6. Book de Sacerdotio, not very far from the beginning; where speaking of the time when the holy Eucharist is celebrated, foreign (saith he) foreign. Then the Angels stand by the Priest, and the whole Quire resounds with celestial Powers, and the place about the Altar is filled with them, in honour of him who is laid thereon, that is, of his Memorial. Compare with it a like passage in his 3. Hom. De incomprehensibili Dei natura; Item Hom. 1. De verbis Isaiae.
S. Ambrose acknowledgeth the same in That it was the sense of the Ancient Church (That Christ is offered in the Eucharist by way of Commemoration only) see it proved in the following Treatise of The Christian Sacrifies, Chap. 9.]c. 1. Luc. aDoubt not but an Angel is present, when Christ is present, when Christ is offered.Non dubites assistere Angelum, quando Christus assistit, Christus immolatur.
Yea Tertullian, (in whose time, which was within two hundred years after Christ, some will scarcely believe that Christians had any such Places as Churches at all,) if I understand him, intimates as much in his Lib. de Oratione c. 12. where reprehending the irreverent gesture of some in sitting at the time of Prayer in the Church; Si quidem (saith he) irreverens est assidere sub conspectu contráque conspectum ejus quem cùm maximè reverearis ac venereris; quantò magìs sub conspectu Dei vivi, ANGELO adhuc ORATIONIS adstan…e, factum illud irreligiosissimum est; nisi exprobramus Deo, quòd nos oratio fatigaverit? If it be an irreverent thing to sit in the sight and before him whom thou in a special manner honourest and reverencest; how much more is it an act most irreligious to do it in the presence of the living God, the ANGEL OF PRAYER. yet standing by; unless we upbraid God, that we have wearied our selves with praying? Mark [In the presence of the living God, the Angel of Prayer standing by] that is, in the presence of the living God specified by his Angel; the latter being an explanation of the former. It is like unto that in this chapter of my Text, Say not thou before the Angel, It was an error: yet I believe not borrowed thence; forasmuch as the Septuagint, whose translation Tertullian was only acquainted with and every where follows, have no mention of Angel in that place, but of God; rendring it, foreign, Say not before the presence of God. Which shews how they understood it.
I cite the passage of these Fathers thus at large, lest I might to some seem to broach a Novelty. And though some of those of S. Chrysostome be Hyperbolically expressed; yet for the main and substance of what he intended, I believe it to be true, and ground my belief upon the authority of S. Paul before alledged, foreign, Because of the Angels. If any shall say, whatsoever were then, they will not believe there in any such kind of presence in our Churches now: I must tell them, If it be so, it is because of our irreverent and unseemly behaviour in them, which makes those blessed Spirits loath our company. For though they be invisible and incorporeal creatures, yet can they not look into our hearts, (that is God their Master's prerogative) but are witnesses of our outward behaviour and actions only; and it was a case of external decorum, wherein the Apostle mentions this presence of theirs for a motive or reason; For this cause ought the woman to have a covering on her head, because of the Angels. For they love not to behold any thing that is uncomely and unbeseeming, but fly from it: and if we lose their company, the best members of our congregation are wanting.
Thus you have heard what is the dignity and prerogative of God's House.Eccles. 5. 1. Who now that considers and believes this, (and there was a time when it was believed,) will not say with the Patriarch Iacob, when he saw the Angels ascending and descending at Bethel, Quàm reverenda sunt haec loca! How reverend are these places! For every Place where the name of God is recorded, is Bethel, where the Angels of God are ascending and descending, that is, God in a special manner present and meeting with men. How seemly therefore, orderly and awfully should we compose our selves in them? how reverent should our manner be at our coming into them? which is the second thing I propounded to speak of. Thus much therefore of God's House: I come now to the Duty of those who come thither; Look to thy feet when thou comest to the House of God.