Canterburys Doom, Branch 1 · Evidence 2 · Floating text 2 · Popish error 4
4. That Christians here muſt have Altars; that theſe ought to be rayled in Altarwiſe, at the East end of the Chancell, and there bowed to and towards as to Gods mercy ſeate, and the place of Chriſts chiefe reall preſence upon earth, and that there can be no true Sacrament or Conſecration of it where there is no Altar.
THis is the Subject matter of many whole Bookes lately publiſhed, authorized by the Archbiſhops Creatures and Chaplaines, as Doctor Heylyns Coale from the Altar; his Antidotum Lincolnienſe, His Moderate anſwer to Maſter Henry Burton, pag. 132. to 140. yea a thing expreſly enjoyned by the Archbiſhop and others in the new Statutes for the Vniverſity of Oxford, in the new Statutes of diverſe Cathedrals, the new Cannons and by diverſe Biſhops in their Viſitation Articles, already mentioned. We ſhall therefore inſiſt only on ſome other authorized Bookes and paſſages to this purpoſe.
Wee ſhall begin with Doctor Iohn Pocklington, his Sunday no Sabbath, printed by the Arch-biſhops approbation, and his Chaplaines licenſe, p. 43. 44. 50.
Habemus Altare, we under the Goſpell have an Altar, Heb. 15. 10. and ſo is the Word Altar, and Lords Table indifferently and alike anciently uſed: theſe were ſome Tables or Altars of ſtone, quia Chriſtus eſt lapis angularis: ſome were of Wood, the better to expreſſe his death on the Tree: theſe wooden Altars or Tables, the furious Circumceflions brake downe in Saint Auguſtines time: And if we doe not only bend or bow our bodie to this bleſſed Board, or holy Altar, but fall flat on our faces before his Footſtoole ſo ſoone as ever we approach in ſight thereof, what Patriarch, or Apoſtle would condemne us for it?
Which he thus further proſecutes in his Altare Chriſtianum, pag. 108. Humble and lowly Reverence towards the holy and moſt Sacred Altar, where Chriſt is moſt truly and really preſent in the bleſſed Sacrament; pag. 142. Was not the Altar ſet in Sacrario, or Sancto Sanctorum, whereunto the Prieſt aſcended by certaine ſteps and degrees, and when they did ſo aſcend, were there not Pſalmes of degrees ſang, called for that cauſe Gradualls? durſt the Prieſts themſelves aſcend thither without doing lowly Reverence three ſeverall times? Veneration towards the Altar was then required and practiſed, pag. 145. Prieſts in our Church at the Ordination kneell upon their knees before the holy Altar then is given impoſition of hands before the holy Altar, then the Biſhop takes the holy Goſpells from the holy Altar, &c. no Biſhop was authorized before his Altar was conſecrated, pag. 153. To warrant and juſtifie the bringing them in and due honouring of them becauſe they are the ſeats and Chairs of eſtate, where the Lord vouchſafeth to place himſelfe amongſt us. Quid eſt enim Altare niſi ſedes corporis & ſanguinis Chriſti? p. 159. To come home to our Countrie, when the Author ſees the Kings moſt Sacred Majeſtie, and the honourable Lords of the moſt Noble order of the Garter performe moſt low and humble Reverence to Almighty God before the moſt holy Altar, the Throne in earth of that great Lord from whom their honour proceedeth, pag. 160. Deo at que Altari reverentiam exhibuiſſe viſi ſunt. Domino Deo & ejus Altari proni facti debitum impenderent honorem, Summum Altare in honorem Dei debita genu-flexione reverentia que conſalutabit, p. 175. Honour and Reverence of right belongs unto it in regard of the preſence of our Saviour whoſe Chaire of State it is upon earth. Nay he proceedes yet further, p. 75.
The Euchariſt cannot be receaved among Heretiques, for the Elements must be conſecrated before they become partakers of that Euchariſt: this Heretikes could not then doe, quia nec Altare nec Eccleſiam, becauſe they had neither Altar nor Church, for of neceſſitie ſayes St. Cyprian, Euchariſtia in Altari ſanctificatur, the Euchariſt is conſecrated upon the Altar: If then this were true, which this unadviſed man would make the Vicar believe, that there were no Altars nor Churches within 20. yeares after Chriſt, it muſt needs follow that the holy Euchariſt was not received by any of the holy Martyrs and bleſſed Saints of God in all the primitive Church, or elſe that they did receive ſome kinde of Sacrament, that was not conſecrated, for Euchariſtia in Altari ſanctificatur is a ground in which he ſets his reſt, as the Fathers before him, and his ſucceſſors ever did, P. 174. Saint Cyprian tells you, that the uſe of Altars is to ſanctifie the Euchariſt upon, and that without an Altar, it cannot be conſecrated, and that therefore Heretiques have no Sacraments among them, becauſe they have no Altars.
Edmond Reeve in his Chriſtian Divinity, contained in the Divine Service of the Church of England, ſeconds him in theſe words p. 132 to 137. Unto the due honouring of Gods holy name the place where Gods name is put is to be honoured alſo, now alſo ought every one being come into Gods Houſe to proſtrate himſelfe, i. e. to make low obeyſance towards Gods mercy-ſeat being in the uppermoſt part of the Temple pag. 133. A great Divine in our Church (Mr. Dr. Laurence in his moſt weighty Sermons) thus writeth. Wee are no more Idolatrous by our proſtration towards the Table of the Lord, than the Iewes were by theirs towards the Tabernacle of the Lord or the mercy-ſeat, pag. 134 Gods Board is to be accounted the peculiar ſeat of God within the Temple, and therefore towards it unto God, there we are to make low obeyſance whenſoever we come into Gods Houſe for to pray. Gods board is ever to have due reverence, and God who is there perpetually, is alwayes to be proſtrated unto: Should not Chriſtianity teach us that no ſeat of any Perſon, much leſſe of any of the Layty ſhould be above Gods mercy-ſeat, the ſacred Communion Table: The ſacred Communion Table is called an Altar, and it is alſo called Gods mercyſeat. Gods Board is ever to have due Reverence, and God who is there perpetually is alwayes to be proſtrated unto; yea, when as the Body and Blood of Chriſt in the bleſſed Sacrament, is not upon the ſame.
Robert Shelford Prieſt in his Five learned and pious diſcourſes, printed at Cambridge 1635. determines thus, p. 4. To this day all our Churches are called ſanctuaties, as in many other Regards, ſo eſpecially in regard of the Lords Table or high Altar at the upper end of them, which is Ieſus Chriſts mercy ſeat, becauſe there the memory of the everlaſting ſacrifice, is made and preſented to the holy Trinity, pag. 15. Seeſt thou not the Son of Gods ſeat here, the holy Altar at the upper end of this Houſe? Pag. 17. The 5. ſort of Reverence beſeeming Gods Houſe, is at the entring in before we take our ſeates to bend the Knee, and to bow our Body to him towards the more uſuall and ſpeciall place of his reſidence or reſemblance, which is the high Altar or the Lords Table, uſually ſtanding at the Eaſt end of Gods Houſe, Id que propter Christum qui eſt Lux Mundi, & Oriens nominatur, Zach. 6. 12. & ab oriente etiam expectatur venturus, pag. 19. 20. The firſt reverence that you make, becauſe the houſe is Gods and not mans, direct your aſpect to Gods Table, which Saint Paul calls the Lords Altar, ſaying, We have An altar whereof they have no right to eate which ſerve the Tabernacle: this is the great ſigne of Gods reſidence in this holy place, as the Arck was the ſigne of hs preſence in his Tabernacle: here the great ſacrifice of Chriſts death for our ſalvation, is in Remembrance repreſented to God the Father: and can we remember ſo great a benefit, and not reverence the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt for it? I do not exhort you to give Divine worſhip to Gods Table, but to worſhip God towards it, for Gods Altar is not terminativum cultus, but motivum only; as Daniel being in Captivity turned his face towards Jeruſalem when he prayed, but prayed not to it; thus if we come before God in his houſe with due reverence, then will he hould out his Golden Scepter of grace to us, as the great King Ahaſuerus held out his to Queene Eſter, but if we ſlight God in his owne place, and hee hould out his Iron Scepter to us, then let us be wiſe and learned.
Let us learne of our Mother Churches, for there our Reverend Fathers the Prelates and others make their reverence to God on this wiſe, both at their entry and return: wherefore to follow their good and holy Patterne, we alſo are to doe the like both at our firſt comming into Gods houſe and at our going out, &c.
Sundry ſuch Paſſages are to be found in many other new printed Pamphlets.
Theſe Popiſh impious Innovations and practiſes being complained againſt by Mr. Burton and others in their Writings; this Archbiſhop not only juſtifies them in privat, but in open Court in a premeditated printed Speech, at the cenſure of Doctor Baſtwick, Mr. Burton, and Mr. Prynu in Star-Chamber the 14. of June, 1637. there Num. 26. Moſes and …aron fell up…n their ſa…s atthe doore …f the Tabernacle only for … pray, not … Worſhip: Er…, we muſt alwayes bow …o the Altar at our approaches …oit, is no good conſequence: out rather, Ergo, we muſt alwayes fall on our faces at and towards the Church doore, had bin a better ſequens. The Altar ſtood without the Doore of the Tabernacle, and the Laver betweene it and the Tent, Exod 40. 7. 8. 29. 30. Therefore if Moſes fell on his face at the Tabernacle doore, his worſhip was not with his face to, but from the Altar, and his bowing not towards, but fromwards it, quite croſſe to your bowing.moſt inhumanly cenſured, only for oppoſing theſe and other Popiſh Innovaſions, In which Speech of his, P. 34. &c. he writes thus.
One thing ſticks much in their Stomacks, and they call it an Jnnovation too: And that is, bowing, or doing Reverence at our first comming in to the Church, or at our nearer approaches to the holy table, or the ALTAR call it whether you will) In which they will needs have it, that we worſhip the Holy Table, or God knowes what. To this I anſwer, that if to worſhip God, when we enter into his Houſe, or approach his Altar, be an Innovation, tis a very Oldone, For *This ſolemnity and the bowing uſed in it is only civill, not Religious. 2ly. Peculiar to the Knights of this Order. Therefore no rule for others in matter of their worſhip.Moſes did Reverence at the very Doore of the Tabernacle, &c. For my own part, I take my ſelfe bound to Worſhip with Body, as well as in Soule, when ever I come where God is worſhiped. And were this Kingdome ſuch as would allow no Holy Table ſtanding in its proper place, (and ſuch places ſome there are) yet I would worſhip God when I came into his Houſe. And were the Times ſuch, as ſhould beat downe Churches, and all the curious carved worke thereof, with Axes and Hammers as in Pſal. 74. (and ſuch times have beene) yet would I Worſhip in what place ſoever I came to pray, though there was not ſo much as a ſtone laid for Bethell, but this is the miſery, tis Superstition, now adayes for any man to come with more Reverence into a Church than a Tinker and his Bitch come into an Ale-houſe: the Compariſon is too homely, but my juſt indignation at the Profaneneſſe of the times makes me ſpeake it.
And you my Honourable Lords of the Garter, in your greater ſolemnities you do your (*) Reverence unto Almighty God, I doubt not; but yet it is verſus Altare, towards his Altar as the 4This is a meere groundleſſe fall…i…, God & Chriſt being moſt preſent in the middeſt of his peoples hearts and ſoules not on the Altar. Mat. 18. 20. c. 28. 20. Eph. 4. 17. Gal. 2. 20. 1 Cor. 6. 19. 20.greatest place of Gods Reſidence upon earth; I ſay the greateſt, yea greater then the Pulpit: For, there tis, Hoc est Corpusmenm, this is my Body but in the Pulpit tis at moſt but, Hoc eſt verbum meum, this is my Word, And a dChriſts body is not God: nor his naturall body on the Altar: but only the Elements which repreſent it Now Chriſts word makes the Bread his repreſentative, not reall body, and the word, expreſſeth his Divinity, Ioha 1. 1. the Conſecrated Bread, his Body and humanity only: Therefore our reverence is no doubt more due to his word than to his body. And ſo St. Auguſtine expreſly reſolves it to be as due to it HOMIL 26. Jnterrogo vos ſratres vel ſarores, dicite mib…, quid vobis plus eſſe videtur, verbum Dei, an corpus Chriſti…ſi verumvultis reſpondere, hoc utique dicere debetis, quod non ſit minus Verbum, quàm corpus Chriſti, et ideo quanta ſolicitudone obſervamus, quando nobis corpus Chriſti miniſtratur, ut nihil ex ipſo de noſtris manibus in terram cadat, tanta ſolicitudinc obſervamus, ne verbum Dei quod nobis erogatur, dum aliquid out cogitamus out loquimur de corde noſtro pereat, quia non minus reus erit, qui Verbum Dei negligente raudierit, quam ille qui corpus Chriſti in terram cadere negligentia ſua permiſerit.greater Reverence (no doubt) is eNot ſo becauſe not commended. True we agree it.due to the Body, than to the word of our Lord and ſo i… Relation Anſwerable to the Throne where his body is uſually preſent, than to the Seat, where his Word uſeth to be proclaimed: and God hold it there, at his word, for as too many men uſe the matter, tis Hoceſt verbum Diabolt, this is the word of the Devill, in too many places. Witneſſe ſedition and the like to it. And this Reverence ye do, when ye enter the Chapell, and when you approach nearer to offer, and this is no Innovation, for you are bound to it by your order, and thats not new. And Idolatry it is not to worſhip God towards his holy Table, for if it had beene Idolatry, I preſume Queene Elizabeth and King James would not have practiſed it, no not in thoſe ſolemnities: & being not Idolatry, but true Divine worſhip, you will, I hope give a poore Prjeſt leave to worſhip God as your ſelves do; for, if it be Gods worſhip, I ought to do it as well as you, and if it be Idolatry, * you ought not to do it more then I. I ſay againe, I hope a fYou are no ſuch, but a rich Arch-Prelatepoore Prieſt may worſhip God with as lowly Reverence as you do, ſince you are bound by your Order, & by your Oathes, according to a conſtitution of Hen. the 5. (as appeares) to give due honour and Reverence gThis is in the Copulative, you give one and the ſame adoration, at the ſame time both to God and the Altar in one Act of bowing, without any diſtinction, Therefore you adore both alike with one and the ſame worſhip, and ſo give Divine … to the Altar as well as to God, which is Idolatry; or but civill worſhip to God, not exceeding that you giveDomino Deo, & Altari ejus, in modum virorum Eccleſiaſticorum: that is, to the Lord your God, and to his Altar, (for there is a Reverence *You ſay but no wayes prove it.due to that too, though ſuch as comes farre ſhort of Divine Worſhip) and this in that manner, as Eccleſiaſticall perſons both worſhip and do reverence: The ſtory which led in this Decree is this: King Hen: the 5th. that Noble and Victorius Prince, returning gloriouſly out of France, ſat at this ſolemnity, and finding the Knights of the Order ſcarce bow to God, or but ſleightly, and then bow towards him and his ſeat, ſtartled at it (being a Prince then growne as Religious as he was before Victorious) and after asking the Reaſon (for till then the Knights of the Order never bowed towards the King or his Seat) the Duke of Bedford Anſwered, it was ſettled by a Chapter Act three yeares before: hereupon the great King replyed, No, Ile none of this, till you the Knights do it, ſatis bene, welenough, and with due performance to Almighty God. And hereupon the forenamed Act, proceeded, that they ſhould doe this dutie to Almighty God, not ſleightly, but ad modum virorum Eccleſiaſticorum, as low, as well, as decently as aPopiſh Monkes and Friars adoring the hoſtia and Altar in thoſe blind times, were clearely both the ground and Patterne of this Altar-adoration, which this Arch-pre late would obtrude on us in theſe dayes of the Goſpell. But theirs was Idolatrous, ſuperſtitious, Popiſh. Therefore this is ſuch.Clergy-men uſe to doe it.
Now if you will turne this off and ſay, it was the ſuperſtition of that age ſo to do, *Reply to Hardings Anſwer, Art. 3. Diu. 29.Biſhop Iewell will come in to helpe me there: for where Harding names divers Ceremonies, and particularly, bowing themſelves, and adoring at the Sacrament: I ſay Adoring at the Sacrament, not adoring the Sacrament; there Biſhop Jewell, that learned painfull and Reverend Prelate approves all, both the kneeling and the bowing, and the ſtanding up at the Goſpell (which as ancient as it is in the Church; and a common Cuſtome, is yet fondly made another of their Jnnovations,) And further, the Biſhop addes, That they are all Commendable geſtnres and tokens of Devotion, ſo long as the people underſtand what they meane and apply them unto God Now with us, the People did ever underſtand them fully and *Your ſelfe and yours apply them tothe Altar. Deo et Altari ejus, not to God onelyonly. Ergo in this you contradict your ſelfe.apply them to God; and to none but God; till theſe factious Spirits and their like to the great diſſervice of God, and his Church, went about to perſwade them, that they are Superſtitious, if not Idolatrous geſtures, as they make every thing elſe to be where God is not ſerved ſlovenly.
This raliacious ridiculous diſcourſe and practiſe of Altar Bowing, being fully anſwered reſuted in the Quench-Cole in a Pleaſant purge for a Roman Catholike, in the Marginall Annotations and here formerly proved to be derived from the Papiſts (pag. 63. 64.) we ſhall proceed to other Doctrines of this Nature.