The Morality of the Fourth Commandment Still in Force, Thesis
Doctor LAKE Biſhop of BATH, and Wells, Theſes de Sabbato.
1. GOD at firſt made us not only men, but alſo children of God.
2. Therefore wee had a double being, or were fitted for a double Societie
1. Civill.
2. Eccleſiaſticall.
3. Theſe ſtates are inwrapped the one in the other; For the Eccleſiaſticall preſupoſeth the Civill, He that is a child of God is a man, and hee muſt be of the Civill that is of the Eccleſiaſticall ſociety.
4. And the Civill ſtate muſt be ſeaſoned with, and moderated by the Eccleſiaſticall; for a man in his Civill ſtate muſt live as a child of God, and member of the Church.
5. Notwithſtanding God would that each of theſe ſtates ſhould during this World, have ſucceſſively their principall imployments.
6. And for theſe imployments hee appointed certaine times.
7. The proportion of time allowed, the principall imployment of the civill ſtate was ſix dayes; And that which was allowed the principall imployment of Eccleſiaſticall ſtate was one day.
8. What times himſelfe tooke for to work in or reſt after the Creation, the ſame did hee aſſigne to men, and made his patterne a perpetuall Law?
9. So then of our time God reſerved a ſeventh part for his ſervice.
10. But in this apportioning as he reſerved a ſeventh part of time; ſo was that ſeventh the ſeventh day of the weeke.
11. Whereof the ground was his reſt from labour.
12. For that he would have to be the day of mans reſt, becauſe he ſanctified it.
13. And though, no meane both Jewes, and Chriſtians doubt of the beginning of this obſervance by man, yet I thinke it began with Adam.
14. God had a Church and a ſervice of his owne preſcript from the beginning; and why ſhould we doubt whether hee cloathed then his ſervice with due circumſtances of
Time.
Place.
15. Did he ſanctifie it for his owne uſe? That were abſurd to thinke the Word ſanctifying doth refute it; for whom then? ſurely for man.
16. And the place Exod. 16. together with the Preface to the fourth Commandement [remember] weigh more with me then all the weake preſumptions that are brought to the contrary.
17. I conclude then, that the fourth Commandement is not an introduction, but a declaratory Law.
18 But moreover I adde, that when it was delivered to the Jewes there was ſuperadded, a diſtinguiſhing reference to that Church.
19. For it was preſcribed as a ſigne of Gods ſanctifying reſidence amongſt them; and a memoriall of their freedome from Egyptian bondage.
20. But theſe acceſſories derogate not from the firſt inſtitution.
21. No more doth the forme of Liturgy which was occaſioned by the fall, or their freedome.
22. Theſe things ſhew rather to what ſpeciall uſe they did apply the time, then touch the apportionment thereof.
23. The apportionment of time (of which I take theſe Queſtions moved) hath two remarkable things.
24.
1. That God reſerveth a ſeventh part of time,
2. That hee deſigneth which of the ſeven days ſhall be his.
25. The reſerving of the ſeventh part I hold to be by Gods Ordinance who is not variable in his choice, as everlaſting as the World, becauſe appointed before the fall.
26. And ſo ſhould the hallowing of the ſeventh ayfm the Creation have beene as laſting, had it not beene for ſin, for what could have altered it but a new Creation?
27. But man having ſinned, and ſo by ſin aboliſhed the firſt Creation de jure, though not de facto, God was pleaſed to make by Chriſtan inſtauration of the World.
28. Hee (as the Scripture ſpeakes of Chriſts Redemption) made a new Heaven, and a new Earth; old things paſſed then away, and ſo all things were made new.
29 Yea every man in Chriſt is a new Creature.
30 As God then when he ended the firſt Creation, made a day of reſt, and ſanctified it.
31 So did Chriſt, when he ended his worke, make a day of reſt and ſanctified it.
32. Not altering the proportion of time which is eternall, but taking the firſt day of ſeven for his portion, becauſe ſin had made the ſeventh alterable, Therefore.
33. This firſt day ſucceeded the ſeventh, and by that was this memoriall aboliſhed.
34. And although the Apoſtles were indulgent to the Jewes in keeping the ſeventh as well as the firſt, when they converſed with them; untill the deſtruction of the Temple.
35 Yet would they not endure, that the Gentiles ſhould be tied to the obſervation thereof.
36. This firſt day Chriſt ſanctified not only by his reſurrection, but alſo by ſundry apparitions before his aſcenſion, and after his aſcenſion by ſending thereon the Holy Ghoſt; this is cleare in the Goſpell and Actes.
37 The Apoſtles directed by Chriſts not onelyonly example, but ſpirits alſo, obſervéd the ſame; witneſſe in the Acts S. Paul; S. Iohn in the Revelation.
38 And from the Apoſtles the Catholike Church uniformly received it; witneſſe all Eccleſiaſticall writers.
39 And the Church hath received it not to be Liberae obſervationis, as if men might at their pleaſure, accept or refuſe it.
40 But to be perpetually obſerved to the Worlds end; for as God only hath power to apportion his time: ſo hath he power to ſet out the day that hee will take for his portion, for hee is Lord of the Sabbath.
41 And he doth it by the worke which hee doth on the day; the worke I ſay doth difference a day from a day.
42 Whereas otherwiſe all dayes are equall, and the ſame in themſelves; as the ſonne of Syrach teacheth.
43 Now then when God doth any remarkeable worke, then will hee be honoured with a commemoration day for that worke; if the worke concerne the whole by the whole Church; and by a part if it concerne a part.
44 And his will is underſtood often by his precept, but when we have not that, the practiſe doth guide the Church.
45 This is a catholick rule obſerveable in the inſtitution of all ſacred feaſts both Divine and Humane.
46 The worke of the day is the ground of hallowing the day, whether it be weekly monethly or yearly, as particulars evince in Scripture and Hiſtory.
47 No man can tranſlate the worke, therefore can no man tranſlate the day; this is an undoubted rule in Theology.
48 And no man can in reaſon deny due reſpect unto the worke, therefore hee cannot deny the hallowing of the day; a true rule in morality.
49 Now then ſeeing the Lords Day hath not altered the proportion of time, but onelyonly changed the day, though not properly, yet by analogy; though not with the acceſſories, yet according to the Originall Sabbath, It may well agree with the tenor of the fourth Commandement, and the obſervance thereof be commanded therein.
According to theſe Theſes which I hold true, untill any of them he confuted, I will point out what I miſlike in the Queſtions or the Anſwers: not every particular, but ſome principall points.
Figure the Section of the Anſwers in your booke, and you ſhall the better fit my Theſes to them.
Queſtion 1.
VVHat doe you mean when you pray after the fourth Commandement, Lord have mercy upon us, &c.
The 49 Theſes anſwereth, that we meane not the Jewiſh Sabbath, but that which analogically to the Originall Sabbath we obſerve, The Lords Day.
Queſtion 2. Sect. 1.
The obſervation of the Sabbath ſome ſay is morall, and perpetuall.]
By Sabbath you muſt underſtand the Lords Day, otherwiſe none but Hereticks hold this opinion.
Then I thinke the proportion of time is perpetuall Theſi 15; though if you looke to the aſſiguation of the day, it is not perpetuall; ſin hath altered it occaſionally, and God Cauſally; abſque hoc it was intended that it ſhould be perpetuall, Theſi 26.
But whether is the obſervation of the Lords Day morall?
Certainly this is a morall rule; to hallow the day wherein God doth ſome remarkable worke. Theſ. 43. & 48.
But Chriſt did riſe for the reſtauration of the World this day, therefore the obſervance thereof morall.
Were it an abſolute aſſignation of time, the appointing of the Lords Day, it might be doubted: but take this circumſtance as it cloatheth the worke, then I hold it cleare, that though time be but a circumſtance, yet the obſervance of time ſo underſtood is Morall.
But there is a mutability in the obſervance of ſuch times as cloath Gods works, becauſe the works themſelves are ſubject to mutability, and ſo the ſeventh day was changed for the firſt, becauſe the firſt Creation needed an inſtauration; and he that cauſed the Inſtauration might make the alteration. Theſi 33.
Queſtion 1. Section 1.
The Text is cleare Coloſ. 2. that the obſervation of the Sabbath was ceremoniall]
As a ſhadow? meane you this of the originall Sabbath or the declaratory cloathed with the acceſſories. Theſ. 18, 19, &c. It is certaine the originall could be no ſhaddow, for it is precedent to the fall.
The declaration may; true; as conſidered with his acceſſories, but the author of the Queſtions (I thinke) miſtaketh the text of S. Paul.
For the words referre to the controverſie betweene the Jewes and Gentiles, both believers; but the beleeving Jew would have put upon the believing Gentile the ceremonies, which S. Paul indureth not, either here or in the Galat.
As for the place to the Rom: that tempereth the preſumption, of the Gentile, who out of the conceipt of Chriſtian liberty forgot to beare with the weake Jew.
All this is nothing to the Originall Sabbath, whereunto (I ſay▪) the Lords Day ſucceedeth, and is by analogy in the fourth Commandement, which hath no mixture of thoſe acceſſories, for ought I can ſee in the words.
Queſtion 1. Section 2.
It cannot be proved, that the Apoſtles commanded to ſanctifie the Lords day in memory of Chriſts Reſurrection.]
No can? what author ancient is there that doth not hold it to have had his originall from the Apoſtles? he ſhould doe well to alleage them.
It is ſomething diſcrepant from the doctrine of our Church.]
You alleage the words of the Homily, but ſtreighten the tenſe of them; for the Chriſtian People that choſe the firſt day, were thoſe that lived in the dayes of the Apoſtles, all of them and their poſterity ſucceſſively to us.
Doth it therefore follow that wee may not keepe the ſeventh day in memory of the worlds Creation?
It doth; for the Lords Day ſucceedeth in ſtead of that, ut Theſ. 33. Therefore they cannot conſiſt with the purpoſe of the alteration, which is to note a New Creation.
Ib.
Conſtantine commanded the ſixt day ſhould be kept in memory of Chriſts death]
Kept as a faſting day, not as a feſtivall day; and ſo the Church keepeth it ſtill.
Ibid.
Sabbato & poſtridie Sabbati conveniunt.]
So doth the Church now; but Saturday is Paraſceve to the Lords Day; and leaſt they ſhould ſeeme to Judaize, they did and do begin the Eve after noon, to note it is but a preparation to Sunday.
Ibid.
Saint Auſtin termeth the Sabbath in the fourth Commandement, Sacramentum Umbratile.]
True, as the Jewes did obſerve it; So himſelfe there expoundeth himſelfe.
Queſtion. 1. Section 4.
The obſervance of the Sabbath day by Chriſt compared to Jewiſh ſacrifice.]
This ſpeaketh not of the aſſignation of dayes, but how ſtrictly the day muſt be kept, and it is as true of the Lords Day.
Section 5.
Hebrewes 4. mention is made of three reſts.]
Or one reſt rather, which is Gods reſt,Gen. 2. and the participation thereof 2 wayes
Typically.
Spiritually.
The Typicall is the entrance into Canaan, which carried with it a ceſſation from labours of the Jewiſh ſervitude, and Pilgrimage.
From this Typicall many (ſaith the Apoſtle) were excluded through infidelity, and by fayth ſome did partake it.
But there was another participation, a ſpirituall, which came by Jeſus, whereunto Ioſuah could not bring, which is a ceaſing not from corporall, but ſpirituall toyles and ſinnes immediatly: but mediately it will bring unto a ſpirituall bleſſed reſt both of body and ſoule in Heaven.
This ſpirituall immediate reſt or participation of Gods reſt is called Sabbatiſmus populi Dei.
If this be (as I conceave it is) the meaning of the place; what is this to dayes?
Ib. Section 6.
Some will have a weekely Sabbath a ſhaddow in regard of the ſtrictneſſe of the Reſt.]
I thinke the ſtrictneſſe was not it, at leaſt not principally: but the Acceſſion; of which in the Theſes.
But you are out of your argument, for S. Paul ſpeakes of ſhadow whereof the body is Chriſt, Now before the fall the Sabbath was a kinde of ſhadow of our eternall reſt; but not of that whereof Chriſt is the body.
And to us the Lords day is a foretaſt of that eternall reſt, and I hold this ſhadow to be as laſting as the World.
Ib.
New Moone Et caetera ſhadowes in their ſubſtance not their acceſſories, Ergo the Sabbath.
A weake collection; for other feaſts were inſtituted after the fall under the Pedagogy of the Law, the Sabbath before; therefore this might be made a ſhadow by acceſſorie, theſe not ſo.
Ibid.
Shall I demand of them, when this Sabbath began to be a ſhadow.]
When after the fall it received acceſſions, it became ſuch a ſhadow, as Saint Paul ſpeaketh of Col. 2. otherwiſe it was a kinde of ſhadow of eternall reſt in the foundation, and the Lords Day continueth ſo now.
Ib.
The Apoſtle Hebrew 4 ſpeaketh of the ſeventh as reſted upon, not ſanctified.]
Reade the miſtake of this place before.
Ib. Section 6.
The Sabbath more ceremoniall then the other Commandements: you prove it out of S. Auſtin.]
And it is plaine hee ſpeaketh of the Sabbath as the Jewes obſerved it, and had it given in charge with his acceſſories, but I ſtill call you to the Originall Sabbath. Gen. 2.
Reſ.
Reſponſ. ad quaeſtion. 1. Section 1.
Our words and meaning muſt not agree in our Prayer, Lord have mercy upon us, &c.
A ſtrange anſwer; I thinke they muſt and doe agree; for by analogy is the Lords Day contained in the Commandement, and the Church directeth us ſo to underſtand.
The apportionment of time is everlaſting, only the tranſlation of the day is by all that have any underſtanding to Catechize taught to be grounded upon a new Creation ſucceeding the old.
The perſonall defects I cannot reply to, but leave them to be reformed. Though the imperfections of the ignorant ſhould not be preſented, when the queſtion is made ſo difficult that the learned can hardly aſſoile it. As the author of the queſtions thinketh.
Queſtion 2.
How ſhall the fourth Commandement bind us conſidering the forme of words to keep any day but only the ſeventh?]
I ſuppoſe in my Theſes I have given a probable anſwer. Seeing the apportionment of time is eternall, which I thinke cannot juſtly be denyed, I hold the tranſlation of of the feaſt from the ſeventh to the firſt day is grounded upon Analogy.
For ſeeing God was pleaſed that the day of the Creation ſhould be commemorated (as appeareth by the Letter of the Commandement) and the firſt Creation being by ſin diſſolved jure, & reſtored againe by Chriſt upon the firſt day; where we find the reſt after the new Creation, there we muſt fix the feaſt; And this is perſwaded by the drift of the Law.
Except we lay this for a ground; God will have the day of Creation obſerved.
Obſerved after the rule of the firſt Creation it cannot be, for then we doe not acknowledge the diſſolution thereof, I meane ſtill merito.
In teſtimony of that, and Chriſts reſtitution, we keepe the day of the new Creation, and we are guided to it by the fourth Commandement.
Queſtion 3.
How ſhall it appeare to be the Law of nature to ſanctifie one day every weeke?
Surely here the Author of the queſtions makes a ſtrange anſwer.
For he looſeth himſelfe in his diſtinction of the Morall Law and the Law of nature which he ſeemeth not to underſtand well.
He would have the Law of nature to preſcribe circumſtances to actions, and not the morall Law, whereas the morality ſtands in obſerving the circumſtance of actions, as the Ethicks will teach, and this in the phraſe medium rationis.
Secondly, hee thinketh that all the Lawes morall are as he calleth them of nature, doe repreſent the Image of God, and are unalterable even by God himſelfe.
Not conſidering that there is a morality that concerneth man as he is Animal rationale, and reaſon moderateth the ſenſuall part, which commeth not within the compaſſe of the Image of God.
And in many particulars is mutable, and diſpenſable in caſes of neceſſity; as it is held againſt the Law of Nature that brothers and ſiſters ſhould marry, but God diſpenſed with it, but I ſhould wade into a large argument if I ſhould rippe up theſe two Errors.
I rather note, that hee underſtandeth not the ground of a Feſtivall day, that maketh no other ground of it than Omnia ſiant ordine & decenter.
The Lords Day had a higher ground, which I opened in the Theſes, and that is Chriſts Reſurrection, and thereby a new Inſtauration of the World.
Which wee are bound to obſerve upon the grounds ſet downe in the Theſes.
And in a word; Hee that doth not let Gods Word be the guide directing to ſanctifie a Feſtivall day, I thinke hee ſquareth not his opinion according to truth, neither hath he any preſident from Gods Word.
FINIS.