Satan at Noon, Title page – Dedication
DAEMONIUM MERIDIANUM.
SATAN at NOON.
Or, Antichristian Blaſphemies, Anti-ſcripturall Diveliſmes, Anti-morall Uncleanneſs, Evidenced in the Light of Truth, and Puniſhed by the hand of Juſtice.
BEING, A ſincere and impartiall Relation of the Proceedings of the Commiſſioners of the County of Berks, Authorized by the Ordinance for Ejection, againſt John Pordage, late Miniſter of Bradfield, in the ſame County.
Publiſhed for the vindication of Juſtice, and ſatisfaction of the Conſcientious, in the name, and by the order of the ſaid Commiſſioners and Aſſiſtants.
With ſome Notes, and Animadverſions upon a Book of the ſaid John Pordage, intituled, Innocency appearing, &c.
By CHRISTOPHER FOWLER, Miniſter of the Goſpel at S. Maries in Reding.
Mos iſte ſemper viguit in Eccleſia, ut quo quiſque foret religioſior, eo promptiùs novis adinventionibus contrairet. Vinc. Lyrin. adv. Haer. cap. 9.
2 Pet. 2.1, 2. Falſe teachers ſhall privily bring in damnable hereſies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and many ſhall follow their pernicious waies.
1 Cor. 16.22. If any man love not the Lord Jeſus, let him be Anathema Maranatha.
1 Gal. 8. Though an angel from heaven preach otherwiſe, then that we have preached unto you, let him be accurſed.
1 John 2.23. Whoſoever denyeth the ſon, the ſame hath not the father.
Peccatum nocet perſonae, ſed Haereſis communitati, Luth. tom. 1. p. 260.
Hoc eſt artificiū unicū Satanae & fanaticorū, quod nolunt videri male docere, ſe jactant ſinceriſſimos, fideliſſimos, cum ſunt omniū mendaciſſimi. Id. tom. 4. p. 339.
LONDON: Printed for Francis Eglesfi…ld, and are to be ſold at the Signe of the Marigold in S. Pauls Church-yard. 1655.
To his Highneſs OLIVER Lord PROTECTOR of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging.
May it pleaſe your Highneſs.
WE humbly crave leave to acknowledge, that we look upon it as an eminent mercy, that under your Highneſs Government, a gracious, and a wiſe Providence hath put an opportunity into the hands of men deſiring to fear God, to effect, what is of higheſt concernment, for the good of ſoules: that, they may neither be ſtarved by the Miniſters inſufficiency, nor poiſoned by blaſphemy, nor blinded by ignorance, nor hardned by ſcandall,
Whileſt men ſlept, (we are loath to ſay the maſters of the houſe,) the envious man hath ſown Tares, tares full of deadly poiſon, and that poiſon diffuſed into the very vitalls of faith, and godlineſſe, and that ſo ſubtilly conveyed, that Sathan fights againſtPanatici pugnant contra Chriſtum, ſub titulo Chriſti: Luther. Chriſt, under the notion of Chriſt.
Among the many ſad Inſtances in this nation, this enſuing Relation preſents ſome of thoſe doctrines to your Highneſs view, Doctrines ſo directly deſtructive to the very fundamentalls of Religion, that we ſolemnly profeſſe, (were it a matter eligible) we had rather ten thouſand times, that we, and our deareſt relations ſhould die ſtark mad in chains at Bedlam, then to live, and die in ſuch execrable opinions againſt our Lord Jeſus.
In all humility we beg the boldneſſe to ſay, that your conſcientious, and ſolemn purſuance of Reformation, that the Goſpel of our Lord Jeſus may be glorified, will be the life, and length of your dayes in this time of trouble, as a bond of love upon the hearts of the Godly, in this hour of Apoſtaſie, whileſt you live, and leave your memory precious to ſucceeding Generations.
Your Highneſs faithfully devoted, in the ſervice of the Goſpel, in the name of your Commiſſioners, and their Aſſiſtants; and among them the meaneſt, CHRISTO. FOWLER.