The Divine Right of Church Government and Excommunication, Religious polemic · Introduction · Section 6
SECT. VI.
What Honour, Praiſe, Glory, Reverence, Veneration, Devotion, Service, Worſhip, &c. are.
FOr the more clear opening of the enſuing Treatiſe, it is neceſſary to ſpeak ſomewhat of worſhip and Adoration, and eſpecially of theſe, 1. Honour. 2. Praiſe. 3. Glory, 4. Reverence. 5. Veneration. 1. Honour. 2. Praiſe. 3. Glory. 4. Reverence. 5. Veneration. 6. Devotion. 7. Religion 8. Service. 9. Worſhip 10. Love. 11. Adoration, what they are.6. Devotion. 7. Religion. 8. Service. 9. Worſhip. 10. Love. 11. Obedience. 12. Adoration. 1. Honour, is a teſtification of the excellency of any, Ariſt. Ethic. l. 8. c. 8. Aquinas. Honos eſt ſignum quoddam excellentiae. Honour is a ſigne or expreſſion of Excellency in any, it doth not import any ſuperiority in the party whom we honor, as Adoration doth. Praiſe, is a ſpeciall honouring of any, conſiſting in words. Glory, is formally the effect of Honour, though it be taken, Pro claritatè, for the celebrity or renownedneſſe of any; yet glory ſeemeth to be founded upon celebrity, as its foundation. Reverence is a ſort of Veneration of a perſon for excellency connotating a ſort of fear. Veneration is a ſort of fear, and reverencing of a perſon: I ſee not well any difference between Reverence and Veneration, except that Veneration ſeemeth to be ſome more, and cometh nearer to Adoration: Devotion is the promptitude, cheerfulneſſe, or ſpirituall propenſion of the will to ſerve God; Religion is formally in this, when a man ſubjecteth himſelf to God, as to his ſupreame Lord, and thence ariſeth to give him honour, as his God, and abſolute Lord. The two integral parts of Religion, are the ſubjection of the reaſonable creature to God. 2. An exhibition of honour; if any object that the ſubjection of the creature to God is humility, not Religion, Raphael de la Torres in 22. tom. 1. de obj. adorat. q. 81. art. 1. diſp. unic. n. 8. anſwereth that ſubjection to God, as it iſſueth from a principle of tendering due Honour to God for his excellency, its Religion; but as it abandoneth the paſſion of hope in the way of attaining honour, it is an act of humility to God, as the giving of money for the paying of debt, is an act of juſtice; but as it is given toTwo acts of Religion, imperated, or commanded, and elicite▪ moderate the deſire of money, it is an act of Liberality. The acts of Riligion are of two ſorts, ſome internall and elicite, as to Adore, Sacrifice, Pray, by theſe a man is rightly ordered toward the Honouring of God only: But there be other acts imperated and Commanded by Religion, which flow immediately from other vertues, as it may be from mercy and compaſſion to our brother, but are Commanded by Religion, as Jam. 1. 27. Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, to viſit the father leſſe and the widows, &c. Service is from the bond of ſubjection, to reverence God as an inferior or ſervant doth his Lord and Maſter: A ſervant doth properly do the will of his Maſter, for the gain or profit that redoundeth to his Maſter; but, becauſe we cannot be profitable to the Almighty by way of gain; therefore we are to ſerve him in relation to an higher end, then acceſſion of gain (of which the Lord is not capable, Pſal. 16. 2. Iob 22. 3.) For the declaration of his glory: For Worſhip formally is to give reverence to God for his excellency; in one and the ſame act we may both Worſhip God and ſerve him. Only ſervice doth include the obligation of a ſervant to a Lord. As concerning Love, Faith and Hope, they are internall Worſhip, not properly Adoration: Love as Love doth rather import an equality with the thing loved, and a deſire of an Union, rather then a ſubmiſſion. It is true, there is a perfection in that which we Love, but not eſſentially to perfect the Lover, that poſſibly may agree to the Love between man and man, but not to Love as Love: for the Father Loves Chriſt his Son, and did delight in him from eternity, Prov. 8. 30. A ſuperior Angel may Love an inferior; yet the Father cannot be perfected by Loving Chriſt, nor a ſuperior Ang…l, by Loving any inferior; Faith and Hope may ſuppoſe a reſting on a helper as a helper, and ſo are internall Worſhip; if they be adoration formally may be a Queſtion.
It is an untruth which Raphael de la Torres, with other ſchoolmenRaphael. to. …. in 22. q. 81. Art. 4. diſp. vnica. ſay, That with the ſame Religion by which we Honour holy men, we Honour God; upon this reaſon, becauſe holineſſe in them is a participation of the Divine Nature, therefore God muſt be the intrinſecall end, and formall reaſon, for which we Honour the Saints. For HolineſſeHonoring of Holy men is not worſhip. in Saints, is a participation of the Divine nature; but it is a Temporary and a created participation, it is not the ſame very holineſſe that is in God; but the created effect thereof: and ſo the Love I bear to any Creature, becauſe there is ſomewhat of God in every Creature; And the Love to our Neighbour, Commanded in the ſecond Table of the Law, ſhould be the Love of God, Commanded in the firſt Table of the Law. 2. When I bow to the grayhaired, and to the King; I then do an act of obedience to the fifth Commandment: No man can ſay, that when I bow to the King, or to an holy man, that I am then bowing to the God of heaven, and Worſhipping God: No acts terminated upon Saints living or dead, are acts of Worſhipping God; yea, reverencing of the Ordinances of God, as the delighting in, or trembling at the Word, are not properly acts of adoring God.
Obedience is founded, not formally upon Gods excellency, properlyObedience. ſo called; but upon his jurisdiction and Authority to Command.
Adoration is the ſubjection or proſtration of ſoul or body to GodAdoration. in the due recognition and acknowledgement of his abſolute ſupremacy. There is no need, that Vaſquez ſhould deny, that there is any internall Adoration, for that Adoration is only an externall and bodily Worſhip of God, can hardly be defended; for there may be, and is Adoration in the bleſſed Angels, as may be gathered from Iſa. 6. 1, 2, 3. H…b. 1. 6. And it is hard to ſay, that the glorified ſpirits looſed out of the body, and received by Chriſt, Act. 7. 59. Pſal. 73. 27. Into Paradice, Luk. 23. 43. And ſo with him, Philip. 1. 23. And Praying under the Altar, Rev. 6. 9, 10. And falling down before the Lamb, and acknowledging that he hath Redeemed them, Rev. 5. 8, 9, 10. do not Adore God and his Son Chriſt; becauſe they have nor bodies and knees to bow to him, and yet they Adore him, Phil. 2. 9, 10. in a way ſuitable to their ſpirituall eſtate. It is an untruth that Rapha. de la Torres, in 22. q. 84. Art. 2. diſp. 2. n. 1. ſaith, That Proteſtants deteſt all externall Worſhip now under the New Teſtament, as contrary to Grace, and Adoration of God in ſpirit and truth. For things ſubordinate are not contrary; we ſhould deny the neceſſity of Baptiſme, and the Lords Supper, and of vocall praying and praiſing under the New Teſtament, which are in their externals, externall worſhip. I grant internall Adoration, is more hardly known: But 'tis enough for us to ſay, as externall Adoration is an act by which we offer our bodies to God, and ſubject the utter man to him, in ſign of ſervice and reverence to ſo ſupream a Lord; ſo there is a heart-proſtration, and inward bowing of the ſoul, anſwerable thereunto.
As the profeſſion, whither actuall or habituall, in a locall and bodily approach, or in verball titles of Honour, in which we Honour great perſonages, by bowing to them, in proſtration and kneeling, is an act in its ſtate Civill, not Religious, we intending (I preſſe not the neceſſity of a …ormall or actuall intention) only to conciliate Honour to them, ſuitable to their place and dignity: ſo a profeſſion, whither actuall or habituall, in a Religious bodily approach to God, either by prayer or proſtration, or in…lination of the body tending to the Honour of God is a Religious act. Now bodily proſtration of it ſelf, is a thing in its nature indifferent, and according as is the object, ſo is it either Artificiall: as if one ſhould ſtoop down to drive a wedge in an image; or civill, if one bow to Honour the King; or Religious, when God and Divine things are the object thereof: But with this difference, the intention of the minde, added to externall proſtration to a creature reaſonable, may make that proſtration idolatrous, and more then civill honour. Thus bowing to Haman, The Religious object, with the act of reverencing, maketh adoration to be Religious; but a civill object, except the intention concur maketh not Religious adoration of a civill object.Honoured by Ahaſuerus, who hath power to confer honours, if people bow to him as to God, is more then civill honour: And Cornelius his bowing to Peter, Act. 10. as to more then a man, is Idolatrous, and not civill honour; and the Carpenters bowing to an Image, as to a piece of Timber formed by Art, is only Artificiall bowing; and if any ſtumble at a ſtone before an Image, and ſo fall before it, it is a caſuall and naturall fall; whereas a falling down with intention to Adore, had been Religious Adoring: But when the object of bodily proſtration or kneeling, is God, or any Religious repreſentation of God, whither it be the elements of bread and wine, which are Lawfull Images of Chriſt, or deviſed pictures or portraicts of God or Chriſt; becauſe theſe objects are not capable of artificiall, naturall, or civill proſtration, if therefore they be terminating objects of bodily kneeling or proſtration; theſe Religious objects, to wit, God, and Religious things, muſt ſo ſpecifie theſe bodily acts, as that they muſt make them Religious, not civill acts, though there be no intention to bow to God; for bowing to God hath from the object, that it is a Religious bowing, though you intend not to direct that bowing to God, as bowing to Jupiters Portraict, is a Religious Worſhipping of that Portraict, though you intend not to worſhip the Portraict: for the act and Religious object together, maketh the act of proſtration or kneeling, to be eſſentially Religious, though there be no intention to bow to theſe; indeed the intention to bow to God, maketh kneeling to God to be more Morally good, laudable and acceptable before God, then if therewere no ſuch intention, but the want of the intention, maketh it not to be no Religious worſhip, nor can it make it to be civill worſhip. Hence let this be obſerved, that intention of bowing can, or may change that bowing which otherwayes were but civill (if there were no ſuch intention of over-eſteeming the creature) into a Religious bowing, but neither our over or under-intention can change a Religious kneeling to God, or to an Image into a civill kneeling, becauſe civill or naturall bowing to creatures, is more under the power of an humane and voluntary inſtitution of men, then Religious bowing, which hath from God without any act of mans free will, its compleat nature. When we kneel to Kings, we signifie by that geſture, that we ſubmit our ſelves to higher powers, not ſimply (ſaith P. Martyr.) but in ſo far as they Command not thingsMartyr, comment. in 1 King. c. 1. v. 16. againſt the Word of the Lord. When we Adore God, we Adore him as the Supream Majeſty, being ready to obey him in what he ſhall Command, without any exception; the Adoration of men, ſignifieth a ſubmiſſion limited, if it go above bounds, it is the ſinfull intention of the Adorer, who may change the civil Adoration into Religious, and may aſcend: But the Aderation of God cannot ſo deſcend, as it can turn into Civill Adoration, only keeping the ſame object it had before.
Worſhip is an action, or performance, or thing, by which we tenderWhat worſhip is? our immediate honour to God, from the nature of the thing it ſelf: 1. I call it an action, becauſe the paſſion of dying or ſuffering, is not formally worſhip; but only dying comparatively, rather then denying of Chriſt, or dying ſo, and ſo qualified, dying with Patience and Faith, may be called a worſhip. 2. I call it not an action only, but a performance or thing; becauſe an office, as the Prieſthood, the Miniſtery is a worſhip, and yet not an action; Sometime, Time it ſelf, as the Sabbath Day is a Worſhip; yet it is not an action: So the Lord calleth it His Holy Day: and undenyably the lewiſh dayes, the High Prieſts garment, and many things of that kinde, were Divine or Religious performances, things, or adjuncts of Divine Worſhip, but ſo, as they are not meerly adjuncts of Worſhip, but alſo worſhip; for the High Prieſts Ephod was not only a civil ornament, nor was it a meer Phyſicall or naturall means to …ence off the injuries of ſun, and Heaven, we do not think that the Lord in all, or any place of the Old or New Teſtament ſetteth down any Laws concerning garments ſimply, as they do fence off cold or heat, that belongeth to Art, only he ſpeaketh of garments as contrary to gravity, as ſignes of vanity and lightneſſe, Iſa. 3. 16, &c. Zepha. 1. 8. 1 Pet. 3. 3, 4. And of garments as Religious obſervances, of which ſort was the attire and garments of the Prieſts and High-Prieſts in their ſervice, in which conſideration the Religious times, holy places, and Moſaicall garments were Divine Worſhip, by which God was immediatly honored, but not adjuncts only, or actions; but Religious things or performances. 3. It is ſuch a performance, as from thence honour doth immediatly redound to God, but that this may be the clearer; I conceiveWorſhip is an immediate honoring of God, but ſome worſhip hon… reth him more immediately, ſome leſſe. that there is a twofold immediate honouring of God, in the worſhip of God: 1. An honouring of God leſſe immediate, as hearing of the word, is an immediate honouring of God, becauſe honour floweth immediatly from God, both Ex conditione operis, and Ex conditione operantis; from the nature of the work, and intention of the worker: yet it is a leſſe immediate honouring of God, in regard, that I may alſo hear the word even from the condition of the work, and ſo from the intrinſecall end of the worker, that I may learn to know God, and believe, for thus far I am led to honour God immediatly in hearing the word; that action of its own nature conveying honour to God; there interveeneth alſo a medium amidſt between me and honouring of God, to wit, the Preacher, or the Bible; to which no externall adoration is due: There is another more immediate worſhip, to wit, praiſing of God, from which by an immediate reſult, God is honoured, and in worſhip eſpecially ſtrictly immediate, God is immediatly honoured both in the intention of the work, and the intrinſecall end of it, and the intention of the worker; though no other thing be done, and others be not edified either in knowledge, increaſe of Faith, or any other wayes: And in this, duties of the ſecond Table, of mercy and juſtice, differ from worſhip, in that ſuch acts of love and mercy, as to give almes to ſave the life of my brother, or of his beaſt, are not acts of worſhipping God; their intrinſecall end, and the nature of the work being to do good to the creature, principally, Ex naturâ, & conditione operis, though God alſo thereby be honoured; yet in a more ſecundary conſideration: For I praying to God, do immediately from the nature of the action honour God, though no good ſhould either redound to my ſelf, or to the creature; thereby, it is true, God, by acts of love and mercy to our neighbour, is honoured two wayes: 1. In that men ſeeing our good works do thence take occaſion to glorifie our Heavenly …ather, whoſe truth teacheth us by the grace of God to do theſe works, but the intrinſecall and proper uſe of theſe, is to do good to our ſelves as in works of ſobriety, and to our neighbour, as in works of righteous dealing, but not immediatly, and i… the firſt and primary conſideration to honour God, as in works of Piety, holineſſe and worſhip, the honouring of God by ſecondary reſultance, doth iſſue alſo from theſe duties of righteouſneſſe, but not as from the acts of praying, praiſing, Sacramentall eating, drinking. 2. The doer of theſe acts of mercy, may, and is to intend the honouring of God.
There is a twofold intention in worſhip, one formall and properlyA twofold intention in worſhip. Religious, and is expounded Morall, Ex naturâ rei, to be Religious, it being ſuch an intention, as can have no other ſtate in worſhip, but a Religious State, as if the three Children ſhould bow at the Commmandment of the King of Babylon, though intending to worſhip the true God. Here ſhould be an intrinſecall intention, Ex naturâ & conditione operis, to worſhip, and that from two grounds conjoyned together: 1. Here is bowing down: 2. Bowing down to a Religious Object, commanded by a Prince, and ſo cometh under the Morall notion of the command of a Judge. When the object of bowing down is Religious, the ſignication that we give divine honour to God by kneeling is as inſeparable (ſaith Raphael de la Torres) from kneeling or bowing down, as a bearing teſtimony by word, that God is true, and knoweth all ſecrets, and will be avenged on perjury, is inſeparable from vocall ſwearing by the name of God, or as any man ſhould be an Idolater, who in expreſſe words ſhould ſay to an Idol, O my God Jupiter help De la Tor. tom. 2. in 22. q. 94. Art. 2. Si quis inter…ellarit idolum dicens expreſſis verbis, Jupiter, deus meus adjuva me, quamvis conarctur fingere iſtam invocationem, de…eſtans interius Jovem, et omnes falſos d…os, vere idolatra eſſet, quia ab illis verbis in ſeparabilis eſt ſignificatio ex hibendi cultum Divinum idolo.me, though that Adoration were fained, and he who ſo prayeth, ſhould in his heart abhor and deteſt Jupiter and all falſe Gods: But there is another intention not Religious; if a Childe reade a Chapter of the Bible, that he may learn to read and ſpell, that is an action of Art, not of Worſhip; becauſe the object of the Childes reading, is not Scripture as Scripture, but only the Printed Characters as they are, Signa rerum ut rerum, non ut rerum ſacrarum, ſignes of things, not of holy things, and here the object not being Religious, the intrinſecall operation cannot raiſe up any Religious intention of the Childe. Upon this ground, it is eaſie to determine whether or no an intention of Worſhip be eſſentiall to Worſhip or not, the former intention which is intrinſecall, and Intentio operis, may be eſſentiall, it reſulting from the object; but the latter intention of the worker, is ſo far extraneous to Worſhip, as whether it be, or be not, the nature of Worſhip is not impaired nor violated.
Hence, Adoration is worſhip; But every worſhip is not Adoration. Uncovering the head, ſeemeth to be little older then Pauls Epiſtles to the Corinthians. The Learned Salmaſius, thinketh it but a Nationall ſign of honour, no wayes univerſally received: But certainly it is not Adoration: Though therefore we receive the Supper of the Lord uncovered, no man can conclude from thence Adoration of the Elements, as we do from kneeling conclude the ſame, as we ſhall here for all bodily worſhip or expreſſion of our affection to the means of graces (though theſe means be but creatures) is not Adoration properly either of God, or of theſe means, it is Lawfull to tremble at the word, and for Joſiah to weep before the Book of the Law read, and for the Martyrs to kiſſe the Stake,Vncovering of the head, is Veneration, not Adoration. as the Inſtrument by which they glorified God, in dying for the truth; all theſe being Objectam quo, and means by the which they conveyed their worſhip to the true God, and naturall and Lawfull expreſſions of their affection to God: For uncovering the head, it is a ſort of Veneration or Reverence, not Adoration; and Paul inſinuateth ſo much when he ſaith, 1 Cor. 11. 4. Every man praying and prophecying, having his head covered, diſhonoureth his head: But it is not his meaning, that he diſhonoreth God. 2. The Jewes to this day, as of old, uſed not uncovering the head as a ſign of honour: But by the contrary, covering was a ſign of honour: If therefore the Jews, being made a viſible Church, ſhall receive the Lords Supper, and Pray and Prophecy with covered heads, men would judge it no diſhonouring of their head, or not of diſ-reſpect of the Ordinances of God: Though Paul having regard to a Nationall Cuſtome in Corinth, did ſo eſteem of it.
Antonius Corduba a Franciſcan, enumerateth nine externall actsCorduba, l. 1. q. 5. dub. 6. of Adoration, but ſpeaketh nothing of uncovering the head; as 1. Sacrificing. 2. Martyrdome. 3. Giving and Receiving the Sacraments. 4. Suiting of Pardon. 5. Suiting of Grace. 6. Smiting the breaſt. 7. Building of Churches. 8. Inſtitution of Feaſts. 9. Vows and Oaths. Prelaticall Formaliſts ſide with them, in Building and Conſecrating of Churches, and Holy-dayes, which are but will▪worſhip, as uſed by them: And for Martyrdome, it is formally an act of Chriſtian fortitude, not worſhip, the confeſſion of Gods truth a Conc… mitant of Martyrdome, is indeed worſhip. How ſuiting of Pardon, and ſuiting of Grace are two externall acts of Adoration, I ſee not: for by this way, if we regard the multitude of things that we ſuit,Conſecration of Churches taken two wayes. there ſhould be moe then two: Conſecrating of Churches is taken two wayes: 1. For a meer dedication or Civill deſtination of any thing to its end and uſe: As when a houſe is builded, a garment is firſt put on, when we refreſh our ſelves with a draught of water, we may pray for a bleſſing on theſe, and on all the Creatures for our uſe, and the very habituall intention of the builder of an houſe to dwell in, is a Civill dedication of it to that uſe for which it is Ordained. Prayer added to it for a bleſſing of it in the uſe, maketh not a Conſecrated thing; for then my clothes every day put on, my ſleep, my dayly walking in and out, my Phyſick, my meals, my horſe, my ſhip I ſail in, ſhould all be Holy, Conſecrated, and Religious things, which I were to Reverence as Religious things; for all theſe may be bleſſed in their uſe: But here is that we condemnConſecration of Churches condemned in Religious dedication of Churches: 1. That the end being ſacred, to wit, the habituall worſhipping of God in that place. 2. The praying for the Church or houſe of worſhip, to ſay nothing of the vain Ceremonies uſed in the dedication of Churches: Theſe two are applyed to make the Church holy, and to denominate it the houſe of God, and capable of Religious veneration, and ſalutation: Then certainly, all the Synagogues of Judea, ſhould be Religiouſly holy, as was the Temple. 2. And Prayers ſhould be more acceptable to God in the Synagogue for the houſes ſake, then prayers in any other place. 3. God ſhall binde himſelf by promiſe to hear prayers in the Synagogue, or made with the face toward the Synagogue, as he did toward the Temple: we were obliged in the New Teſtament to pray with our faces toward the Churches or meeting places in the New Teſtament, and we ſhould have one famous and celebrious Church for all Iews and Gentiles, more holy then all the little holy Temples now conſecrated as holy places, and where ſhall this be? And what typicall ſignification ſhall it have? It muſt ſignifie Chriſt to come, or already come, both is unlawfull.
2. Again, if habituall Dedication by vertue of Prayer make a place holy, by the ſame reaſon actuall Dedication ſhould make a place holy; and the belly of the Whale ſhould have been holy becauſe there Jonah prayed, and every place a believer prayeth ſhall be holy, his cloſet, a private corner of his Orchard or Garden where he prayeth ſhall be holy, for theſe may be habitually deſtined and appointed (if you call this Dedication) for prayer only, and it ſhall be unlawfull to do any civill buſineſſe there, more then it is unlawfull (as Formaliſts teach) to do any other civil buſineſſe in the Churches, or places of meeting in the New-Teſtament: 3. God himſelf appointed the place, the Time when it ſhould be built, the perſon, by whom, by Solomon, not David; the length, the breadth, the Chambers, Porches, Ornaments of the only holy place at Jeruſalem; he hath no where appointed and preſcribed theſe for the meeting places of the New Teſtament, but hath ſaid that all places are alike, as touching any Religious holineſſe, Ioh. 4. 23. 1 Tim. 2. 8. 4. Shall we think God is not acceptably ſerved, and that the Synagogues of the Iews, of which we read not any patern or rule for Dedication, are Prophane, becauſe they are not Dedicated by theDurand▪ Rati. l. 1. c. 6. Euſebius, l. 8. c. 8. 9, l. 10. c. 2, 3. Biſhops laying the firſt foundation ſtone of the houſe? Or becauſe they want the ornaments of whoriſh Ceremonies, that Durandus enumerateth? or becauſe they have not the ſurpaſſing beauty of admirable Temples, that Chriſtians now a little overſwelling with the zeal of proſperity builded for the worſhip of God, out of ſuperlative deteſtation of Diocleſian, and Maximinus, who had demoliſhed all the Churches which Chriſtians had leave to build under tollerable Emperors, ſuch as Severus, Gordianus, Philip, and Galienus, as Euſebius teacheth? Or that we are to give a Teſtimony of as cheerfull affection for the beautifying of Temples, void of all typicall relation to the glory of Ieſus Chriſt, as David did ſhow, 1 Chron. 28 14. 2 Chron. 2. 5. And that it is Morall and perpetually obligatory under the New Teſtament; that we beſtow charges upon ſumptuous Temples, upon theſe fancied grounds of Maſter Hooker? For his firſt Morall ground is, Nothing is too dear to be beſtowed about the furniture of Gods ſervice: 2. Becauſe ſumptuous Temples ſerve to the world for a witneſſe of his almightineſſe, whom we outwardly ſerve, and honour with the chiefeſt of outward things, as being of all things himſelf incomparably the greateſt: 3. It were Hooker. ecl. pol. 5. book p, 208. Mr. Hookers fancied Morall grounds of the holineſſe of Churches under the New Teſtament anſwered.ſtrange, that God ſhould have made ſuch ſtore of glorious creatures on earth, & leave them all to be conſumed on ſecular vanity, allowing none but the baſer ſort to be imployed in his own ſervice: 4. Rareſt and moſt gorgeous treaſures are too little for earthly Kings. 5. If the corruptible Temples of the holy spirit are to be ſerved with rich almes, what ſhould be done for houſes to edifie the living Temples redeemed by Ieſus Chriſt: To all which I ſay: 1. The Temple of Ieruſalem in its glory, proportion and beauty, was a Poſitive worſhip, and ſo muſt be warranted by the poſitive Warrant of the Word, and the like Warrant muſt all our Churches in the New-Teſtament have: 2. If we muſt extend our liberality and bounty towards God to the higheſt, and to teſtifie the greatneſſe and Almightineſſe of him whom we ſerve: then did David and Solomon in both fail, there were more glorious and rich houſes on earth, and divers times have been builded to the honour of falſe gods, and to declare the Royall magnificence of mortall Kings: God never for his own honour appointed ſuch a banquet as Ahaſureoſh did, to continue for an hundred and fourſcore dayes, Eſther 1. 4. More might, and ought to have been done by David and Solomon, if it had been a morall ground to build a houſe, to be a witneſſe of Almightineſſe: 3. And God appointed ſacrifices, and Sacraments in both Teſtaments, as Teſtimonies of the great Lord Ieſus; yet in baſe and obvious creatures; we may not deviſe Symbols or witneſſing Images of the Almightineſſe of that God whom we ſerve, at our pleaſure: 4. If our Lord love mercy better then Sacrifice, eſpecially under the New Teſtament, when his worſhip muſt be more ſpirituall: Then the Argument may be ſtrongly retorted, we are to beſtow more on feeding the living Members of Chriſts body (which yet is not ſecular vanity) then on dead ſtones; except Maſter Hooker can warrant us to ſerve God under the New Teſtament in precious ſtones and gold, for which we can ſee no Warrant: 5. All theſe Arguments are broadly uſed by Papiſts, for Images and rich Churches: Nor doth Hooker give us any Argument for this, but what Papiſts gave beforeThe place 1 Cor 11. Have ye not houſes, &c. Makethnothing for hallowing of Churches. him: Have ye not houſes (ſaith he) to eat and drink in; Ergo, He teacheth a difference between houſe and houſe, and what is fit for the dwelling place of God, and what for mans habitation, the one for common food, the other for none but for heavenly food.
Anſ. That there was publick meeting places and Churches in Corinth, now under Heathen Rulers, 1 Cor. 6. is denyed, by all both Proteſtant and Popiſh writers, far leſſe had they then any conſecrated Churches, and from the inconveniency of taking their Supper while ſome were full and drunk in the place where the Lords Supper was Celebrated, whereas they ought to have Supped in their own houſes: to infer that the Church is a holier place, then their own houſe, I profeſſe is Logick, I do not underſtand, it only concludes theſe two ſort of houſes are deſtinated from two ſort of different uſes, ſacred and prophane and no more.
Neither am I much moved at that, Pſal. 74. which is ſaid, ver. 8.foreign Nor the place, Pſal. 74. 8. They have burnt all the convening places, or all the Congregations of God in the land: Vatablus, expoundeth it of the Temple: Exuſſerunt totum Templum Dei terrenum: Or all the queſtion will be, why the Synagogues are called Gods Synagogues, as they called the Temple, Ier. 7. 4. foreign The Temple of the Lord, and foreign, The houſe of the Lord: Whither becauſe every Synagogue was no leſſe in its own kinde a houſe holy to the Lord then the Temple: Certainly there is no rationall ground to ſay, that Synagogues were Typicall, that the people were to pray with their faces toward the Synagogue, and to offer Sacrifices in the Synagogue: But that a Synagogue is called the houſe of God, from the uſe and end, becauſe it was ordained for the worſhip of God, as that which God hath appointed for a ſpeciall end and work, in that the Lord aſſumeth the propriety thereof to himſelf, ſo ſaith the Lord of Cyrus, Iſa. 45. 1. Thus ſaith the Lord to his Anointed, to Cyrus whoſe right hand I have holden; yet was not Cyrus Typically, or Religiouſly holy, as the Temple of Ieruſalem, and c. 44. v. 28. He ſaith of Cyrus, He is my ſhepherd: and why? He ſhall perform all The Synague not Gods houſe as the Temple was.my pleaſure, ſo Hoſ. 2. 9. Therefore will I returne (ſaith God) and take away my corne in the time thereof, and my wine in the ſeaſon thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax (given) to cover her nakedneſſe, To ſay nothing that all the holy land was Gods land, Hoſ. 9. 3. They ſhall not dwell in the Lords land; and conſequently all the Synagogues were Gods houſes; and the enemy of whom the Church complaineth to God in that Pſalme, was thus bold, as notwithſtanding Canaan was Gods Heritage and proper Land in a ſpeciall manner, yet it was deſtroyed and burnt by the enemies, even theſe houſes that God was worſhipped in, not being ſpared; But how God was ſo preſent in every Synagogue, and that even when there were no actuall worſhip of God in it, as he was in the Temple, and that it was ſo holy a place, as they were to put off there ſhooes who came into the Synagogue, God ſhewing his own immediate preſence in every ſynagogue, as he did, Exod. 3. 5. To Moſes in the burning buſh, Exod. 5. 1. v. 12. Is a thing that hath no warrant in the word of God; for if every ſynagogue had been thus holy: 1. It ſhould have been a houſe dedicated to God in a Religious way, as was the Temple: 2. God ſhould dwell in every Synagogue then, & in every Church under the New Teſtament now, as he ſaid he would dwell in the Temple. 3. Then muſt Heathens and the uncircumciſed be forbidden to come into any Synagogue, or any Church under the New Teſtament, the contrary whereof was evident in ſcripture; none were forbidden to enter in the Synagogues, Paul, 1 Cor. 14. 23, 24. alloweth that Heathens come into the Churches or meetings where Chriſtians are worſhipping God. 4. If either the Temple of Ieruſulem was holy for the worſhip in it, or for that it was a Type of our Materiall Temples under the New Teſtament, then our Churches under the New Teſtament ſhall be more holy, yea, our private houſes in which we may worſhip God ſhal be more holy, as our worſhip is more ſpirituall then carnall Commandments of the Leviticall Law were, and the body muſt be more holy then the ſhadow; yea, all the earth now from the riſing of the ſun, to the going down of the ſame, in regard of more ſpirituall worſhip, even the Stables and Alehouſes, where we may offer the Incenſe of Prayer to God, and offer the ſacrifices of praiſes, Mal. 1. 11. ſhall be alike holy, as either our Churches or the Temple was of old.