 

 

 

 

 

l

 

 

 

KNEELING

 

.THE

AOFSE

 

 

 

AT THE
l

3501p gatramtnt l

STATED & RESOLVED. 1*

 

 

PART II.

 

 

' IV; Whether Kneeling commanded in the Church of

V. Whether it beunlawful for us to Receive Kneeling,

Wherein thefe‘ Qp E R I E S are conﬁdered.

England be not contrary to. the general Praﬂ'ice of
the Church of Chrift in the ﬁrﬁ and pureft Ages P

becaufe this Geﬂure was ﬁrll introduced by Idolaters,
and is {till notoriouﬂy abufed by the Papills to Idolad
trous ends and purpofes.

 

 

LONDON:
Printed for T. Baﬂét, at the George in Fleet-ﬂier“ and
B. Too-k, at the Ship in St. Paul: Church-yard. , I 6 8 5.

 

 

'0'"

 

 

 

 

 

. Whether Kneeling, commanded in the Church of
England , be not contrary to the general I’m- _
' _ ﬂiee of the Church of Chrtﬁ in the ﬁrﬂ and
i' pureﬁ Agar. P . ' _
He onely way for any man to give or receive {atisfaétion

' in this point , is diligentl to confult theRecords of

ancientTim’es, and from [:1 make a faithful report
‘ of the Cul’toms and Ufages of the-ancient Catholick
Church s For when once thel'e are made rmnifett , it will be
very eaﬁe, by comparing things together , to difcern whether
they" are coaliﬂent, or eontraxy one to another; Whether the
Praétice of the Church of Eagland C as to Kneeling at the Sa-
crament.) be agmeeahle or repugnant to that of the Primitive
Chriltians. In Anfwer therefore to this ueﬂion,- my buﬁnefs
ism give a plain Hiiiorical Acetount‘ . the praétice of the
Church in theft early Ages of, Chriﬁianity; from whence it
may evidently appear, thatthe Church of England, by obliging
her Cbmmunicants to Kneel, doth not oblige them to prat‘kife
anything but what is agreeable to the, Cuﬁoms and Praétice of -
pure Antiquity. And this I will endeavour to do under theii:
Two general Heads. -

   

(1.) It’s highly probable that the Primitive Church ufed to
Kneel‘ in theaét of receiving the Holy Sacrament, asour Culiom

at prelEnt is. ' , .
(2.) It’s moﬁ certain they ufed an Adoring Poﬂure.

A2 ‘ ~ But

 

 

Ome—eling at the Hal} Sacrament;

But belhrel enter; upon this undertaking , I will crave leave:

to premiﬁ: fomewhat-concerning this Qwry in general, and
{omewhat fOr explication of a Term contained in it, via. What.
we are to underl‘tand by The ﬁrﬁ and pureﬂ Ages.

As to. the Cafe it {elf in general, it is of fuch a nature, and»
requires ﬁnch an Anfwer , that not one among. Ewenty thou»

{and of the ordinary and common {Ort of ipeople is duely qua-
li‘ﬁed-~ to underliand it, and pafs a'itrue judgement upon it: the»

merits of the Caufe are quite out of their reach 5 and whether,
we are in the right or the wrong they know not, but believe -

as they are taught, and upon the credit of Others who theyfup.
pole are able to inform them about fuch matters. For inorder
to eﬂimate the pr‘efent Cafe‘aright and'as it oughtﬁtwisnecef-
law that a man have feme competent knowledge: of andTinﬁght
into the Cufioms and Conﬂitutions of the ancient Church, the

Decrees of Councils, the Works of the Fathers, and the Origin ..

nal Languageswherein they wrote 5 which, I. 'am-fure, few or
none of - the Vulgar have attained'to; , - " '
, And/“truly upon this very conﬁderationl [hould have {5133
this Qtery by Without taking the leall notice of it , had I not in

my converfe with feveral-Diﬂ‘enting Laymen,heard it liarted’jand

pleaded in juﬁiﬁcation? oF-‘their Nonconformity to the Cuﬁom‘

and Conﬁitution of the Church ofE'ngland.‘
I‘fconfefs’,‘ [did 'a little wonder to ﬁnd men make that a Rule

of Confcience, ( and boldly rely and praéiife upon it ) which
they do not at all underﬂand 5ito ﬁnd; this Weapon put into,

the hands of Ordinary/and illiterateﬁperfons , not onely: to de-

fend themfelves'againﬁ- the Commands of their lawful Superi-
outs, and thofe who are fet over them by God to be their Rum

hrs and Guides, ( in all-fuch cafes efpecially where they are not
able to guide and‘direo’c'themfelvesr) but alfo to wound and
murder the Reputation ofi’the National-Church, as degenerate
from all Antiquity, as introducing-and impoﬁng novel Cuftoms
and. Ceremonies repugnantto the Principles and Praétices of the
ﬁrﬁ and puref’t Ages. _ '

Whether it be well done in NOnconforming Miniﬁers to fur-
nilht the common people with fuch kind of“ Arguments as. thefe,
{0 much out of their way, and above their pitch and, capacity, I
leave the honeﬂ part of. the world. to judge. ‘ ' -‘

Theta) thing I would premife is this: Suppoﬁng Kneeling ,
a ‘ at.

 

 

\

0f Kneeling at. the Holy Sacrament.

at the Sacrament Was never ul'ed by the ancient Church , yet
fuch an Obieé’tiou is a wretchedPlca in the mouth Of a Dif—
{enter to iuﬂiﬁe his No’nconformity by as to this particular Gee
(lure. ‘ ' ~ “

For if Kneeling be a crime and unlawful becaufe it was not
ufed in Primitive times,‘ Sitting at the Sacrament is a much-
greater 5 For that was condemned as an irreverend Poﬂure, as
will appear by and; by. Beﬁdes , they themfelves have a very
little value for Antiquity,- and in all things almoli’run counter
to it. '; -_ . c - . v '

And one would thinkthat they {hould- be very- willing to re- ~
ceive Kneeling, for that very reafon which .theyproduce againfi 2
it 5 that is, becaufe it is contrary to the currant praé’tice of all.
Antiquity, as theywould make their Party to believe. This ~:
might be expeCted from them, becaufe they will not be'perf‘wa— t _
ded by any means or entreaties to comply with fuch Cuﬁoms --
and Ceremonies of our Church as were undoubtedly ufed by
the ancient Chriﬁia—ns : (fuch as Godfather: and God-mothers:
the Croﬂ in-Baptzfm, the Ring in Marriage, the F eaﬁs or Holy—
days of Cbrijfmac, Eafier, &c.‘) but inﬁead of Conformity to
.thefe things, they, raife an Hue and Cry upon. the Church as .
Popilh and Anti-chriﬁian for enjoyning fuch Ceremonies , and .
pretend they had much rather endure any extremity, than {ubi-
mit their Necks to fuch an intolerable Yoak. But how hard '
is the Government put to it to pleafe fuch humourfome perfons!
When our Governours tread in the- very item of the Primitive _
Bifhops and bleffed Martyrs, the-n they are Popilh and Antichriw.
ﬁian, and the Confciences of .our dilTenting'. Brethren will not
fuﬂ'er them to conform ', and at other times they- cannot con- ,,
form, becaufe theyrequire themto do what Was, never requio
red nor praétifed in. the Church of Chrit’t throughout all PTCCC‘.’
ding Generations, till-.Tranfubﬁantiation was eﬂablilhed in the ,
World. So. that to follow Antiquity is: a great Obieétion a-.
gainft Conformity at-fome times, and not to follow‘it, as. great .
at others: When ever theypleafe .to make it (0, it. is (0, fay or
do what onetcan to the contrary. Thus much concerning the.
Cafe in general :, Let. usnow fee the meaning of thatnPhrafere
ﬁxﬂt and pureﬁ Agar»

This, I think, may be. eaﬁly made out, from the Writings of :
thofc. men who have ﬂoutly defended Sitting , or a common a

- ‘ Tablﬁm ~

 

4. 0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.
Tabie-Geﬁure ; who have delivered their minds with as much
, ciearnefs , and as roundly as One would wiih , concerning this

matter. For thus the Author of. a Book formerly cited afﬁrms,
Difpute upon That Antiquity i4 wholly againjim, and the Primitive Churcher never ’
Queft. of ﬁt much as heard of Kneeling, and the Churcher fucceeding excluded
Knee]. @5- to it out if their Congregation: , and game it no Entertainment fbr the
E36 Regder. [hare of I zooyearr. "That Kneeling to receive the Sacrament, W
' P. 7° ' not uﬁzdatthe Inﬁitretion‘ of the Lord: Supper, ncr'after in any Age
of the Church, hefhre the time of Honotius the Third, about the year

I 220. So alfo another great Champion for ﬁtting writes.

Gillefp. Difp. Didoelavius maintaineth‘ ( faith he) that which none of our op-
againft Eng. poﬁter are able to infringe, viz. That no Te/Iimony can he produced
POP’Afer' 113a which may evince that ever Kneeling was riﬂed before the time of Ho-
;ni};enfa;'84. noriu’s the Third. He further obferves from the Harm of the
lib. t.c. .. Walden/Er, That harping of the 'Kneerheﬁrre the He]! was then lonely
enjoyned, when the epinian of Tran/irhﬁantiatian got Place. By the
Praétice of the Church in the ﬁrf’t and purel’t Ages , loonceive

they mean thus much: That from the Age wherein the holy Apa-

ﬁler limd,‘ down torthat pherein Tran/hhftantiatian was ﬁt on ﬁrst,

or that wherein Homing the Third 'enjoyned the Adoratien of the
Hoff, Kneeiing when of, Receiving the Larch Supfer was newer
, heard if nor uﬁd ; or a: hate Author expreﬂy afﬁrm it , tiﬁ theyeai‘

t2 zo. Howfoever, for furenefs fake, and in order to the clear-

ing of this matter under our preﬁnt Cmﬁderation, i think it

wili be reqniﬁte to ﬁx the time wherein Tranfubﬂantiation was

ﬁtﬂ broacht, as wet! as when it waseﬂahliihti, or impofed as
an Article ofﬂFaith; and f0 too wherein the Adoraﬁou of

the Heft was enioy‘ned: whereby the iuﬁ bounds- and limits

wit! be known; beyond which we are not to pafs- to fetch in E-

, vid‘ence 5 and confequentliy all extravagancy will be prevented

on our part, and ali caviliing ( if pollibie‘) on theirs.

As» ﬁoréthe Time t‘hm, ‘whieh werenqnire after, I think” we
may faiely relies on the judgment of a very Learned? Prelate‘i of

Bitten. Tran. our own, which he delivers aftervt‘ltis‘manner. Theword Tran.
fub. Papabfo- frihﬂantiatien is: {0 far {:er being ﬁmnd‘ in the {ac-rod Scriptures,
”‘1’" 51721.0” or the Writings of the ancient Fathers , that the great Patrons
7112;"; :5 $5 4. of it dothemihlvesnchnowiedige, v it'wes no:- So: much. as heard
' ’ of before the twelfth Century. Nay, “that ' the Thing it? felf‘
without-the mm, that the Dbﬁrine without‘itheExpreﬂion can- _

not beptoved’fr-o‘m Striptnre, is ingenuouﬂy acknowiedged {y

t C

 

 

 

. * Of K meling at. the, Hob Sacrament. 5

the moft Learned Schoolmen, who endeavour by other Argu- 8mm,

ments therefore toidefend it , and allow it‘~-\to be brought in by 25‘2””d’m

the Authority Of the Pope , andnotreeeiv‘ed in the Church of C;§,;,,,,,

Rome till 1200 years after Chriﬂ. The ﬁtﬁ Authors whomen- aquamgc’c, -,

tion this new-.coyn’d word Trarzﬂzhﬁamiation , are Petra: Ble/‘en- '

ﬁr, who lived under Pope Alexander the Third: , ( about the

year 1159‘) and Stephamrr Eduenﬂr , a. Bithop whofe Age and

Writings are very doubtful. The Pope who ﬁrlt efiabhﬂlt this An. Damp

monﬁrous Dot‘lrine by his own Arbitrary newer ,, as an Article 1215.,

of Faith, was Innocent the Third. Andhis Succeﬂbr Honor-ire A"- Dom-

was. the man who decreed Adoration to the Hall: The ﬁrfi zigzag;

Council which took notice and approved of the Papal Decree for , ”

Tranfubﬂantiation, was that atfembled atCenﬂance, which .con- A3 D" 1415:;

demoed Wiclif for an Heretick, beeaufe among other truths he -

had all‘erted this: That the fab/tame cf the Bread and W ine re- —

main: materially in the Sacrament of the Altar; and that in the-

fame Sacrament no accident: of Bread ant Wine remain without a .~

Sub/tam : and forthis Opinion they ordered his Bodygto be

taken out of his-Grave,and burnt 'to allies. _, Thus things (hood »

till the year I 55-1. Whténlthe-Gouncil of ,TreuLpublilht it.~ to the .

world—for an. infallible Truth, and impofedthebeiief of it upon -

all, under the pain of an Anathema. ' -

As for the Doétrine of Conﬁrhﬁantiatien, and the. Corporal

prefence of, Chrift at, with, and .in-the Sacrament, it wasﬁar—

ted long before that-pf ‘Tranﬁthﬂantiatien, and was much difpu-

ted among learned men. He who ﬁrﬂ broaeht' it in the E3“, _

was john Damafcen, in thedays of Gregory the'rThird.‘ And a? Aboutthev

boutan hundred years afterwards it was fet a-footin the Weft, year 74°-

‘7 by the meanszof - Pafchajiue .Radhertur a ' _ g _

' Monk of Corhie , and one/Imalarim a . XthVI'Otg‘ :1: jiggﬁaojﬁggh :1; 0:4.
Deacon of Meta; Th‘e'forme.‘ taught rirhkahZ;aeam Ar. p.or T ri‘err, fish:
that Chﬂﬁ W35 Confubﬂanttated,por . wrote 31813126. Emil: ad Carol.1M.-:
rather encloﬁed in the Breadyand Cop.
pmally united to it in the Sacrament ‘3 for as. yet there wasno. ‘
thoughts of the. Tranfubﬂantiation-of Bread.--.. The latter gives Amalardelgc-
it as part of his Belief, .Thatthe ﬁmple nature of the Bread and c1eﬁ.0ﬂie.llrb.

. Wire mixed, burned integauraafenahle nature, viz» of the; Body 3'cé24'v’d‘ lb °

and Bioud of obi-rte.- Moreover, hein another place confef— 3' '35'

faith , that it was=paﬁ his skill to determine what became of his

Body afterirt wascatem. .‘ (If/om the Body of Chri/t a . mega with

0...:

 

 

 

6 40f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.
AmounEpiﬁ. a good intention ., it it notforme ' to difﬁnte ”C faith be) whether it?
ﬁgment! be inwﬁbly taken up into-’Henven , or? qut inane-(Body until the day

mBrbh- . .. = . . .. - .
0th. Coll. S. of our bnrzal, or exhaled ento‘the 2421' , or whether zt go out of the
Benedic.-Can- Body with the Blond, or 'be ﬁent out by thesmonth,-8cc. For this,and
tabri.Cod. 55. summer F oolery of the three parts or kinds of Chriﬁs Body, he
gfggrlg’nA-BI; was conﬁned by a“ Synod held at Crawl}, wherein it was-declared
ﬁritséhall‘g) by the Bil-hops of France, Thatthe-Bread and Wine are {piti-
7 , . tuallymade thei'Body of Chriﬁ‘; which being a meat of the
Rnbaanau-Mind, and meet the Belly, is not corrupted, but remaineth
“‘5’ 7%”.1375' unto everlaf’ring’life. From whence we may learn '( as alfofrom
$22120 1:2; 4- the Writings of ' feveral Learned men of that Age who oppofed
om when”- thefe Dotages of the Corporal prefence ) that the Weltern
mm. ‘ “ Church had not then adulterated the Doétrine of thee-Sacra-

ment,but,€ollOwed the pure and found-fence of the Ancient
Fathers, and condemned thefe Whimfeys and ‘grofs conceits of

the carnal or Oral eating of Chrili in the Sacrament. Nay, in

the year 1079. when Hildebrand called Gregory the 7th came

to the Papal'Chair’, the Bilhops and Doéiors were divided in

their Opinions concerning the Corporal Prefe-nce a fome main-

taining Berengtm’m his Opinion who denied it, and. fo’me follow-

ing that-of? Pnﬁbaﬁm,~as appears from the Aétslof that Coun-

cil C writ by thofe of the Popes Faction ) which was called on

purpOfe to condemn Berengarim. Moreover, it’s recorded that
»—'Hz'lolebrond himfelf doubted whether what we receive at the
Lords Table be indeed the Body of ,Chrifi by a fubl’rantial con- '

. verl'ion.» For? three months-(pace was granted to Brérengnriw to
* coirﬁder in ’5 and a Fal’t appOintedtothe Cardinal-s , That God -

would lhew by fome lign from, Heaven who wasin the right,
Bannoti’ardin the Pope or Berengarinr. It feems the Doétrine of" the POpes
E‘if’g‘d'l Infallibi'lity was not, knoWn to that Age; and that Of the Cor-
H51} ﬁxing pOral prefence much dipubtede ‘ But'hO/wever, thus much we may
3:43, .. ~ Conclude’upon, That from the dark fandmyﬁerious Writings of
thofe men, Paﬂrbnﬁm and LAmalarim‘, did that ‘monﬁrous‘Errour

. tof Tranl'ubﬁantiation fpring, which afterwards came to be eﬂa-

’ blithed as an Article of Faith in the Church of Rome.

{As to the time‘thenwherein we are? to contain thisugDifcourfe,

, _ it (hallrbe the ﬁrtt’ 706 yearsraftchhrili- 51 and ”to Authors onely
'thdtliv’d’within- that corn-path, [Will appeal . for evidence in the

:matter under difpute rand lately» but 'Dilfenting Brethren will

.ailow that-they lived inthe ﬁrﬁ'andpur‘eﬁ' Ages, becaufe they

were

 

 

 

 

0f K neelz‘ng at the Holy Sacrament.
were dead before the Doctrines either of Conﬁrbﬂahtiatibn or
Tranﬁrbﬁantidtion were hatcht, much lefs received of ‘e‘iiablilht in
the World. ‘ " '
A If I would take all the advantage that our Adverfaries give
us, I need not conﬁne my felf within fo narrow a compafs. For
they challenge us to produce one infiance for Kneeling before the

days of Honorim the Third , who lived 1220 or thereabouts; '
and conﬁdently .aﬁirm Kneeling was never heard of nor ufed ‘

for 1200 years after Chriii. Ihope therefore they will not
complain of foul dealing, or that 1' Brain the point, ﬁnce I give
away Sooyears , wherein-the pure ancient Catholick Faith

touching the Holy Sacrament began to decline , and was by va-r’

rious arts and tricks at laf’t foully corrupted. Which piece of
"liberality I need not have exercifed, but that I deﬁgn purely .to
convince , not to contend. Let us therefore bring this matter
under examination, and fee what the praé’ti‘ce of the Church
was within the compiﬁs of 700 years after Chrii’t ; 0r, which

is all one, in the ﬁrﬁ and pure& Ages. And whatI {hall pro- _

duce out of Antiquity, may be conveniently placed under thefe
two general Heads, according to the method propofed inthe be~
ginning of this Difcou’rfe. .

(I) That notwithﬂanding feveral Nonconformiﬂs , welle- V

ﬁeemed of for Learning, have in their Writings boldly aﬁ‘erted
Kneeling to be contrary to all Antiquity 3 it is highly probable
the Primitive Chriﬁians did Kneel in the a& of Receiving, as
the Cufiom is in the Church of England.

(2) It’s certain they ufed an Adoring pofture.

As to the ﬁrfi,I hope I {hall be able to make‘it good by this

following Account which I [hall give with all pofiible plainnefs -

and 'ﬁncerity. _ And I declare beforehand to all the World, that
I will offer nothing for fatisfaétion to others , which I do not
think in my Confcience to be- true; and that I would not ufe
a Fallacy to ferve the Caufe, though] were fure it could never
be detected by any of our Separating Brethren. In the ﬁrft
place, for the ﬁrfi Century or 100 years wherein our Lord and
his Apoﬂles lived , the Scripture hath left us in the dark , and
under great uncertainty what the particular Geﬂure was which
they ufed at the Inﬁitution and Celebration of the Holy Sacra-

. - B ment 3

 

8

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.

Part I. p.17. ment; which I think I have fufﬁciently evinced in my Anfwers

to the ﬁtﬁ and fecond Qtery. _

In the next place, i deﬁre thofe who urge a common Table-
geliure,and particularly Sitting ( which was a ufual pof’tureat
Meals among thofe Eailcrn Nations as well as among us now )
to obferve, that Sitting was eﬂeemed a very irreverend Poﬂure

. to be ufed in the Worlhip and Service of God by the Primi-

tive Church; of whichI {hall give it

Which met under Pepe Sylveﬂer I. be: few inﬁances. The ancient Loadiceart

tween the Neomfarian Synod and the ﬁrﬁ
general Councrl of Nice 3' that is , between

Synod ﬁnding great inconveniencies to

the years 3,43)“; 3.25, as fome learned ' arife from the Lovechaﬂs which were
menrhink; or Am 19m: 365. after the kept at the fame time With the Lords
ﬁrfl general NiceneCouncﬂ, as others. Supper, prohibited ablblutely the {aid

Can. ‘28.

can. 74

F ealis, and the lying upon Couches in
the Church; as their manner was of Solemnizing thofe Feafis.

' The words of the Canon are thefe : The Feafir of Charity ought

hot to he kept in the Lordr Hate/Z or in. the Church , neither may
eat or male Coucher in the Hem/é of Geek This was afterward
forbidden by the Comcz‘l of Carthage; and the Decrees of both
thefe Provincial or National Councils were. ratiﬁed by the 6th

‘ Trullan Council, and that under the pain of Excommunicationt

upon whichin fome time the‘Cufiom dwindled to nothing..
Now the Reafons which induced thefe holy Bilhops and an-
cient Fathers to prohibit thefe Feafis of Charity , and the ufe
of adifcumbing poi’ture upon Beds or Couches in the Houfe
of God, ( which was too, an ordinary Table~geﬂure according
to the cufiome of thofe times) were in all probability taken
from the Diforder and Irreverence , the. Animoﬁties, and Excefs
that accompanied thefe Feaﬂs , and which bOth poor and rich
were guilty of: They did not diiiinguiih between their fpiri- '
road and corporal Food , between the Lords Supper and, an or.
dinary Meals they did not difcem the Lord: 304’}, as St. Paul
(peaks: and lam apt to think that the fameabufes which had

crept in {0 early into the Church of Corinth, and which St. Paul

took notice of and ‘reproved , continued and fpread till the
Church by, her Cenfures and Decrees oppofed the growing

evil, and rooted up the caufes of fuch mifchievous'eﬁieéits.
Tothefc Canons of Councilsbif we adde the Teﬁimony of
particular Biihops, who lived in thofe ﬁrfi Ages, and who {peak
not their own private fence and Opinions , but Cut‘iomes and
‘ Ufages

 

 

 

,, ”a WW.— ‘W.W.-Tm.ww— r ~. .— A h, 3.1,, “,2.
\ k
l

 

, Ome-eling at the » Holy Sacrament. ~ 9 i

*Ufages of the Church in their times we {hall plainly difcern

that Sitting was accounted an. irreverent poliure in the wormrp
of God, while they were engaged in Prayer or Praife, or. recei-
ving the Holy Sacrament.

fajita Martyr, who lived, in the fecond Century, which im— Flor. Ann. D.
mediately fucceeded that of the Apotiles, feems to hint that the 155,
people fate at the Sermon, and while the Leffons were reading, 7 ,
when he informs us concerning the Chriﬂian Affemblies in his Apol. 2.
time, and the place where he lived : After the reading of the
[effons and the exhortatory Sermon of the Bilhop , we rife up
( faith he) all together, and ﬁnd up our Prayers. He doth not
indeed ﬁgniﬁe what the particular Geﬁure was which they ufed /\
at their Prayers, butit’s clear enough they did not Sit 5 and they / \
might Kneel, for anything he faith to the contrary. For it’s

g culiomary among us to ﬁt at the Sermon , and during the rea-

dingof the Leffons; and after they are, ended, we. 'may be
truly {aid to rife up all together, and fend up our Prayers: But

‘ if anyone lhould hence infer that we ﬂood and not kneeled, he

would conclude aga'infi the Law of the Land, and the common
practice of the Church :‘, Riﬁng up doth not neccifarily imply
that a man ﬁands or kneels afterwards, but fomewhat previous
to bOth a for we generally rife before we do either. But howe-
ver ﬁtting at the Sermon and Leﬂ'ons was ufual in thofe Affem-

,blies which this holy Father and Martyr frequented; yet in /

molt other places the peeple were net permitted to ﬁt at all, not
fo much as at the Leﬂ‘ons, or in Sermomtimes as appears part—
ly from what Philoﬁorgim an ancient Ecclelialiical Hil’torian ob- .
so . . . , , . H111. Eeclef. l.
ferves of Theaphzlm an Indzan Btihop-a That among feveral 1r- , , ,2 ,
_ O O o. o . 3 n. S p 9
regularities Wthh he correéicd 1n thofe Churches, he particular- FIor.A.D.425
ly reformed this , that the people were wont to ﬁt when the Lemma

' out of the Gaffe] were read unto them : And partly from Sozomem

Hiliory, wherein he notes it as a veryunufual thing in the Biihop '
of Alexandria, that he did not rife up when the Goﬁel: were '
read. . .

But the fullel’t evidence Optatm Bilbop of Milevz'a affords us, Ecclef Hiﬂ 1
by what he writes againl’t Parmem'ama the Donatzﬂ. For after 7.c.19'.p.73.4.‘
he had taxed him with Pride and Innovation, with a cenforious FIOl‘.A.D.44o
uncharitable fpirit which animated all his Traéiates' or Ser-
mons to the people, he cites a paffage out of the Pfalmr , and
applies it home to him, after this manner : Thou ﬁtteﬂ'aod/ﬁea-

B 2 keﬂ

 

-\ .‘ 4'." I“:Jl=’
. - ‘. ﬂ: ' _ . '

IO , _ 0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrantenz'.

”31149311 our lee/t againfi thy Brother, &c. in which place God reproves him
33111145220. who fits and defames his BrOther: and therefore fuch evil
Sch}ff‘bonat. Teacher: as you C iays he ) are more particularly pointed at in
p.78. Par. E— this Text-j. For the people are not licenfed to ﬁt in the Charch.
le-An-D-35S- This TeXt chieﬂy refpeéts the Bi’lhops at d Presbyters, who had
Kgf'iflbﬁfg' onely a right and priviledge to ﬁt in the ublick and Religious
0,5”. 4 ' Affemblies ; but doth not concern the people , who ﬂood all
" the time. Now if it had not been a general and prevailing
cul’tom among the Chriﬁians of thofe times, as well Heretical as
Orthodox, to hand the whole time of Divine Service, and par-
ticularly at the Lefrons and Sermons, Parmenz’anm might have
eaﬁly retorted this Argument upon Optattn, as being weak, and
concluding nothing againf’t him in particular, but what might be
charged in common upon all private Chriﬁians who fate in the

Church as well as he. ‘
Floruit An. D.‘ Again, that Sitting was eﬁeemed irreverent in the Worlhip
‘93’73’7Wl-d6 of God, will further be manifeﬁed from a paﬂ‘age or two in
513%: 2' ”1' a Termlliavz , who lived in the fame Century with jet/tin Martyr
edit'c'cﬁ'logf before cited : and I think nothing can be fpok‘en more plain
Agrip. 1617. and home to the purpofe than what he delivers concerning this
item (Fwd ad- Ceﬁure, which is {0 much contended for by our Diﬂ'enting Bre-
gﬁgﬁd‘éﬁio' thren. For among other vanities and ill cuﬁoms taken norice
mos, eﬁ qui- of and reproved by this ancient Father, this was one, That they
bufdam, 8w. were wont C fome of them ) to [it at Prayer. A little further
. *\ in the fame Chapter, Tertullian hath

E0 apponitur‘Scirr-everentim crimen _e- thefe words: Adde hereunto the ﬁn Qf
tram 1pr’isnattombus ﬁ qutd faperent tn-

. . . . Irreverence, which the- very Heathen, if
telllgendum. St qmdem irreverens eft h 6121 . H d d i d h
afﬁdere fub confpeé’tu contraque confpe- ’ ey ,1 perceive ””9.- an . “’1 "l an 1?"?
ﬁum ejus guem cum martime reverearts we did, would take notice If- For If It
ac venererts 3 quanto magts (ub conf efiu he irreverent to ﬁt in the prefence of, and

Deivivi, Angelo adhuc orationisa ﬂan- . _
re 5 faaum illud irreligioﬁfﬁmu m efi , to conﬁont one whom you have a hzgh re

niﬁ exprobramus Deo quod oratio fatiga- [159a fwd WWW?” ﬂ”: 3”” much more
verir. Tertnlt. de Oratione, c. 12. zrrelzgzom u the: Geﬁnre 2n the ﬁght of
‘ the living God , the Angel of Prayer yet
fianelz'ng hy! unleft' we think ﬁt to zephraid God that Prayer hath
gum. de vit. tired ur. Adde to all this that laying of Conjtantz’ne the great,
Conflmag. lib. recorded by Eaﬁhim as an indication of thegPiety 0t that
4P- 400- (301- Chriﬁian Emperour , with which I will conclude this point.

All” 1612' It was upon occaﬁon of a Paneg 'k c ' th Se ulch
, _ yrzc oncerntng e p re
of our Saviour, delivered by Enfehiw, not in the Church, but in

\

the

 

 

 

 

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.

the Palace-of the Emperours and, the Hifiorian o'oferves, to the
praife of this excellent Prince , thatthough it was a long and-
tedious Oration, and though the Emperour was earneﬁly folli-
cited to ﬁt down on his Throne which was hard by, yet he re—
fufed, and ﬂood attentively all the time, as the reﬁ of the Au-
.ditory did 5 aﬂirming it to be unﬁt to attend upon any Dzﬂ'onrfe

concerning God with cafe andﬁft‘neﬁa and’ that it was very con/bi

nant to Piety and Religion , that Difconrfér about. Divine things
jbonld be heard (handing. .

Thus much may fuﬂice’ for fatisfaétion, that the ancient
Church did by no means approve of Sitting, ora common Ta-
ble-geliure, as ﬁtting to be ufed in time of Divine Service, ex-
_ cept at the reading of the LefTons, and hearing of the Sermon 3
which too was onely pra&ifed in fome places a for in others the
people were not allowed to ﬁt at all in their religious AiTemblies.
Which Cuﬂom is {till obferved in molt, if not all the Balkan
Churches at this day , wherein there are no Seats erected oral-"s
lowed for the ufe of the people. '

Now upon what hath been faid, llball onely‘make this brief
Reﬂection, and foproceed. If the Apol’tles of our Lord had
( in purfuance of their Commiﬂion to teach all Nations ) in
" their Travels throughout the World , every where taught and
efiablilhed fitting or difcumbing, ( which were the common

Table-gef’tures aceordingoto the culioms of thofe Ealiern Coun- '

tries) not onely as convenient, but as neceffary to be ufed in
order to worthy receiving the Lords Supper ', it is a molt lirange
and unaccountable thing how there {hould be ( 1) Such an 'ear-
ly and univerfal Revolt of the Primitive Church from the Dos
(Shine and the Conliitutions of the holy Apoﬁles ; and then ( 2 )
Conﬁdering what a high value and elleem the Primitive Chri-

’ ﬂians had for the Apoﬁles, the ﬁrli founders of their Faith, and-

for all that pafTed under their names , it feems to me not onely
highly improbable, but morally impoiiible, that {0 many Chur-
ches, together with their relpeeiiive Bilhops and Paliors dwel~
ling in remote and diﬂant Countries, ( not biafs’d by Faé’tion,

nor fwayed by a fuperiour Authority , being perfectly free and ,

independent one upon another) {hould unanimouﬂy confent and
confpire together to introduce a novel Cuilom into the Church
of Chrili, contrary to Apoltolical Praé’tice and Orders and not
onely fo,but (3) to Cenfure the practice and injunctions of di-

vinelyn

II.

1 7'2

 

 

 

OfKﬂeellﬁg at the H0!) S 210741718727.

i'vineiyeinfpired men, as indecent. and unﬁt to be followed and

See part I. p.
58.

obferved in the publick' Worihip of God : and all this without
the le’a‘i’t notice taken by , without any complaint or oppoﬁtion

from any particular perfon either in the then prefent or {meet-

ding generation.

(3) The Primitive Church eﬁeemed the Holy Sacrament to
b: the moli "(0an part of Chriliian Worlhip, as that which de-

fervedly challenged from them the ‘utmoﬁ pitch of Duct-ion,

and the highef": degree of Reverence that they could poi’ﬁbly pay

and exprefs either with their Souls or Bodies. This is- clear,

partly from their: Honorary Titles they beﬂowed upon this Or-
dinance and’adom’d it with , which import the greateﬂ defe-
rence and the motl awful regard imaginable; partly from that
tedious and fevete Difcipline which (he exercifed the Catechu-s
mens and Peniten-ts with , before (he admitted them into the
Communion of the Faithful , and approved of them as ﬁt to
partake of the Holy Myf’teries. To be admitted to the Sacra-
ment {0 onely as to behold it, and to. be prefent at thofe Prayers
which were puttup by worthy Communicants over the great
Propitiatory Sacriﬁce, was heretofore accounted a high honour
and priviledge; But to make one at this heavenly Feaf’t, and to
receive the pledges of our Lords love, was elieemed the top and
perfeétion of Chriﬂianity , and the extremity of honour and
happinefs that a Chriﬂian is capable of in this life. Heretoa-
fore ( with [harm and reproach be it fpoken to "our Rapidly
wicked and degenerate Age) to be excluded from the Holy

’ Communion, was look’d upon as the‘greateﬂ curfe and punifh—

ment that couldbeinﬂié’ted: and on the other hand, to be a
Communicant, tohave a freedom of accefs to the Lords Table,"
as the greateli bleiﬁng and molt ample reward that. could be ,r
pro‘pounded', the fum of a Chtiﬁians hopes, the center of all
his wifhes during his abode here. > ‘

(4.) For ﬁanding in time of Divine Service, both at their
Prayers and at the Sacrament , there are {0 many and {0 clear
teﬁimonies extant in pure Antiquity , that a man mutt take a
great deal of pains not to fee this truth, who is never {0 little
converfant in the/Records of thofe times: and in fucha man
it muﬁ be height of folly or impudence to deny it. The bare

, ‘ afferting

 

 

 

 

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy sacrament; — r3;

aﬂ‘erting of itihall be fuﬂicient; becaufe to inﬁll upon the proof

of it by an enumeration of particulars , would {well this Dif.

courfe beyond meafure a. and beﬁdes, it would be a needleCs la-

bour, ﬁnce the great Patrons of ﬁtting , or the common Table— 55114}, Dirp.‘
gei’ture, do frankly own and acknowledge that Standing was a againﬁ! En: . ‘
pollute generally ufed by the ancient Church in her religious PO-Cer- P011199
Alfemblies, both at their ordinary Prayers, and at the Commu- ; I°° 9' ‘90’
nion-fervice. Howfoever, 1 [ball be forced to fay fomething con- 9 '
.cerningthis matter under the following particular.

 

(5) Which is this: That the Primitive Chriﬂians (though
on the Lords days, and for the {pace of so days between Eaﬁer
and Whitfhnday they obferved Standing, yet at other times) u-
ﬁed the geiiure of Kneeling at their publick Devotions. Which
will appear from a Decree pafs’d in the ﬁrll general, Council at1 '
fembled at Nice, in words to this effeétz Becanfé there are fame Can 20— about
which Kneel on the Lord: day, and in the dayrof Pentecoft, ( thatthe year 325."
is, between Eafter and Whitﬁtnday ) it i4 therefore ordained by
this holy S ynod, that when we pay oar-Vow: unto the Lord in Prayer,
are ohferve a Standing geﬂure, to the end that a uniform and agreeahle .
Grafton; may he maintained or jecnred through all Charaher. By which
Canon proviﬁon. was made againit Kneeling, not as if. it were an
inconvenient and unbecoming geliure to be ufed'at all in the
publick Worlhip of God, but oner as. being an irregular and
unﬁt pollute to be ufed at fuch particular “times and occaﬁons
as is there {pecihedm'zn on the Lords days , and the Feait of
Pentecoit 5 when for any Chrii’tian toitand , was tocrofs the '
general Cuﬁom and Praétice of the Church atthat time: For
this Council did not ( you mutt note) introduce and etlablilh
any new thing in the Church, but eonely endeavoured by its au-v
gthority- to keep. alive and in credit an ancient Cuiiom, which

' they {aw began to be negleéted by forne Chrillians. And from
that claufe in the Canon, Becanfe there are [irate which Kneel on the
Lordr day and in the day: of Pentecoﬂ, 85c. we may with good
r-eafon infer, that Kneeling was the pollute that was generally
ufed at other times in their religious Ailemblies. For if Stan-r,
ding had been generally obferved by all Churches in time of Di-
vine Service at all other times as well as thofe mentioned in the
Decree , what occaﬁon or necellity had there been for fuch an
Injunction, whereby all Chril’tians were obliged to do that which

they

 

 

14, i Of Knee lingvat the Holy Sacrament.

they coni’tantly and univerFa'lly did betiore ? There‘i‘s ‘a paﬂ‘age ‘
in the ‘Author of the Qtei‘tionsand An wers in 714%.»: Martyr,
which will put this matter out of ~derefbt , and give us the rea-
Refponf. ad [on why they altered their poiiure on the Lords day : It is.
queﬂ. n 5. .p. ( faith he ) that hy thid meant we may he put in mind hoth of our
453' . Fall by Sin , and our Reﬁrrreéiion and =Re/iittttion‘hy the Grace of
Chrijh: that for [ix day we pray upon our Knew , it in take): of our
F al} hy Sin; but that onthe -»~‘L0rdr day we do not how the Knee,
doth jymbolically reprefent our Refnrreéiion,&c. This he there
tells us was a Cutiom derived from the very times of the Apo-
tlles a for which he cites Irena"; in his Book concerning Ealier.
That it was ancient, appears from Tertallz’an , who’ilived in the
An.Dom.198. fame Age with Irenam, and {peaks of it as if it had been cﬁa—
'blifh’d by Apoitolical Authority, or at leaﬁ by Cuﬂom had ob-
Die Jemima; tained the force of a Law a for thefe are his words : We eaeem
iejuniumnefas it a great ad? of wickedneﬂ or villany, either to F aﬁ or Knee! on the
EECIm‘BSaFI Lordr day. Which intimates too, that F aﬁing and Kneeling in
“331;? is their publick Worthip, were both lawful and cufiomar‘y'atother
Ter;.de Cor. times. To whofe Tet’timony if we joyn that of another Fa-
mil- C. 31206. ther who lived fome time after the ﬁrti general Nicene Council,
Sgt“ ﬁg?!” we need notproduce any-more witneffes to clear the *matter.
‘. Epip.b."cx1)76ﬁt. It is that of Epiphanim in-his Expoﬁtion of the Catholick Faith 5
Fid.Cathol. p. where he certiﬁes, that the weekly/fated Faﬂr '( of {Vedmfday and ‘
‘1 ros.edir.Par. Friday ) were diligently kept by the Catholick, Church the whole
'Flgr'4”;D”C”° year round, excepting the ﬁfty dayr of Pentecoﬂ ,“ on which they do
2345;523:333 not Kneel, nor is there any F aﬂ appointed. The reafon of which
“‘39“ ”5'54“ Cuﬁom was ( as both St. jerome and St. Augufiz'n atteﬁ) be-
3%335,” caufe all that {pace between Eaﬂer and Whitfitnday was a time
prolog: Com- qf'joy and triumph, viz. over Death and the Grave 5 and therefore
mem- in EP' on theﬁ day: we neither Fa/i nor hend our Knee: , nor incline and
ad pref. how down our Bodier ,‘ hat with our Lord are lifted up to Heaven.
Sr. Agguﬁ,EP' We pray (iandz'ng ( allthat time) which it a ﬁgn of the Keﬁtrw \
1194c! 74a. reéYz'on. «By which pofture, that is, we ﬁgniﬁe our belief of
c. .1 5.. that Article. From whence we may conclude, that as the Chri-
' ﬂians of thoie ﬁrﬁ Ages did at other times certainly Faft, f0 they
did alfo certainly Kneel at their Prayers in their publick/and re-

ligious Aﬂemblies. .

(6) Another thingI would have obferved in or er to/ my -
prefent deﬁgn, is this 5 That the Primitive Chriliia were wont
’ ’ - to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

0f Kneeling at the I—IvlyaS‘aermeni. ‘ I 5,

toteee’tve the Holy Sacrament everyday, "as bites they Came to; '
gether for publiclt Worlhip 2" whiethllom as it Was‘introdu; 14073 2.42845-
ced and ptaﬁifed by the Apoﬁles theml‘eIVes C accoraing to the £31323: _
judgement of very Learned men , and thatnOt without good with may. ,0.
grounds from the Holy Scripture) fo it continued a conﬁdera‘ble 16. .
time in the Church, even down to y . . '
Stdmgiin, who ﬂouriiht in the begin- girlylzgmkziw- 'S't-Aug-‘éEPﬁE 33-513:

'. , '1 I . n V I ‘ mm It” CI2 35 ‘o i‘s’ o 70 at 0.6 o
mug Of digﬁﬁh Gm“??? a3? .{iems a Froben. 1,541., St.§»lfhr.'fcap. ult. 11b. 5.“
clearly to mttmate to us 1n . lS . rttmgs, c. 4. dc Sacram.p. 449. par-ms“ larger.
that It was cuﬁomary 1n his days as "St. adver. ﬁviniaﬂ.;p 37.1’ariﬁid: in Eplﬁ._
Amhrofé and St. Hierome had hinted; ad Luein'im Betiémm. 71- Cd“-
befOte him concerning the Churches ‘of y a l ..
Millan and Rame in their times. From 'St. C rianf We are fully Vlsl- Dncgwe,
' POI-Pr 1m. Chi-1“.

ar‘ﬂ‘ured that-itwas (0 in his days, viz; about t "e year 256. ' y
in his explication of that Petiti‘onin the Lords Prayer, Give “531136337 dc
this daypm daily bread, he exprefiy tells us, thh‘t they did receive Orat. Dom.p.
the Eucharzﬁ every day, 45 the food that noari/ht them to Salvation. flag-Own»
St. Baﬁl HiihOp of Cefdrz’a, Who livedlabout 3.70 «years after gist 3533!},
Chritt, afﬁrms, that in ' his Church they, communicated fear my gt‘gﬁﬁag rm:
a’W’eeka on the Lord: day, W ednefday, Friihﬁmd 'Smurda $‘fW'6‘C®éil§th.2.
of which were Ration-clays, or fet days of F aﬁhig‘ Whit" were BM 515'- 2.9%
puné’tually obl'e'r've'd by the generality of Chriﬁians in thofe times. ,ggtﬁgﬁgr {1‘me
And this I the rather note, became in allembabiliw, ﬁnice they‘g. 13-279: ’
did receive the Sacrament. on thefe clays, they ‘did not alter the
Poﬂure of the day, but, received Kneeling: ;Forif Kneelinggwes
adjudged bythe Catholick Church anuni’utatsle andjjrnproper,
pollute for times of mirth and joy, 'ﬁich’ as the Lord’adayr and
tholE of Pentecoﬁ'were; and if they were thottght {guilty of. a.
great irregularity, who ufed (hatipoliUreOn' thofe Feﬁz‘valf‘, then
we may/[reafonabl'y Conclude,that Standing, W-h‘iéh Wasethqu/ii- .
w”! Failure, Wa’s'not’_ uFe‘d ’by‘tlieﬁatholick Church madays of '
Fajiiﬁg~andHumilimions and that they Who‘lléoci atithEi‘r 'p’ubé
lick Devotions on F aﬂiﬂg day, were as iriegular as they: who
kneel’d On a 'Feﬂival. And that this was really {0, may,l think, '
be clearly colleéted from "a p’airage in Tertullz'an “to this purpofe', Tim”- dc 0‘
17 e judge it M 202152wa and z'm'piom thing ((5375 be?) either to‘Fdﬂ $311305”;
or [feed at ourtDe‘votiont on the Lamb day. We raj? chin the [hmeigripi 15¢?»
freedom or 21721725212in ﬁomEaﬂe‘r iol/Vhitféntidey' 0 be {ﬂied Vand' .
exempted from Falling and Kneeling, not timely 0n the Lords '
day,but all the days of Pentecoflmas’ elleemcd a great priviledge,

an

 

‘16 V . ' 0f Kneeling at 'theHoly Sacrament.

and matterof much joy tnvthis Holy Father, and the Chriﬂians

who lived in his days. "Andifrom hence] infer, that atother

'times, when they met together for publick WOrlhip, (efpecially

on days of Failing) they generally ufed Kneeling, and that at

50 Sr. 52W“ the Lords Supper, which was adminillred every. day in the Aﬁi-
before erred.. can Church,.whereof Tertnl’ian was a Presbyter. - For if they had
[generally ﬂood at all other times of the year in. their religious Af-

femblies, as well at theirPrayers as at the Lords Supper, where

. is the priviledge and immunity they boaﬁed {0 much of, and re-

ioyced in, viz. that they were freed from Kneeling on fuchdays

' and at 'fuch certain times ?. Not to Fal‘r on the Lords day was a

" Priviledge, becaufe'they did Fat} on. the Week—days; and {o fay I;

- -of- Standing : To Stand onat-he Lords'days, and all the time be-

tween Eaﬂer and Wkitfnnda}, could not be thought a Cpeci-al aﬂ:

of favour and the Prerogative of thofe (ea-fons , if v Kneeling

had not been the ordinary and common Geilure at all other

M ‘ , times throughout the year.
Didoclavim his own argument retorted. 'Siﬂabantz’nter And if Kneeling Was the

orandnm (viz. Die Dominica 0‘ tato tempo‘ris intervallo in- Geﬂure which tiie' 'Chri—u

m Pa rim (9' Penna) e n n e r babiladz ‘ enienlis n- . . .

db‘raﬂer 61m perci gran/ti girbririﬁiiagtffedpatinariantmrium, a {hams did‘then commonly

‘ ”(mpg ﬁetiﬂ'e. A tar. Damafc. P' 784. “(C at their Prayerslbn the

t ' ’ V Week-days; then in all
probability , when‘they received the Sacrament on thofe days ,.
., they received in the ordinary poﬁure, ‘ . ‘

' Thel(‘7th)'¢ and l‘ai’t particular whith lgvtonld obferve'relating'

to"this buﬁne‘rsais this i ”hat the PrimitiveChriﬁians received
the Holy Sacrament Praying, The whole Communion Service
was performed with Prayer and Praife. It was begun witha

general Prayer, wherein the Minil‘ter and the whole

.T’trt-Apol- 0- 39. 13.47. St- G'bngregatior) hyntly prayed ﬁr the Univerﬁrls

fﬂ-cEP- ”8'8g?m§tA&2{;i “Pearce and "TV e fare of the Cbnrcb, : for the Tran-
,3,;,§7;,P,,C,,,1,1,93,- 'qnillity and the quietne/i' of the TVbrld , for the
Tim. . ‘ Pro/perky of the Age , for whole/ZJme W eatber and
fruitful Seaﬁmr , for King: and Emperanrr, and

' , all in Authority, ace. , The Elements were lanﬁiﬁed by a iolernn

,, Be 33.95.111’4‘ Benediction, {theform whereOf is [ct down by St. Ambra/e; and

C 52 P- 4:39.;i'1h‘6 whole action was concluded with Prayer and Thankfgiving.
See Dr. Cam’s ' ' ‘ ' ‘
Primitive

 

But that which more particularly affeéis the matter. in hand, is, .
Chriftianity c. that the Minil’ter ufed a Prayer at the delivery of. the Sacrament .

11. p.347. ’ y , . to _

 

_.,...» 1“, c. ”N; ,«Msimarugmhapwiv: . - : _, 44mm.

l:
l

. ‘”"T"’7‘"""W"="?"'f ..V. t. . p Haw» . .. .._‘

0f K tze'elz'ng at the Holy Sacrament. 17
to each Communicant, to which every one at their receiving {aid
'Amen. . . - ’ ‘ ' d , 3 ‘ '
The Apoliolical Confiitu’tions, thongh in Tome things “much
corrupted and adulterated, yet in many things are very found ,
and in this particular feem to exprefs the moﬁ Ancient Praé’tice
of the Church. For there we find this Account.

The Apoltolical Conﬂitutions (co‘nfeffed by all hands to be ve? Mr. Deillé fees

.ry Ancient, though not altogether f0 much as is pretended in filter“? at dd“;
. . . . . .. ~ ‘ , _ a, erren o

{om-e things) give us this plain account , \ the 5 Century.

in thefe words: Let the Bi 0 ive the K155”! ’o’vh'cmm'cJWw eh»
lb P g qnta'haejente'a’br, aﬁpglxgrgg. rt) Conﬂ, APO“:-

' Sacriﬁce (by, which name the. Holy Sa- army». Mr’w 4W... 54m. lib.8. c.rg. p.

crament was called in Primitive times) 353°; give?» 313 moiety, 29‘ 483-
].gymg , >719; Body of Chri/t : and let '. meaztgegameggmz
him that receive: fay Amen. Then; let“ BM? , ’ - -- = ‘ ‘ ' ~
the Deacon take the Cup, and at the *de: , -' - - ' “ 1
livery ﬁr}: -, The Blond of Chri/t, the Cup of Life 3 and let him that
drinketh fay Amen. ‘ - , '
Now although it cannot be denied but that thefe Con liitutions
are in many things adulterated ,‘ yet it is allowed 0n_the”other
hand, that "in many things they are-very ﬁnCere, and c0nvey-to
us the pure Praétice of the molt-ancient times. _ That they give a
true and found account in this matter relating to the Sacrament,
we may tell fully fatlsﬁed, from theconcuring Evidence of other
ancient Writers who‘lived in the fburth Century: 2'
For both SLAmhrofe and St. Cyril of jeruﬂrlem . Ambr.de,8acr.lib 4._e. 5, 9.
make exprefs mention of . the peoples fayingiAmen - 3:0. h?ht4ha5t'cyrll “lem-
when the Miniﬁer faid The Body-of Chriﬂr. .30 alfo ’” fa “£3;ng - aﬁ‘ces'w (gift:
St. Art/ii» fpeaksof. it as univerfally prac’tifed by the Sanguine dicitAmEn. Refp.ad
Church of Chrill when the Cup was delivered. Omﬁ- unﬂ-49. T04. p.691
And there is a very remarkable paffage recorded. by B‘ﬁl' I 54" . ‘
Euﬁzhz’m in his Eccleﬁaﬁical Hilfiory, which be- -
ing very appoﬁteto our purpofe, l’will iet down for the clofe of
all. . _' , ,. ‘ ‘ i

Novatim a Presbyter of the Church of Rome, having renoun-
ced the Communion of the Church and the Authority of his
rightful Bilhop Corneiim, fet'up for himfelf, and became the‘jhead Epiﬁ- Cornet.

'l

\

. of an .unreafonable and unnatural Schifm', and thebetter to fe— ad “5- apucl

cure to him the Profelytes he had gained, he altered the ufual garb“: C661? _

form of Prayer at the Sacrament, and in the room thereof, fubl’ri- 35. demww,
' ' ' C 2 . tuted

 

I 8 - Of Kneeling 4‘1“th Hal); Sacrament.

tuted a newtfangled Oath which he obliged every Commmricant
to take at the time of their receiving 5 which ( among other
wickedawpns. ). is particularly taken notice. of and charged up-
‘ _ on him by. Carmelita, as: the worli of all, and
Hedwig/315:5 3:}??? gammy 33% the mot} villanous (Innovation. Wlaen be
3%?3i’13mm; dvge;§:zfc:!r:1:;9é‘- 94mg (rays he) t0 01%.? Sacraﬁce: (i. E. (‘0 6616' . i
feasts; 196031 ﬁfirrgin/‘tcéwm‘ﬁdr‘ brate the Lords Supper) and to di/fribute to
Unis Aﬂéwtam'n‘avnfw we}: Kay titer. “mm mm hid parts at the 616. [may 0f 31‘ be 6012- ,
ﬁreined‘tkqfe- perfom who. unbappilyﬂdrd with r
. him to talqz an Oath, inﬁead of oﬁkm’ngap Prayer” and Praifer accar- '
. ding} to Month and iii/feud of ﬂying Amen, be ﬁrrced’erlery Comma:—
h "jean: When-he receiveitbe Bread, #0145er I will never mum toCor-
nelius a: tong 4; I; live. .
Fromjtheﬁ ‘plam‘jinﬂances we may fee how elofely'our Church
‘ follows the trep‘s Of pure antiquity in theForm of Pruerappoin»
ted to be uiéd by the Minil-ier at thegiviiag of the: Breaciand the '
Gupta the'peopler which-tuna thus: The Badyzaf our Lord ﬁfw i
Cbriﬁ, and The Blond of our Lord j‘eﬁu ChriﬂpmfmatlzyBadjiand '
Soul, to.» evenlaﬂfimgf life, 866‘ ' which. lat} C. leafs wmadcied. by latter
times,_ by way? oi explication to thartlhorr Form. which the Pri—
mitiveﬁlmrehufeci :‘ mddgrely it’s every" Chriﬁims intereﬂ‘, as
well; aslhirs. (limit, to. igymwiththemmiﬁer in ﬂush after-yer, and
return a hearty Anew to it.
‘ It will now brieﬂy {um up. the: Evidknce’; that hath. hem.er
duced out of Antiqiiity in iuﬁiﬁcation of" Kneeling at the Holy
' Garnmunienggcqrding: tqthecuﬂom and-.pnaéltiee of: our Church;
and ohferve whereit direﬂs. us: to ﬁx,.andr what to reﬁxlve upon;
And‘in this; order itrliesu, Sitting wasadiudged; bythe'ancient ,
Catholick Church a; very; unﬁt and; inre’verentipoﬁhrrer to belufed
in time of Divine Service, when they were folemnly cngmgedziin
rherrlhiipof God a, the: Holy Sacrament was-efiaeme/dr the"moﬂ
folemn AB: or Branch of. Chriliiam. Worlhip:-, The Primitive
Qhriﬁians: generally ufed, ﬂandingae their publish Devotions;
onely on the Lords days, and all that {pace of time that falls be-
tween Eaﬁer-and Whitihzzdﬂy-s At all" other times; in their. religi-
ous AﬂembliestKrieeling was: their, Worﬂiipping poiiure a andithey
were wont. to meettand;receivethegliords‘Supper-every-day, and
particularly; on their Rated Weekly; Eaﬂs, which-they kept every
Wednefday and Friday, whentoliani wasthoughtes‘ great. an
irregularity, as to kneel was onithe Lords day :. And:la{ily,che
01y

 

 

 

 

 

‘ 0f Kneeling at the Hell} Seememnt.

Holy Sacrament was delivered and received with a Form of Pra ya
er,'and that on thofe days when they coni’tantly prayed” Kneeling.
Allthefe, things therefore being coniidered, I think the leafl that
. can be concluded from them, is what I alTerted and deligned,
2952:. that in all likelihood the Primitive Chriftians did. kneel at“
the Holy Communion, as the Guﬂom is in the Church of Eng-
land : For ﬁtting was generally condemned as an indecent and
irreverent Geﬁure by the Primitive Church 5' and no man in his
‘ wits will fay that proﬁration or'lying ﬂat upon the grOund was
ever ﬂed in» the ad} of receiving, or ever ﬁt to be ('0'; it mull he
therefore one of that}: two 5- either Standing Or Kneeling.
As for Standing all the time of publick Worlhip which was

ul'ed' onely 0n- the Lords day and in Penteco‘ft, the r‘eafo‘n thereof .,
was drawn not From the Sacrament, but from the day and Felli-
val: feafon, when they did more particularly C‘ommuniCare the ‘-
Refurreﬁimt of our‘bleffed saviOur, Openly téﬁiﬁt‘dﬁth‘eir beilief of

. that great Article 3 at fuch times therefore they chofe' (landing,

as being a geﬂure Futable to theprefent occaﬁon, and as'a‘nEm-
“blem and ﬁgn of the Refurreétion. ,

A‘nd from:~ hence I gather, that on their common and ordinary

days'C when there was no peculiar reafon to invite or ohlige' them .

to [land at the Sacrament) in all likelyhno'd‘ they ufed Kneeling,
that is, the ordinary pofiure‘. ‘ They" u‘fe‘di one—and thefa'me p‘od
ﬂute (viz. Standing) Both at their“ Prayers a‘ndlat' the Saca-
ment on the Lords day, and‘ for ﬁfty days after Rafter, acon‘t’rary
to what was: ufual" at other times 5 and" Why‘thEn‘lhoul’d anym‘an‘
think they did- not obf’emeone and" the fame pollute. at all. other.
times?“ viz; that as at'fuch times they did conﬂantlliy Kneel at:
their Prayers, fo-‘they'did‘ a‘lfo' conﬂ'a'ntl'y Kneel‘at the Sacrament,
which wasgiven and‘received' in a Prayer. .

From the ﬁrength of thefe Premifts, '1 may howfoever pro-.
mire rmy’ﬁll’ thusi‘mueh‘fuccefé": That whofoeVer (hall carefully

weigh ‘andiperufe them with a teach’a‘nle’ andiunpre‘judiced' mind, '

{hall ﬁnd himfelf much more inclin’d to believe the Primitive
Church ufed at fome times to Kneel. ( as we do) at the Holy. Com-
munion, than that they never did Kn'eel at all, or that fueh a po-
ﬂure was never ufed nor heard of, butexcluded from their Con-
Mgreg-ations, as fome great ad'v0eates for Sitting have conﬁdently
proclaimed it to, the World.

(2.2 But

I ‘9

r-w- ‘ > 7

‘20 r 0f Kroeel‘irzguat theﬂoly Sacrarrzerrt. .,

(2.) But (econdly , Suppofe they never did Kneel as we do,
yet-this is theft certain, that they received the Lord's Supper in an
adoring pofiures which, isthe fame thing, and will inﬂiciently
juiiiﬁe the prefe-nt_;prac’t;ice of our Church,-.as being agreeableto
that-of pureAntiquity. 2 For theproof of this, numerous teliiv‘
monies both of Greek and Latine Fathers might be alledged, but
I will. content my {elf i( and I hope the Reader ‘00) . With a (CW.
of ' each fort, which are ('0 plain and eXprei's, that he who will
except ‘againi‘rthem, will alfo with the fame face and aﬂhrance

'exCCpt againi‘r the ,hivreneis of Snow, and the‘Light-of the Sun:

at Noon-day. ' _ ' ‘ ‘

3b Cyril, Hie- 7 And ﬁrfi {Or the Greek‘Fathers,;let the tefiimony of St. Cyril '
’E‘Ziéléhmyfiaeil be heard, than which nothing canybe more plain and exprefs‘to-
{m 5,6,3; Pa- ourgurpofe: This holy Father in a place before cited, ' gives-inu
'riﬂedir.p.244.ﬁrti ions to Communicants how to behave themfelve‘s when
‘theyapproach the Lords Table, and that in the aéi: ot‘receiving
both the Bread and the Wine. At the receiving of the Cup be
“minimal, relate; advifes‘ thus: A’pproach (fays he) not rudely (lretching ﬁrrth {thy
ﬁfygﬁj’ﬁ handy, but bowing thy félf, andin a pollureof W orjhip and Adorati- '
am 76 ’AMb/J- on,‘fayingAmen. To the famepurpofe St. Chryﬁrﬁome {peaks in
"P' 245’ A’ his 14th Homily on the ﬁrii Epitile to the Corinthian: 3 Where he
provokes and excites the Chriﬂians of his time, tor-an awful and:

“reverential deportment at the Holy Communion, by the example

"Mart-11.2.1, u. of the Wife men who adored our Saviour in his Infancy, after
- . this manner : jhirlBody the Wife men rwererzcedlgoen when it lay
, ‘ ‘ in the Manger, and approaching thereunto, wor-
Aruraigriawmv :7?er gate: at) £25212; 3 :3 fhippedit with fear and great, trembling. Let
giwhfgﬁggx’mﬁﬁaﬁ, Jugs It: therefore who are Citifzenr of Heaven, imi-
«it”l'rvpg,n,ow5k96v7ec aggfghvaawgrﬁ: rate at lea/l thefe Barharzam. Bat thou [he]?
g‘ggwiié‘: $535,“; 24 ' 9'. ° 1hr}: Body, not in a Manger, but on theAltar;
4 not hela’ hy a Woman, hat hyghefrie/i, 86C.

* Lei M iherefore (iir up curfelver, anal he horribly aﬁaid, ,and-maniﬁﬂ'
a much greater Reverence than tho/e ' Barharz’anr, le/l coming lightly

and at a venture, we heap ﬁre on our headr. In another place the

or’m’mauv, ,9 Fa- fame Father expreﬂy bids them to fall down and communicate ,
”“1" when the, Table Was prepared, and the King himfelfprefent: and
Stefﬁ? ““22, in order to beget in their minds great and aivful thoughts eon-
E'pheniii'mo. ccrning that Holy and Myf’terious Feafi, he Further advifes them,
I'ral. p. 1151. that when they ﬂew the Chancel doorr opened, then they [houldﬁrppofé

Heaven

iv.
I
,

 

 

 

 

 

 

. 0f” Kﬁeé’liﬂg at the Holy Streamer”. I at

Heaven it fielf 229m unfolded ﬁom above, and that‘theAngelr dé‘jirem
dad, to be fpeétators l fuppofe he means of their carriage and he; \
haviour at. the Lords Table, and by giving their attendance to
grace the iolemnity. With the Teliimony of thefe, ancient »
Writers Theodore: concurs, who in aDialogue between an Ortho- Flor. A. D.
dox Chriiiian and an Heretick , introduces Orthodoxm thus dif- 44o.
cour ling concerningthe Lords Supper. . The myﬂerious Symbols _,
or ii gns in the Sacrament (viz. Bread and-*Wine) depart not from
their proper naturc,for they abide in their former Eliencejk retain
their iormer‘ihape and form 5 and approve themfelves both to our
ﬁght and touch to be what theywere before : but they are conﬁde- yeeimi 5ft a’mg
red for fuch 45‘ they are made, ( that is,with refpea' to their Spiritual 23’”: ’33“:
ﬁgniﬁcation, and that Divine ufe to whicht‘hey were confecrated) 57112:; 1,903; engine
and are [relieved and adored M thof e very thing which they arehele’eveafthis:l 47"? ”'5“
to he. Which words clearly import thus much, that the confecratedijialhg, 2,1‘0;
Elements were received with aGeﬂure of Adoration,and withal aC- 4- p.8s-Parif.
fure us, that iuch a carriage at the Sacrament‘Was not built upon “‘1"
theDoﬂrine of Tranf ubﬁantiationf or there is not a‘ clearerinliance
in all Antiquity againﬁ that abfurd Doé’trine which the Church of
Rome (0 obliinately believes at this day,than whatTheodoret furnilh- ‘
eth us with in the words above mentioned. Lalily, (to produce no
more/out of the GreekFathers) that Rory which GreggyNazit/mzen Gregor: Nae.
relates concerning his Sitter Gorgonia, will {ewe to ’corrobo‘rate 0m. Inland.
what hath been {aid , viz. That being lick, and having made ufe‘gorg' p: 187.,

y . arrﬁcditGre-
of feveral Remedies to no purpofe, at lali (her refolved upon gar. Flor. AM.
this courfe: in the iiilnefs of the night {he repaired toxth‘e pub- "pm; 37-0.
lick Church, and: being provided with Tome of the confecrated '
Elements which the had referved at home, jhe fell down on her
Kneer before the Altar ,- and with a loud voice {upplicated him
Whom {he adored, and in concluﬁon was made hole. I am not
much concerned whether the Reader [hall think ﬁt to believe or,
cenfure the Miracle; but it’s certain, that this famous Bilhop hath
put it upon Record,and applauds his Sifter for the method the u-
fedior her recovery, and which {peaks home to my purpofe; it’s .. t
clearly intimated that this pious Woman did Kneel , or ufe an ..
adoring poﬂureyat leaf’t when (he eat the Sacramental Bread. And
there is no doubttobe made but Gorgonia in Communicating'ob-
ferved the fame poiiure that others generally did inpublick: She,
did that in her Iicknefs, which all‘ others were wont to do in their.
health'when they came to the Lords Tablet, 2., e. 'fall down and

' Kneelt

 

 

 

 

 

2,2 t Of Kneelingat the Holy Sacrament.

""Kneel. For it is not to be imagined that at fuch a time "as this,
when (he came to beg-{b great a Birding at Gods hands in the
pubhck Church at the Altar, Riled by the Ancients the Place of
Prayer, {he would be guilty of any irregularity, and ufed a lingu-

"'iar Poﬁure different from what was generall'y‘ufed by Chrit’tians
when they came to the fame place to Communicate and Pray o-

,v‘er the great Propitiatory Sacriﬁces which they eﬂeemed the
”molt powerful—and effeétual way of Praying, the mofi likely to

“ render God propitious, and to prevail with him above all other
Prayers which they offered at any other time, or in any other
place. So much for the teﬁimonies of the Greek Fathers, who
were men famous for Learning and ‘Piety in their generations,
‘and great Lights and Oma merits in the Ancient Church. With
thefe the Latine Fathers perfeétly agree in their judgements con- K
..cerning our prefentfubieét. And of thefe 1 will onely mention

"two (though more might be produced) for brevity fake, and
they very eminent and iliuﬂrious perfons, held in great efieem by
the then 'prefent Age wherein they \ﬁouriﬂr’d, and by all fu'CCCed-.

Flor; A Ding Generations. The hit is SnAmhr-ofe- BiihOp o’f Millaz’n, in a
370- Book he wrote‘concerning the Holy Spirit, where inquiring after

iii-{35198321999 the meaning of the Pfalmif’t when he exhorts men to exalt'the"

3,3031?” ran" Lord and to gvorlhip his Foot-ﬂool, he gives us the fence in there

Ammo/3 de sp. words: That it feems to belong unto the myfiery of our Lords

Sto.1;:3‘.Ctrz.ilncarnation s and then proceeds to lhew for whatreafon it may

be acCommodate-d to that Myﬁerie: and at lal’t

i Iraq; .per‘Seabellum term in- concludes thus: By the F ootﬂool therefore is the earth

I’vtelrligttur, per terrtzltrraautem- ‘to'he underﬂood, and by the earth the Body of Chriﬂ ,'

Ilczgoiﬁlgly‘i’tilérfiiglaildogadiu‘iﬂ; whither this day too we adore in the Sacrament, and

31mm Apoﬁoli in Dom. Jefu which the Ape/Her worlhz'pt in the Lord ﬁfth“, 86C;

:aid'orarunt. ’ '- On the very fame weeds St.’Anflz‘n (Bilhop of Hip-

- _ 199) comments, and to the‘fame .. rpofe.‘ For

'thns"herrefolvesthat ’Qgeliion, how or in What 'ence the earth
his Footliool may be worihippc’d Withoutlmpicty ?' Beeaufé he
“tookearrh of’th’e earth, forﬂ’efh h! of the earth 5 and he‘tookﬂfeﬂ’a'of the
fie/h of‘M'ary. And hecmg‘h he converfeal here-in Mejia/hand gave are hit

Nemo carnem very ﬂejh to eat: unto Submit)”. No»: there 1‘: none who eater!) that

:i‘llam rnandu-ﬂeﬁo, hut ﬁrﬂ wojhippeth. We havefozma' then' how this Fo‘atli'ool'

:car, mﬁ prtusm headhre‘d 5 fit-that weare'fofar ﬁom fumin h Morin , that

~adoravertt. , y _ . ,. y - ,_ y _ . g y . y

‘we really ﬁn If eve-do not Adore. In the Judgement there ore of
=thefePtir‘ni-tive Bi’éhops, we may lawfully adore at the Myﬂeries,
\ V .‘ though

 

 

 

 

Of K heelz'ng at the Holy Sacrament. * 53

though not the Myl’teries themlelves a at the Sacraments, not the
Sacraments themfelves; the Creator in the Creature which is. -
fané’tiﬁed, notthe Creature it felf : as a late Protel’tant Writer of 539”}! 21mg}
rime uality and Learnin amon the French, dillin uilhes u - ’f ‘T “ °
En the%recited words of Sgt. Awhile. ' . g p 3113;14'c'7’
From thefe few Inﬁance‘s I think it appears evident, that the .
Primitive Chrillians ufed an adoring pollure at the Sacrament in
the at} of receiving. It were eaﬁe to heap together many other
Witneffesfrt it were neceﬂ‘ary fo to do,either to prove or clear the
Caufe in hand: but ﬁnce there is no need, to pelier the Difcourfe
with numerous references and appeals to Antiquity, would but
puzzle and obfcure the Argument, and tend in all likelihood ra-
ther to confound and difguﬁ, than convince and gratiﬁe the Rea-
der. , ' ’
By what hath been alleadged, the praétice of our Church in
Kneeling at the Sacrament is fuﬂiciently juﬁiﬁed, as‘ agreeable to
the Culloms and Prat‘ltice of pure Antiquity. For if the Anci-
ents did at the Sacrament ufe a pollute of Worfhip and Adorati--
on, . (which that they did, is very plain) then Kneeling is not re-
pugnant to the, practice of theChurch in the ﬁrﬂ and pureft A-
ges; no, though we [hould fuppofe that Kneeling was never pra-
a'ifed among them : which will appear, if we call our eyes alit-
tle upon that heavy Charge which fome of the ﬁerceﬂ but lefs
prudent Adverfaries of Kneeling have drawn up againﬁ it. They
obieét againfl Kneeling, as being an Adoring geltures For they
aﬂirm, That to kneel in the aft of Receiving, before the con/mated Gillefp. p. 166.
Bread and Mimi: formal Idolat . So alﬁ; to kneel before an) “72 Altar Da-
Creatnre a: a memorative ohjeé? of G03, though there he no intention of 2:51:05)”. 83;.
‘giving divine Adoration to that Creature, i: Idolatry. Now if the vine Right 0;—
Primitive Chriflians may be fuppofed to profirate themfelves be- Ch. Gov. c. r.
fore the Altar upon their ﬁrﬂ approach thither in order to receive, Qu.5. 566-1-3-
' or immediately after they had received the Bread and the Cup
from the hand of the Miniﬂer s or if they bowed their Heads and
Bodies after a lowly manner, in the aét of Receiving a or if they
received {landing upright, and eat and drank at the Lords Table
with their Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven; then they were
guilty of Idolatry, as well as we whokneel at the Sacrament, in
. the judgement of thofe Scotch Gaﬁn'jt: 3 and confequently, Kneel-
ing at the Holy Communion, according to theCuflom of our
Church, is not contrary to the pgétice of the Church of Chrifl in
' ' the

4

24

 

 

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrczmnt.

the ﬁrii and purei’t Ages. For all thofe pofiures before mentioned
were poiiures of Worihip and Adoration, and ufed as inch by the

Gili‘ﬁ- 93va Primitive Chrif’tians: efpecially Handing, which is allowed by
agamﬂ E' Po' the Patrons of Sitting to be anciently and moii generally ufed in '

Cer. p‘. I 91

Dirpﬁfkncd: time of Divine Worihip , and particularly in the aé’t of Recei-

P'. 93°

vrn . , .
Igwill conclude all with an Infiance in. their ownTZ‘afe about a
common Table—geiiure. Suppofe the Primitive Chritiians did in
fome places receive the Holy Sacrament. Sitting, or lying along
. upon Beds, as the ancient Cuiiorn was in thofe Eaﬂem Coun-
tries, at their common and ordinary Tables: Put the Cafe that
in other places they fate crofs-legg’d on Carpets at the Lords
Supper, as the Turin“ and Perﬁanr eat at this day 5 or that they
received Standing in other places . according to the common
.- mode of Feaﬂing 5 which we will fuppofe onely at prefent.
Could any man now reafonably object againfi the lawfulnefs of
Sitting upright at the Sacrament upon a Form or Chair (accor;
ding to the C—uﬂom of England) as being contrary to the pra-
étice Of all Antiquity, who never fate at all? Certainly no. For
though .they differ from the Ancients as to the Site of their Bo--~
dies, and the particular mode of Receiving, yet they all agree’in'
this, that they receive in a common Table-geilure -: They all ufe _
the fame Gefiure at the Sacrament, that theyconltantly ufed at
their civil Feaﬂs and ordinary Entertainments in the feveral~
places of their abode. And {0 fay I in the prefent-Cafer, What
though the Primitive Chriﬁians ﬂood upright fome of them at _
the ‘Sacrament,and others bowed their Heads and Bodiesin the
'Aétof Receiving, and none of them ever ufed Kneeling? Yet
they and we do very well agree for all that, becaufe werall re— '
ceive in an Adoring or Worthipping Pof’ture. . It is one and the.
fame thing variouﬂy exprefi, according to the modes of different
Countries. ~ ' . - , .

on E--

 

 

 

. ww—y—wy—ru _ .

Of Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.

 

 

 

 

Whether it he unlawful to Receive Kneeling, he-
cauﬁ: this Geﬁure was ﬁr]? ﬂintroduced by Ida--

laterr , and in ﬂill notorieufly ahuﬁ’d hy the

Papiﬂr to idolatrom‘ enda~ and purpofer.

Ll that IS needful to be laid for fatisfaétion 111 this Cafe,
may be comprized under thefe two Propoiitions, which I
will endeavour to make good.

(I) It can never be proved that Kneeling in the A81 of Re-
ceiving was {1191 brought in‘by ldolaters, as is pretended and {up-
pofed 1n the Q1eiiion.

(2) That it is not f nful to die fuch Things and Rites as ei-
ther have been or are notoriouily abufed to Idolatry.

As to the ﬁri’t of thefe PrOpoﬁtions, I have 111 my Anfwer to
the fourth Q1ery made It ( I think) appear very probable, That
the Church of Chriﬁ m the ﬁrji and pure]? Ager did Kneel, as we do
at thu day, in the Aft of Receiving And if this be allowed, then
they who oppofc Kneeling will be unavoidably driven upon one
ofthefe tWo things. Either they muii pronounce the Primitive
Chriitians guilty of Idolatry, or not guilty. If they lay they were
Idolaters, then the former Objeétion againﬁ Kneeling contained
in the fourth Q1ery1s void of all fence, and falls to the ground ,
viz. That Kneeling u contrary to the general praélice of pure Antiquity.
If they were clear from Idolatry, then the prefent Objection
comes to nothing , viz That Kneeling u unlawful, a: being ﬁrfl. tn-
troduced hy Idolaterr.

But fecondly, to come clofe to the Q1eﬁion, let us try if we

’. can ﬁnd the time when , and the idolatrous perfons by whom
, D 2 . Knee: _

’5

26 , 0f Kneeling at theHoly Sacrament.
Kneeling was ﬁrﬁ brought into practice. And furely there are
none fo likely to inform us, as they who raife the Objeétion;
for if they do not make out thefc particulars, they talk arran—
dom, and fay nothing to the purpofe. And what are the clear
and undeniable Proofs (for fuch I am fure they ought to be in
this cafe) which they produce to make good this Charge againl’r
Kneeling? No other than thefe, that I can ﬁnd by my belt fearch ‘
into the Writings of the moi’t learned Advocates for Sitting;

Altar. Dama- Kneeling in the Ail of Receiving the Euchariﬂ was not known to the
fcen. p. 542. c. Church for a thoufand yearr, &c. It was never known to the Church
9- dc Ad’aPIL and F atherr before that monﬂrom Doéirine of Tranfnhflantiation
. [ﬂung up and grew {bong in the world. It was in/lituted by Anti- ,
{damp-780. chri/l, and that in honour of the Breaden God, and to conﬁrm the
’ 82' Doélrine of Tranfuhﬁantiation and the carnal prefence. Nay the
fame Author afﬁrms, that this Geﬂure was never nﬁzd before the
time of Honorius s and challenges all the world to produce one '
Teﬁimony before that Age for the ufe of it; and withal acknow-
ledges at the fame time, that Honorim did not inﬁitute Kneeling
in the A6} of Receiving. ‘
This is Didoclave alias Calderwood his Account ; which is {0
blind and confufed, and inconﬁﬂent with it felf, that it proves
nothing, butthat the Author had a great mind to fay fomewhat
to the purpofe, but knew not what or how. It was unknOwn,
he faith, to the Church for a, thoufand years 5 and again, not
known till Tranfubﬁantiation fprung up and grew to Maturity 5
and again, never uied till the time of Pope Honoriw, who lived
about the beginning of the Thirteenth Century, and came to the
Papacy in the year I 2 16. Now it’s ﬁrange to me how Knee-
ling at the Sacrament 'ihould be known about a thoufand years
after Chriﬂ, and yet never ufed till-the year I 2 I 6.,or thereabouts :
This is all one with faying, Playing upon Organs was never
heard of nor known till the Reign of King Henry the Seventh,
but then Organs were never play’d upon till King jamer came
to the. Crown. And then again, though Kneeling was brought
in by Antichriﬁ, it was not brought in by Honorim, but in-his time
onely. All the light therefore that this Author (who hath taken
as much pains, and lhewed as much Learning asta-ny man what-
foever in defence of Sitting) affords us; is onely, this: That Knee-
ling was brought in at fome time or other, but he could not well
tell when; and by fomebody or other, what do ye call him 5 but
. it’s uncivil to name names. ‘ . The

784-

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament; . 1‘7

The Other Adverfaries of Kneeling are very bold in their
general Charge as any men can be, but very {hie of com- Difp- againﬂ
ing to Particulars. ‘Ihe man of ﬁn was the Author and (to 3:25;: P' 92'
make all fure) the Mother of it, fays one. It grew ﬁrﬂ ﬁom the 3,. g. P' 3 ’
perfwaﬁon of the real preﬁnce, and this when Antichrifi was at hi4 Difp. p. 99. ~
full height, fays another. And in the groﬂ'ey’f time of Idolatry that p, 94.
the eye of the Chri/iian W'orld hathfeen. If when Honorius (as the
Difputer proceeds) , made his. Decree» for Adoring the Sacrament,
Kneeling were not in nﬁ, whatfollows from hence ? Why then in
all probability Kneeling at the Communion was not received into pro-
ﬁice in any Age Preceding the day: of Honorius. But when Hono-
rius made hi4 Decree for Adoring the Sacrament, Keeling was not in
24/23 .1 that is, If Kneeling were not in ufe when Honorine made
his Decree, then it never was in ufe before. What [hifts are
men put to, when they undertake to defend an ill Caufe l. Who
is there fo ignorant, as not to know that things may grow out of
falhion and ufe? What for fome ages was a. general and pre-
vailing Cuﬁom, may in traét of time wear off, and dwindle to
norhing. I need fay no more to expofe the weakneis of this At-
gument, than to put it thus: Sitting was not inufe in the time
of Honorees, therefore in all probability it was never in Me in any
preceding Age. ,
. Afterall (00, it’s ﬁrange that Kneeling at the Sacrament
fhould fpring (as thefe Writers afﬁrm) from that monflrous Do-
élrineofTranfubﬂantiation and a Conceit of the corporal pre—
fence of Chriﬂ, and not be in ufe in the days of Honor-ins when he
made the Decree of Adoration. Becaufe that Doctrine hi‘d been .
difputed many years before among learned men, and was efiabli—
[bed by Papal authority in the year 12 15, before Honorinr. was
eleéted Pope. But to pafs by this, it appears from the Writings --
of thefe men, that they unanimouily agree in this-z Kneeling ,
was brought in by the man of ﬁn,by Antiehriﬁ, after-:Tranfnhfiane
tiatz’onfprung up, and in the time of Honorinr the Third. They
all agree too, in talking confidently and atlarge concerning this
matter, without all Reafon ,or Proof «to make out ,- their Afv
; fertion, but It is f0, and It muﬁ needs be f0, right or wrong : a
‘5 - and the common People fwallow all-for Gofpel , and‘ have got ~
Honorint his name by the end,and fo the matter is determined. -,
However , thus much I think is gained in favour of Kneeling,
from what thefe our great Adyerfariesifay,againf’t it 5. That it was

not

 

 

i
i .
l
i

 

. 1662

 

A 28 8 0f Kneeling atthe Holy Sacrament.

not introduced by. any Pope of Rome. For when they fay the
' F man ofﬁn was the Mother of Kneeling, and Antichr‘z‘fi brought it
'- in', if they mean by thofe Phrafes (as they generally in their other
Writings do j the Pope or the Bilhop of Rome, then the maher is
‘ out of doubt, they themfelves being judges. Becaufe they ex-
Difp. p. 8:. preﬂy aﬁirm, thatKneeling was never praé’tifed before Pope .Ho-
, norim his time a and even then it was'not inﬂituted by him, but
Altar.Dam. P- by fomebody' elfe. But ifby the man of ﬁnand ‘An’tich’rit‘t , they
78 4. C, ,0, mean any number or S‘ocrety of men, as the Conclave ofCardinalr,
fuppofe, or fome prevailingFaﬁion in a Provincial or General
' Council, {purr’d on by Avarice and Ambition to enlarge and {up-
1 port the Popes Authority 3 then it’s very tlrange, and unaccoun- ,
table, that their Conf’titutionsland-Decrees. for Kneeling [hould
no—where be found,nor the leaﬂ mention made in'anyPt-e'eords or
- Hillories ConCerning fuch a matter. That there are none {itch to be ~
met with any where,l will appeal to Mr.Prynne,as good aTerrier as
ever lived, and no Friend to Kneeling. There is not one Canon to be
Mr. PM”? found (fays he) made by any General,National,Provincial Council or
Apol. for lib. Synod, ﬁom Chri/l: inﬂitution of the Lord! Supper, till above 14.60
to tendCI‘FOH- yearr after hi4 Afcenﬁon : Nor any one Kubrick in all the'thurgier,
P- 75' Primed W'rz'tz'ngor of the Fatherr, or Miﬂalr, Brevz'arier, Oﬂicer, Pontiﬁcalr,
' Ceremonial: of the Church of Rome it felf' , that I could either ﬁnd
upon my heft fearch, or any other yet produced, enjoynz'ng Communicani:
to Kneel in the A6? of Receiving. .Thus that inquiﬁtive Gentleman
allure us; and in the fame place backs his Report Withthe au- ,
thority of the Reverend Dr. Burgeﬂb, whom he titles the belt and '
eminentefi Champion for thisGeﬁure of Bneeling of all others.
E? Bmg'Anﬂ The ﬁrm of what Dr. Burgeﬂ‘é delivers concerning this matter, is
I'CJOY. to the . . . . . . . _
Reply to Dr. this: That Kneelzng tn the AC? of Receevzng rear never any znﬂrtuted
Mort. gen.De- Ceremony of the Church of Rome, nor :4 atthu day. I‘ or thls he
fence, P. 478: cites Bellarmz'ne and Durantur‘, who make no mention of Kneeling
478- - in the A61: of Receiving; though they. treat particularly of the .
Mats, and the Ceremonies of the Ptoman Church. lnflead of
this, Durantur afﬁrms, That the Sacrament ought” to be taken Stan;
Miffﬂ- Rom. ding 5 and proves itvalfo. And [5 doth the Pope himfelf receive it,
13:21:: 5115’}? when he celebrate“ and every Priefl by order of the Maﬁ-book, is to
V. y nu partakejlanding reverently at the Altar, and not Kneeling there. The
' people which receive not, as well as they that do receive, are re—
verently to bow themfelves to the Sacrament, not when they re-
ceive it, but when the Prieft doth elevate the Patio or Chalice

7 for

 

 

 

 

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.“ , :29

for Adoration, or when the Holt is carried to any lick perfo'n, or

in Procelﬁone And this is that Adoration which was ﬁrl’t

brought in by Pope Honorees the Third, and not any Kneeling or

Adoration in the Aét of Receiving. F or. thefe are the very

wordsof the Decree :That the Prie/tr jhonla' frequently ire/true} their

People to how themﬁlver reverently at the Eleva-

tion of the Hoff, when Me}? ‘wnr Celebrated, and HE 53C€Fd0t€5 frequenter doceant:
in liﬁe manner when thePrieft carried it. abroad to “€me fuam, 1“ cum Elevatur HO'

 

ﬂi Sal t ri uif ue fe reverenter'
the 2le . A: the ran the Doé’tor thus refolves. infirm? 121;; {:3de Wm Cam

UPC”? the weak)“; Tb!" Kneeling, in theAéi 0f . deferar Praesbyter ad inﬁrmum. De-
.Receiveng war never any ire/littered Ceremony of mi- Greg-1.3. tit. 41. Co 10'

the Church of Rome, nornever zit/Ed, when-it we: .

uﬁel by them, for Adoration. to theSacrament, at it fol/l}: believed and

telheelof by many. And with him a learned Papif’t agrees,'wh,o in

aBook purpofelywritten for the Adoration of the Sacrament, de- EfPWM d6
clareth1 : That it is not. much material? in what Geﬁure it‘is per 1530:“- Elgch- r
formed, whether Sitting, Standing1 Lying, or Kneeling .' And in l ’ "'C' 1 '
the fame placefurther informs us, That the Kneeling Ge-finre had

not obtained in the. Church; of Lyon: in the year 1555 s. and

When Come endeavoured to obtrude it upon that Metropolit, a. {top

was put to theirproeeeding by the Royal Authority. a _

Nathingneede more. be {aid to give fatisfaétion in this matter,
and 62; us, when, we have added what a. very great man of our.
own Chord) now living hat-h delivered in writing1 via. Although Deaf} 01' St-

‘ Kneeling at‘the Elevation of; the Heff he ﬂriéi‘ly required by the Ko- fazrﬁcgrgeg}

malt Church, retire the 46?. oft-Rceeeeing it tenor a. a: menifeﬁly ap- glands“ P-

. pea-rt thy the-”Paper mention of Receivingmhéch jute-t Kneelin , hut. ei- 15. e 3
the Swinger: it martin Bonaventure”; time 5 .or afierthefejhzﬁon

of ﬁtting, 0741131}? leaning "PM MIT/Went, at he doth ot: thir dint, ;

And now the matter is brought. to a ﬁne pafsl Hove outra—
gious have the Adverfaries of Kneeling been in their Clam-ours a--
gainﬁ the Church of England for appointing-Va Gelture that was-..
ﬁrl’t introduCed and tried by .Antichri‘fi and Idolaterss and when
the matter‘comes’to beﬁfted,’ not the leaf: prod is produced to
make good the Accufation i? bu‘t,’ on the other ﬁde, it appears that '
thofe: two Poﬂuresvwhich. are {0. Earneﬁly contended? for by our ‘

.Diffenting Brethren, are. the. very Pot-totes which the man ofﬁn ? ’
nfes at this day himfelif inthe Aét of Receiving the Holy Sac-ra-
. ment !' Whenhe‘c’elebr‘a‘tes ‘Mafs hirhfelf, and upon fomeother Kid-Bridle. *

particular and folemn’ occaﬁons, he ﬁahdsa but generally and 0,,113. Eager“. P. .:
‘ ' dinarily‘l 4’45" —

n, _-...—r—-:-—__ wav-ﬂ‘

30 , _ 0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.

Dr. Burg-kiw- dinarily he receives ﬁtting, or in a pollute very like it. And this
‘fuléof Kneel- ] deﬁrc may be remembred, againll we come to difcourfe on the
'P' 7" ‘fecon‘d Head, viz. that Kneeling is not therefore ﬁllful, becaufe ‘
it is ufed'by ldolaters. v / .

if any fhould after all put the. Qleﬁion thus to me : When is

it, fay you, that Kneeling ﬁrli commenced in the World a by

whofe means, and upon what reafons? my plain Anfwer is, I

cannot cerntainly tell 5 nor can l ﬁnd any accCount thereof a.

among the ancient Records. But this is no Argument againﬂ,

but rather for the ancient and univerfal ufe of this Gef’ture: No-

vel Cuﬁoms are eaﬁly traced to their Originals, but generally the

molt ancient Ufages of every country are without Father and

Mother 3 and we cannot tell from what fource they are derived.

- (2.) lam fo far from thinking ( as our DiffentingBrethren
do ) that Kneeling owes its birth to the Doétrine of Tranfub-
ﬁantiation, that l verily believe the contrary: viz. Kneeling, or
an adoring poliure ufed by the ancient Ghriﬂians in the Act of
Receiving, did very much (among other things) conduce to beget
and nurfe up in the minds of Superfiitious and Phanciful men, a
Conceit, that Chriﬁ was really‘and corporally prefent 'at the Sa-
crament; which Notion, by fubtil and inquiﬁtive heads, was in:
atlitt-le time improved and explained after this manner: That af-
ter the Elements of Bread and Wine were confecrated, they were
thereby changed into the fubﬁance of Chriﬂs natural Body and

Blond. This I am fare of, that the Patrons-of Tranfubﬂantiaa
(if , tion did very early make ufe of this very Argument, to prove that

‘ ‘1 they taught and believed no more than what the Primitive Biihops
and Chrifiians did. For what elfe could they intend” or mean

(fay they) by that extraordinary Reverence and Devotion Which

they manifeﬁed when they received the dreadful Myﬂeries- (as

Q they called the Bread and Wine) if they were bare and empty ﬁgns
‘ onely, and not changed into the very Body and Bloud of Chriﬁ?

WhiCh is in effcﬁ the ‘ Calla enim videtur tor hominum huic Sacra
a, A Monk of : er Y Argument ufed by mento minifirantium vel adorantium veneran-
. Algerm,a {toutCham- da fedulitas, niti ipﬁus Sacra'mentt longe major

Corbie , who . . . .. .
wrore againﬂ pron for Tranfubf’tan- crederetur, quam vldcretur verrras 8: uuhtas ,

30mg”, and nation. And {- Coffer, .cumergo exeerlus, quaﬁhulla ﬁnt qurbus tanra

- . - - 1m enduntur venerartoms obfequia,aut inferna-
hv d about the another Poptlh Writer, ti litmus, aut ad intima mittimus magna falatis

rig-oligniin. is {0 far. from {“198 - myﬂeria. Alger. de Sacramentis, lib. 2. c. 3.
h" ’d ' the Pope introduced it,

can -'P°.~353o d

edit. 1590. . an

 

 

 

Of K neelingattbe Holy Sacrament. . '

and that after Tranfubllantiation took place, that he refolves it
into an ancient Culiom continued from the Apoﬂles times.
t "Seeing then upon the whole matter it appears by the confeﬂion
of fome who oppofe Kneeling, that Honorimvdid not inl’titute or
Ordain that Geﬂure in the Act of Receiving ;. feeing the Decree
Which he made, and which Others. appeal to, doth not at all re-
' late to this matter, but onely to the Adoration of the Hell at the
Prieﬁs elevation of it ‘. feeing no other Pope/is alledged as the
Author of this Cuﬁom a feeing Kneeling was never any iniiituted
Ceremony in the Church Of Rome, nor is there any Canon or
Decree or Kubrick extant which requires the ule of that Gefture;
feeing the Pope himfelf, and the Priel’ts who, celebrate, ule ano-
ther Gefiure in the Act of Receiving s feeing their own Writers
look on it as an ancient Ufage derived to them from the ﬁrl‘t and
.pureli Ages: it follows, that what is pretended and fupp d in
the Qg‘eliion, is without all Warrant and Proof, viz. that neel-
ing in the Aft of Receiving was ﬁrft brought in by ldolaters.
And now to clofe up all, I will appeal to any man of fenfe

and underﬁanding, whether this be. not a very ﬁlly and extravaﬁ

gant way of Arguing? Kneeling in the Adi of Receiving is ﬁnial,
becaufe it was full introduced by Antjcbriff and the man ofﬁn, and
' that after the Daél‘rz'ne of Tranfnbfiamiation was ﬂarted and took

place in the world a and yet after all (when you come up clofe

to them, and enquire into. particulars) they are not able to date
the original of it, nor name the Authors who ﬁrﬂ invented it and
fer it up. At this rate of talking, .it were the eaﬁeli' matter ima-
ginable to evince'that Sitting and Standing were equally unlaw-
ful with Kneeling. For it is but afﬁrmingboldly that they were
ﬁri’t brought in and ufed-by Idolaterr, and then the work is done
effeéiually. ' And if fuch ﬂender Objcéiions mutt drive us away

from the Lords Supper, we {hall never communicate as long as we.

live.

Wicked thing for men to invent and urge them, as the Cafe
{lands with us at prefent : For what is there more delired and
wiiht for by all good Chrifiians, than Brotherly Love and Con-

cord? than that we may all meet together with one accord, in .

one place, and with one mind and one mouth gloriﬁe God in the

publick Churches? What more talkt of now adays then Peace

and 71mm .9 W hofoever therefore (hall any ways obliruét fo blef-
' E ' fed

But beﬁdes the folly of {rich Arguments, I think it’s a very !

w

 

3: ¥ ‘ 0f Kneeling at the Holy Socrement.
fed and de‘lirahle-a Work, mutt be concluded every ill man.
And fuch a one C molt cettainly) is he ( whatfoever we may
think of it ) who withdraws himfelf {mm the Holy Communion
opon groundlefsjealouﬁes and‘unreafonable fears of incurring the
divine difpleafu're, if he receive Kneelin ; and [ball go about
by the ’Bugbear-wmds of Idoldter‘r, Antichriﬂ, the man of ﬁn, to
{care Weak and hOneft men from Receiving the Holy Sacrament
in our Churches. BeCau‘fe the Lords Supper was inﬂitut’ed for
this peculiar end, among others , viz. to be an uniting Ordi-
‘\name, to bind Chriftians together in the ﬁritﬁeﬂ bonds of Love
' and Ftiendfh‘ip, to difpofe and engaﬁe them to put on BoWels of
Mercy, to exerclfe the moﬁ kind an tender affetftions, and the
theft fervent Charity one towards another that is pollible for
men to do. Thole Nonconforming Mlniﬁers therefore'who pof-
fefs the peeple with thefe Arguments ’( “which ' they thcmfclves
know, unlefs they be groﬂy l norant, to befalle and fencelefs) to
render them aV’Erfe’ from the , mds Supper as it is adminifired in
our Churches, ate in plain Englifh the Author: and Fontenterr of
our Diviﬂo'nr, and the Dtltnrhm of our Peace.

. In the feeond place ( to proceed his net unlawful to ufe {uch
Things and Rites as either have ' en or are notoriouﬂy abufed
to idolatry. .7 , . '

Before I produce my Reafons for the proof of this Propoﬁtion,
I think it will. not be amifs to. inform the Reader "with there Are
guments which Diﬂ‘enters ute to overthrow it: and theyare
thefe' two in general. . ' ' .

Gillan. Eng. _ (1.) All Thing: and Rite: which have been notorionﬂy ahuféd to
9033.061". C. 2- Idolatry ,’ If they were [itch 44". were devijizd by man , and not by
par. 3' P‘ ‘30' God and Nature made to he of nece ‘ _ ﬁfe ,' [honld he tittet‘ly ahoa

. li/hed, and purged may ﬁom divine/r (Jr/hip. Bnt Kneeling in the"

Abtidgmént A6} of Receiving it one of theﬁz Rite: : therefore it ﬂoonld utterly he
of Line. Mm. ahOZé/hed- , . '
£1“; 3,)”. H00 k. (2.) To imitate, and agree with Idolatert, by uﬁngfnc‘h Kim and
Eccleﬁpouib, Ceremonier a; they do, though in themfelver indiﬁrent, and though
A- P 160. they contain nothing which to not agreeahte to the Word of God , is

ﬁzgfnl. So that not to abolilh utterly whatfoever we knowto
have been abufed heretofore to Idolatry a to take up any old
Heathenilh and ldolatrous Cuﬂoms and Rites, though at prefent

attic/12. p.141. difuf‘ed by ld'olaters, is ﬁnful: and then to ufe the fameﬂite;
e- 3. Wit

 

 

Of Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament.

with ldolaters at prefent, to fort our {elves and communiCate

with them in their Rites, is to partake of their ﬁns, and to be- Altar.Dam. p.

come guilty of Idolatry too. . '

With thefe Arguments they make a great noife, and endea.
your to conﬁrm them by Scripture and Reafon. llhall not'offer
at a Confutation of thefeProofs, which Rand built upon a weak
and fandy Foundation, upon triﬂing and forty Reaf'ons, upon
Scripture-Precept-s— whofe fence is horribly wrel‘ted, and Stripture'
Examples falﬂy applied and nothing to the purpofe. There is
a Cafe of Confcience lately publiihed, wherein the Author hath

done this Work to my hands: For he clearly lhews' , That a Vid' Cafe re.

Churches agreeing in ﬁme thing: with the Church of Rome ,i if no folvcd; whe-
' ther the Ch.

W array for Separation ﬂow the Church [o agreeing : and particu-
larly inﬁanceth in our Churches agreement with the Church of
lime by Kneeling at the Sacrament. There you will ﬁnd the

Scripture and urge for themfelves, rendred utterly unferviceable
to their Gauf. and refcued from their Tortures.

, All t at I 11 do therefore at prefertt, is'onely this, brieﬂ to
propound my Reafons for the proof of my Afferti‘on 5 by w 'ch
I hope to make it eyidently appear, that our Diﬂemittg Brethren
lie under a great errour and» miﬁake, by thinking that all thofe

Rites and Ceremonies which are in. themfelves indifferent, and -

of mansrdeviﬁng,‘ ought to be utterly aholifhed ; and become tin-
ful far us to safe, purely bemuliz..they either have been, orare no-
toriouﬂy abufed to Idolatry. A But: here afew things muﬁ he tare-
mifed, to prevent Devils and. M’Lﬁakes. '

(1.) I take it for granted, that .mdiEeunt, things may he law- See the
fully uféd in the Worlhip prod. This is fuppofed in the pre- 0f indifferent
fent Qgef’tions for otherwife it would be ﬁnful in us to Knee], “mgS'

whether that. Geﬂure had been ever uﬁedior abyfed by ldolaters

or no.

Idolatry or'Superﬁitiom and that things otherwife indifferent,
which either in the deﬁgn of them that ufe them, or in their
own prefent teadency , do direétly promote or propagate fuch
Corruptions, do in that cafe become things unlawful. To {ole
low ldolaters in what they think or do amifs, to follow them ge-
nerally in what they do, without other reafon than onely the li-

‘ E 2 king

bolizing; (re.
. y . p.24. top. 47. i
moﬁ cenﬁderable Texas and Examples whteh they drag from P. 38.

. (2;) Igrant that the Worlhip of God. isto be EprelEr-ved pure See Dr.. Fat. >
from all ﬁnful Mixtures and Dehlements wharfoever, whether of W Ecclef- P-

 

34 0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament. ,
' king we have" to the Pattern of their Example, which liking doth
_ intimate a more univerfal approbation than is allowable; in
Hook. Eclef- thefe cafes I think, with the Reverend MI‘.’H001{§7‘3 Conformity
1’01J'4-P'155- with '. Idolatcrs is evil , and. blame-worthy in any Chriﬁian,
Church. ' -. - .
But excepting thefe Cales, it is not ﬁnful or blame-worthy in;
any Society of Chrii’tians to agree with Idolaters in Opinion or
Practice, and to 'ufe the fame Riteswhich they abufe. And cont.
fequently, our Church is “not to be blamed or charged with. Ido-_-
_ \ latry, for her Agreement' with the Church of Rome in uﬁng the
, ’ fame Ceremonies , unlefs it can be proved that the Church of
. England doth abuie the {aid Ceremonies to ﬁnful ends a or that.
‘ the ceremonies ufed and appointed by our Church , naturally.
I tend to promote the Corruptions praéiifed in the Church of.
‘ '- Rome, and were ill d‘eiigned ; or that [he did not follow thege-t.
; ne‘ral Rules ofGodsi'W era, the Direél'ions of the; Holy Shift in.
appOinting and enjoyning the ufe of Ceremonies, as~ being godly,
comely, proﬁtable; but'overlooking allthis, had» an eye purely-~
to the Example of ldolatrous Papiﬂs in what they, did a-.
mifs. ' ' '
Now this I am fure can ' never be made good" againfi‘ our.
Church-who hath fufﬁcientlyvindieated her felf, by the Open
V declarations (he hath printed to the World, from all accufations
Art. 20, of this nature. Let but any man confult the Article: of Religion, _
Art. 34. the Preface to the Book of Common-Prayer juﬁ after the A6? of
53119“ '3- “Uniformity, the two excellent Difcourfes that follow it concening
the Service of the Church and Ceremonies, and the Reafons [he hath‘,,
’ publiih‘t at the end of the Communion-ferviee for enjoyning her.
Communicants to receive Kneeling; I fay, let any man perufe.
thefe, and he will receive ample fatisfaétion, that our.Gover—.,
nours in Church and State in appointing the ufe of Ceremonies
., did not ﬂeer by the Example of ldolaters, nor eninyn themf‘out-z
of any ill deﬁgn, or to any ill ends 5 but were conduéted by the
. light of God: Word, the Ruler'of Prudence and Charity, the Exo,
ample of the hOly Ape/Her, and the Praéiice of pure Antiquity.
Thefe things being premifed,l proceed-to-prove this Affertion:
That it i: not ﬁnfnl to nﬂe fetch Thing: and Rite: as, either have been
or are notorionﬂy aha/ed to Idolatry: Or, which is all one , That to;
‘ Knee! in the A67 of Receiving according to the cnﬂom of the Church
of England, 2": not therefore ﬁnful, hecaufe it hath been and it notori- «
enﬂy abnﬁd to Idolatry, for thefe‘Rcafons. ' . (1.) In

 

 

 

 

 

a“

3'], Kneeling at the H06» Sacrament.

.( 1-.) In general: No abufe ofany Geﬁure, though it be in the
moﬁ‘ manifeﬂ Idolatry, dOth render that Geﬂure {imply evil,and‘

forever after unlawful to be ufed in the W Orlhip of God'upon »
that. account. ' F or the abufc of a thing fuppofes the lawful ufe'

ef it gand‘ if any thing otherwife lawful becOmcs ﬁnful by an a-
BufE'OPit, then it”s plain that' it is not in its own nature ﬁnful,
but-\by accident, and with refpcél' to fo'mewhat- elfe. This is
clear from Scripture : for if R'tes and Ceremonies , after they
have, been abnled by ldolaters,‘ become a’b'folutely evil, and un-
lawful to be ufed at all, then the Jews ﬁnned in ofering Sacriﬁce,
crediting Alta“, burning Incenjé to the God of Heaven , bowing
, down the-mfel'ves before him , wearing a Linnea Garment in the
time of Divine Worlhip, and obferving other Things and Rites
which the Heathens obferved in the Worlhip of their falfe Gods.

. N’o (fay the Diffenters) we except all fuch Rites 'as were com-. _

manded or approved of by God, and fuch are all thofe fore-men?

ti'one'd. But, fay I, it’s'a filly Exception, and avails nothing. 7

For-if the abufe Of a thing to Idolatry makes it abfolutely ﬁnful,
and unlawful to be ufed at all, then it’s impoliible to deﬁroy that-
Relatibn s andwhat hath been once abufed, mull ever remain fo:
that is, aninﬁnite power can’t undo what hath been done, and
clear it from ever having been abufed. And therefore lconclude
from the Command and Approbation of God, that a bare Con-

formity with Idolaters in uﬁng'thofe Rites in the Worfhip of the ,

true'God, which they praélicein the Worlhip of Idols , is nor

_ ﬁmplyﬁnful, or formal Idolatry; for if it had, God had obliged

the Children of Iji-ael by his exprefs Command to commit ﬁn,

and to do 'what he ﬁrié’tly and feverely prohibited in Other pla- ~

ces.‘ In truth,fuch a Poiition would plainly make God the Au-
thOr of ﬁn. ' .

(23)“Thl5 Poﬁtion, That the Idalatroza ahnfé of any thing, ren-‘i

derr'thenfé'fofz't ﬁnfnl to all that know it , is attended with very; '

mifchievous confequen‘ces and effeéis. . ,

' 7‘ 'Fi'rﬂ', It intrenches greatly upon Chril’tian liberty, as dear to.
our Diﬂ‘e‘nting Brethren as the. Apple of their Eyes ; and l WOH‘,
der they are not fenfible of it. At other times they aﬂirmrthat
no earthly power can rightly reﬂrain the ufe of rhofe. things
which God hath left free and indifferent; and that tnofe things;
which otherwife are lawful,.become ﬁnful when impofed and en-

joyned '

35

36

I Cor. to. 25,

27.28. 29-

.Verf. 14.

R091. 80 ‘5'
2 Tim. I. 7.

Of Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament. O

ioyned by lawful Authority : and yet thefe very men give that
power to Strangerr, broth Heathen: and Papiﬂr, which they take.
away from their own rightful Prince: and lawful S zrperz'mrr. An
Idolater may yoke them, when a Protellant Prince mull not touch
them. And what more heavy and intolerable Yoke can be clapt
on our necks than this, That another mans abufe of any thing to
Idolatry, though in its own nature indifferent, and left free by
God, renders the ule of it linful ? Whether this be not a violati-
on of Chrillign Liberty 1,“ let St. Paul determine 3 who tells us,
that to the pure all things, are pure; and afﬁrms it lawful to eat of

fuch things as had been offered to Idols, and to eat whatﬁiever was .

ﬂild in the (hammer. And what reafon is there why a Gefiurc

{houldbe more deﬁled by Idolaters, than Meat which they had ‘

offered up in Sacriﬁce to Idols? anthy lhould one be ﬁnful
and idola trousto ufe, and not the other? Certainly St. Paul
would never hare granted them fuch a priviledge , if he judged
it idolatrous to ufe what ldolaters had abufed a efpecially conﬁ-
dering that he in the fame Chapter exhorts them earnel‘rly toﬂe:
ﬁom Idolatry. / ' ' _

S madly, This Poﬁtion fubieﬂs the minds of Chr-iﬁ‘ians to inﬁ-
nite Scruples and Perplexities, and naturally tends to reduce us to
fuch aﬁate and condition in whiCh both the Jews and Gentiles
were, before the glorious light of the Gofpel broke. out upon the
World: that is,it tends to be et and ropa ate a bafe fervile tern-
per and difpoﬁtion towards od,an to ﬁl us with fears 8c trem-
blings when we are en agedin his Worlhip and Service. Whereas
the true and great de rgn of the Gofpel, is to breed in men aﬁlial
cheerful frame of heart, the. irit Qf Love, and of 4 found or quiet
mind a to give us a free, re, comfortable acce£s to God as to.
our Father, and to encourage every good man to a diligent, con-
ﬁant, frequent attendance upon the duties of his Worlhi p, by the

» pleafure and delight that follows them. But now if nothing

may be ufed b us without hi hly offendi God Wt""Eimer
hath been or igabufed to Idolaéry a who fishes not/What trou’rﬁe
and diliraétion will arife in our mindshereupon; whenwe meet
together to worfhip God ? It’s well known that molt of our
Churches: were ere'éted by Idolatrm Papiflr, and _ as much deﬁled
by Idolatry as any Geﬁure can be a they are dedicated to [everal
Saba: and Angel:, whole Images were once fet up and adored.
Our Belle, Fem, Fontr, Duke, Church-yardr, have ”been confecraci
' ‘ te

 

 

 

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v

‘Of K779911778 4’ the Holy Sacrament. , g 37... »

ted after a Cu erfiitious manner a many Cupr, Flagom, Diﬂm,
Communion-Ta It: , have been given and ufed by Idolaters.
'What now is to be done ? V If Kneeling at the Sacrament be ﬁnful,
becaufe it hath been abufed byldolaters notoriouflys {o al‘fo it is
ﬁnful to ufe any other Thing or Rite that hath, if it be of mans
diviﬁng, as the afore-mentioned Writers limit the Qleftion. If '
Sitting were alloWed by Authority, we could n0t come to the
publick Churches, nor to the Sacrament, norchriﬂen our Chil-
dren for all that, if we know the Font and other Utenﬁls of the
Church were once abuied to Idolatry by Papiﬁs: We muﬁ ﬁrfi,
makea diligent fearch, and if certain information cannot be had,
we can’t Worfhip God in publick without panick fears and great
difquie’t of mind. - y '

But Thirdly, Such a POﬁtion as this will dcﬁroy all Publiek
Worfhip. For if nothing muii be ufed which hath been or is al- ,
bufed by Idolaters,it will be in the power of Idolaters, by ingroi‘l
ﬁngall the outward marks'and {igns of that inward veneration
and eﬂeem which we owe to God, to {mother our Devotions, Co
as they {hall neverlappear in the World a and by that means (ma
ﬁrate the very end and deﬁgn of Religious Aiiemblies. And
truly this work is already, by the ﬁrength of this Principle, very’
well cﬂ'et‘keda For Kneeling—athycrs, and Standing and Sitting,
and lifting up the hands and eyes to Heaven, and bowing of the
body, tagether with Prayer and Praife, and Singing, have been
all notoriouiiy abufed to Idolatry, and are fo at this day.

I know how it will he replied, that they except fuch things as Object}.
are neeeil‘ary to be ufed in the Service of God 5 it’s abfolutely ne¥
ceﬂ‘ary that we worlhip God, and do him publiek Honours and
whatfoever is neceffary in order to this, may lawfully be ufed by .4
us without ﬁn, though the fame geiiures and {igns of Adoration
are ufed and abufed by Idolatcrs. - ,

To this I anfwer, That this is cu‘nnin-gly, but nor honeﬂly an 111W».
truly faid. For the Reafons they give to prove that it is {inful to
ufe the fame Rites and Ceremonies with ldolaters at any time,
prov-e it fo at all times, and make it for ever [0. So long as the
Reafonshold to make any thing ﬁnful, fo long it is In. If the, ,
ufe or abufe of any thing by ldolaters make it limply evil, then
it'muﬁ for ever remain to s and «no neceﬂity whatfoever can take ,
it off, and make it lawful and innocent. If fuch Things and 5666”,“? P.
Ceremonies which are or'havc been abufe'd to Idolatry, becorfne; m3.

ﬁn u

 

’--'Gi'11e§?. c. .3.

__., »~..“_,.__.... ‘-*"" 'W'*“.'“—"~"T—"——"“m “"‘ "v—V~ , -, r—~~ —-~ . ,, A

38 ' p 0f Kneeling at, the. , Holy Sacrament.

I. R'edizétivc 'ﬁnful in thefe by-refpeéts,and for thei'e reafons: viz. Becanje they
2, Participa} Put In“ in mind of Idolatry, and'prejerve the memory ofIdolJ‘ : and le-
tivet COndly, Becateﬁ: they move my to turn back to Idolatry, and [brt at
Q”? MW”: with Idolatert: then it'will be ever linful for us to ufe them.
gal/ZS“ For thefe Reafons will hold good in things that are of need--
wry : that is, nothing can hinder and deltroy thefe elfeéi's; they
will ever mind .us of, and move us to'ldolatry. A And from hence
Iconclude that this Principle is a very falfe one, and ought to be
laid aﬁde. .F or it is attended with this abfurdity: It obliges us
. utterly to abolifh, and forbids the ufe' of all fuch Rites as have
been notoriouﬂy abufed to Idolatry in fome cafes, for reafons
"which eternally hold in all. So that at lait it drives us into fuch
lireights,that we mutt ﬁn one way or other. For either we
mutt not worlhip God in publick, o'r’we mutt be guilty of 121010-
try if we do 3 And though of two Evils or Calamities the lealt
is tobe chofen, yet of two Sins neither is. Chriﬁian Religion
ﬂows from inﬁnite Wifdom a and the Laws of God do not crols
one another, but are even and conﬁttent. We are never catt by
God underaneceﬂity of (inning, of tranfgreﬂing one Law by
‘Ilhe obfervance of another 5- butthus it mutt be,if we take up and

ﬂick to this Principle. ‘ .
(3.) Our DilTenting Brethren condemn themfelves in what
they allow and praé’tife, by the fame Rule by which they, con-
demn Kneeling at the Sacrament, and other Rites of our Church.
' .F or they “themfelves did ufe , without Scruple, fuch Placer and
, QEThin "and Poﬁnrer ashad been deﬁled and abufed by Idolaterr.
The were wont to be bare-headed in time of Divine Worfhip,
at Iﬁayer, and at the Sacrament: and {0 do Idolatrous Papitts :
the. never afﬁrmed that itwas ﬁnful to Kneel at our Prayers
hot publick and ‘privatea‘ yet this Gefiure the Papil’ts ufe in
their Prayers to the Virgin Mary, to the Croj}, to. Saint: and An-
, gelr. They ufed our. Churches,Church-yards, and Bells,and never
tmrea. of the thought they ﬁnn’d againft God by (0 doing, though they knew

so. 1:49-

«day and place they had been abufed. Nay, the Direﬁory declares , ‘Ihat fnch
of Worlhip. place: are not fithjeéi to any [itch Pollution by any Superﬁz'tion former-

Rutherf. of ly ufed and now laid aﬁde, as may render them nnlarvfnl and incon-

, Scandal, Q- 5, oenz‘ent. Mr. Rutherford faith of Bells groﬂy abufed in time of '

Popery, That it it unreaﬁmahle and groundleﬂ, that thereupon they

" "[honla’ he diﬁeféd. Upon which the Reverend Dr. Faulkner hath
' _ this

 

{ary rife in the Church, as well as in things that are not neceﬂ‘a— .

< if 4915 ”pee-gag

 

0f Kneeling at the Holy Sacrament. 3 9.
this judicious Remark: The pretence of their convenient ni’eful'o '
nef’s would be no better Excufeon their behalf , than was that
Plea for ~l’paring the'befi of the Amalekg'ter Catt-e1 that they
might be a‘Sacriﬁc'e,‘when God had devoted them to Delirué’ti;
on. For if God ( as they fay) hath commanded that all fueh
Things and Rites {hould be utterly ahel’iihed as were of mans de~
viﬁng, and, had been abufed to Idolatry-s then the cenvenient
ufeiulnelsoHuCh Places and Things will never bear them out.
" (4) If it be fmful to Kneel at the Sacrament ‘becaufe that Ge-
ﬁure hath been and is notorioully abufed'by Papifis to idolatrous
ends, [0' alfo "is Sittin ', which is contended for with £0 mmh
thew of Zeal. For the%0pe himfelfeﬁts in the M of Receiving,
as was before noted 5 and (if any credit heto be given to a na-
&or of the Church of Rome) for the fame reafon ~ ' » our
Diffenters urgefor Sitting, viz. becaufe the Apollles [ate at the
ﬁlth Inﬁitution and Celebration of '
the‘Sacrament. If my enqm're why the Siqueeratur quarepominns Papa SedendoCona~
Pee Receive: see it me e tam“ teats:magnetite:
replied. 3104.3 193,142”) lb" Geﬂur e in dendd i rpus Domini in Coma ulgma acce~
remembrance of St. Peter and the 0- perunt. Alex. Hun, Tra&.de Miﬂ‘a, par. 2.
ether Apaﬂler, who Received the Body Qutﬂ- taper. 4- ‘
gem Lord at the lafi Supper Sitting. '

To conclude a If Kneeling be unlawful becaufe it hath been a-
bul‘ed to Idolatry, then we mull never Receive the Holy Sacra-
ment. For we mull Receive in fome convenient Pollure , fuch
as Kneeling, Sitting, Di/Z'nmbing, Standings and yet every one of
thefe either have been or is notoriouﬂy abufed by Heathens and
Papil‘ts to Idolatrous ends.

[have now ﬁnilht what I undertook; and endeavoured , all
that in melies, to fatisﬁe all honefi and peaceable Dilienters that
they may lawfully and innocently Kneel in the Adi of Receiving
the Holy Sacrament. What Succeis this D.ifcourfe will have, I
know not; but this I am fure of, it is well meant; and if it be
read with the fame Charity as it was written , With an bone/i
reachable mind, a mind not pleafed with its Scruples, I hope by
Gods bleiﬁng it will do fome good in the World. And really
if any of our Dilienting Brethren (hall Receive thus much fatis-
faéiion from what I have written, That by Kneeling in the A&
of Receiving, they tranfgrefs no known Lam ofGod, nor 36%: con-
trary to our blell'ed Saviours Eg‘cample 5 That they do nothing

' ' ' : . ut

4:0 ‘

Lord Bacon]

Advan. of
Learn. fol.

p." 2 30..

-; 0f , Kneeling at the 11on Sacrqueut.

but What becomes them and is very futable to the nature ofthe.

Lord: -Supper, nothing but What IS agreeable to the praéi‘ice of the,
univerﬂzl Cburcb 1n the ﬁrli and purell Ages; I don t fee What 0--
ther Scruples about Kneeling {hould block up their Way to the.
Lords Table, and hinder them from communicating with us...
There are a fort ofm men, I confers, who feparate from our-
Church, upOn whom I defpair ofdoing good by any attempts of 3
this nature a and they are fuch Whofe Scruples arife from a vitic
ous Principle, not from the weaknefr of their underlia‘ndings, but
the ob/iinacy of their wills; not from a great fear of offending, _ 1
God which keeps pace with all theiraé’tions (for fuch Ihave as
tendera compallion as any man) but from Humour,Sclf Conceit,
Aﬂ'eéi‘aizou of popular Applaufe and the being thought the W1fer,,
and better men, for ﬁnding fault with every thing enjoyned” by,
lawful Authority, and every thing that 15 written in defence‘of 1t
Nor upon men Whole Scruples againﬁ Government by Biﬂoopr, the,

*thurgie. and Rite: of the Church, arife, not from their Confciences;
' but their Stomach: from Pride and Ambiticufrom private pique; 8;

dthppointmezztr 111 the Staie,from Hypocriﬁe and Intere/i, when the
more they rail and except againlt Ceremonies, the better Trade
theydrive 1n the World; From fuch as thefe I expeé‘t homing
but Contempt and Derilion, and that the Medicine m“ be turned
into Poifon. For as .a great man obferves on Prov. 14. 6. He
that come: tofeekafter Knowledge with a mind to foam and ceufure,
[ball befure toﬁud mutter enough for his Humour , but no matter for‘,

bu lujh zcéi‘io/z. .
an

t

' "1’?" I:.N.. 1‘85.

 

 

Fnrlasli'neeling, I never yet heart! any thingyet to ”omit

unlawful. If there he any thing, it inn/i [he either fame--

Word . of God, or the nature of the Ordinance which is ﬁt}:-

ﬁofeel, to ”he contradie‘ietl. But (I) ’there is no l/Vord of :
Got] -- for an} Ge/inre, nor again/lean}: Chri/lfs Example.

can never he proved.- to ohlige us more in this than in man)?
other circumﬂances,‘ that are con eﬂédnot ohligatorfr As,
that he delivered hut "to Miniﬂers, anal »...hnt- to a '

family,
to Twelve; andafter Supper, anrl on. a Thurfley-night, and 31:"
in an upper Room , 61c. analhis Geliure wee, not ﬁrth a Sit-v ‘
ting an ours. And. (7.) for the nature of the Ordinance, -

«r

it: is mixt : and If it he lawful to take. a Pardon from the ,-
‘ King upon our Knees, I know not what canma/eeit unlaw- ..

ful to take a jealeel, Pardon from Chriﬂ (h) his Emhaﬂa-.

dour) upon? our, Knees. -, .

Mt. Baxter’s Chriﬂianl Direﬁory, «., ‘
papaya]... Queﬂ. ;. 4.§. 4m? ,_

‘ ...“. ‘____._ ago—um!" ’-

RARE
BV
197
.G5
E82
1685

m or m- m
ELL SPC FIRE RARE

BV197.GS E82 1685

01 0-005845785