Of idolatry a discourse, in which is endeavoured a declaration of, its distinction from superstition, its notion, cause, commencement, and progress, its practice charged on Gentiles, Jews, Mahometans, Gnosticks, Manichees Arians, Socinians, Romanists : as also, of the means which God hath vouchsafed towards the cure of it by the Shechinah of His Son / by Tho. Tenison ...

CHAP. XIII. Of the Idolatry charged, without any tolerable colour, on the Church of England. (Book 13)

IT was the wisdom of our Legal Reformers, to purge the Church of all manifest Corruptions, and parti∣cularly of those which had crept in about the Invoca∣tion of Saints, and the Worship of Images.

But there arose men of a worse temper, and such who usurped Power. And these thought that nothing of the old Building was again to be used. They were not for sweeping and repairing of Gods House, but for razing the very Foundation, and sowing the Place with Salt.

Among our selves (saith the Learned Mr. Thorndike a 1.1, meaning not the Sons of the Church, but the giddy people of England) it seems yet to be a dispute, Whether any Ceremonies at all are to be used in the publick Service of God. The pretences of this time having extended the imagination of Ido∣latry so far, as to make the Ceremonies and Uten∣sils of Gods Service, Idols; and the Ceremonies which they are used with, Idolatries.

Nay, it was the way of the Fanatical people in the late Civil Wars, to give the name of Idol to any thing to which their fancy was not reconcil'd. Some call'd the most excellent Father of our Countrey b 1.2, th•…•… Idol of the people. With some, the Liturgy c 1.3, the Surplice d 1.4, a Church, a Steeple, was an Idol. Neither did there want those who bestow'd that title upon that necessary Doctrine of the Gospel which requireth con∣ditions and qualifications of Holiness in order to ac∣ceptance

with God through Christ a 1.5.

I should run a strange and endless course, if I should pursue all their Extravagancies; but a few of the most colourable amongst them, I will a little consider. Those I mean, are the three following. The first is, the bow∣ing towards the Altar b 1.6.

The second is, the kneeling at the holy Commu∣nion.

The third is, the Reverence at the name of Jesus.

The first of these, the bowing towards the Altar, is no Command of the Church, nor the common pra∣ctice of it in Parochial Assemblies, nor so much as the Couns•…•…l of any of its Canons, besides the seventh of those which they call the Canons of Bishop Laud c 1.7. And in that Canon the true spirit of Christian meek∣ness and charity is thus expressed.

The reviving—of this ancient and laudable custom, we heartily commend to the serious consideration of all good people; not with any intention to exhibit any Re∣ligious worship to the Communion-Table—but only for the advancement of Gods Majesty, and to give him alone that honour and glory that is due unto him, and not otherwise. And in the practice or omis∣sion of this Rule, we desire, that the Rule of Cha∣rity, prescribed by the Apostle, be observed, which is, That they which use this Rite, despise not them who use it not; and that they who use it not, con∣demn not those who use it.

And little reason there is, that those who use it not, should condemn those who use it, as Idolaters, when they publickly declare that they bow not, as o∣thers d 1.8, to it, but towards it, to God alone; who there exhibits that high favour of renewing, by visi∣ble tokens and pledges, our Covenant with him. Our sign of Reverence must be some way exhibited; and

what Idolatry is there in the exhibition of it this way, when 'tis but the way, not the object of our Religious veneration? It is against the common sense of the sign of Incurvation, to interpret it as the worship of every thing in a Church, before which the sign is made: It must be the circumstance of the object, and the form of address, and the application made to it, which de∣termineth its worship. Few therefore there are so in∣judiciously uncharitable as to accuse the Minister of a∣doring the Church-bible, or Common-prayer-book; though he often bows, and kneels, and prays before them. Few I say there are that do so: for I think his madness singular, who in the late Revolutions in Eng∣land, maintained in a publick Pamphlet, (well wor∣thy sure an Imprimatur)

that a 1.9 Words in a Book were Images,

and consequently that to pray before a Book, or to use a Book in Prayer is Idolatry, or Image∣worship.

It is true, concerning the second Ceremony, the kneeling at the holy Communion, that it is enjoined by our Church; but enjoined it is in the quality of a decent circumstance, and not as an essential part of the Lords-Supper. But we are by no Rubrick or Canon enjoined to kneel to the Sacramental bread, which is declared still to be bread (though not the bread of common Tables) and not the natural body of Christ: Also before the Administration of it, which is done in a form of Prayer, which requireth our Reverence, the people are generally on their knees in devotion to God. If any begin then to kneel, their kneeling is by the Church declared to be at the Sacrament, not to the Elements of it, (as they of Rome do b 1.10 towards which she alloweth not so much as a Prosopopeia in her Prayers; and which are neither the Statues nor the Pictures of Christs Person; though they be apt memorials of his

Passion; and are more safely received in their ordina∣ry form than with such Figures as the Roman Church impresseth upon them; of which great variety is to be seen in the Electa of Novarinus.

Further, The Church of England to avoid all pre∣tence of cavil and exception, hath besides her Article against the Corporal Presence, given to the world an express declaration of her design in the injunction of Kneeling. She declareth that this is done in reverence and humility to Christ, and not to the shews or sub∣stance of the Elements, or to the natural body of Christ under the shews of Bread.

They who are acquainted with the writings of Monsieur Daille, have no more reason to think him a Romanist, than they have to take Bellarmine for a zea∣lot amongst the Reformed. Now this is the acknow∣ledgment of that grave and learned person, in his Apo∣logy for the Reformed Churches.

Whilst the Church of England a 1.11 declareth, as it doth, against the a∣doration of the external Elements, their kneeling at the Communion cannot be taken for the worshipping of the Bread, nor be thought any thing else but the worship of Christ himself reigning in the Heavens.

In this external Adoration of Christ, the Church of England followeth the ancient Church, which, though it often adored by bowing, and not kneeling; yet sometimes it used that gesture, and was never wanting in some sign of Reverence. Such Adoration is menti∣oned by St. Chrysostom; and particularly the gesture of kneeling or prostration in some places; though Monsieur Larrogne hath not pleased, when he had just occasion so to do b 1.12, to take notice of it. That emi∣nent Father in his third Homily on the Epistle to the Ephesians, thus upbraideth the irreverent and indevout Communicant c 1.13:

The Royal Table is prepared, the

King himself is present, and standest thou gaping a∣bout? Thy Garments are unclean, and art not thou, at all, concerned at it? But they are pure, [that is, the Royal Table and the King of that Marriage-Feast,] wherefore fall down and communicate.

For the third Ceremony, the bowing at the name of Jesus, it is also enjoined, not as duty in its nature, necessary to salvation, but as a decent sign of our in∣ward esteem of that inestimable benefit, which that name brings to our mind a 1.14. Of that just esteem, and not meerly of the outward Ceremony, I hope that zea∣lous Gentleman spake, who is reported to have wished that every knee might rot which would not bow at the Name of Jesus b 1.15.

By bowing at this Name we advance not the Son a∣bove the Father, but adore the whole Trinity, whilst by the cue or sign of this name we are reminded of the greatest mercy that ever God vouchsafed; the Name of Jesus displaying the wisdom and mercy of God be∣yond those of El, Jah, Adonai, or Jehovah. And for us to bow when-ever we hear that Name solemnly pronounced, is no more to commit Idolatry than is our crying out at the reading of the Gospels, Glory be to thee, O Lord, or, O the depth of the riches of Gods mer∣cy in Christ. For these words, and that gesture, are but external signs of the same inward acknowledgment and adoration. And they who think we worship the very name c 1.16 when we bow at it, are as grosly mistaken as the ignorant people in Athenaeus: for some there men∣tioned d 1.17, when they heard others cry out, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, God save you; or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, God grant you life, at the snee∣zing of any; conceited that they adored either the ve∣ry sternutation, or the brain of man which then dis∣charged it self of the fumes which oppressed it.

The Church of England doth not enjoin men to

bow to the Name of Jesus as to an Object, but only at it, as at a signal by which they are admonished of the time of paying Reverence to God. Neither is there any such form used in our Church as in the Church of Rome, which to the Priests travelling into England a 1.18, prescribeth this out of the Missal of Sarum. O God who hast made the most glorious name of our Lord Jesus Christ thy only begotten Son, amiable to the faithful, with the highest affection of suavity, and terrible and dreadful to evil spirits; mercifully grant that all they who de∣voutly worship this name on earth, may perceive in this present life the sweetness of holy consolation; and obtain in the life to come the joy of exultation and endless Jubi∣lee, by the same Lord. It is my opinion that the Judi∣cious of that Church mean by that Name, our Savi∣our himself as Redeemer of the World: but the Church expresseth it self in such manner that to the people the Name of Jesus soundeth like some distinct adorable object. For it speaketh of worshipping that Name; it hath the Mass of the Name of Jesus; the Litany of the Name of Jesus b 1.19; and such-like Forms which are apt to entangle common Hearers.

St. Ludgard c 1.20 would have such honour done, not only to Christs Name, but to that of the Virgin; and he adviseth that when these words in the Tc Deum are repeated, When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man thou didst not abhor the Virgins womb; that then we bow down to the very ground. And it is said (d) of St. Gerard Bishop of Canadium (that is, of Chonad in Hungary) that by his zeal for the honour of the holy Virgin, he brought it at length so to pass in that Coun∣try, that when they heard the Name of our Lady pro∣nounced, they straightway fell on their knees, and bowed their heads towards the earth. And indeed no∣thing stoopeth lower than Superstition. But in the

Church of England the bowing is neither that of Su∣perstition nor Idolatry, but of Religious Reverence, at the hint of a word which setteth forth to us all the dimensions, or rather the infinity of the Divine Wis∣dom and Love a 1.21.

Lee not then the ignorance or malice of men who make Court to nothing but their own Diana, accuse that excellent Church of Idolatry, which hath so care∣fully purged her self of Idols, though not of all man∣ner of Rites: That had been to have swept away the convenient Ornaments of Gods house together with the durt of it, the name which the Jews give to an Idol.

Of some in England who have rent themselves from the safe Communion of that Church, there may be ju∣ster reason for such complaint. What can judicious men think of the true original Quaker, but as of one who by believing that God is not distinct from the Saints b 1.22, and by worshipping that which he calls his Light or Christ within him, rejecteth the Person of our Redeemer, and committeth Idolatry with his own imagination? must not they make a like judgment of such as Anna Trapnell c 1.23, who believed for a while, that God dwelt essentially in his Saints? must not they also judg of Lodowick Muggleton as of a mad-man, or of an Impostor, selling his Blessings at a very profitable rate; or of an Idolater worshipping nothing for the one true God, but a confined person of flesh and bones. For he owneth no other Godhead than that which was conceived in the womb of the Virgin d 1.24, and circumscribed by it for a season; and as he blas∣phemously continues to speak e 1.25, such as lost it self for a while, both in honour and knowledg; not know∣ing till he was glorified, that himself was God the Fa∣ther, but that Elias was his God and his Father. For

that also is one of his Blasphemies, That God not fin∣ding it safe to trust the Angels a 1.26 upon his descent from Heaven, he committed his place to the safer trust of Moses and Elias b 1.27. A blasphemy worse, if possible, than that in Irenaeus c 1.28, of the extravagant Gnosticks, who supposed the place of the Logos to have been on earth supplied by the Angel Gabriel.

But I forbear any further repetition of his abomina∣ble Fancies, which will cause as great pain in the ears of pious Christians, as the Justice of the Magistrates has lately done in his own.

I shut up this Chapter with the Prayer of that Lear∣ned French-man Isaac Casaubon d 1.29: Thou, O Lord Je∣su, preserve this church of England, and give a sound mind to those Nonconformists who deride the Rites and Ceremonies of it.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Mr. Thorn∣dike in his Epil. par. 3. c. 25. p. 282.
• b 1.2

  Trial of Re∣gicides, p. 160. H. Peters to one who pray∣ed for the King, Old Gen∣tleman, your I∣dol will not stand long.
• c 1.3

  Mr. Case in Serm. of the Covenant, p. 65, 66. The Da∣gon of the Bish. Service-book brake its neck b•…•…fore this Ark of the Cov•…•…t.
• d 1.4

  Molin. Defens. Verit. p. 15. B•…•…za vocat, Al∣bam Vestem Baali•…•…, Sacer∣dotum Insigne, &c.
• a 1.5

  Anna Trapnel in her Lega. cies for Saints, Lond. 1654. P. 3, 4.
• b 1.6

  Molin. in Specim. cont. Durell. p. 67. L•…•…dus—ad Idol•…•…m (h e. Altare) a se erectum, primus in Angliâ pro∣cubuit ad mo∣dum Adorantis, &c.
• c 1.7

  Const. & Can. A. 1640. Can. 7.
• d 1.8

  Lips. Ode ad Divam Hallen∣sem. Op. p. 1244. Sacram pronus ad aram flecto corpus—Miss•…•…l. Rom. in Ord. Miss. p. 210. Sacerdos paratus cum irgreditur Al∣tare, factâ Illi debitâ reveren∣tiâ, &c.
• a 1.9

  This Author is mention'd by Dr. H. Ham∣mond of Idol. p. 359. of vol. 1.
• b 1.10

  Miss. Rom. in Can. Missae. p. 226. Sacer∣dos prolatis verbis consecr. statim Hostiam consecratam ge∣nuflexus ado∣rat.
• a 1.11

  Daill. Apol. p. 85.
• b 1.12

  Larrog. Hi. stoire de l'Euch. 1. partie. c. 10. p. 218, 219.
• c 1.13

  Chrys. Hom. 3. in c. 1. E•…•…. ad Eph. p. 887. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.—
• a 1.14

  See Injunct. of Q. E. 52. & Can. 18. in Can. & Const. An. 1603.
• b 1.15

  White's Cent 1. of Scand. Min. p. 21.
• c 1.16

  Melinaeus de Mon. Tempor. Pont. Rom. p. 343, 344. hodiè salutan∣tur Syllabae.
• d 1.17

  Athen. l. 2. c. 25. p. 66. & Casaub. Not. p. 137, 138.
• a 1.18

  Missale pro Sacerdot. Itine∣rant. in Ang. A. 1615. In Missâ de nom. Jesu. p. 108, 109. Deus—conce∣de—ut omnes qut hoc no∣men Jesu de∣votè veneran∣tur in terris, &c.
• b 1.19

  See Horst. par. An. Sect. 6. p. 402. c. 7. de Cultu & hono∣re SS. nom. Je∣su & in Man. Pietat. p. 39. Litaniae de nom. Jesu.
• c 1.20

  Al. Gazaeus de Offic. B. M. p. 99.

  Aug. Wich∣mans in Sabba∣tismo Mariano. c. 7. p. 74, 75.
• a 1.21

  See in this Arg. Dr. Twys∣ses Letter in Mr. Mede's Works. p. 1038 and Mr. Mede's Answer, p. 1041, 1042.
• b 1.22

  Foxe's great Mystery, p. 16. is not that of God, which comes out of God? Is not that of his be∣ing the soul, &c.
• c 1.23

  A. Trapnells Legacy for Saints, p. 36.
• d 1.24

  Paradis. Dia∣logue betwixt Faith and Reason, c. 2. p. 14, 15, 16, &c.
• e 1.25

  Ibid. p. 24, 25.
• a 1.26

  Paradis. Di∣al. p. 22.
• b 1.27

  Ibid. c. 3. p. 21, 22, &c.
• c 1.28

  Iren. l. 1. c. 12 p. 86, 87.
• d 1.29

  Is. Causaub. in Ephemeridibus suis, Ann. 1610: Cal. Novembr. ap. Molin. def. Verit. p. 7.