_The doctrine and practice of the blessed Lord Jesus, and his
Apostles; the primitive Christians, and those of more modern
times, in favour of this discourse._
1. The Doctrine of Christ, from Mat. v. about denial of
self.--2. John the Baptist's example.--3. The testimonies of
the apostle Peter, &c.--4. Paul's godly exhortation against
pride, covetousness, and luxury.--5. The primitive Christians'
nonconformity to the world.--6. Clemens Romanus against
the vanity of the Gentiles.--7. Machiavel, of the zeal of
the primitive Christians.--8. Tertullian, Chrysostom, &c.
on Mat. xii. 36.--9. Gregory Nazianzen.--10. Ambrose.--11.
Augustine.--12. Council of Carthage.--13. Cardan.--14.
Gratian.--15. Waldenses.--16. What they understood by daily
bread in the Lord's Prayer.--17. Their judgment concerning
taverns.--18. Dancing, Music, &c.--19. An epistle of Bartholomew
Tertian to the Waldensian churches, &c.--20. Their extreme
suffering and faithfulness. Their degeneracy reproved, that call
them their ancestors.--21. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, relieving
slaves and prisoners.--22. Acacius, Bishop of Amida, his charity
to enemies.
Having abundantly shown how much the doctrine and the conversation
of the virtuous Gentiles condemn the pride, avarice, and luxury of
the professed Christians of the times; I shall, in the next place,
to discharge my engagement, and farther fortify this discourse,
present my reader with the judgment and practice of the most
christian times; as also of eminent writers, both ancient and
modern. I shall begin with the blessed Author of that religion.
I. Jesus Christ, in whose mouth there was found no guile, sent from
God, with a testimony of love to mankind, and who laid down his
life for their salvation; whom God hath raised by his mighty power
to be Lord of all, is of right to be first heard in this matter;
for never man spake like him to our point; shot, clear, and close;
and all opposite to the way of this wicked world. "Blessed," says
he, "are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God:"
(Mat. v.:) He doth not say, blessed are the proud, the rich, the
high-minded: here is humility and the fear of the Lord blest.
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted:" He doth
not say, blessed are the feasters, dancers, and revellers of the
world, whose life is swallowed up of pleasure and jollity: no; as
He was a man of sorrows, so He blest the godly sorrowful. "Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth:" He doth not say,
blessed are the ambitious, the angry, and those that are puffed up:
He makes not the earth a blessing to them: and though they get it
by conquest and rapine, it will at last fall into the hands of the
weak to inherit. Again, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness:" but no blessing to the hunger and thirst of
the luxurious man. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy:" He draws men to tenderness and forgiveness by reward. Hast
thou one in thy power that hath wronged thee? Be not rigorous; exact
not the utmost farthing; be merciful, and pity the afflicted, for
such are blessed. Yet further, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God." He doth not say, blessed are the proud, the
covetous, the unclean, the voluptuous, the malicious: no; such shall
never see God. Again, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called the children of God." He doth not say, blessed are the
contentious, back-biters, tale-bearers, brawlers, fighters, makers
of war; neither shall they be called the children of God, whatever
they may call themselves. Lastly, "Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against
you, falsely for my sake: rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great
is your reward in heaven." He blesseth the troubles of his people,
and translates earthly sufferings into heavenly rewards. He doth not
say, blessed are you when the world speaks well of you, and fawns
upon you: so that his blessings cross the world's. For the world
blesseth those as happy, that have the world's favour; He blesseth
those as happy that have the world's frowns. This solveth the great
objection, Why are you so foolish to expose yourselves to the law,
to incur the displeasure of magistrates, and suffer the loss of
your estates and liberties? Cannot a man serve God in his heart,
and do as others do? Are you wiser than your forefathers? Call to
mind your ancestors. Will you question their salvation by your
novelties, and forget the future good of your wife and children,
as well as sacrifice the present comforts of your life, to hold up
the credit of a party? A language I have more than once heard: I
say, this doctrine of Christ is an answer and antidote against the
power of this objection. He teaches us to embrace truth under all
those scandals. The Jews had more to say of this kind than any,
whose way had a more extraordinary institution; but Christ minds
not either institution or succession. He was a new man, and came to
consecrate a new way, and that in the will of God; and the power
that accompanied his ministry, and that of his followers, abundantly
proved the Divine authority of his mission, who thereby warns his to
expect and to bear contradiction, reviling, and persecution: for if
they did it to the green tree, much more were they to expect that
they would do it to the dry; if to the Lord, then to the servant.
Why then should Christians fear that reproach and tribulation, that
are the companions of his religion, since they work to his sincere
followers a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? But
indeed they have great cause to fear and be ashamed, who are the
authors of such reproach and suffering, so contrary to the meek
and merciful spirit of Christ: for if they are blessed, who are
reviled and persecuted for his sake, the revilers and persecutors
must be cursed. But this is not all: He bids his disciples follow
Him, learn of Him, for He was meek and lowly: He taught them to
bear injuries, and not smite again; to exceed in kindness: to go
two miles when asked to go one; to part with cloak and coat too;
to give to them that ask, and to lend to them that would borrow;
to forgive, aye, and love enemies too; commanding them, saying,
"Bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray
for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Mat. v.)
Urging them with a most sensible demonstration, "That," saith He,
"ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven: for He
maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and his rain to
descend upon the just and the unjust. He also taught his disciples
to believe and rely upon God's providence, from the care that He
had over the least of his creatures: "Therefore," saith He, "I say
unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, and what
ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on: is
not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the
fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them; are ye not much
better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit
unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the
lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they
spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the
grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into
the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall
we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that
ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof." (Mat. vi.) Oh! how plain, how sweet, how
full, yet how brief are his blessed sentences! They thereby show
from whence they came, and that Divinity itself spoke them: what
are laboured, what are forced and scattered in the best of other
writers, and not all neither, is here comprised after a natural,
easy, and conspicuous manner. He sets nature above art, and trust
above care. This is He that himself came poor into the world, and so
lived in it: He lay in a manger, conversed with mechanics; fasted
much, retired often: and when He feasted, it was with barley loaves
and fish, dressed doubtless in an easy and homely manner. He was
solitary in his life, in his death ignominious. The foxes had holes,
the birds of the air had nests, but the Son of Man had not a place
whereon to lay his head. He that made all things as God, had nothing
as man; which hath this blessed instruction in it, that the meanest
and poorest should not be dejected, nor yet the richest and highest
be exalted. In fine, having taught this doctrine, and lived as He
spoke, He died to confirm it, and offered up Himself a propitiation
for the sins of the whole world, when no other sacrifice could be
found, that could atone for man with God, who, rising above the
power of death and the grave, hath led captivity captive, and is
become the first-born from the dead, and Lord of the living; and his
living people praise Him, who is worthy for ever.
II. John the Baptist, who was the fore-runner of Christ's
appearance in the flesh, did by his own abstinence sufficiently
declare what sort of person it was he came to prepare and bespeak
people to receive. For, though sanctified from his birth and
declared by Christ to be the greatest of all prophets; yet his
clothing was but a coarse garment of camel's hair, and a leathern
girdle; and his food, only locusts and wild honey: a life very
natural, and of great simplicity. This was all the pomp and retinue,
which the greatest ambassador that ever came to the world was
attended with; about the best of messages, to wit, Repent, for the
kingdom of God is at hand: and, there is one coming after me, whose
shoes-latchet I am not worthy to unloose, who shall baptize you
with fire, and with the Holy Ghost; and is the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world. (Mat. iii. 11; John, i. 29.) Did
the fore-runner of the coming of God, for Immanuel is God with men,
appear without the state, grandeur, and luxury of the world; and
shall those who pretend to receive the message, and that for glad
tidings too, and confess the Immanuel, Jesus Christ, to be the Lord,
live in the vanity and excess of the world, and care more for their
fine clothes, delicate dishes, rich furniture, stately attendance,
and pleasant diversion, than for the holy cross of Christ, and
blessed narrow way that leadeth to salvation. Be ashamed, and repent!
III. PETER, ANDREW, PHILIP, and the rest of the holy apostles, were,
by calling as well as doctrine, not a luxurious people; for they
were made up of poor fishermen and mechanics; for Christ called not
his disciples out of the higher ranks of men, nor had they ability
any more than will to use the excesses herein reproved. You may
conceive what their lives were, by what their Master's doctrine was;
for they were the true scholars of his heavenly discipline. Peter
thus speaks, and exhorteth the Christians of his time, "Let not your
adorning be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and the
wearing of gold, and of putting on of apparel; but let it be the
hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God
of great price; for after this manner, in the old time, the holy
women, who also trusted in God, adorned themselves." (1 Pet. iii. 3,
4.) Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober and hope to
the end, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according
to your former lusts, in your ignorance, but as He which hath
called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation:
(1 Pet. i. 13-15:) and giving all diligence, add to your faith,
virtue; to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to
temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness,
brotherly-kindness; and to brotherly-kindness, charity; for if
these things be in you and abound, they make you, that you shall
be neither barren nor unfruitful: for so an entrance shall be
ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; (2 Pet. i. 5-8, 11;) not rendering
evil for evil, or railing for railing; but contrariwise, blessing;
knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye shall inherit a
blessing: (1 Pet. iii. 9:) for even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye
should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when
He suffered, He threatened not, but committed himself to Him that
judgeth righteously. (1 Pet. ii. 21-23.)
IV. Paul, who was also an apostle, though, as he saith, born out
of due time: a man of great knowledge and learning, but, "I count
it," saith he, "all loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.
Brethren, be followers of me, and mark them which walk so, as ye
have us for an ensample: for many walk, of whom I have told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of
the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction; whose god is their
belly; they glory in their shame, and they mind earthly things. For
our conversation is in heaven; from whence we look also for the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Phil. iii. 8, 18.) In like manner
also, "I will that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with
shame-facedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or
pearls, or costly array; but with good works, as becometh women
professing godliness." (1 Tim. ii. 9, 10.) "Be followers of God,
as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us:
but fornication, and all uncleanness, and covetousness, let it not
be once named amongst you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness
nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but
rather giving of thanks: for this ye know, that no whoremonger,
unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God. See, then, that
you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the
time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but
understanding what the will of the Lord is; and be not drunk with
wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking
to yourselves in hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your hearts to the Lord." (Ephes. v.) "Rejoice in the Lord
always; and again, I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known to
all men, for the Lord is at hand." (Phil. iv. 4-6.) "Be careful for
nothing, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain
we can carry nothing out: and, having food and raiment, let us be
therewith content; for godliness, with contentment, is great gain:
but they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and
into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition
and destruction; for the love of money is the root of all evil,
which whilst some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of
God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith,
and lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and
hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee
charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before
Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession,
that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Charge them that are rich
in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain
riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready
to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for
themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may
lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy, keep that which is committed
to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions
of science, falsely so called, which some professing, have erred
concerning the faith. Grace be with thee, Amen." (1 Tim. vi. 7, to
the end.) This was the blessed doctrine these messengers of eternal
life declared, and what is more, they lived as they spoke. You find
an account of their reception in the world, and the way of their
living, in his first epistle to the Corinthians; "For I think,"
saith he, "that God hath set forth us, the apostles last, as it
were, appointed to death; for we are made a spectacle to the world,
to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake: we are weak,
we are despised: even unto this present hour we both hunger and
thirst, and have no certain dwelling-place, and labour, working
with our hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted we suffer
it; being defamed, we intreat. We are made as the filth of the
world, and are as the off-scouring of all things unto this day." (1
Cor. iv. 9.) This was the entertainment those faithful followers of
Jesus received at the hands of an ungrateful world; but he who tells
us of this, also tells us, it is no unusual thing: "For," saith he,
"such as will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution."
Besides, he knew it had been the portion of the righteous in
preceding ages, as in his excellent account of the faith, trials,
and victory of the holy ancients, in his epistle to the Hebrews
he does largely express, where he tells us, how great a sojourner
Abraham was, even in the land of promise, a stranger in his own
country, for God had given it unto him and his posterity, dwelling,
saith he, in tents with Isaac and Jacob. And why not better settled?
Was it for want of understanding, or ability, or materials? No; he
gives a better reason; for, saith he, Abraham looked for a city
which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And speaking
of Moses, he tells us, "that, by faith, when he was come to years of
discretion, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than
to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach
of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had
respect unto the recompense of reward; nor feared he the wrath of
the king, for he endured, seeing him who is invisible." He adds,
"And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings; yea,
moreover of bonds and imprisonments; they were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered
about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted,
tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in
deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and caves of the earth, and
these all have obtained a good report." Methinks this should a
little abate the intemperance of professed Christians. I do not bid
them be thus miserable, but I would not have them make themselves so
hereafter; for this afflicted life hath joys transcending the utmost
pleasure that sin can give, and in the end it will be found, that it
were better to be a poor pilgrim, than a citizen of the world. Nor
was this only the life and instruction of apostolical teachers; the
same plainness and simplicity of life was also followed by the first
Christians.
V. "The primitive Christians,"[46] Ouzelius, in his animadversions
on Minutius Felix, saith, "were reproached by the Gentiles for their
ill-breeding, rude and unpolished language, unfashionable behaviour,
as a people that knew not how to carry themselves in their addresses
and salutations, calling them rustics and clowns, which the
Christians easily bore, valuing their profession the more for its
nonconformity to the world: wherefore it was usual with them, by
way of irony and contempt, to call the Gentiles, the well-bred, the
eloquent, and the learned." This he proves by ample testimonies out
of Arnobius, Lactantius, Isidorus Pelusiota, Theodoret, and others.
Which may instruct us, that the Christians' behaviour was not
regulated by the customs of the country they lived in, as is usually
objected against our singularity: no, they refused the embellishment
of art, and would not wear the furniture of her invention, but
as they were singular in their religion, so in the way of their
conversation among men.
[46] Animad. in Min. Fel. p. 25.
VI. Clement Romanus,[47] if author of the constitutions that
go under his name, hath this among the rest, "Abstain from the
vain books of the Gentiles. What have you to do with strange and
unprofitable discourses, which only serve to seduce weak persons?"
This Clement is remembered by Paul in one of his epistles, (Phil.
iv. 3,) who in this exactly follows his advice to Timothy, about
vain questions, doubtful disputes, and opposition of science. Let us
see how this moderation and purity of manners continued.
[47] Constit. Clem Rom. l. 1, chap. 2.
VII. Machiavel,[48] no mean author, in his Disputations, assures
us, "That the first promoters of Christianity were so diligent in
rooting out the vanities and superstitions of the Gentiles, that
they commanded all such poets' and historians' books, who commended
anything of the Gentile conversation or worship, to be burned;" but
that zeal is evidently extinguished, and those follies revived among
the professors of the religion of Jesus.
[48] Mach. Dis. l. 2, chap. 5.
VIII. Tertullian,[49] Chrysostom, Theophylact, Gregory Nazianzene,
upon these words of Christ, "But I say unto you, that every idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the
day of judgment:" (Mat. xii. 36:) thus reflect upon vain discourse:
"These words mean," saith Tertullian, "of all vain and superfluous
speech, more talk than is necessary." Says Chrysostom, "of such
words as are not convenient or profitable, but move immodestly."
Says Theophylact, "of all lies, calumnies, all inordinate and
ridiculous speeches." Says Gregory, "such words men shall account
for, which want that profit ever redounding from modest discourses,
and that are seldom uttered from any preceding necessity or cause;
things frivolous, fables, old wives' tales." All which sufficiently
reprehend the plays, poetry, and romances of the times, of great
folly, vanity, and sin.
[49] Tert. lib. de Patien. Chrysost.
IX. Gregory, and this a father of the church, a very extraordinary
man, was so zealous for the simplicity and purity of the mind,
language, and lives of the Christians of his time, that he
suppressed several Greek authors, as Menander, Diphilus,
Apollodorus, Philemon, Alexis, Sappho, and others, which were the
recreations of the vain Gentiles: thus Cardan. Hear his judgment of
fine clothes, none of the least part of the luxury and vanity of the
age. "There be some," saith he, "are of opinion, that the wearing
of precious and sumptuous apparel is no sin; which if it were no
fault, the Divine word would never have so punctually expressed,
nor historically related, how the rich man, that was tormented in
hell, was clothed in purple and silk: whence we may note, that,
touching the matter or subject of attire, human curiosity availeth
highly. The first substance of our garments was very mean, to wit,
skins, with wool; when it is we read, God made Adam and his wife
coats of skins; that is, of skins of dead beasts. Afterwards, to see
the growing pride and vanity of men and women, they came to pure
wool, because lighter; after that to flax: then to dung and ordure
of worms, to wit, silk; lastly, to gold and silver, and precious
stones, which excess of apparel highly displeased God: for instance
whereof, which the very Pagans themselves observed, we read that the
very first among the Romans that ever wore purple was struck with a
thunder-bolt, and so died suddenly for a terror to all succeeding
times, that none should attempt to live proudly in precious attire."
This was the sense of Gregory Nazianzene, that ancient Christian
writer, who wore commonly a poor coat, like to a frock; so did
Justin Martyr, Jerome, and Austin, as their best robe.
X. Ambrose, called a father, who was lieutenant to the province
and city of Milan, and upon his discreet appeasing the multitude,
disordered upon some difference amongst them about electing a
bishop, was by their uniform consent chosen himself: although this
person, of all others, might have been thought to plead for the
accustomed recreations, especially not having been long a Christian,
for he was a Catechumen, or one but lately instructed, at the time
of his being elected; yet doth he in so many words determine the
matter thus: "Plays ought not to be known by Christians;" then not
made, heard, and defended by Christians; or they must be none that
do so.
XI. Augustine,[50] more famous for his many books, and knowledge in
church affairs, whose sentences are oracles with some, gives this as
his opinion of plays, and the like recreations, that they were more
pernicious and abominable than those idolatrous sacrifices, which
were offered in honour of the pagan gods. Doubtless he thought the
one not so offensive to reason and the impressions divinity hath
made on every understanding, as the other were very pleasant to the
senses, and therefore apt to steal away the mind from better things;
for it was his maxim,[51] that everything a man doth, is either a
hindrance or furtherance to good. This would be esteemed intolerable
doctrine in a poor Quaker, yet will the Quaker rejoice, if it be
esteemed and followed as good doctrine in Augustine.
[50] August. de Civit. Dei. l. ii. c. 7.
[51] De ira Dei. l. 9, c. 7.
XII. The council of Carthage, though times began to look somewhat
mistier, and the purity and spirituality of religion to be much
declined by the professors of Christianity; yet there was so much
zeal left against the worst part of Heathenism, that I find an
express canon against the reading of vain books and comedies of the
Gentiles, lest the minds of the people should be defiled by them.
But this age either hath no such canon, or executeth it not, to the
shame of their profession.
XIII. Cardan more particularly relateth,[52] how even Gregory
the Great was so zealous of preserving purity of manners among
Christians, who lived almost two hundred years after the
Carthaginian council, that he caused many Latin authors to be
burned, as vain and lascivious; as Cæcilianus, Affranius, Navius,
Licinus, Ennius, Attilius, Victor, Lucian's Dialogues; nor did
Plautus, Martial, and Terence, so much in request both in the
schools and academies of the land, escape their honest zeal,
although the multitude of copies so far frustrated their good
intentions, as that they are multiplied of late.
[52] Cardan de Sapient. l. 2.
XIV. Gratian also[53] had such like passages as these, "We see that
the priests of the Lord, neglecting the gospel and the prophets,
read comedies or play-books, and sing love verses, and read Virgil,"
a book in which are some good expressions. Strange! that these
things should have been so sincerely censured of old, and that
persons whose names are had in so much reverence, should repute
these their censures the constructions of Christ's precepts, and the
natural consequences of the Christian doctrine; and yet that they
should be so far neglected of this age, as not to be judged worthy
an imitation. But pray let us hear what doctrine the Waldenses teach
in this affair.
[53] Jac. Laurentio de lib. Gentil. p. 40, 41.
XV. The Waldenses[54] were a people so called from one Peter Waldo,
a citizen of Lyons in France, in the year 1160, who inhabited
Piedmont, elsewhere called Albigenses, from Albi, a city of
Languedoc in France; Lollards in England, from one Reynard Lollard,
who some time after came into these parts, and preached boldly
against the idolatries, superstitions, and vain conversation
of the inhabitants of this island. They had many other names,
as Arnoldists, Esperonists, Henricians, Siccars, Insabaches,
Paterenians, Turlupins, Lyonists, Fraticelli, Hussites, Bohemians
(still the same;) but finally, by their enemies, damnable heretics,
though by the Protestants, the true church of Christ. And to omit
many testimonies, I will instance only in Bishop Usher, who in
his discourse of the succession of the Christian church, defends
them not only as true reformers, but makes the succession of the
Protestant church to be mainly evincible from their antiquity. I
shall forbear all the circumstances and principles they held, or in
which he strongly defends them against the cruelty and ignorance
of their adversaries, particularly Rainerius, Rubis, Capetaneis,
&c. only what they held concerning our present subject of apparel
and recreations, I cannot be so injurious to the truth, their
self-denial, the good of others, at whose reformation I aim, and
my own discourse, as to omit it. And therefore I shall proceed to
allege their faith and practice in these matters, however esteemed
but of a trifling importance, by the loose, wanton, and carnal
minded of this generation, whose feeling is lost by the enjoyment
of their inordinate desires, and that think it a high state of
Christianity to be no better than the beasts that perish, namely,
in not being excessive in Newgate and mere kennel enormities. That
these ancient reformers had another sense of these things, and that
they made the conversation of the gospel of a crucified Jesus to
intend and require another sort of life, than what is used by almost
all those who account themselves members of his church, I shall
show out of their own doctrines, as found in their most authentic
histories.
[54] XII. Cap. Hist. de orig. Walden. Vignia Hist. Bibl. p. 130.
Dubran Hist. Bohem. 14. Thuan. in Hist. sui. temp. p. 458. Mat.
Paris Hist. of Eng. Angl. 1174; Bellar. tom. 2, lib. 1, cap. 26, co.
86. Ecchius. com. loc. c. 28. Apl. l. 6. con. Hieret. p. 99.
XVI. To be brief, in their exposition upon the Lord's prayer,
that part of it which speaks thus, "Give us this day our daily
bread:"[55] where, next to that spiritual bread, which they
make it to be the duty of all to seek more than life, they come
positively to deny the praying for more than is requisite for
outward necessities, or that it is lawful to use more; condemning
all superfluity and excess, out of fashion, pride, or wantonness,
not only of bread, but all outward things, which they judge to be
thereby comprehended; using Ezekiel's words,[56] (Ezek. xvi. 45,)
that fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness were the cause
of the wickedness and the abominations of Sodom, for which God by
fire destroyed them off the earth. Whereupon they conclude with an
ancient father of the primitive church, after this manner, that
costly apparel, superfluity in diet, as three dishes when one will
serve, play, idleness, and sleep, fatten the body, nourish luxury,
weaken the spirit, and lead the soul unto death; "But," say they,
"a spare diet, labour, short sleep, plain and mean garments, help
to purify the soul, tame the body, mortify the lusts of the flesh,
and comfort the spirit." So severe were they, that, in the chapter
of the instructions of their children,[57] they would not suffer
them to converse with those of strange places or principles, whose
conversation was gaming, plays, and the like wanton recreations; but
especially concerning young women. "A man," say they, "must have a
great care of his daughter. Hast thou daughters? Keep them within to
wholesome things; see they wander not; for Dinah, Jacob's daughter,
was corrupted by being seen of strangers." They affirm no better to
be the general event of such conversation.
[55] Jo. Paul. Per. Hist. Wald. l. 1. in p. 37, 38. Dona nos le
nostre pan quotidian. en choi. Memor. Morrel. Vign. Mem. f. 7.
[56] Thesaur. fed. Ap. Wald.
[57] Thesaur. fed. Ap. Wald. l. 2, c. 3. Lifill. sign. nassion ali
patrons carnals de non esser rendus, &c.
To which I shall add their judgment and practice concerning
taverns,[58] public houses for treats and pleasures, with which the
land swarms in our days.
[58] Ibid. l. 2, c. 3.
XVII. "A tavern is the fountain of sin,[59] the school of the
devil; it works wonders fitting the place. It is the custom of God
to show his power in his church, and to work miracles; that is to
say, to give sight to the spiritually blind, to make the lame to
leap, the dumb to sing, the deaf to hear: but the devil doth quite
contrary to all these in taverns, and the like places of pleasure.
For when the drunkard goes to the tavern, he goes upright: but when
he comes forth, he cannot go at all; he has lost his sight, speech,
and hearing too." "The lectures that are read in this school of
the devil," say these poor Waldenses, and first reformers, "are
gluttonies, oaths, perjuries, lyings, blasphemies, flatteries, and
divers other wicked villanies and pernicious effects, by which the
heart is withdrawn further and further from God." And, as the book
of Ecclesiasticus saith, the taverner shall not be freed from sin.
[59] La taverna de maisons de pleisirs es fontana de pecca e schola
del diavolo, &c.
But above other recreations, do but seriously observe, of what
danger and ill consequence these first reformers thought dancing,
music, and the like pastimes to be, which are the greatest
divertisements of the times, viz.:
XVIII. "Dancing is the devil's procession,[60] and he that entereth
into a dance entereth into his procession, the devil is the guide,
the middle, and the end of the dance; as many paces as man maketh
in dancing, so many paces doth he make to go to hell.[61] A man
sinneth in dancing divers ways, for all his steps are numbered, in
his touch, in his ornaments, in his hearing, sight, speech, and
other vanities. And therefore we will prove, first by the Scripture,
and afterwards by divers other reasons, how wicked a thing it is to
dance. The first testimony that we will produce is that which we
read in the gospel, where it is said, it pleased Herod so well,
that it cost John Baptist his life. (Mark, vi. 22-28; Exodus,
xxxii. 4-7, 19.) The second is in Exodus, when Moses, coming near
to the congregation, saw the calf, he cast the tables from him,
and broke them at the foot of the mountain; and afterwards it cost
three thousand of their lives. Besides, the ornaments which women
wear in their dances, are as crowns for many victories which the
devil hath got against the children of God: for the devil hath not
only one sword in the dance, but as many as there are beautiful and
well-adorned persons in the dance; for the words of a woman are a
glittering sword. And therefore that place is much to be feared
wherein the enemy hath so many swords, since that only one sword of
his may be justly feared. Again, the devil in this place strikes
with a sharpened sword; for women, who make it acceptable, come
not willingly to the dance, if they be not painted and adorned;
which painting and ornament is as a whetstone on which the devil
sharpeneth his sword.--They that deck and adorn their daughters,
are like those that put dry wood to the fire, to the end it may
burn the better: for such women kindle the fire of luxury in the
hearts of men. As Sampson's foxes fired the Philistines' corn, so
these women, they have fire in their faces, and in their gestures
and actions, their glances and wanton words, by which they consume
the goods of men." They proceed, "The devil in the dance useth the
strongest armour that he hath: for his most powerful arms are women;
which is made plain unto us, in that the devil made choice of the
woman to deceive the first man; so did Balaam, that the children of
Israel might be rejected of God. By a woman he made Sampson, David,
and Absalom to sin. The devil tempteth men by women three manner of
ways; that is, by the touch, by the eye, by the ear; by these three
means he tempteth foolish men to dancing, by touching their hands,
beholding their beauty, hearing their songs and music."--Again,
"They that dance break that promise and agreement they have made
with God in baptism, when their godfathers promise for them, that
they shall renounce the devil and all his pomp; for dancing is
the pomp of the devil; and he that danceth maintaineth his pomp,
and singeth his mass. For the woman that singeth in the dance is
the prioress, or chief of the devil, and those that answer are
the clerks, and the beholders are the parishioners, and the music
are the bells, and the fiddlers the ministers of the devil. For,
as when hogs are strayed, if the hogherd call one, all assemble
themselves together; so the devil causeth one woman to sing in the
dance, or to play on some instrument, and presently gather all
the dancers together."--Again, "In a dance, a man breaks the ten
commandments of God: as first, Thou shalt have no other God but
me, &c., for in dancing, a man serves that person whom he most
desires to serve, after whom goes his heart; and therefore Jerome
saith, 'Every man's god is that he serves and loves best;'[62] and
that he loves best which his thoughts wander and gad most after.
He sins against the second commandment when he makes an idol of
that he loves. Against the third, in that oaths, and frivolously
using God's name, are frequently among dancers. Against the fourth,
for that by dancing the sabbath-day is profaned. Against the
fifth, for in the dance parents are many times dishonoured, since
thereby many bargains are made without their counsel. Against
the sixth, a man kills in dancing, for every one that sets about
to please another, he kills the soul as oft as he persuades unto
lust. Against the seventh, for the party that danceth, be it male
or female, committeth adultery with the party they lust after;
for he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath already
committed adultery with her in his heart. Against the eighth, a
man sins in dancing when he withdraweth the heart of another from
God. Against the ninth, when in dancing he speaks falsely against
the truth, and for some little honour, or secret lascivious end,
denies what is true, or affirms what is false. Against the tenth,
when women affect the ornaments of others, and men covet the wives,
daughters, and servants of their neighbours, which undeniably
attends all such plays and sports."--Again, "A man may prove how
great an evil dancing is, by the multitude of sins that accompany
those that dance; for they dance without measure or number;" "And
therefore," saith Augustine,[63] "the miserable dancer knows not,
that as many paces as he makes in dancing, so many leaps he makes
to hell. They sin in their ornaments after a five-fold manner:
First, by being proud thereof. Secondly, by inflaming the hearts
of those that behold them. Thirdly, when they make those ashamed
that have not the like ornaments, giving them occasion to covet the
like. Fourthly, by making women importunate in demanding the like
ornaments of their husbands: and, Fifthly, when they cannot obtain
them of their husbands, they seek to get them elsewhere by sin.
They sin by singing and playing on instruments; for their songs
bewitch the hearts of those that hear them with temporal delight,
forgetting God; uttering nothing in their songs but lies and
vanities; and the very motion of the body which is used in dancing,
gives testimony enough of evil.--Thus, you see that dancing is the
devil's procession, and he that enters into a dance, enters into the
devil's procession. Of dancing, the devil is the guide, the middle,
and the end; and he that entereth a good and wise man into the
dance, if it can be that such an one is either good or wise, cometh
forth a corrupt and wicked man: Sarah, that holy woman, was none of
these."[64] Behold the apprehensions of those good old reformers,
touching those things that are so much in practice and reputation in
these times, with such as profess their religion: thus far verbatim.
But I cannot leave off here, till I have yet added the conclusion of
their catechism and direction, and some passages out of one of their
pastor's letters, fit to the present occasion.
[60] La bal es la proces. del diavol, e qui intra en la bal, &c.
[61] Sp. Alm. fol. 50-54.
[62] Jerom. in dec. int. oper.
[63] August. de Civit. Dei.
[64] August. l. 2.
They conclude with this direction, namely, how to rule their
bodies,[65] and live in this world as becomes the children of God.
Not to serve the mortal desires of the flesh. To keep their members,
that they be not arms of iniquity and vanity. To rule their outward
senses. To subject the body to the soul. To mortify their members.
To fly idleness. To observe a sobriety and measure in eating and
drinking, in their words and cares of this life. To do works of
mercy. To live a moral or just life by faith. To fight against the
desires. To mortify the works of the flesh. To give themselves to
the exercise of religion. To confer together touching the will of
God: to examine diligently the conscience. To purge and amend, and
pacify the spirit.
[65] Concl. p. 68. Encaren qual manier fidel debian regir li ler
Corps: non servali desirier mort. &c.
To which I add the epistle of one of their pastors, as I find it
recorded amongst other matters relating to these poor afflicted
people.
XIX. An epistle of pastor Bartholomew Tertian, written to the
Waldensian churches of the valley of Pragela, thus translated:
"JESUS BE WITH YOU.
"To all our faithful and well beloved brethren in christ jesus,[66]
health and salvation be with you all: amen! these are to put you
in remembrance, and to admonish you, my brethren, hereby acquitting
myself of that duty which i owe unto you all, in the behalf of god,
principally touching the care of your souls' salvation, according
to that light of the truth, which the most high god hath bestowed
on us, that it would please every one of you to maintain, increase,
and nourish, to the utmost of your power, without diminution, those
good beginnings and examples which have been left unto us by our
forefathers, whereof we are no ways worthy. for it would little
profit us to have been renewed by the fatherly visitation, and the
light which hath been given us of god, if we give ourselves to
worldly, carnal conversations, which are diabolical; abandoning the
principle which is of god, and the salvation of our souls, for this
short and temporal life. for the lord saith, 'what doth it profit
a man to gain the whole world, and to lose his own soul?' for it
would be better for us never to have known the way of righteousness,
than having known it, to do the contrary. let me therefore intreat
you, by the love of god, that you decrease not, or look back; but
rather increase the charity, fear, and obedience, which is due unto
god, and to yourselves, amongst yourselves; and stand fast in all
these good principles, which you have heard and understood of god,
by our means: and that you would remove from amongst you all vain
conversation and evil surmises, troubling the peace, the love,
the concord, and whatsoever would indispose or deaden your minds
to the service of god, your own salvation, and the administration
of the truth, if you desire that god should be merciful to you in
your goods temporal and spiritual: for you can do nothing without
him; and if you desire to be heirs of his glory, do that which he
commandeth: if you would enter into life, keep my commandments.
(matt. xix. 17.)
[66] hist. wald. l. 4, c. 11, p. 55-57.
"likewise be careful that there be not nourished among you any
sports, gluttony, whoredom, dancings, nor any lewdness, nor riot,
nor questions, nor deceits, nor usury, nor discords; nor support nor
entertain any persons of a wicked conversation, or that give any
scandal or ill example amongst you; but let charity and fidelity
reign amongst you, and all good example; doing to one another as
every one desires should be done unto him; for otherwise it is
impossible that any should be saved, or can have the grace of
god, or be good men in this world, or have glory in another. and
therefore, if you hope and desire to possess eternal life, to live
in esteem and credit, and to prosper in this world, in your goods
temporal and spiritual, purge yourselves from all disorderly ways,
to the end that god may be always with you, who forsakes not those
that trust in him. but know this for certain, that god heareth
not, nor dwelleth with sinners, nor in the soul that is given unto
wickedness, nor in the man that is subject to sin. and therefore let
every one cleanse the ways of his heart, and fly the danger, if he
would not perish therein. i have no other things at this present,
but that you would put in practice these things; and the god of
peace be with you all, and go along with us, and be present among
us in our sincere, humble, and fervent prayers, and that he will be
pleased to save all those his faithful, that trust in christ jesus.
"entirely yours, ready to do you service in all
things possible, according to the will of god.
"bartholomew tertian."
XX. Behold the life and doctrine, instruction and practice, of the
ancient Waldenses.[67] How harmless, how plain, how laborious, how
exceeding serious and heavenly in their conversations! These were
the men, women, aye children too, who, for above five hundred years,
have valiantly, but passively maintained a cruel war, at the expense
of their own innocent blood, against the unheard of cruelties and
severities of several princes, nuncios, and bishops; but above all,
of certain cruel inquisitors, of whom their historians report, that
they held it was a greater evil to conceal a heretic than to be
guilty of perjury; and for a clergyman to marry a wife than to keep
a whore. In short, to dissent, though never so conscientiously, was
worse than open immorality. It was against the like adversaries
these poor Waldenses fought, by sufferings throughout the nations,
by prisons, confiscations, banishments,[68] wandering from hill to
valley, from den to cave; being mocked, whipped, racked, thrown
from rocks and towers, driven on mountains,[69] and in one night
thousands perished by excessive frost and snow, smothered in caves,
starved, imprisoned, ripped up, hanged, dismembered, rifled,
plundered, strangled, broiled, roasted, burned; and whatsoever could
be invented to ruin men, women, and children. These Waldenses, you
Protestants pretend to be your ancestors: from them, you say, you
have your religion; and often, like the Jews of the prophets, are
you building their praises in your discourses: but, O look back,
I beseech you, how unlike are you to these afflicted pilgrims!
What resemblance is there of their life in yours? Did they help to
purchase and preserve you a liberty and religion, can you think, at
the loss of all that was dear to them, that you might pass away your
days and years in pride, wantonness, and vanity? What proportion
bears your excess with their temperance;[70] your gaudiness with
their plainness; your luxury and flesh-pleasing conversations with
their simplicity and self-denial? But are you not got into that
spirit and nature they condemned in their day; into that carnality
and worldly mindedness they reproved in their persecutors, nay,
into a strain of persecution too, which you seem to hide under a
cloak of reformation? How can you hope to refute their persecutors
whose worst part perhaps was their cruelty, that turn persecutors
yourselves? What have you besides their good words, that is like
them? And do you think that words will send off the blows of eternal
vengeance? That a little by-rote babble, though of never so good
expressions in themselves, shall serve your turn at the great day?
No, from God I tell you, that whilst you live in the wantonness,
pride, and luxury of the world, pleasing and fulfilling the lust
of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, (1 John,
ii. 14-17,) God detests you all, and laughs you and your worship
to scorn. Never tell me, I am too rash; it is the devil that says
so; he has got two scriptures by the end in these days: one, that
there is none that doth good: and why?[71] That he may persuade all
it is impossible to overcome him: which is the reason so many are
overcome; although glory is promised to none but conquerors. The
second, that we must not judge, lest we be judged: that is, whilst
we are guilty of the same things that are equivalent, lest we are
judged. But away with Satan and his hypocrisy too: I know what I
say, and from whom I speak: once more I tell you all, whether you
will hear or forbear, that unless you forsake your pride, luxury,
avarice, and the whole variety of vanities, and diligently mind the
eternal light of God in your hearts, to obey it; wrath will be your
portion for ever. Trust not your souls upon misapplied Scriptures;
he that is a child of God must be holy, for God is holy; and none
are his sons and daughters but those who are adopted by the eternal
Spirit, and led thereby. (1 Pet. i. 15, 16; Rom. viii. 1-16.) It was
a holy, plain, humble, divine life, these poor suffering Christians
both professed and practised, refusing to converse with such as
lived in the superfluities and excess of the world; for which, if
you will believe their very adversaries, they were persecuted:
"For," says Rainerius,[72] a great writer against them, "they used
to teach, first, what the disciples of Christ ought to be, and that
none are his disciples but they that imitate his life; and that the
popes, cardinals, &c., because they live in luxury, pride, avarice,
&c., are not the successors of Christ; but themselves only, in that
they walk up to his commandments; thus," says he, "they win upon the
people." But if so, that none are Christians but those that imitate
Christ, what will become of those who call themselves Christians and
yet live at ease in the flesh, not regarding the work of the holy
cross of Christ in their hearts, that crucifies them that bear it
to the world, and the world to them? This was the true ground of
their sufferings, and their loud cries against the impieties of the
greatest; not sparing any ranks, from the throne to the dunghill, as
knowing their God was no respecter of persons. And now, if you would
follow them indeed, if you would be Protestants in substance, and
learn your enemies a way worth their changing for--else better words
go but a little way--if you would obtain the heavenly inheritance,
and you would be eternally blessed, be ye persuaded to forsake all
the pride and pomp of this vain world. O mind the concerns of an
everlasting rest! Let the just and serious principle of God within
you be the constant guide and companion of your minds, and let
your whole hearts be exercised thereby, that you may experience an
entire reformation and change of affections, through the power of
that divine leaven which leavens the whole lump, viz. body, soul,
and spirit, where it is received; to which, and its work in man,
our blessed Lord likened the kingdom of God which He came to set up
in the soul: that so having the joys and glory of another world in
your view, you may give your best diligence to make your calling and
election to the possession of them sure and certain; lest, selling
that noble inheritance for a poor mess of perishing pottage, you
never enter into his eternal rest. And though this testimony may
seem too tedious, yet could it by no means be omitted.--To authorize
our last reason, of converting superfluities into the relief of
distressed persons, although one would think it so equal and sober,
that it needs no other authority than its own, yet I shall produce
two testimonies so remarkable, that as they ever were esteemed truly
good, so they cannot be approved by any that refuse to do the same,
without condemning themselves of great iniquity. Oh, you are called
with an high and holy call; as high as heaven, and as holy as God;
for it is He that calls us to holiness through Christ, who sent his
Son to bless us, in turning us from the evil of our ways; and unless
we are so turned we can have no claim to the blessing that comes by
Christ to men.
[67] Bern de Gir lora. de Hail. Hist. de la Fr. 1. 10. Vesemb. Orat.
in Wald. Beza Hist. hom. dig. virer de ver. et fals. Rel. 1. 4, c.
13, p. 249, Cat. Test. ve. 334, Vigin, Bibl. Hist. p. 1.
[68] Vieaux Mem. fol. 6, 7.
[69] Mut. Par. in Hen. 3, Anno, 1220. Sigonius de Reg. Ital. 1, 7.
[70] Sernay, c. 47, Chef. 1. 3, c. 7.
[71] The devil is a Scripturian sometimes.
[72] Rain. cap. de stud. pervert. alios et modo dicendi. l. 98.
Baron. Eccl. Annal. tom. 18, an. 1176, p. 835. Kranz. in Metrop. l.
8. sect. 18, and in Sax. l. 8, cap. 16.
XXI. It is reported of Paulinus,[73] bishop of Nola in Italy, that,
instead of converting the demesnes of his diocese to particular
enrichment, he employed it all in the redemption of poor slaves and
prisoners: believing it unworthy of the Christian faith, to see
God's creation labour under the want of what he had to spare. All
agree this was well done, but few agree to do the same.
[73] Eccl. Hist. p. 5, 393.
XXII. But more particularly that of Acacius,[74] bishop of Amida,
given us by Socrates Scholasticus, in this manner: "When the Roman
soldiers purposed in nowise to restore again unto the king of
Persia such captives as they had taken at the winning of Azazena,
being about seven thousand in number, to the great grief of the
king of Persia, and all of them ready to starve for want of food:
Acacius lamented their condition, and calling his clergy together,
said thus unto them, 'Our God hath no need of dishes or of cups,
for He neither eateth nor drinketh; these are not his necessaries;
wherefore, seeing the church hath many precious jewels, both of
gold and silver, bestowed of the free-will and liberality of
the faithful, it is requisite that the captive soldiers should
be therewith redeemed, and delivered out of prison and bondage,
and they perishing with famine should therewith be refreshed and
relieved.'" Thus he prevailed to have them all converted into money;
some for their immediate refreshment, some for their redemption,
and the rest for coastage or provision, to defray the charges of
their voyage. Which noble act had such an universal influence, that
it more famed the Christian religion among the Infidels, than all
their disputes and battles: insomuch that the King of Persia, a
Heathen, said, "The Romans endeavour to win their adversaries both
by wars and favours;" and greatly desired to behold that man, whose
religion taught so much charity to enemies; which, it is reported,
Theodosius, the emperor, commanded Acacius to gratify him in. And
if the Apostle Paul's expression hath any force, that "He is worse
than an infidel who provides not for his family;" (1 Tim. 5;) how
greatly doth his example aggravate your shame, that can behold
such pity and compassion expressed to strangers, nay, enemies, and
those infidels too, and be so negligent of your own family; (for
England, aye, Christendom, in a sense, if not the world, is no
more;) as not only to see their great necessities unanswered, but
that wherewith they should be satisfied, converted to gratify the
lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life? But
however such can please themselves, in the deceitful daubing of
their mercenary priests, and dream they are members of Jesus Christ,
it is certain that things were otherwise in the beginning; for then
all was sold, and put into a common purse, to supply indigences:
(Acts, iv. 32-37:) not mattering earthly inheritances, further than
as they might, in some sense, be subservient to the great end for
which they were given; namely, the good of the creation. Thus had
the purest Christians their minds and thoughts taken up with the
better things, and raised with the assurance of a more excellent
life and inheritance in the heavens, that will never pass away. And
for any to flatter themselves with being Christians, whilst so much
exercised in the vanities, recreations, and customs of the world,
as at this very day we see they are, is to mock the great God, and
abuse their immortal souls. The Christian life is quite another
thing.
[74] Socrat. Scholast.
And lest that any should object, many do great and seemingly good
actions to raise their reputation only; and others only decry
pleasure, because they have not wherewithal, or know not how to take
it; I shall present them with the serious sayings of aged and dying
men, and those of the greatest note and rank, whose experience could
not be wanting to give the truest account, how much their honours,
riches, pleasures, and recreations, conduced to their satisfaction,
upon a just reckoning, as well before their extreme moments as upon
their dying beds, when death, that hard passage into eternity,
looked them in the face.