A09377:424
Christian economyChristian oeconomie
Christian economy: or, A short survey of the right manner of erecting and ordering a family according to the scriptures. First written in Latin by the author M. W. Perkins, and now set forth in the vulgar tongue, for more common use and benefit, by Tho. Pickering Bachelor of Divinity.Christian oeconomie: or, A short survey of the right manner of erecting and ordering a familie according to the scriptures. First written in Latine by the author M. W. Perkins, and now set forth in the vulgar tongue, for more common vse and benefit, by Tho. Pickering Bachelar of Diuinitie.
London: printed by Felix Kyngston, 1609
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
I. To bear the chief stroke, and to be the principal agent, directer and furtherer of the worship of God within his family. Jos. 24. 15. I and my household will serve the Lord. And this he doth partly by praying for & with his household, and partly by instructing them in the holy Scriptures, and in the grounds of religion, that they may grow in knowledge and reap benefit by the public Ministry. ⟨p. 165⟩Thus God commanded the men of Israel to walk in their families. Deut. 6. 7. Thou shalt rehearse them continually unto thy children, and shalt talk of them, when thou tarriest in thine house,—& when thou liest down, & when thou risest up. Again, vers. 20. When thy son shall ask thee,—what mean these testimonies, and ordinances & laws, which the Lord our God commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaohs bondmen in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt, with a mighty hand. This testimony God gave of Abraham before the law was given, Gen. 18. 19. For I know Abraham that he will command his sons, and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord. And this household of Abraham was very large, for the holy Ghost says long before, that he had three hundred and eighteen, *that were borne and brought up in his house, Gen. 14. 14. It was in likelihood the course of Solomon which he had learned of his father David, and given for a rule to all masters of families. Prou. 4. 1. Hear O children the instruction of a father, and give ear to learn understanding ⟨p. 166⟩—For I was my fathers son, dear and tender in the sight of my mother, when he taught me and said unto me, Let thine heart hold fast my words. The company of the Disciples were the household of Christ, and he himself did administer all parts of the service of God with them and among them.