The Christian Sabbath defended against a crying evil in these times of the antisabitarians…

The third particular is touching the celebration of the Lords Day, as whether it be by authority humane or divine rather: we say it is of divine; he will have it to be left arbitrary: yet was it never known, that any earthly Master did leave the proportion of service, to be performed unto him, to the pleasure of his servant; neither did God leave it thus from the beginning of the World until Christ, as hath been proved. Yet this Prefacer will have it thus left unto us in these latter days; of which the Apostle hath prophesied,¹ that Men should be lovers of pleasure more then lovers of God. For this, he boasts of all sorts of Papists, this he begins withal; which was not wont to be the course of English Divines; yet he belies Doctor Prideaux in this; who allegeth more Papists standing for the divine right hereof, then for the contrary; and one of them (as formerly I said) professeth that it is the common opinion. And Azorius the Jesuit professeth that it is most agreeable to reason, that as after six days work one should be consecrate unto the Lord, so the Lords Day should be it. That many of our Protestants Divines call the observation of the Lords Day, Ecclesiae consuetudinem, and that it was left free unto the Church to choose another, after the Jews Sabbath was abrogated, I have showed how little all this makes for him, answering to every passage ⟨p. 155⟩punctually, as they are alleged by him. For it is confessed that the Church they spake of was the apostolical Church; and the cause moving them to choose this day was the Resurrection of Christ, and whereas some two of them call this Causam probabilem; I have discussed that, and proved it to be more then probable. I have showed withal how the ancient fathers have acknowledged it, some expressly divine, some equivalently, and expressly apostolical constitution or sanction, as Athanasius (whose reason drawn from the congruity between the first creation and the second Creation by virtue of Christs death is remarkable, and followed by many both English and outlandish Divines.

The third particular is touching the celebration of the Lords Day, as whether it bee by authority humane or divine rather: wee say it is of divine; hee will have it to be left arbitrary: yet was it never knowne, that any earthly Master did leave the proportion of service, to bee performed unto him, to the pleasure of his servant; neither did God leave it thus from the beginning of the World untill Christ, as hath beene proved. Yet this Prefacer will have it thus left unto us in these latter dayes; of which the Apostle hath prophecied,