N00887:209
Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord:…
Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord: with devout and useful meditations, fetched out of the fire, by a Christian in a cold season, sitting before it. A work though never out of season, yet more particularly, designed for the seasonable and profitable entertainment, of them that would well employ their leisure [sic] by the fire-side. : [Three lines in Latin from Alsted]Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord: with devout and useful meditations, fetch'd out of the fire, by a Christian in a cold season, sitting before it. A work though never out of season, yet more particularly, designed for the seasonable and profitable entertainment, of them that would well employ their liesure [sic] by the fire-side. : [Three lines in Latin from Alsted]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Benjamin Eliot, 1702
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
Now the first Entertainment, offered unto my Thoughts on this occasion, is, that prohibition, which the Lord gave, in Exod. 35. 3. ye shall kindle no Fire, throughout your Habitations upon the Sabbath Day. I might have known, tho' Munster had not informed me, that the Jews take this precept in the Letter, & therefore Hire Christians to kindle their Fire on the Sabbath. But I remember, That the Priests were to Burn the Sacrifice of the Sabbath, which could not be done without the kindling of a Fire; for tho' the Fire which came down from Heaven was constantly upon the Altar, ⟨p. 112⟩where it continued until it was Renewed in the Temple, which they called, The House of Eternity; yet by a daily supply of New Fuel, was that Fire maintained. The Priests were to Lay Wood every morning on it, and so soon as the Old Fire had scattered the particles which it preyed upon, a New Fire must needs be kindled. The Remembrance hereof inclines me to the Judgment of some Learned men; That the Text under consideration must not be taken in that Latitude, which at the first view it seems to have. And if it must have some limitation, it cannot better be Restrained than to what is Expressed in the Context. The Thing treated of, is, The Work of the Tabernacle. Though many Cautions had been given, concerning the Forbearance of Servile Work on the Sabbath upon any private Account, yet some would be ready to think, that work tending to the preparing of Materials for the composing of that Sacred Thing, the Tabernacle, might be lawful. For the prevention of such Thoughts, before the Description of what was Requisite, in Entered upon, this precept is laid down, That in order to any such Work, whether the melting of Silver, Gold, or any other Metal, which might be necessary about the Sanctuary, not to much as a Fire should be kindled.
Now the first Entertainment, offered unto my Thoughts on this occasion, is, that prohibition, which the Lord gave, in Exod. 35. 3. ye shall kindle no Fire, throughout your Habitations upon the Sabbath Day. I might have known, tho' Munster had not informed me, that the Jews take this precept in the Letter, & therefore Hire Christians to kindle their Fire on the Sabbath. But I remember, That the Priests were to Burn the Sacrifice of the Sabbath, which could not be done without the kindling of a Fire; for tho' the Fire which came down from Heaven was constantly upon the Altar,