Downame - BV209_D69_G6_1640_v1

That prayer ought to be made in a known tongue. tongues did not underftand the language which they fpake ( though force of the Fathers have fo concei- ved ) for that had been an unprofitable gift to them and others. Chryfoftome in r.Cor. 14. Hornil. 35. You will fay,Doth the tongue edifie nobodieNot fo. For he that fpeaketh, faith he, with tongues edi- fieth himfelf,v.4. which verily cannot be except he underftand what he faith. Neither is it the Apoilles c ; ö 14, meaning, that his underftanding is unprofitable to himfelf (as Bellarmine afñrmeth) for he faith that he edifieth himfelf, but to the hearers who under - fland him not. Neither is it to pray in the fpirit in that place, to pray in of eLaion without under - ilanding himfelf: but to pray in the f irit, is to pray in the clofet of a mans foul, being not underfcood of others; and to pray with underflanding, is to pray that others may underftand. So the Apoftle feem- eth to expound the phrafe v.19. In the Church I had rather fpeak five words with my underfianding , that I might teach others alto, then ten thoufand words in as unknown tongue. Secondly, the people of necefïitie ought to un- derftand the publick prayers made in the Church : therefore they ought to be made in a language known to them. The antecedent is denied by the Papifis under this pretenfe; Publick prayer is made 06je1, not to the people, but to God for the people, which may be as available for them in an other language as in their own. If God underflood or regarded no language but An17v. Latine, there were forne fhew of reafon in this an- fwer: but all tongues are alike known & efteemed of God: 93'