can refer it to our Author himself to Determine Whether the High Priest of the Iews bore no higher Character than that of a single Presbyter or a Presbyterian Moderator And so I proceed to another Head of Arguments which shall be FOURTHLY To give you in a more particular Detail some of the Branches of the Episcopal Prerogative in St. Cyprian's time And I think I shall do enough for my purpose if I shall prove these three Things I. That there were several considerable Acts of Power relating to the Government and Discipline of the Church which belonged solely to the Bishop's several Powers lodged in his Person which he could manage by himself and without the Concurrence of any other Church-Governour II. That in every Thing relating to the Government and Discipline of the Church he had a Negative over all the other Church-Governours within his District And III. That all the other Clergy-men within his District Presbyters as well as others were subject to his Authority and obnoxious to his Discipline and Jurisdiction I. I say there were several considerable Acts of Power relating to the Government and Discipline of the Church which belonged solely to the Bishop several Powers lodged in his Person which he could manage by himself and without the Concurrence of any other Church-Governour Take these for a Sample And First He had the sole Power of Confirmation of imposing Hands on Christians for the Reception of the Holy-Ghost after Baptism For this we have St. Cyprian's most express Testimony in his Epistle to Iubaianus where he tells It was the Custom to offer such as were Baptized to the Bishops that by their Prayers and the laying on of their Hands they might receive the Holy-Ghost and be Consummated by the Sign of our Lord i. e. by the Sign of the Cross as I take it And he expresly founds this Practice on the Paterm of St. Pater and St. Iohn mentiond Acts 8. 14. c. Firmilian is as express in his Epistle to Cyprian saying in plain Lanugage That the Bishops who Govern the Church possess the Power of Baptism Confirmation and Ordination 'T is true he calls them Majores Natu Elder But that he meant Bishops as distinguished from Presbyters cannot be called into Question by any Man who reads the whole Epistle and considers his Stile all along and withal considers what a peculiar Interest by the Principles of these Times the Bishop had in these three Acts he names But whatever groundless Altercations there may be about his Testimony as there can be none about St. Cprian's so neither can there by any shadow of Pretext for any about Cornelius's who in his Epistle to Fabius so often mentioned before makes it an Argument of Novatianus his Incapacity of being a Bishop that thô he was Baptized yet he was not Confirmed by the Bishop Secondly He had the sole Power of Ordination and that of whatsoever Clergy-men within his District Ordinations could not be performed without him but he could perform them Regularly without the Concurrence of any other Church-Officer This has been so frequently and so fully proved by Learned Men that I need not insist much on it Forbearing therefore to adduce the Testimonies of such as lived after St. Cyprian's time such as Ambrose Ierom Chrysostom c. I shall confine my self to St. Cyprian and his Contemporaries Toi begin with St. Cyprian 'T is true so humble and condescending he was That when he was made Bishop he resolved with himself to do nothing by himself concerning the Publick Affairs of the Church without consulting not only his Clergy but his People I call this his own free and voluntary Condescention It wa a thing he was not bound to do by any Divine Prescript or any Apostolical Tradition or any Ecclesiastical Constitution His very Words import so much which you may see on the Margin And yet for all that we find him not only in extraordinary Junctures Ordaining without asking the Consent of his Clergy or People but still insisting on it as the Right of all Bishops and particularly his own to Promote and Ordain Clergy-men of whatsoever Rank by himself and without any Concurrence Thus In his 38th Epistle having Ordained Aurelius a Lector he acquaints his Presbyters and Deacons with it from the Place of his Retirement Now consider how he begins his Letter In all Clerical Ordinations most dear Brethren says he I used to Consult you beforehand and to examine the Manners and Merits of every one with common Advice And then he proceeds to tell them How that notwithstanding that was his ordinary Method a Rule he had observed for the most part yet for good Reasons he had not observed it in that Instance In which Testimony we have these Things evident 1. That his Power was the same as to all Ordinations whether of Presbyters or others For he speaks of them all indefinitely In Clericis Ordinationibus 2. That he used only to ask the Counsel and Advice of his Clergy about the Manners and Merits of the Person he was to Ordain but not their Concurrence in the Act of Ordination not one word of that On the contrary That they used not to Concurr fairly imported in the very Instance of Aurelius 3. That it was intirely of his own Easiness and Condescension that he Consulted them in the Matter He USED to do it but needed not have done it He did it not in that very same Case Which is a demonstration of the Truth of what I said before viz. That his Resolutioâ— which he had made when he entred to his Bishoprick was from his own Choice and absolutely Free and Voluntary We have another remarkable Testimony to the same purpose in his 41st Epistle where he tells that Because of his Absence from Carthage he had given a Deputation to â—aldnius and Herculanus two Bishops and to Râ—gatianâ—s and Numidicus two of his Presbyters to examine the Ages Qualifications and Mâ—its of some in Carthage that he whose Province it was to promote Men to Ecclesiastical Offices might be well informed about them and Promote none but such as were Meek Humble and Worthy This I say is a most remarkable Testimony for our present Purpose for he not only speaks indefinitely of all Ranks or Orders without making Exceptions but he speaks of himself in the Singular Number as having the Power of Promoting them and he founds that Power and appropriates it to himself upon his having the Care of the Church and her Government committed to him We have a third Testimony as pregnant as any of the former in his 72d Epistle written to Stephen Bishop of Rome For representing to him what the Resolution of the African Bishops were concerning such Presbyters and Deacons as should return from a State of Schism to the Communion of the Church he discourses thus By common Consent and Aâ—thority Dear Brother we tell you further That if any Presbyters or Deacons who
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE Cyprianic Age With Regard to Episcopal Power and Iurisdiction Asserted and Recommended from the Genuine Writings of St. Cyprian himself and his Contemporaries By which it is made evident That the Vindicator of the Kirk of Scotland is obliged by his own Concessions to acknowledge that he and his Associates are Schismaticks In a Letter to a FRIEND BY I. S. LONDON Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCXCV SAnctissimae Matri Ecclesiae SCOTICANAE Sub pondere pressae Sed adhuc malis non cedenti Fidem Catholicam Unitatem Apostolicam Pietatem primaevam Fortiter propugnanti Adversus Blasphemias Calumnias Sacrilegia Ruinas Invicto quia verè Christiano animo Strenuè decertanti Cultu Fide Justitiâ In Deum Regem proximos Conspicuae Haereses omnes tam antiquas quam novas Armis Evangelicis perpetuâ Ecclesiae traditione Profliganti Undique Lachrymis suffusae Victrice tamen Cruce triumphanti Tam Archiepiscopis Episeopis Presbyteris Diaconis Quam universo Fidelium Coetui Veris suis Pastoribus vinculo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 primigeniae Adhaerescenti Solâ spe Coelestis praemii inter clades miseras maximas Suffultae Hanc dissertationem Epistolarem raptim sermone Vernaculo conscriptam de Episcoporum aevi Cyprianici Eminentiâ Praerogativis Eâ quâ par est animi modestiâ reverentiâ Clientelae Censurae ergò D. D. D. THE PRINCIPLES OF THE Cyprianic Age c. SIR I Acknowledge you have performed your Promise The Author of the Defence of the Vindication of the Church of Scotland in Answer to an Apology OF he should have said FOR the Clergy of Scotland has indeed said so as you affirmed And I ask your Pardon for putting you to the trouble of sending me his Book and Pointing to Sect. 39. Page 34. where he has said so But now after all what thô he has said so And said so so boldly Do you think his bare saying so is enough to determine our Question Don't mistake it That which made me so backward to believe he had said so was not any dreadful Apprehension I had of either his Reason or Authority but a Perswasion that none of his Party would have been so rash as to have put their being or not being Schismaticks upon such a desperate Issue And that you may not apprehend my Perswasion was unreasonable I shall first take to Task what he hath said and then perchance add something concerning our main Argument His Words are these Arg. 5. Cyprian's Notion of Schism is when one separateth from his own Bishop This the Presbyterians do Ergo. A. All the strength of this Argument lieth in the sound of Words A Bishop in Cyprian's time was not a Diocesan with sole Power of Jurisdiction and Ordination If he prove that we shall Give Cyprian and him leave to call us Schismaticks A Bishop then was the Pastor of a Flock or the Moderator of a Presbytery If he can prove that we separate from our Pastors or from the Presbytery with their Moderator under whose Inspection we ought to be let him call us what he will But we disown the Bishops in Scotland from being our Bishops we can neither own their Episcopal Authority nor any Pastoral Relation that they have to us Thus he Now Sir if one had a mind to catch at Words what a Field might he have here For Instance Suppose the Word Diocess was not in use in St. Cyprian's time as applied to a particular Bishop's District Doth it follow that the Thing now signified by it was not then to be found Again What could move him to insinuate that we assign the sole Power of Iurisdiction and Ordination to our Diocesan Bishop When did our Bishops claim that sole Power When was it ascribed to them by the Constitution When did any of our Bishops attempt to Exercise it When did a Scotish Bishop offer e. g. to Ordain or Depose a Presbyter without the Concurrence of other Presbyters When was such a sole Power deem'd Necessary for Raising a Bishop to all the due Elevations of the Episcopal Authority How easie is it to distinguish between a Sole and a Chief Power Between a Power Superiour to all other Powers and a Power Exclusive of all other Powers Between a Power without or against which no other Powers can Act thô they may in Conjunction with it or Subordination to it And a Power destroying all other Powers or disabling them from Acting Once more How loose and Ambiguous is that part of his Definition of a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time in which he calls him The Pastor of a Flock May not a Bishop and his Diocess be called a Pastor and a Flock in as great propriety of Speech as a Presbyterian Minister and his Parish Sure I am St. Cyprian and his Contemporaries thought so as you may learn hereafter How easie were it I say for one to insist on such Escapes if he had a mind for it But I love not Jangle and I must avoid Prolixity And therefore considering the State of the Controversie between our Author and the Apologist and supposing he intended however he expressed it to speak home to the Apologist's Argument the Force and Purpose of his Answer as I take it must be this That an Argument drawn from such as were called Bishops in St. Cyprian's time to such as are now so called in Scotland is not good That a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was nothing like one of our modern Scotish Bishops i. e. a Church Governour superiour to and having a Prelatick Power over all other Church-Governours within such a District as we commonly call a Diocess That a Bishop then was no more than a Single Presbyter or Pastor of a single Flock such a Flock as could conveniently meet together in one Assembly for the Publick Offices of Religion such a Flock as the People of one single Parish are in the modern Presbyterian Notion of a Parish acting in Parity with other single Pastors of other single Flocks or Parishes Or at most That he was but the Moderator of a Presbytery taking both Terms in the modern current Presbyterian Sense i. e. as Moderator signfies One who as such is no Church Governour nor hath any Iurisdiction over his Brethren One whose Power is meerly Ordinative not Decisive To be the Mouth of the Meeting not to be their Will or Commanding Faculty To keep Order in the Manner and Managing of what cometh before them Not to Determine what is Debated amongst them And as Presbytery signifies such a Number of Teaching and Ruling Presbyters living and having their Cures within such a District meeting together upon Occasion and acting in Parity in the Administration of the Government and Discipline of the Church That therefore our Scotish Presbyterians cannot be called Schismaticks in St. Cyprian's Notion of Schism unless it can be proved That they Separate from their Pastor or
the Safety of Peace and Concord with their Collegues In which case we offer Violence we proscribe Laws to no Man seeing every Bishop has full liberty in the Administration of the Affairs of his Church as he will answwer to God And how do both St. Cyprian and Firmilian resent Stephen's Extravagance in threatning to refuse his Communion to those who had not the same Sentiments with himself about the Baptism of Hereticks Let any Man read St. Cyprian's Epistle to Pompeius and Firmilian's to St. Cyprian and he may have enough to this purpsoe Would you have yet more Then take a most memorable Acknowledgment from the Presbyters and Deacons of Rome St. Cyprian had written to them while the Bishop's Chair was vacant and given them an account of his Resolutions about the Lapsed those who had Sacrificed to the Heathen Idols in time of Persecution Now consider how they begin their answer to him Altho say they a Mind that 's without Checks of Conscience that 's supported by the Vigour of Evangelical Discipline and bears witness to it self that it has squared its Actions by the Divine Commandments useth to content it self with God as its only Iudge and neither seeks other Men's Approbations nor fears their Accusations yet they are worthy of doubled Praises who while they know their Conscience is subject to God only as its Iudge do yet desire that their Administrations should have their Brethrens Comprobations So clearly acknowledging St. Cyprian's and by consequence every Bishop's Supremacy within his own District and his Independency or Non-Subordination to any other Bishop that even Rigaltius himself in his Annotations on St. Cyprian thô a Papist confesses it And no wonder For 4. By the Principles of those Times every Bishop was Christ's Vicar within his own District Had a Primacy in his own Church Managed the Ballance of her Government Was by his being Bishop elevated to the sublime Top of the Priesthood Had the Episcopal Authority in its Vigour the Prelatick Power in its Plenitude A Sublime and Divine Power of Governing the Church And none could be called Bishop of Bishops Every Bishop was Head of his own Church and she was built upon him in her Politick Capacity He and he only was her visible Iudge and he did not stand Subordinate to any visible Superiour In short The Constitution of every particular Church in those Times was a Well-tempered Monarchy The Bishop was the Monarch and the Presbytery was in Senate all the Christians within his District depended on him for Government and Discipline and he depended on no Man So that I may fairly conclude this Point with that famous Testimony of St. Ierom's in his Epistle to Evagrius Wherever a Bishop is whether at Rome or Eugubium Constantinople or Rhegium Alexandria or Tani he is of the same Merit and the same Priesthood Neither the Power of Riches nor the Humility of Poverty maketh a Bishop higher or lower but they are all Successors of the Apostles 'T is true indeed St. Ierom lived after the Cyprianic Age But I suppose our Author will pretend to own his Authority as soon as any Father 's in the point of Church-Government Let me represent to you only one Principle more which prevailed in the Days of St. Cyprian And that is THIRDLY That whatever the High-Priest among the Jews was to the other Priests and Levites c. The Christian Bishop was the same to the Presbyters and Deacons c. and the same Honour and Obedience was due to him This was a Principle which St. Cyprian frequently insisted on and Reasoned from Thus in his Third Epistle directed to Rogatianu he tells him That he had Divine Law and Warrant for Punishing his Rebellious and Undutiful Deacon And then cites that Text Deut. 17. 12. And the man that will do presumptuously and will not hearken unto the Priest or unto the Iudge even that man shall die And all the people shall bear and fear and do no more presumptuously And confirms it farther by shewing how God punished Gorah Datham and Abiram for Rebelling against Aaroâ— Numb 16. 1. And when the Israelites weary of Samuel's Government asked a King to judge them The Lord said to Samuel Hearken unto the voice of the People in all that they say unto thee for they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them 1. Sam. 8. 7. Therefore he gave them Saul for a Punishment c. And when St. Paul was challenged for reviling God's High Priest he excused himself saying He wist not that he was the High Priest Had he known him to have been so he would not have Treated him so for it is written Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of they People Act. 23. 4 5. And. as he goes further on Our Lord Iesus Christ Our God King and Iudge to the very hour of his Passion paid suitable Honour to the Priests thô they neither feared God nor acknowledged Christ For when he had cleansed the Lâ—per he bade him go shew himself to the Priest and offer his Gift Matth. 8. 4. And at the very instant of his Passion when he was beaten as if he had answered irreverently to the High Priest he uttered no Reproachful Thing against the Person of the Priest but rather defended his own Innocence saying If I have spoken Evil bear witness of the Evil but if well why smitest thou me John 18. 22 23. All which Things were done humbly and patiently lby him that we might have a Patern of Patience and Humility proposed to us for he taught us to give all dutiful Honour to true Priests by behaving so towards false Priests Thus St. Cyprian Reason'd and these were his Arguments for obliging all Men Clergy as well as Laity to Honour and Obey their Bishops To the same purpose he wrote in his Fourth Epistle to Pomponius concerning some Virgins and Deacons that lived Scandalously Let them not think they can be saved says he if they will not obey the Bishops seeing God says in Deuteronomy and then he cites Deut. 17. 12 He insists on the same Arguments in his 59th Epistle directed to Cornelius when he is giving him an account of the Rebellion and Schismatical Practices of Fortunatus and Felicissimus the one a Presbyter and the other a Deacon He insists on them over again in his 66th Epistle to Florentius Papianus He insists largely on the Argument drawn from the Punishment inflicted on Corah and his Complices for Rebelling against Aaron and makes it the same very Sin in Schismaticks who separate from their lawful Bishop in his 69th Epistle directed to Magnus and in his 73d Epistle directed to Iubaianus And Firmilian also St. Cyprian's Contemporary insists on the same Argument Indeed the Names Priest Priesthood Altar Sacrifice c. so much used those Times are a pregnant Argument
Presbyters acknowledging their Offences and humbly supplicating that they might be Pardoned and their Escapes forgotten How when all this was narrated to him He was pleased to Convocate the Presbytery How Maximus Urbanus Sidonius and Macarius being allowed to appear made their Acknowledgments and humble Addresses and then how after they were received in the Presbytery the whole matter was Communicated to the People and they again renewed their Acknowledgments before the People confessing as I shewed before viz. That they were convinced that Cornelius was chosen by the Omnipotent God and our Lord Iesus Christ to be Bishop of the most Holy Catholick Church and that they were not ignorant that as there was but One God One Christ our Saviour and One Holy-â—host so there ought to be only One Bishop in a Catholick Church Here I say was a Noble Instance of a Bishop's Power in Convocating his Presbyters at pleasure and managing the Affairs of the Church like a Chief Governour The whole Epistle is well worth perusing But I shall only desire you to take notice of one Thing by the way it is That Cornalius sought not the People's Consent for their Reception no he first received them again into the Communion of the Church and then acquainted the People with it I observe this because it is another Demonstration That what St. Cyprian determined from the beginning of his Episcopacy was meerly the effect of his own Choice and Arbitrary Condescension viz. To do nothing without his Peoples Consent This I say was not a Thing he was bound to do by the Rules of his Episcopacy for then Cornelius had been as much bound as he After these Persons were so solemnly Reconciled to the Church they themselves by a Letter gave an Account of it to St. Cyprian an Account I say which might bring more Light to the whole Matter if it needed any We are certain say they most dear Brother that you will rejoyce with us when you know that all Mistakes are forgotten and we are Reconciled to Cornelius OUR BISHOP and to all the Clergy to the Great Contentment and Good Liking of the whole Church But you may say Did not the Roman Presbytery Conveen during the Vacâ—â—cy after the Death of Fabianus And did not the Presbytery of Carthage meet frequently during the time of St. Cyprian's Secession How then can it be said That the Bishop had the sole Power of Convocating Presbyters I answer 'T is true it was so in both Cases But how To begin with the latter There was no Meeting of the Clergy at Carthage during St. Cyprian's Secession without his Authority And therefore we find when he retired he left a Delegated Power with his Presbyters and Deacons or an Allowance call it as you will to meet and manage the Affairs of the Church as occasion should require but still so as that they could do nothing of Moment without first Consulting him and nothing but what was of ordinary Incidence is Regulated by the Canons This we learn from many of his Epistles Thus in his Fifth Epistle directed to his Presbyters and Deacons Because he could not be present himself he required them Faithfully and Religiously to discharge both his Office and their own Which not only imports that they had distinct Offices from his but also in express Terms settles a Delegation on them He bespeaks them after the same manner in his 12th Epistle And more Authoritatively yet Ep. 14. where he not only Exhorts but Commands them to perform the Office of Vicars to him But then how warmly he reâ—ented it when some of them ventured beyond the Limits of the Allowance he had given them when they began to encroach on his Prerogatives when they presumed to meddle in Matters for which they had no Allowance and which were not in the common Road nor Regulated by the Canons you shall hear to purpose by and by And from what I have already said the other Case That of the Presbytery's Meeting in the time of a Vacancy may be easily cleared also for thô they might meet yet all they could do was to provide all they could for the Peace and Safety of the Church by determining in Ruled Cases just as may be done by inferiour Magistrates in all other Corporations or Societies in the time of an Inter-Reign but they could make no new Rules And there were several other Things they could not do as I shall also shew fully within a little In the mean time having mentioned how St. Cyprian in his Absence gave a Delegation to his Clergy and Constituted them his Vicars let me give you one Example of it which may well deserve to pass for another Instance of Acts that were peculiar to himself And that is Eighthly His Delegating not his Presbyters in common but two of them only viz. Rogatianus and Nâ—midicus with two Bishops Caldonius and Herculanus not only to consider the State of the Poor and of the Clergy at Carthage but to pronounce his Sentence of Excommunication against Felicissimus and Augendus and all that should joyn themselves to that Faction and Conspiracy Which Delegation was accordingly accepted of and the Sentence put in Execution as we learn by the Return which these four Delegates together with another Bishop called Victor made to our Holy Martyr I might have easily collected more Instances of Powers and Faculties which were peculiar to a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time and which could not be pretended to by Presbyters But these may be sufficient for a Sample especially considering that more perhaps may be discovered in the Prosecution of the next Thing I promised to make appear which was II. That in every thing relating to the Government and Discipline of the Church the Bishop had a Negative over all the other Church-Governours within his District He had the Supreme Power of the Keys No Man could be admitted into the Church no Man could be thrust out of the Church none Excommunicated could be admitted to Penance nor Absolved nor Restored to the Communion of the Church no Ecclesiastical Law could be made nor Rescinded nor Dispensed with without him In short all Ecclesiastical Discipline depends upon the Sacraments and neither Sacrament could be Administrated without his Allowance If this Point well proved does not evince That a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was a real Prelate and stood in a real Superiority above all other Church Officers I must despair of ever proving any thing And I must despair of ever proving any thing if I prove not this Point 1. To begin with Baptism the Sacrament by which Persons are admitted into the Church That no Man could be Baptized without the Bishop's Consent has as much Evidence as can be well required for any Matter of Fact For First St. Cyprian could not have expressed any thing more fully or more plainly than he has done this To omit that Testimony which he gives in his Exhortation to Marâ—yrdom
where he says Bishops by our Lord's Allowance give the first Baptism to Believers Let us turn over to Ep. 73. in which he insists directly to this purpose The Question was Whether Baptism performed by Hereticks or Schismaticks was Valid St. Cyprian affirmed it was not His Conclusion was such as required some other Argument to support it than his own Authority It was therefore needful that he should attempt to prove it and that from received and acknowledged Principles Now consider his Argument I shall give it in his own Words as near as I can Translate them 'T is manifest says he where and by whom the Remission of Sins can be given which is given in Baptism For our Lord gave first to Peter on whom he built his Church thereby instituting and demonstrating the Original of Unity that Power That whatsoever he should loose on Earth should be loosed in Heaven And then after his Resurrection he gave it to all his Apostles when he said As my Father hath sent me c. Joh. 20. v. 21 22 23. Whence we learn that none can Baptize Authoritatively and give Remission of Sins but the BISHOPS and those who are FOUNDED in the Evangelical Law and our Lord's Institution And that nothing can be Bound or Loosed out of the Church seeing there 's none there who has the Power of Binding or Loosing Further Dearest Brother we want not Divine Warrant for it when we say That God hath disposed all Things by a certain Law and a proper Ordinance and that none can USURP any thing against the BISHOPS all being subject to them For Corah Dathan and Abiram attempted to assume to themselves a Priviledge of Sacrificing against Moses and Aaron the Priest and they were Punished for it because it was unlaâ—ful Thus St. Cyprian argued and the force of his Argument lies visibly in this That Baptism performed by Hereticks or Schismaticks cannot be Valid because not performed by the Bishop nor with his Allowance Now whatever comes of his Inference sure it had been Ridiculous in him to have so Reasoned if his Antecedent had not been a received Principle Neither was St. Cyprian singular in this for Firmilian Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia is as plain saying as I have cited him before That the Bishops who Govern the Church possess the Power of Baptism Confirmation and Ordination And Fortunatus Bishop of Thuraboris another of St. Cyprian's Contemporaries in his Suffrage at the Council of Carthage is as plain as either Cyprian or Firmilian Iesus Christ says he our Lord and God the Son of God the Father and Creator built his Church upon a Rock and not upon Heresie and gave the Power of Baptizing to Bishops and not to Hereticks c. Indeed before St. Cyprian's time we have Tertullian who spent most of his Days in the Second Century and who in his Book about Baptism against Quintilla to the Question Who may Baptize answers positively The High-Priest who is the Bishop hath the Power of Baptizing and after him or in Subordination to him Presbyters and Deacons but not without the BISHOP's AUTHORITY And before him we have the Apostolical Ignatius who spent almost all his Days in the First Century and who says in express Terms That it is not lawful to Baptize without the Bishop 2. A Bishop in St. Cyprian's time had as much Power about the Holy Eucharist No Presbyter within his District could Administer it without his Leave or against his Interdict St. Cyprian's Testimonies to this purpose are innumerable Let me give you only One or Two for Instance Thus in his 16th Epistle written to his Presbyters and Deacons he resents it highly that some of his Presbyters should have dared to admit the Lapsed to the Sacrament without his Allowance Such says he deny me the Honour of which by Divine Right I am possessed c. Indeed the 15th 16th and 17th Epistles are to this purpose And in his 59th Epistle having cited Mal. 2. v. 1 2. he Reasons thus against all such Presbyters as presumed to Celebrate the Eucharist without the Bishop's allowance Is Glory given to God when his Majesty and Discipline is so contemned that when He says He is Angry and full of Wrath against such as Sacrifice to Idols and when He threatens them with everlasting Pains and Punishments Sacrilegious Persons should presume to say Think not on the Wrath of God Fear not the Divine Iudgments Knock not at the Church of Christ That they should cut off Repentance and the Confession of Sins and PRESBYTERS CONTEMNING and TRAMPLING ON THEIR BISHOPS should preach Peace with Deceiving Words and give the Communion c. And 't is a Passage very remarkable to this purpose which we read in an Epistle of Dionysiâ—s of Alexandria to Fabius of Antioch both St. Cyprian's Contemporaries in which he tells how one Serapion an aged Man after a long Perâ—everance in the Christian Faith had first fallen from it in time of Persecution and then into a deadly Sickness How after he had been dumb and senseless for some Days recovering some use of his Tongue he called quickly for one of the Presbyters of Alexandria for he lived in that City that he might be Absolved and have the Sacrament being perswaded he should not die till he should be Reconciled to the Church And how the Presbyter being sick also sent the Sacrament to him But by what Right or Authority By Dionysius the Bishop For says he I had COMMAND that any Lapsed if in danger of Death especially if he was an humble Supplicant for it should be Absolved that he might go out of this World full of good Hopes c. He being Bishop of that City had given a COMMAND for it otherwise it could not have been done And all this was nothing more than Ignatius had told the World long before viz. That that is only to be deemed a firm and valid Eucharist which is Celebrated by the Bishop or by his Authority Let me only add one Testimony more from St. Cyprian concerning both Sacraments but such an one as ought not to be neglected It is in his 69th Epistle written to Magnus The great Purpose he pursues in it is to represent the Atrocious Guilt of Schism and the forlorn Condition of Schismaticks that they cannot have Valid Sacraments and that all their Acts are Nullities c. Amongst many Arguments to this effect he insists on that famous one Corah Dathan and Abiram were of that same Religion that Moses and Aaron were of and served the same God whom Moses and Aaron served But because they transgressed the Limits of their own Stations and Usurp'd a Power of Sacrificing to themselves in opposition to Aaron the Priest who was only legally Invested with the Priesthood by God's Vouchsafement and Appointment They were forthwith punished in a miraculous manner neither could their Sacrifices be Valid or Profitable being offered Unlawfully and Irreligiously and against
the Divine Ordinance And yet these Men had made no Schism They had not departed from the Tabernacle nor raised another Altar c. which now the Schismaticks do meaning the Novatians who dividing the Church and rebelling against Christ's Peace and Unity are bold to Constitute an Episcopal Chair and assume to themselves a Primacy an Episcopal Authority and a POWER OF BAPTIZING and OFFERING that is Celebrating the Holy Eucharist What can be more plain than 't is here That no Sacraments could be Administred but in dependance on the Bishop Indeed 3. Considering that as I have fully proved a Bishop was then the Principle of Unity to the Church that he was Chief Governour of the Church and that by consequence the Supreme Power of the Keys could not but belong to him Considering that the Church was a Visible Society that he was the Visible Head of that Visible Society and by consequence that it belonged to him as such to take care that Society might suffer no Detriment Considering these Things I say it was highly reasonable that he should have the Chief Power of Dispensing the Sacraments Such a Power as that neither might be dispensed without him What can be more Detrimental to a Society especially such a Society as a Christian Church than admitting Unworthy Persons to the Priviledges of it Or allowing them to continue in it Or restoring them to their Membership in the Society after they have been justly thrust from it without considering whether they have given any Evidences of a serious Reformation And who so proper to judge of these Matters as the Chief Governour of the Society And now Having thus made it evident that a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time had a Negative over all other Church-Officers within his District in the grand Concern of Dispensing both Sacraments and that neither could be Administred without him or against his Authority I might fairly supersede the trouble of making either a Minute or a laborious Demonstration of his Sovereign Interest in the Acts of Excommunication or injoyning Penances or reconciling Penitents or making or rescinding or dispensing with Ecclesiastical Laws or Canons in a word in every thing relating to the Government or Discipline of the Church All these Acts depend upon the Sacraments His Negative therefore about the Dispensation of the Sacraments had been in vain and to no purpose if he had not had a Negative likewise about all these Acts. Besides you will not readily say I think that he could have had a Greater Trust by having a Negative in any other Matter than in the Dispensing of the Sacraments Having that therefore he might well be intrusted with a Negative in all other Things either of equal if any such can be imagined or lesser Importance on which the Order the Subsistence the Unity the Peace the Purity the Prosperity or whatsoever Interest of the Church could any way depend Yet that I may give you all possible satisfaction I shall proceed a little further and give you by way of Historical Deduction such an account of Powers lodged e. g. in St. Cyprian's Person as you may fairly judge thereby concerning the Preheminences of Bishops in his Time The most current Account we have about him is that he was not Converted to Christianity at least not Baptized till the Year 246. That he was Ordain'd a Presbyter Anno 247 and Bishop of Carthage Anno 248. Chronologists do generally agree in this last Step of his Preferment Now as we learn both from himself and from Pontius his Deacon some of the Carthaginian Clergy were mighty Enemies to his Promotion Belike they took it ill that he so lately converted to the Faith so lately made a Presbyter should have been preferred to themselves However it was certain it is as I said that they appeared against him with all their might and main But the People were so Generally and so Zealously for him to have him their Bishop that these his Enemies were overpowered Made Bishop he was and he was a Person so well Qualified so Eminent in every Virtue and withal so Strict and Cautious in his Life and Government after he was made Bishop that it was not easie for the Mutineers to wreck their Malice on him But this was so far from softening them and bringing them to a better temper that on the contrary it imbittered them the more and made them the more watchful of all Opportunities to breed him Troubles and disturb his Government At last they catch'd hold of one and that a very dangerous one in the time of the Decian Persecution This Persecution beginning towards the end of the Year 249 and lasting for a full Year coming on the Church after a loâ—g Peace with a surprizing Violence had very sad Effects Vast numbers turned Apostates Renouncing the Holy Faith and Sacrificing to the Heathen Idols And Cyprian himself commanded by God had retired from Carthage till there should be some Relentment of the Fury of the Persecution Here I say his subtle Enemies found their so long wished Opportunity For the Lapsed so soon as the Hazard was over resumed their Christian Profession and turned mighty forward if not furious to be restored to the Communion of the Church ' Thô they knew full well that they were bound by the Canons to have continued for a long time in the state of Penitents yet they thought their Numbers and perhaps their Qualities might overpower the Canons and claim Indulgences and Dispensations With them struck in those Clergy-men who had still retained the old Grudges against St. Cyprian's Promotion encouraging their Presumptions They knew he was a Man of Principles and had a mighty Zeal for the real Interests of Christianity and by consequence that he would stand Resolutely by the Canons of the Church and be clear that the Lapsed should perfect their Terms of Penance They saw the Eagerness of the Lapsed to be sooner reconciled than the Canons allowed They resolved therefore to fall in with them thinking that thereby they should effectually put a Thorn in his Foot they should enflame the Lapsed and their Relations perchance the great Body of the People against him But this was not all It was not enough for them themselves to encourage the Lapsed in their Petulancies The Bishops Prelation over Presbyters was then so Notorious that as malicious as they were they had not Impudence enough to set up theirs in opposition to his Authority and Reconcile the Lapsed to the Church meerly upon the score of their own Credit against his Will and Orders and therefore they fell upon another Project If it was possible for any other to stand up against the Bishops Authority it was that of the Martyrs and Confessors These for their Faith and Patience their fervent Zeal and fragrant Graces their glorious Courage and good Example that they might Persevere themselves and others might be encouraged to follow their Patern were held in mighty Reputation They were reputed as
dearer to God and in a closer Communion with him and nearer Approximation to him than Christians of the common size And their Intercessions had been in use of being much regarded in former Persecutions These therefore as the only Persons whose Credit could be feasibly put in the Ballance with the Bishops Authority the Holy Man's Supplanters instigated to espouse the Quarrel of the Lapsed to become their Patrons for having themselves Absolved against the Bishop's Resolutions And truly some of them were so far wrought upon as to turn Zealous for it And armed with their Authority these discontented Presbyters adventured to Absolve and Lapsed and receive them to the Sacrament without the Bishop's Allowance Now consider what followed and speak your Conscience and tell me if St. Cyprian was not more than either Single Presbyter or Presbyterian Moderator Thô he was one of the mildest and most humble Men that ever lived yet so soon as this was told him where he was in his Retirement he was not a little alarm'd The Practice was surprizing and the Presumption new as well as bold The like had never been done before in any Christian Church And such preposterous Methods clearly tended to shake all the Foundations of Order and good Discipline And therefore he thought it high time for him if he could to give the Check to such irregular and unexampled Methods In short he drew his Pen and wrote Three notable Epistles one to the Martyrs and Confessors Another to his Clergy and a third to his Peoplâ— Insisting in each of them upon the Novelty and Unwarrantableness of the Course was taken the Dishonours and Indignities were done himself by it and the great Mischiefs and fatal Consequences might nay would unavoidably follow upon it if it were not forborn More particularly In that to the Martyrs and Confessors he told them That his Episcopal Care and the Fear of God compelled him to Admonish them That as they had devoutly and couragiously kept the Faith so they ought suitably to be observant of Christ's Holy Laws and Discipline That as it became all Christ's Soldiers to obey their General 's Commands so it was their Duty in a special manner to be Examples to others That he had thought the Presbyters and Deacons who were with them might have taught them so much But that now to his extream Grief he understood they had been so far from doing that that on the contrary some of them especially some Presbyters neither minding the Fear of God nor the Honour of their Bishop had industriously misled them He complain'd mightily of the Presumption of such Presbyters that against all Law and Reason they should have dared to Reconcile the Lapsed without his Consent That herein they were more Criminal than the Lapsers themselves That it was somewhat Excusable in the Lapsed to be earnest for an Absolution considering the uncomfortable State they were in so long as they were denied the Communion of the Church But it was the Duty of Office-bearers in the Church to do nothing rashly lest in stead of Pastors they should prove Worriers of the Flock c. And then he told these Martyrs and Confessors how far their Priviledges reached All they could do was by way of humble Supplication to Petition the Bishop for a Relaxation of the Rules of Discipline But they had neither Power to Command him nor Grant Indulgences without him Indeed this he told them frequently and that they went beyond their Line if they ventured any further In that to his Presbyters and Deacons he wrote in a yet more resenting Strain He told them He had long kept his Patience and held his Peace but their immoderate Presumption and Temerity would suffer him no longer to be silent For what a dreadful Prospect says he must we have of the Divine Vengâ—â—nce when some Presbyters neither mindful of the Gospel nor their own Stations nor regarding the future Iudgments of God nor the Bishop who for the time is set over them dare attempt what was never attempted before under any of my Predecessors namely so to Affront and Contemâ—â— their Bishop as to assume all to themselves And then he proceeds to tell them how he could overlook and bear with the Indignity done to his Episcopal Authority if there were no more in it But the course they followed was so wicked they were so injurious to the Lapsed whom they presumed to Reconcile so Uncaononically their Pride and Popularity were so apparent in their Method it was such a Crime so to Expose the Martyrs to Envy and set them at Variance with their Bishop c. that he could â—tifle it no longer In short all over the Epistle he wrote like a Bishop and concluded it with a Peremptory Threatning of a present Suspension from the Exercise of their Office and then an Infliction of further Censures when he should return from his Retirement if they should Persevere in such a Lawless Course In that to his People he proceeded on the â—ame Principles condemned these Presbyters who had acted so disorderly not reserving to the Bishop the Honour of his Chair and Priesthood Told them That those Presbyters ought to have taught the People otherwise Laid to their Charge the Affectation of Popularity and required such of the People as had not fallen to take Pains upon the Lapsed to try to bring them to a better Temper to perswade them to hearken to his Counsel and wait his Return c. Here were three Epistles written I think in plain Prelatick Stile sure neither in the Stile of Single Presbyter nor Presbyterian Moderator Especially if we consider the very next written to his Presbyters and Deacons upon the same Principles still He had written to them several times before from the Place of his Retirement but had received no Answer from them Now consider how he Resents this and Resenting it asserts his own Episcopal Authority his own Sovereign Power in Ecclesiastick Matters For thus he begins I wonder dear Brethren that you have returned no Answers to the many Letters I have sent you especially considering that now in my Retirement you ought to inform me of every thing that happens that so I may advisedly and deliberately give Orders concerning the Affairs of the Church Let any Man lay these four Letters together and weigh them impartially and then let him judge if St. Cyprian wrote in the Stile of Parity if he claim'd not a Sovereign Power a Negative to himself over all the Christians Presbyters as well as others living within his District But did not Cyprian shew too much Zeal in this Cause Possibly he attempted to stretch his Power a little too far as afterwards many did He was a Holy and Meek Man but such may be a little too High So I read indeed in a late Book But it seems the Author has found himself very sore put to it when he said so For how can one not be fore put to
it when he cannot escape but by seeking for Refuge in a Reconciliation between Pride and Patience Superciliousness and Self-denial Huffyness and Humility Carnal Height and Christian Holiness But to let this pass Had that Author any solid Ground for saying so Or rather had it been possible for him to have said so had he had but an ordinary Acquaintance with St. Cyprian or his Epistles Charge Pride on the Humble Cyprian Cyprian who was so very Humble that from the Conscience of his own Nothingness he has still been looked upon as a Patern of Humility Cyprian whose Humility would not allow him almost to speak in the Stile of Authority even to Female Laicks Cyprian who was perswaded that God would hear none but the Humble and Quiet Cyprian who believed that none could be a Christian and withal be Proud and Haughty Who insisted on his own Humility in that very Epistle for which that Author charges him with Pride Who if in any thing Gloried most in his Humble and Bashful Modesty Who when accused of Pride could Appeal not only to all Christians but even to the Heathen Infidels as Witnesses of his Innocence Cyprian who had this Great Testimony from some of his Contemporaries That he was the Greatest Preacher the Most Eloquent Orator the Wisest in Counsel the Simplest in Patience the Most Charitable in Alms the Holiest in Abstinence the Humblest in Obligingness and the Most Innocent in every Good Action And from others That he had a Candid and a Blessed Breast c. In a word Cyprian whose Humility was such that if we may believe his Deacon Pontius He fled and lurk'd when they were going to make him a Bishop Such that when St. Augustine many years after was pressed with his Authority he came off with this The Authority of Cyprian doth not fright me because the Humility of Cyprian encourages me Such a Person was Cyprian And yet to Proud was he forsooth for doing his Duty for asserting his Episcopal Authority when most undutifully trampled on by his presuming Presbyters What I have said methinks might be enough in all conscience for defeating for ever that Uncharitable shall I say or Ignorant Suggestion That it was Pride perhaps that prompted Cyprian to write so Magisterially to the Carthaginian Presbyters yet because a farther Discussion of it may contribute not a little for clearing up the Bishop's Negative in St. Cyprian's time I shall not grudge to give it you St. Cyprian had three sorts of People to deal with in that Controversie which bred him so much Trouble He had the Lapsed themselves the Martyrs and Confessors and these Presbyters and Deacons who had encroached so much on his Episcopal Authority I am apt to think the Author himself with whom I have now to do will not be shy to grant That St. Cyprian without incurring the Reputation of either Proud or Presumptuous might have chided the Lapsed as we find he did They had Cowardly renounced their Christianity to save their Lives and Fortunes and the Canons subjected them to a strict and a long Penance for it And I think without the imputation of either Height or Humour one in St. Cyprian's Station might have put them in mind of the Respect they owed to the Canons of the Church and the Governours of it Indeed all the Lapsed were not engaged in the disorderly Course There were some of them who were sensible of their Duty and subjected themselves to their Bishop resolving to wait his time and intirely to depend upon him for their Absolution as we learn from his 33d Epistle His Difficulty was greater with the Martyrs and Confessors who appeared as Patrons to the Prejudicating Lapsed but neither need I insist on that nor how he conquered them in point of Right and Argument For this Author told Dr. Stilling fleet He was wholly out of the way in medling with that Matter seeing none ever imagined that every Martyr had Church Power Thô I must tell you Sir That whoso reads St. Cyprian's Works and particularly observes the State and Management of this whole Controversie about the Lapsed cannot but be convinced that the Reputation and Authority of Martyrs and Confessors made a far greater Figure in it than the Reputation or Authority of Presbyters To come therefore to that which is the main Point with this Author Let us try if St. Cyprian stretch'd his Power too far in his Treatment of the Presbyters who appeared against him in this Controversie Consider the following Steps and then judge I. Consider that St. Cyprian doth not fall a buffing or hectoring or running them down by Noise or Clamour No He Reasons the Case with them and Reasons all along from known and received Principles He tells them plainly indeed That in Presuming as they had done they had forgotten both the Gospel and their own Station That he was their Superiour That they did not pay him the Honour that was due to his Chair and Character That the like had never been attempted before by Presbyters under any of his Predecessor-Bishops That it was a Factious Selfish Temper and too great Love of Popularity that prompted them to Measures so in no wise Presidented That he knew the Secret of the Matter and that it was the old Grudge against his being preferred to the Bishoprick that byass'd them to their Insolencies That is belonged to him as having the Chief Power of the Keys as being Bishop i. e. as having the visible Sovereignty in Church Matters to straiten or slacken the Sinews of Discipline to prolong or shorten the Courses of Penance to grant Absolutions and reconcile Penitents c. That such Presumptions were Encroachments upon the very Foundations of the Church to the Subversion whereof their pretending to any Power in opposition to the Bishops tended In short That such Practices were against Christ's Institution and the Analogies of Government and all the Laws of Order Peace and Unity And they deserved the sharpest Censures for them These I say are a Sample of the Arguments St. Cyprian insisted on against those Presbyters and most of them were founded on Matter of Fact And now suppose St. Cyprian had had considerable Doses of Pride yet if you will but allow him withall to have had some Grains of Common Sense or Honesty can you so much as imagine he could have used such Arguments if they had wanted Foundation Would he not have been ashamed to have used them if he and not his Presbyters had been guilty of the Usurpations he was Condemning But what needs more Have I not fully proved already That a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was the Principle of Unity to all the Christians Presbyters as well as others within his District And that he was a Sovereign and Peerless Governour of the Church which he Ruled And were not all his Reasâ—nings founded on these Principles But this is not all for 2. Consider that they were
not all the Presbyters of Carthage who were engaged in the Quarrel No Râ—gatianus Britius Numidicus and perhaps many more whose Names are not trasmited to us would never joyn with those of the Faction but still continued in their Duty to St. Cyprian And can we think they would not have joyned with their Brethren for the Maintenance of their own Rights and Priviledges if Cyprian had been the Usurper If he had been Claiming a Sovereign Power without any Pretence of Right to it If he had been driving at a Prelacy when the Government of the Church belonged to Presbyters acting in Parity We learn from St. Cyprian himself That in those Times it was a mighty Wickedness for Men to part tamely with their Rights and Powers in Divine Matters And can we think that Rogatianus Bâ—itius and Numidicus were ignorant of this Or supposing that should have had small Weight with them is Power such a gustless Thing that Men will easily part with it without any Reason But to go on 3. Even those very Presbyters and Deacons of the Faction came once to something like a Dutiful Submission in the Matter They lower'd their Sails and began to wave Apologies and knit Excuses for what they had done They endeavoured to put a fair Face upon the foul Steps they had made They wrote to Cyprian That they had done what they could to bridle the Heats of the Lapsed and oblige them to continue in their Penances till his Return from his Retirement but that they were so Ungovernable and Stiff and urged a present Absolution so eagerly and irresistibly that they were forced in a manner to comply with their Humours But now seeing they found that he their Bishop was so much displeased with what they had done they asked a FORM from him i. e. his Will and Pleasure in the Matter And now let any Man consider whether St. Cyprian or these Presbyters had been in the Wrong before Whether He or They had acted beyond their Lines But I have more to tell you For 4. These Presbyters who had thus transgressed the Bounds of their Station were generally Condemn'd for it by their Brethren Presbyters all the World over At least we have a most remarkable Instance in the Presbyters of Româ— Take it thus St. Cyprian being a Wise and Watchful as well as an Holy and Humble Prelate one who had still before his Eyes thâ— Conservation of the Order the Peace and the Unity of the Church Catholick and perceiving that the Controversie concerning the Restitution of the Lapsed might be of bad Influence on those great Interests if not prudently determined thought fit to acquaint his Brethren of the Episcopal Colledge with it and ask their Sentiments about it And because there was no Bishop then at Rome he wrote to the Presbyters and Deacons the Roman Presbytery The Epistle is the 20th in Number In which he deduced the whole Matter to them and told them particularly how he had Exerted his Episcopal Authority in its Vigour against such of his Presbyters as without his Leave had boldly and presumptuously Absolved the Lapsed and given them the Sacrament Now consider their Return to him You have it in the 30th Epistle They begin with the Acknowledgment of his Supream and Unaccountable Power within his own District which I observed before They impute it to his Modesty and Caution not to his Pride and Fetulancy that he had been pleased to communicate his Measures to them They approve the Course he had taken with the Lapsed They compare him to the Master of a Ship sitting at the Helm who if he steers not right and keeps not a steddy Course especially in a Storm endangers the Ship and runs her upon Rocks or Shelves And I think the Master of a Ship doth not act in Parity with the rest of the Mariners And further They compare those who at that time endeavoured to interrupt the Course of his Discipline Presbyters as well as others to the Tumbling Waves striving to shake the Master from the Helm and expose all to the Hazards of Shipwrack In plain Terms they condemn the Course of Reconciling the Lapsed so Undutifully and Rebelliously As for themselves they tell him and pray take notice of it That wanting a Bishop they could define nothing in the Matter They tell him I say That since the Death of Fabianus of most Noble Memory through the Difficulties of the Times and the Encumbrances of their Affairs they had not got a Bishop Constituted who only could define in these Matters and determine in the Case of the Lapsed with AUTHORITY and Counsel But withal they tell him That for their parts they were extreamly well pleased with the Course he had taken namely That he had resolved to do nothing rashly to take no sudden Resolutions in a Matter of such Consequence but to wait till God should grant him opportunity of Treating about it with others and determining with common Advice in such a ticklish Case Where observe by the way That they do not found the Wisdom of this his Resolution on any thing like the Incompetency of his Power for having determined by himself concerning the Lapsed within his own District No the Reason they give for it supposes his Power to have been fully Adequate and Competent for that Effect and that if he had given the final Stroke no body could have Quarrel'd it For they insist only on the Rules of Prudence which if I mistake not are quite different from the Rules of Power They tell him it might prove Invidious and Burdensom for one Bishop to Determine by himself in a Case in which all Bishops were concerned and that it was Providently done of him to dâ—â—ire the Confent of his Colleagues that his Decrees might be Approved and Confirmed That they might not be made void through the want of the Brotherly Ratification These are the Reasons I say for which they justifie his Caution and these Reasons suppose he had Power to have done otherwise thô not so wisely nor so warily And then they tell him over again That they had met frequently and canvassed the Matter seriously They had tossed it not only amongst themselves but with sevâ—ral Bishops far and near as they had occasion to be in the City and that still the Conclusion was That they should attempt no Innovations till a Bishop should be settled All they had Resolved was That thâ—se of the Lapsed whose Health might allow should continue in the State of the Penitents till God should grant them a Bishop Neither was this a meer Complement to our Holy Martyr Indeed in all this they gave him a true Account of their Real Sentiments and Principles as we learn from another Epistle of theirs wherein they had neither Occasion nor Temptation to Complement Bishops The Epistle is that which is the Eighâ—h amongst St. Cyprian's An Epistle written by them to the Presbyters and Deacons of Carthage to Persons
those Times the Bishop was called the Praepositus the Ruler the Governour the Superiour of all the Christians within his District Clergy as well as Laity And they without Distinction or Exception were called His People his Flock his Subjects c. This may be seen almost in every one of his Epistles Thus Ep. 3. he says That Deacons ought to remember that our Lord chose his Apostles that is Bishops and Governours But the Apostles chose Deacons to be the Bishop's and the Churches Ministers And therefore a Deacon ought with all Humility to give Satisfaction to the Bishop his Superiour And Ep. 9. He praises the Roman Clergy for having the Memory of Fabianus who had been their Superiour in so great Honour And Ep. 13. writing to Rogatianus his Presbyter and the rest of the Confessors and praising God for their Faith and Patience he says That as all Christians were bound to Rejoyce when Christ's Flock was illuminated by the Examples of Confessors so he himsâ—lf in a special manner as being the Bishop seeing the Churches Glory was the Ruler's Glory And in that famous Passage which I have cited already from Ep. 16. he complains of it as an unexampled Petulancy that Presbyters should so contemn the Bishop their Sâ—periour And in another place We Bishops who have the Chief Power in the Church And Ep. 62. I who by the Divine Mercy Govern the Church have sent to you Januarius Maximus Proculus c. 100000 Sestercâ—s as the Charitable Contribution of my Clergy and People And Ep. 66. Hence spring Heresies and Schisms c. That the Bishop who is one and is set over the Church is Contemned c. Such was the Dialect of those Times I say and thus Bishops were called Rulers Governours Superiours c. and that in regard of all within their Districts making no Discrimination betwixt Clergy-men and Laicks and not only so but more particularly 2. It was as comon in that Dialect to call the Clergy The BISHOP'S CLERGY Thus for Example Ep. 14. It was my Wish that I might have saluted all my Clâ—â—gy safe and sound c. My Presbyters and Deacons ought to have taught you c. Because I cannot send Letters but by Clergy-men and I know that many of mine are absent Numidicus was preserved alive by God that he might joyn him my Clergy Urbanus and Sidonius came to my Presbyters If any of my Presbyters or Deacons shall turn precipitant I have sent you Copies of the Letters which I wrote to my Clergy and People concerning Felicissimus and his Presbytery And as I observed before when Maximâ—s a Presbyter and Urbanus c. returned from the Novatian Schism to Cornelius's Communion We are Reconciled say they to Cyprian to Cornelius OUR BISHOP and to all the Clergy Such was the Language of those Times Now I say by what Propriety of Speech could a Bishop have been called Praepositus Superiour to his Clergy Could they have been called HIS Clergy Could he have been said to have been Their Bishop Their Ruler Their Governour By what Rule of either Grammar or Rhetorick Logick or Politick could he have been said to have been set over them or they to have been his Subjects or Inferiours if he had no Power nor Iurisdiction over them If they were not Subjected to his Authority nor Obnoxious to his Discipline But let all this pass for meer Prolusion if you will I am not pinch'd for want of Arguments For 3. The three great Principles which I proved so fully before viz. That a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was the Principle of Unity to the Church which he Govern'd that he had a Supreme Power in it and that by the Principles which then prevailed he was the same in the Christian Church which the High Priest was in the Iewish and the last Thing I proved also viz. That he had a Negative over his Presbyters Each of these is demonstration for the present Conclusion and you need not Artificial Natural Logick is enough to let you see the Consequences Indeed 4. We find Cyprian all along both Reasoning and Practising to this purpose Thus he told Bishop Rogatianus Ep. 3. That the Case was plain between him and his Deacon Hâ— might punish him forthwith by his Episcopal Power and his Câ—thedral Authority He might make him sensible of his Episcopâ— Honour He might Exert the Power of his Honour against him either by Deposing or by Excommunicating him Nay He mighâ— Excommunicate all such as should Rebel against him For all these Censures his Sovereign Authority was competent Thus he praises Pomponius another Bishop for Excommunicating another Scandalous Deacon Ep. 4. p. 9. And did not he himself Suspend Philumenus and Fortunatus two Subdeacons and Favorinus an Acolyth from their Livings As we learn from his 34th Epistle But you may say These Instances extend no further than to Deacons or more inferiour Clergy-men but What is this to Presbyters Why Sir indeed the Instances are pat and home and you must acknowledge so much if you consider that by the Principles of those Times there was no Disparity between Prebyters and Inferiour Orders in this respect But the Bishop's Power extended equally to all just as a King can censure his Chancellor as well as a Sub-Collector of his Customs a Justice-General as well as a Justice of Peace Nothing clearer from the above-mentioned Principles But that I may leave you no imaginable Scruple I shall even account to you about Prebyters also 5. Then I have told you already how some of the Carthaginian Presbyters conspired against St. Cyprian and used their utmost Arts to hinder his Preâ—erment to the Bishoprick Now if we may believe either himself or Pontius in his Life whatever it was they did on that Occasion he might have punish'd them for it punish'd them not only with Deposition but with Excommunication had he pleased Take first his own Account in Ep. 43. there he tells his People That through the Malignity and Perfidiousness of some of his Presbyters he durst not adventure to return to Carthage so soon as he would And he describes those Presbyters thus That being mindful of their Conspiracy and retaining their old Grudges against his Promotion they reinforced their ancient Machinations and renewed their Attempts for Undermining him by siding with Felicissâ—mus in his Schism And then he proceeds thus I neither willed nor wished their Punishment for their Opposition to my Promotion yea I Pardon'd them and kept my Peace And yet now they have suffered Condign Punishment Thô I did not Excommunicate them then their own Guilty Consciences have done it now They have Excommunicated themselves c. Take it next from Pontius his Deacon Thô I am unwilling says he yet I must speak it out Some resisted his Promotion but how Gently how Patiently how Generously how Mercifully did he forgive them Did
by him no other Name but his could give them Force and make them Current Well! but there was one Thing amiss St. Cyprian and the rest of the African Bishops having Intelligence of the Competition that was at Rome between Cornelius and Novatianus and being unwilling to do any thing rashly had determined to continue to write only to the Roman Presbyters and Deacons as before during the Vacancy till Cornelius his Title should be fully cleared to them This the Clergy of Adrumâ—tum were ignorant of when they wrote the above-mentioned Letter And being afterwards told it by Cyprian and Liberalis they directed their next Letter not for Cornelius but for the Roman Presbyters and Deacons Hereat Cornelius was not a little stumbled and according to the then current Principles interpreting it to be a disowning of him as Bishop of Rome he wrote a Letter of Complaint to Cyprian about it who was then Metropolitan of that Province In Answer to which our Holy Martyr wrote a full Apology to him shewing him what was true Matter of Fact Upon what Reasons the Bishops of Africa had taken the aforesaid Resolution How it was in consequence of that Resolution that the Clergy of Adrumetum had changed their Direction And how by the whole Method noâ—â—â—ng was less intended than to disown him as Bishop of Rome or Invalidate his Title And was there not here as clear an Evidence that Regularly and in the current Form all Letters were directed to the Bishop Shall I give you another History to clear this Matter further When Maximus and Nicostratus retaining to Novatianus and so separating from Cornelius did thereby cut themselves off from the Communion of the Church Cyprian wrote to them as well he might considering that his Design was to Reconcile them to their True Bishop Cornelius But how did he write Why so as that his Letter should not be delivered till Cornelius should see it and judge whether it was proper to deliver it Such a special regard was then paid to the Bishop of a Church as being Supreme in it and the Principle of Unity to it If all this doth not satisfie you then listen a little further and resist this Evidence if ye can Because by the Fundamental Principles of One Faith and One Communion every Heretical and Schismatical Bishop was ipso facto out of the Church and all who retain'd or adhered to him whether Bishops Clergy or Laicks did run the same Risque with him Therefore so soon as any Bishop turned Heretick or Schismatick the Catholick Bishops of the Province especially the Metropolitans formed Lists of all the True Orthodox and Catholick Bishops within their respective Provinces and sent them to other Metropolitans And so they were transmitted all the World over That their Communicatory Letters and theirs only might be received and their Communion and theirs only might be allowed and that all Heretical or Schismatical or Retainers to Heretical or Schismatical Bishops might be rejected and their Communion refused And for this we have two notable Testimonies from St. Cyprian the one is in his 59th Epistle directed to Cornelius where he tells him That upon Fortunatus his starting out of the Church and pretending to be Bishop of Carthage He had sent him the Names of all the Bishops in Africa who Govern'd their Churches in Soundness and Integrity and that it was done by common Advice But to what purpose That you and all my Collegues may readily know to whom you may send and from whom you may receive Communicatory Lettâ—s The other Testimony is in Ep. 68. where Cyprian having given his Sentiâ—ents fully concerning Marcianus that he had forfeited his Dignity and that it was necessary that another should be substituted in his room c. requires Stephen Bishop of Rome to give himself and the rest of the Bishops of Africa a distinct Account of the Person that should be Surrogated in Marcianus his Place That we may know says he to whom we may direct our Brethren and write our Letters I have only given you a Taste of the Methods and Expedients which were put in Practice in those Times for preserving the Unity the One Communion of the One Catholick Church and how nicely and accurately it was provided for by the Incorporation of all Bishops into Ouâ— College of all particular Principles of Unity of particular Churches into one Aggregated Principle of Unity proportioned to the Extent of all those Churches in their Aggregation And by the mutual Support of all Bishops one towards another It had been easie to have collected more Particulars as well as to have insisted more largely on these I have collected But from the small Collection I have made I think I have laid Foundation enough for another Demonstration against our Author's Notion of a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time For How could either Single Presbyter or Presbyterian Moderator taking the Terms in the Presbyterian Sense have born such a Part in relation to the Unity of the Catholick Church and the Preservation of One Communion Besides that the College of Bishops in those Times is still considered and insisted on as consisting of Church Governours notoriously distinguished from Presbyters Besides that in all St. Cyprian's Writings or in any Monument of those Times you shall never so much as once find a Bishop calling a Presbyter his Collegue Besides that we have not the least Vestige of any such stated ordinary current Office in any Record of those Times as that of a meer Presbyterian Moderator Besides these Things I say How had it been consistent with the Principles or Analogies the Scheme or Plot of Presbyterian Parity to have committed to any Single Presbyter Moderator or other the bearing of such a Part as that He and He alone of God knows how many should have been Constituted a Member of a College which College and which alone had the Supreme Power of Preserving the Faith and the Unity and managing all the Affairs of the Church Catholick As that all his Admissions into the Church his Exclusions from the Church his Extrusions out of the Church his Suspensions his Abstentions his Excommunications his Injunctions of Penances his Absolutions his Ordinations his Degradations his Depositioâ—â— in a word all his Acts of Government and Discipline within his own District and his alone should have had Authority and been deemed Valid and merited a Ratification all the World over As that whosoever Presbyter or other within such a District in which there might have been many Decads of Presbyters was Disobedient to him or Top't it with him or Rebelled against him should have been reputed Disobedient to and Rebellious against the whole College of the Supreme Governours of the Church Catholick As that raising an Altar against his Altar and his only should have been deem'd Raising an Altar against all Catholick Christian Altars As that from him and from him only in the regular Course all Communicatory Informatory Conâ—olatory in short all