this Politie and that in great and continual frequency § 3. To the eviction whereof I will not urge the nature and general Forms and Concerns of Aristocracy requiring an united Counsel and Strength to support it self against common dangers but specifie particular Cases which they judged necessary Conciliarly to set Right and thereby to give credit to their determinations in their formed Letters to other Churches which generally if not always was the concluding Office of those Councils § 4. Now of these Episcopal Synods some were but Partial others Plenary A Partial Synod of Bishops was such as consisted of some Bishops only in a Province upon occasion design or necessity A Pâ—â—nary Synod was such as consisted of a Full or General Convention of the Bishops of a Province under their Metropolitan § 5. The first and most Sacred as well as constant Office of such Episcopal Synods was that of providing Bishops for vacant Sees Councils for Ordaining Bishops for which the most Canonical Rule most generally observed and to be observed in time of Peace in these Ages was that which St. Cyprian and his Colleagues assert as of Divine Tradition Ep. 68. Diligenier de traditione divinâ Apostolicà observatione observandum est tenendum quod apud nos quoque fere apud provincias universas tenetur ut ad ordinationes ritd celebrandas ad eam plebem cui Praepositus ordinatur Episcopi ejusdem provinciae proximi quique conveniant Episcopus deligatur plebe praesente c. vide Item Ep. 68. § 6. ubi etiam exemplum ponit in electione Sabinâ— vice Basilidis c. viz. as to the substrate reasons and parallel instances and Apostolical Observation viz. that the nearest Bishops of the Province should repair to the vacant See and the Bishop be chosen in the presence of the People according to the same form of old observed at Hierusalem †Euseb Eccl. Hist l. 6. c. 10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Provincials of Palaestine in filling that See with Successors as in the case of Narcissus retiring upon a perjurious Defamation which I mention in fact more than others because it is an early instance in that Church which was the Mother of all Churches and a Presumption that this Custom was begun there in the constitution of James and was continued there in all their Successions and from thence became a Platform for the like Canon every where else throughout the Primitive Church In which Synods the Clergy and the people that stood in the Faith Unity and Order of the Church were present their Desires Thoughts and Counsels examined and upon a fair and calm agreement of which in those days they hardly ever failed under the moderation of the Praesiding Bishops the Election was Ratified and the Person Consecrated by the Bishops present and hereupon either the New Bishop alone when there was no contrary Pretension or the rest convening Bishops with him Cyp. ad Cornel Ep. 55. § 10. sent the Letters of Communion to all other Churches immediately or mediately according to the Forms in use under the Orders of Metropolitans and Primates Cypr. ad Antonian Ep. 52. § 16. vid. etiam § 4. Factus est autem Cornelius Episcopus de Dei Christi cjus judicio c. vid. praec seqq Ep. 58. § 2. Cyp. Ep. ad Cornel. 55. § 6. Thus was Cornelius made Bishop of Rome by a Synod of Sixteen Bishops after the same manner from whence his Divine Right in that Bishoprick is asserted by virtue of that Conciliar Ordination So was St. Cyprian constituted Bishop of Carthage Ibid. § 12. to the assertion of the same Divine Right and Authority And to pretend the same his Rival Fortunatus his Party gave out at Rome that he was Ordained for Carthage by twenty five Bishops as falsly as they before-hand had threatned to Convene so many thereunto And this custom was hereupon looked on as so Sacred and Necessary that in time of Persecution they suffered the Sees to lye long vacant till a calm Season gave them opportunity for such solemn Conventions which were judged of the Divinest Virtue and Anthority and not mere Cabals of Prudence only § 6. Other sorts of Reasons why they met in Councils or Synods were the preservation of Unity in the Catholick and particular Churches by reclaiming by censuring the irreclaimable by making Canons for good Order and Uniformity for mutual Advices and Assistances with Sister-Churches and Composures in matters of Difference For Discipline on Sinners either before or during or after their Repentance and particularly those that lapsed into Idolatry So when * Euseb E. H. l. 6. c. 33. Beryllus Bishop of Bostra in Arabia preached the same Doctrine with him that now presideth over the City of Waters and the Faith was like to be disturbed and the Peace broken there met a Council of Bishops in which Origen reclaimed him When †E. H. l. 7. c. 30. Athan. de Syn. Arim. Seleue. de Syn. Nic. Decr. Dionys Alex. ap Euseb E. H. l. 6. c. 46. Paulus Samosatenus and Sabellius appeared Councils convened against them When the Novatian Schism began to attack the Peace of the Church at Antjoch Helenus Bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia with his Provincials Firmilian of Cappadocia and Theoctistus of Palestine invited Dionysius of Alexandria to meet in Synod at Antioch to repress Novatianism which Schism gave occasion also to many Synods in Africa Cyp. Ep. 41. § 1 2. Ep. 45. § 1 2. Ep. â—2 § 6. Ep. 67. § 2. as did that Schism also of Felicissimus who with his Complices attempted to set up Fortunatus at Carthage When the varying Customs of Churches Cyp. 42. § 5. Ep. 55. § 1.9 Ep. 12. § 4. and the acknowledged reasons of them occasioned or required Ecclesiastical conferences between such Churches they were then wont to convene Provincial or Domestick Synods and after their Domestick Decisions to send them with their Legates to the others for Examination and Reception wherein if they agreed this Uniformity repressed not only Schism it self but the occasions of it but if not yet the differences of their Canonical Resolves by vertue of these Conferences were prevented from creating breaches in Communion or if the Peace had been violated by any hasty Passion or Prejudice things were generally healed by these Synodical commerces Thus in the time of Pope Victor many Synods were held about Easter-day in order to an Uniformity Euseb E. H. l. 5. c. 23. Concil Carthagin Epis 87. which not being to be procured all over the Catholick Church Cyp. cum colleg Ep 70. § 1. Ep. 71. § 1 4. Ep. 72. § 1 2. Ep. 73. § 1 3. Ep. 75. Victor broke the Communion between his Church and the Churches of Asia under Polycrates Metropolitan of Ephesus but the other Churches would by no means endure a Rupture of Peace upon a difference of exterior usages So
the Question of Rebaptization from Heresie was Conciliarly determined different ways in several Churches Firmil ad Cyp. § 6 17. Dionys Aleâ— ad Xyst Pap. ap Eus E. H. l. 7. c. 5. c. 7. Cyp. cum coll ad Fid. Ep. 59. § 1. c. without any breach of Catholick Communion till Pope Stephen began the Rupture with the African Phrygian Galatian Cilician and Cappadocian Churches which yet other Churches would by no means consent to each Church determining according to its best Judgment Rules and Customs but the most moderate taking care in the midst of this diversity Cyp. Ep. 62. §◠c. Cyp. ad Cald. Ep. 38. § 2. Ep. 42. § 5. to keep the Unity of Spirit in the Bond of Peace So a Council of 66 African Bishops determine the questions made them by Fidus concerning the reconciliation of one Victor a lapsed Presbyter by Therapius a Bishop before Canonical Examination and Season as also of the liberty of Baptizing Infants as soon as born before they were Eight Days old as also of the Offenceless way of living to be practised by the Virgins And as they did Conciliarly provide to prevent so did they to correct Evils particularly the Vices Violences and Immoralities of all Orders as in the Presbyter Felicissimus not only for his Schism but for his Lusts especially concerning the Penances and Indulgences to the Lapsed for which in times of Persecution and the dispersions of the Episcopal College the Criminals were required to stay Cyp. Ep. 12. § 2. Ep. 14. § 2. Ep. 26. § 4. Ep. 28. § 2. Ep. 31. § 5. Ep. 32. Ep. 40. § 3 7. Ep. 52. § 2 3 6. Ep. 53. § 2. Ep. 54. Ep. 55. § 13. and wait for peace to the Church before it was decent for them or allowed to them to claim their own which was to be determined in Councils of their Bishops Clergy and standing Laity All which whosoever looks into the quoted places will find to be thought not only expedient but necessary for the good of the Church and the persons concerned and for the Authority of their Acts which was universally and uncontestedly taken for Divine upon grounds taken out of Scripture Cyp. Ep. 55. § 13. Firm. in t Cyp. Ep. 75. which therefore they held frequently and in some places annually from which they sent Synodical Letters and Messages with authentick Deputations and Powers not only by the Sub-Clerical Orders Ep. Cyp. 41. § 1. Ep. 42. § 1. Ep. 45. § 1. § 2. but by Deacons Priests nay and by Bishops also according as the nature of the affair did require and Junctures of Time and Season would permit being herein as much concerned for a general Negotiation in Spirituals not only each Church within it self but abroad with all others and for all Christian Uses as the Civil States and Sovereignties are for Domestick Conduct and foreign Embassies and Treaties with more remote or more nearly adjacent Countries and with as fair to say no fairer ground of Authority from God and Nature Upon all which I make these concluding Remarks that if such Synods had not been thought of Divine Right and Duty too those that were Convened and Censured by them would have denied the Authority the Lapsed Penitents would have disclaimed their Necessity the Apostates would have proclaimed the Imposture of a pretended Divine Authority and the Churches would never have been at that vast Fatigue and Charge of Synodical procedures especially against the Edicts of Secular Powers had they not judged these to be Acts of an Ecclesiastical Duty to and Authority from God But here being none the least Exception from the offended nor any possible Inducement upon the Church to quit the claim and practice of such Authority I think here is an undeniable presumption hereupon that it was as uncontestable as it was actually uncontested CHAP. VIII Of the Authority of Civil Powers and Laws in general against the Liberty of Ecclesiastical Synods § 1. AFter the Knowledge of all this which I am sure the Dr. well knew before ever he dreamed of Writing upon this Subject 't is a matter of astonishment to me that he should look upon Synods under Alien Powers to have been and still to be but prudential Clubs without any Authority from God or Man And yet upon this confidence 't is strange that he should not wholly deliver them up to the full Authority of all Heathen or Alien Powers against which where there is no right no Human Reason or Prudence can warrant any popular Frequences or Councils So that by his granting them Reason he seems to grant them Right and by gâ—aâ—ting them Right to grant them Authority to hold Synods under Alien Powers And yet he is unwilling even to allow what he grants and floats up and down in his Doubts hereupon and casts an unlucky glance upon the Primitive Synods as scarce capable of Excuse and more hardly of Justisication It has been saith he ever look'd upon as one great part of the Princes Prerogative p. 13. that no Societies should be Incorporated nor any Companies be allowed to meet together without his Knowledge and Permission The Roman Law was especially very severe as to this Matter And tho' after the Conversion of the Emperors to the Faith of Christ a Provision was made for the Publick Assemblies of the Church for Divine Service yet Tertullian who understood these Matters as well as any one of his Time tho' he excused their Meetings upon all other Accounts could not deny but that they fell under the Censure of the Law and that having not the Princes Leave to meet together they were in the Construction of the Law guilty of Meeting against it § 2. This brings one therefore to an Enquiry Conventions Necessary Innocent Hurtful What Meetings are of right obnoxious to the prohibitions and penalties of Humane Laws The Conventions therefore of Men are of three sorts either Necessary or Innocent or Hurtful And first such as are Necessary no Man whatsoever can have a rightful Authority to restrain for Necessity being a Law from God cannot be vacated by any positive Law of Man Nor Secondly can Innocent Meetings be rightfully denyed in themselves but under the apprehensions of hurt or danger upon Time Place and Circumstances But Hurtful Meetings in the Third Place may not only but ought of Right to be restrained by the Magistracy Yet what Princes have no Rightful Authority to do that they may irresistibly do upon an uncountroulable Domination and Impunity Upon which when they presume to Repress our Rights and Liberties if it be in Matters Necessary they are to be disobeyed in Fact and submitted to as to their Legal Processes without resistance if in Matters barely Innocent there Prudence will direct but no bare Conscience of Duty to the Tyrannical Law alone will oblige to observation tho' it will to Patience under Legal Sufferings For an Innocent Liberty is an Vnalienable Franchise
§ 21. Pag. 295. The Antient Emperors we are well assured tied up their Councils to very strict Rules They sent Commissioners to sit with the Bishops that so they might take care to keep them within Bounds and see that they acted according to the Rules they had prescribed to them P. 296. 'T is true the Clergy in those days did take the Liberty to Transact many things in their Convocations without any particular License from the King but that they did take upon them to do this is no proof that they had a Right to do it How this agrees with it self or with the design of proving the Rights of Kings from Matter of Fact and Usage I know not nor with what he asserts in Fact Chap. 2. § 23. p. 47 48. This is certain that as the calling of such Assemblies has always depended upon the Consent and Authority of the Prince so when they were Assembled the Subject of their Debates has been prescribed them by the same Power and they have deliberated on nothing but what they have been directed or allowed by the Prince to do Book Chap. 2. § 2. p. 10 11. It was a famous Saying of Constantine the First Christian Emperour to his Bishops That they indeed were Bishops in things within the Church but that he was appointed by God to be Bishop as to those without Remark This Saying is directly against that universal Right and Authority in Synods Ecclesiastical which the Dr. so frankly gives all Christian Princes if Constantine was a Bishop in things only without the Church Of Synods less than general Contents p. 10. He asserts all lesser Synods under the Roman Emperors to have been actually called by the Emperors Authority and so accordingly Book Chap. 2. § 6. p. 16. These also viz. lesser Synods were convened by them or were summoned by some Authovity that was derived from them p. 17. They suffered not any Assemblies of the Clergy to be made but by their leave and according to their direction So § 13. p. 29 and § 19. p. 41. But Chap. 2. § 2. p. 10. he cites Socrates Saying the greatest Synods have been Assembled by their Order and still continue to be Assembled by them Which plainly shews lesser Ones usually were not And § 26. p. 62. he reports that Iohn of Antioch Arriving at Ephesus after the Council there had condemend Nestorius formed another Synod there of about thirty Metropolitans that came thither with him and deposed Cyril President of the Imperial Council c. vide So § 36. p. 86. He mentions two Provincial Synods one at Rome under Celestine and another at Alexandria under Cyril condemning Nestorius before the Council of Ephesus yet neither of these were called by the Imperial Authority And ibid. p. 88. he relates another Synod at Rome held by Pope Leo rejecting the Acts of the second Ephesine Council under Dioscorus Called and Supported by the Emperor which Roman Synod therefore could not be Called nor Authorized by the Emperor Chap. 2. § 4. p. 14. It was necessary that in order to their meeting lawfully the express Command or Allowance of the Emperour should be had for their so doing § 19. p. 41 They cannot lawfully meet but as they are Commanded or Allowed of by them That they Princes and not the Clergy are Iudges when it is proper to Convene them But p. 43. he thus yields When ever the civik Magistrate shall so far abuse his Authority as to render it necessary for the Clergy by some extraordinary Methods to provide for the Churches Welfare that necessity will warrant that taking of themâ— And Ch. 5. § 4. p. 267 268. When the Exigences of the Church call for a Convocation then I do confess the Church has a Right to its sitting and if its Circumst ances be such as to require their frequent Sitting during those Circumstances it has a Right to their frequent Meeting and Sitting Vide. Remark But if the Church has no Right to Judge of the time proper for their sitting what benefit or use is there to be had of their Right or what extraordinary Methods of Session can they pretend to in provision for the Churches welfare especially if that be true which he says Ch. 2. § 14. p. 32. That the greatest Bishops of the Church in Constantius his days which he reckons absurdly among the best times § 15. p. 34. did think it unlawful to hold a Council against the Princes Will so that being forbidden by an Heretical Emperor and that against all Right and Justice on purpose that he might oppress them so to do they yet submitted to his Commands and chose rather to suffer by their Obedience I suppose rather not to suffer by Obedience than to Vsurp an Authority which they were sensible did not belong to them See p. 34. Remark Now if this had been spoken only of General Councils it had been agreeable to Church History and our 21 Article but the applying this against the Right of all Councils and Conventions whatsoever is what comports neither with truth nor with his other fore quoted Concessions Chap. 2. § 2. p. 19. When the Vandals had over-run the greatest part of Africa and by their Authority set up the Arrian Heresie in opposition to the Catholick Faith which beforce prevailed in those parts Hunericus their King at the desire of the Arrian Bishops summoned a general Convention of all the Catholick Bishops to meet at Carthage and accordingly upon his Summons they all came thither and refusing to renounce the terms of the Council of Nice they were deprived of their Bishopricks and sent into Banishment by him Remark It is a strange inadvertency to bring an Arian Instance for a proper Authority in matters of Christianity nay and against the Catholick Faith too against which no Princes have Authority to set up Heresie against the greater Authority of God yet that Arian Prince had as good Authority to depose the Faith as he had to Convene and Depose the Catholick Bishops that is none at all it being all a perfect unllity Bâ—â— every act of un controulable Tyranny passes with the Dr. under the reputation of Authority Chap. 2. § 15. p. 34. I believe it would be difficult in those best and most early times of the Church to find out any Instance wherein the Orthodox Bishops have ever departed from this Rule or which is much the same thing have ever been justified by the Church in those cases in which they have departed from it Remark This is in effect a Revocation of his former avowed Assertion that no lesser Synods were ever convened without the allowance of the Emperours For tho' he says it will be hard to find any contrary Instance yet having himself given four in John of Antioch Caelestine Cyril and Leo and there being infinitely more such to be produced out of the Histories of the Empire he was forced in Conscience hereof to say That they were never justified
Committed by God to set Orders to proper Priests and lastly the Mystick Powers of the Hierarchy of the Keys Hierarchial Powers of binding and loosing of remitting and retaining of sins in Earth to be ratified above by Christ in Heaven was deposited in the Apostles the first Fundamental Bishops under Christ and derived down to all their Successours with whom he promised his presence even to the end of the World that so the Gates of Hell might not prevail over the Church committed to their Charge Consecration by Mystical Imposition of Haâ—d to which end among others they are by a Mystical Imposition of Hands blessed and consecrated unto such Measures of the Holy Spirit as are suitable to so high and holy a Function and such Mystick Offices Now if this in Fact be so then our Rule holds good that none can attempt these Powers but by Divine Commission either Original or Successive the Divine Maxim of the Author to the Hebrews c. 5.4 holding true of these Priesthoods as well as those in the House of Aaron Priesthood not assumable but by Divine Commistion That no Man taketh this honour unto himself but he that is called of God as was Aaron Now to secure this Truth and Matter of Fact we have St. Pauls Testimonies to the full in several places namely That Christ hath placed in the Church Pastors Powers Ilicrâ—rchiâ—â—l instincted by Christ Teachers Governments in which they that Rule are to Rule well and with diligence and to be therefore accounted worthy of or assigned double Honour and to be obeyed and submitted to as they that watch for our Souls for which they must give Account as Stewards of God Mysteries 1 Cor. 12.28 Rom. 12.8 1 Tim. 5.17 Heb. 13.17 1 Cor. 4.1 from whence 't is as clear as Noon day that the Christian Laity are by Divine Ordinance under Governors Hierarchical And being so are in a Subordinate state of Ecclesiastical Society with God under their Spiritual Rulers and being antecedently so before are therefore independently so consociated as to Civil Societies according to the Doctrine of the Letter § 3. But this is not all that deserves observation in this matter But beside the different Orders of Governours the Vnity of the Catholick Church is to be much considered under these several Governours either as one Divine School of Christian Piety under many Doctors The Catholick Unity of the Church a◠〈◊〉 â—â—chool Aâ—â—â—y or â—olity under several Principal Governours The Twelve and the Seventy or of one Army in many Partitions under their respective Head Officers or Lieutenants General under Christ the great Captain of our Salvation or as one Polity under many Optimates For first our Saviour came as a Doctor sent from God and gathered under him Disciples of these he ordained twelve chief Doctors and seventy Inferiors to collect more unto and instruct them in this School when collected Now a collection of Disciples into one Society is but one School how large soever it grows and how many Teachers soever the Enlargements do required So many Tutors there are in one Colledge and many Colledges in one University Since then also the whole Catholick Church of Christ is but one general School of his Foundation tho' the Doctors that teach it have their several Rooms and Mansions for their particular Shares these Partitions for Convenience do not divide the general Society into Independent Separations No Independencies in Christs Church The same sort of Unity is to be maintained in the Notion of an Army or Church Militant by Sacramental Vow under Christs Banner under the conduct of its general Officers And lastly if we consider it as the one City or Kingdom of God committed by its Prince during his abscence to several Viceroys assigned their respective Districts and Jurisdictions these are the Bishops succeeding in this Authority to the Apostles So that this One School One Army One City tho' distributively to be governed by the several Rulers as to particular and local Offices yet as to the Interests of the common Vnity and Preservation it must be governed Aristocratically by common Council and Unanimous Authority Conciliar Assemblies necessary to an Aristocracy And as no Monarch can well Govern without a set of Counsellors to Advise such as the Clergy or Chapter of a Diocess ought to be to a Bishop in his District So the Optimates of an Aristocracy cannot not only not Wisely but not Authoritatively act without Conciliar Forms and Methods and they are therefore themselves one standing fundamental Council for the whole Subject Body And hence is the Right of Provincial Synods The Catholick Right and Primitive use of Provincial Synods to be held all over the Catholick Church fundamentally necessary to the Catholick Uniformity of Conduct and Vnity depending thereupon to the end that what each Council resolves may be transmitted to the rest and so mutually treated of if need be by the intervention of Legates or ratified if there be no doubt or need of discussions which was the original form of Catholick Government and Communion in the Christian Church before the Empire set up Christs Banner and was received as of Apostolical Canon So that if the Visible Unity of the Catholick Church as one common Society and Community No need of Scriptural Record for requiring such forms of Government be of Divine Structure the very Truth and Faith hereof immediately imports an Aristocracy and that a Right of Conciliar Assemblies and Legations So that there needed no Scriptural Record requiring this while the Frame and Order hereof was before laid in the first Structure of the Church and Universally known as Established in it before any Scriptures of the New Testament were conceived or lodged in the Archives of the Church as is confessed by the instances of this Conciliar form of Government extant in these Scriptures to be by and by alledged For it is further to be considered that the Convention of these Synods is not universally of constant and indispensably necessary frequency Synods mostly upon emergencies to be fixed to stated times but upon emergencies mostly which yet are frequent enough and in the days of Persecution 't is as inconvenient many times to the Spiritual as dangerous to the Temporal Interests of Christians 't was therefore fitter to leave the exercise of that Authority free to the publick Ecclesiastick Prudence Not to be held constantly in times of danger as to the actual exercise and menage thereof than to confine it to particular Rules Times and Limits Cyp. Ep. 56. § 3. Nec quisquam cum populunmostrum fugari conspexerit metu persecutionis spargi conâ—urbetur quod collection fraternitatem non videat nec tractantes Episcopos andiat c. by Express and Canonical Precept without reserve to a necessary Liberty Nor need this be thought strange since the Assemblies for Doctrine and Worship tho' apparently of Divine Right as to daily use
Metropolis of Ephesus And can we think that this was a precept of separate watches and not rather common and united Cares there being many of them fixed in that one Provincial Church of Asia But if they were obliged to joynt Cares it must be by joynt Counsels and such will justify and require Conferences and Synods thereunto such as even this at Miletus was being a Meeting of Ecclesiastical Persons upon an Ecclesiastical Affair Presbyterys Acts 20. Presbyteries further are a Synod or Council of Elders and such there were in those days such as Convened unto James their Bishop at Jerusalem where Paul found them Assembled at his last being there Acts 21. And that Presbytery by which Timothy was ordained was such an Ecclesiastical Convention as quadrates with the Drs. Definition 1 Tim. 4.14 § 3. Besides in Judicial Processes St. Pauls Censures in Publick as St. Paul did pass Censures in the most solemn and publick Conventions of Churches as that of Corinth wherein no doubt there was an Hierarchical College either in Person or by Deputy upon Epistle or Mandate and thereby deliver wicked Men over unto Satan when out of the Protection of Gods Grace in the Communion of the Church so does he give order to Bishops by him Constituted thus to govern all inferior Orders by Iudicial Discipline to the Authority whereof as every Bishop has a Divine Right Presbyters of Council to the Bishops so all Bishops that have not the miraculous Spirit of discerning do need many times a Council of their Elders as to assist their Authority and greaten the Solemnity so to advise them in Casuistical and Doubtful Questions in order to a Just and Convincing Determination where as single and unconsulted Procedures Unconsulted Procedures as they are liable to many real Obliquities so do they lye open to far more Suspitions and Calumnies than 't is possible for a fair and well established Judgment to do A Method therefore always observed where it could be in the primitive Ages as being no doubt of Canon Apostolical But because by meer Divine Right of Order all Bishops are of equal Power consequently no one singly has any judiciary Authority over another Cyp. ad Sreph Ep. 67. iccirco copiosam corpus est sacerdotum concordiae muâ—â—ae â—utino atque uniâ—atis vinculo copâ—latum ut siquit ex collegio nostro haeresin facere gregem Christi lacerare vastare â—entaverit subveniant caeteri therefore to the examination and Censure of a disorderly Bishop and his Acts whether publick or private upon Informations or Appeals a Synod of Bishops hath been ever thought and Convened as necessary and of Divine Right as well as Apostolical Canon CHAP. VI. Of Cathedral Synods in the three first Centuries and their Authority § 1. WHether the loss of the Alexandrian Library be worthy the Complaint of the Christian World I leave to the Judgment of the Curious and Admirers of the Heathen Rarities But tho' the bulk of those Christian Monuments which are lost in the Calamities of the three first Genturies was not very great as far as we can Judge by Eusebius and other Authors and Catalogists yet the want of their Testimonies and Senses about Matters Ecclesiastical convinces us that the loss of them is one of the greatest Misfortunes and Damages that we have reason to bewail from the Ruins of time And as the enjoyment of those Memorials would have given greater Authority to our Doctrines and Usages which the ignorant or wanton World now controverts so particularly we had had thence a vast light in the Matter before us concerning the Doctrine Authority Forms Rules Vses and Venerations of the Primitive Synods especially in the Volumes of their Acts and Epistles of which very little now remains in the Writings that are preserved § 2. However Presbyteries under the Bishop notwithstanding these Invaluable Losses yet so much appears in what we have left us that every Bishoprick was a Polity consisting of a Bishop with his Subordinate Presbyters and Deacons to Consult Advise and Assist the Bishop and to Execute his Decrees upon the Result of their common Considerations And not only so Metropolitans and Primates but that Bishops were consociated into Provincal Systems under the Priority of their Metropolitans and Primates chiefly in the Sees of Apostolical Foundation and above all others that of Jerusalem over the Churches of the Circumcision till the last Ruin of the Jews and that City under Adrian and Rome Alexandria and Antioch in the Gentile World § 3. To offer proofs for this to the Dr. or any professed Member of the Church of England is an unnecessary and impertinent Trouble And the more needless because the Truth thereof has been made illustriously appear in many Volumes written for the Episcopal Hierarchy against all its Modern Enemies of what Character or Extraction soever But some little Strictures and Notices that may more appositely quadrate with the Matter of the present Debate I must beg the Doctor his patience to admit § 4. And first concerning the State of Sees Episcopal it is not only evident that there were in the Succession from the Apostles Presbyters under the Bishop if the See were full but these were Concorporated into Colledges for Counsel to the Bishop for the respective Bishopricks Vide Origen con Cels l. 3. And he that in this Age gives us the clearest Account of the Prelacy i. e. Ignatius the Martyr gives us the like of these Conciliar Colledges which he on that very Notion collectively calls Presbyteries Had he only named them Plurally and Masculinely Elders I could not have laid so much Stress upon it but when he calls them as in one System neutrally a Prethytery and a Synedrium or Council this convinces every Man that admits the Medicean Copy for Genuine wherein they are so Stiled that they were a Council for the See or Bishoprick Represented and Recommended by this Father as a Polity of Divine Constitution Ign. ad Eph. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. G. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus he suggests to the Ephesians that an obedience to their Bishop and the Presbytery is necessary to their Sanctification which therefore must suppose a Divinely Instituted Subjection hereto as to an Ordinance of Divine Authority no Humane Coalitions upon meer Rational Prudence being of any so high a Virtue as to Sanctifie So he enjoyns them to Assemble in one Faith Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To obey tho Bishop and the Presbytery with an indiscerpible Resolution which therefore must be the Effect and Consequence of one Faith and consequently of Divine Intention as being stated under the Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Vide. Id. ad Magnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Synedrium of the Apostles under God So for the Magnesians he calls the Presbytery the Spiritual Corona of the Bishop not the Prudential Nor were
these little Occasional Transports but fixed Senses in the Holy Martyr Ep. ad Trall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. G. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. Ep. ad Smyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vide plura ap V. G. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Philad 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Polycarp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Vide plura ejusmodi in Psendepig Ign. Inscriptionem Epist Polycarp ad Philippens Cypr. Ed. 34. § 4. Presbyterii honorem c. sessuri nobiscum c. ita Ep. 35 42. § 2 3. as appears by their frequent repetitions requiring an Obedience still to the Presbyteries as to the Apostles which had been extravagant to a Miracle had not Presbyteries been of Divine Institution on Faith of which he calls it the Council of God without which whosoever Acts any thing Ecclesiastical is not of a pure Conscience as being Concorporated for the Unity of the Church there being but one Lords Supper and one Altar of God as there is but one Bishop together with his Presbytery to unity with which all penitent Schismaticks must return in order to the remission of their Sins So that such a System of Presbyteries in every Bishoprick appears by this Disciple of the Apostles and Bishop of their Consecration to be of Divine Ordinance for a Council to the Bishop and the Bishoprick in all its occasions So that so many places attesting such a Systematick Consociation of Presbyteries in every See will bid a fair Interpretation for all those other places which require observance to Elders plurally only named See in the mean time Ep. 6. § 5. Solus rescribere nibil potui nibil sine consilio vsstro c. Ep. 18. 24. but collectively understood as an Ecclesiastick Council and so of the Deacons the same is most probable because they are generally set with the Bishop and the Presbytery in these Rules of Hierarchical Discipline and Vnion according to the forms of those Synods of St. Cyprians which generally contained the Deacons as well as Presbyters gathered together in the face of the whole Church in affairs that did concern all the Orders thereof of which more will be spoken when we come to particulars § 5. In the vacancy the Clergy of Council for the Bishop rick Nor were they only of Counsel and Sub Society to the Bishop while the See was full but they were a Council for the Vacant Bishoprick during the Interval to inspect and conduct the publick state thereof and to give and receive Letters of Communion between other Churches For tho' in the Vacancies Presbyters were not able to do all Episcopal Offices in their own Right as Ordination Anathematizing Absolution c. yet all things preparatory hereunto were in their power as Examination Regulation Suspension Injunctions of Penance c. in which the vacant Bishoprick was to be Canonically Subject and Obedient reserving higher Procedures to the higher Authorities of either the neighbouring Bishops at the present or their proper Bishop next to succeed Ign. ad Rom. For tho' Ignatius tells the Romans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Antiochen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that his Church in Syria at Antioch had now in his steed Christ and Christ only for her Pastor and Bishop yet in that ascribed to him sent to his own Antiochians he charges the Presbyters to feed the Flock till God should give them a Governour and the People in the mean time to be subject to the Presbyters and Deacons And tho' this is indeed an Apocriphal Epistle yet it is an unexceptionable Canon specisied in it and far from an Imposture that the Clergy should Govern the Laity in the Vacancy So Polycarp in his Epistle to the Church at Philippi then as it seems Polycarps ad Philippens charges the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Laity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Cypr. Ep. 35. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. without a Bishop for otherwise the Canon required him to have mentioned him in the first place directs the Presbyters to be Merciful Visiters of the Needy Converters of them that Err forbearing Wrath Partiality Unjust Judgment Severity c. the Laity to be subject to them And when it shall be considered that in these days the several Presbyters had not several Congregations apart to themselves but were all one common Colledge over one People in every See and the Rule of the Government and Obedience setin this Epistle is to the Elders in common without any distributive appropriation it will then be as clear that they were a Council for the Church in the Vacancy as a Council to the Bishop in the Plenarty To which the express Testimonies of the Epistles reciprocated between Bishops and Vacant Sees under the Conciliar Conduct of the Clergy are full and convincing Cler. Rom. Clero Carthag in t Epist Cypr. Ep. 3. § 1. cum incumbat whis qui videmur praepositi esse vice pastor is custodire gregem c. spoken of the Clergy of both Sees Thus the Clergy at Rome writing under their Vacancy to the Clergy at Carthage under the absence of St. Cyprian looked upon it as a duty incumbent upon them in the absence or want of the Bishops to supply their places in what their Order would admit in the custody of the Flock And they therefore having received Letters from the Clergy of Carthage of the Recess of St. Cyprian the Bishop by Clement the Carthaginian Sub-Deacon and Messenger send back this their Epistle by their Agent Bassianus to the Clergy of Carthage Ibid. Harum literarum exemplum ad quoscunque poteritis transmittere per idoneas occasiones c. vid. Cyp. ad Cler. Ep. 6. § 2. and desired them to communicate it by all means and opportunities possible to other Churches Which were plainly acts of Form and Nature Conciliar and such as they looked on as matter of Duty and not Prudence only 'T is true where Bishops were only absent it may be presumed that the Presbyteries did act by the direction of the Absent Bishop but then it is as certain Cyp. ad Cler. Ep. 6. Vice meâ fungamini cirea gerendaca quae administratio religiosa deposcit vid. Ep. 5. § 1. that the Absent Bishop was Canonically obliged so to Authorize or concede that vicarious administration which they upon their own Right before such actual Commission might assume for it was the disobedience of some proud Consessors to the Authority and Conduct of the Deacons and Presbyters Cyp. ibid. § 4. Quando audio quosdam nec à Diaconis aut presbyteris regi posse that occasioned St. Cyprians sixth Epistle to Authorize the Clergy that could safely stay at Carthage under the then persecution in his Stead Name and conceded Authority to carry on the Ecclesiastical Administrations Which was not the first Original of the Clergies Authority in the absence of the Bishop
but a valid and doubling Confirmation Cyp. Ep. 15. ad Cler. Rom. § 2. Presbyteris Diaconibus non defuit Sacerdotis vigor Ep. 37. ad Cler. § 1. officium meum vestra diligentia repraesentet or express ratification of that Antecedent Authority of the Clergy which the exorbitant took upon them for want of the Bishops Presence to despise there being the same reason tho' not the same degree of Want in the Absence as the Death of a Bishop and the proper vacancy of the See thereupon And therefore tho' in the denying Communion to Gaius Diddensis a Presbyter and his Deacon without his antecedent Sentence only on the Counsel of some of St. Cyprians fellow Bishops Cyp. Ep. 28. ad Cler. Integre cum disciplinâ fecislis quod consilio collegarum meorum qui praesentes erant Gaio Diddensi presbytero Diacono ejus censutstis non communicandum they acted on their own Authority yet are they commended by St. Cyprian as having acted with great Integrity and according to the Rules of Ecclesiastick Discipline It appears then that by a Primitive and Catholick Polity founded at least upon Divine Right if not Precept where-ever Episcopal Sees were fully sixed there was also a Council of Presbyters with Deacons and Officers under them for the Conduct of the Bishoprick and upon absence or Death of the Bishop for Synodical Communications with other Churches § 6. Which being pre-established it may not be amiss to consider some of those procedures in which the Primitive Bishops were wont to convene their Clergy in which I mean them alone in one Diocess without the aggregation of other Bishops for the Government of affairs And first if any Person under his Bishop promoted new or false Doctrines in Religion this became matter for the Care of the Bishop and the Counsel of his Clergy and many times the presence of the Laity infected or in danger of infection Dionys Alex. ap Euseh Eccl. Hist l. 7. c. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nepotis dicbum Elenchium Allegoristarum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and after a moderate discussion of the matter had by all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Thus in the Arsinoire Region under the Primacy of Alexandria one Coracion had disseminated the Doctrine of Nepos an Egyptian Bishop concerning a Carnal Millennium which had spread far and wide to the subversion of much people Whither therefore Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria coming called together the Village Presbyters and Teachers in the presence of all the Laity that had a mind to be there and to have a publick Discussion of that Doctrine of Nepos And after three days publick Canvas of Nepos his Book made with much moderation by all persons the affair ended successfully in the Conversion of Coracion the Ringleaders of the Millenaries If then Authority to Convert Men from Errors be Divine and Convocations of Clergy-Men by their Bishop be necessary or Expedient thereto as 't was in this case it follows that such Synods under a Bishop are of Divine Right and 't is as much the Bishops Divine Authority as Duty to convene them § 7. Cypr. ad Cler. Ep. 10. § 2. Nam cum in minoribus pece at is agant peccatores prenitentiam justo tempore secundum disciplinae or dinem ad exomolegesin veniant per imposstionem manus Episcopi Cleri jus communicationis accipiunt nunc crudo tempore Offertur nomen corum nondum pruitentiâ actâ nondum exâ—mologesi factâ nondum manu eis ab Episcopo Clero impositâ Euch iristia illis datur vid. Ep. 11. § 1. Ep. 12. § 1. Another Instance of Convening the Clergy by their Bishops in these Ages was for reconciling publick Penitents by Imposition of Hands of the Bishop and Clergy upon Consession first made publickly before in order to a recovery of the right of Communication Ecclesiastical and Eucharistical as also for the Censure of such as should presumptuously violate the Laws Order Union and Discipline of their Church and for Ordinations of the Clergy or less Orders All which are Acts Synodical Ibid. § 4. Acturi apud Nos the Bishop and Clergy apud confessores Causam suam c. Ep. 24. quos jam pridem communi consilio Clero proximos feceramus quando cum Presbyteris doclioribus lectores diligenter probaremus and grounded upon the Authority of the Bishop and the Reason of the Causes both which herein most certainly were as Divine as for such they were then received If a Man would be here accurate in traversing such intimations as may be picked up herein among the Antients one might swell this chapter to a greater largeness than is necessary but taking for granted that these are uncontestable and apposite evidence I leave these Presbyteries and their Divine Powers on their own Divine Foundations and proceed to the second sort of Episcopal or Provincial Synods CHAP. VII Of Episcopal and Provincial Synods in the three first Centuries and their Authority § 1. THAT there were Synodical Conventions and Provincial Councils of Bishops and such Presbyters under them as the Bishops brought with them or called to them in the First Centuries will not I suppose be denied by any owner of Episcopacy and the Volumes of the Antient Fathers So that our present enquiry is not into or concerning their actual being but their Frequency Right Authority and Uses for which they were wont so often so vigorously to assemble § 2. Tertull. De Jejun Aguntur praecepta per Graecias illus certis in locis Concilia ex universis Ecelesijs per quae altiora quaeque incommune tractantur ipsa repraesentatio totiùs nominis Christiani magnâ veneratione celebratur Et hoe quam dignum side auspicanti undique congregari ad Christum Conventus autem isti stat ionibus prius jejunationibus operati dolere cum dolentibus ita demum congaudere gaudentibus norunt vid. Alexand. Alexandrin Episc Epist ad Cath. Eccl. Epis ap Socr. Eccl. Hist l. 1. c. 5. And first as to their general frequency Tertullian the most antient of all our Latin Authors tells us that thro' all the Greek Countries where Christianity had so universally spread it self Councils were by command or precept convened out of all Churches thro' or in which Councils all arduous matters were publickly treated of and in them the Reverence of the Christian Character solemnly celebrated it being the highest dignity thus every where to be convened unto Christ and that with severe Stations and Fastings for the sanctification of them Where we see he asserts the practice and devotion to be of the very highest and divinest Dignity imaginable and consequently of the like Authority equal to that Dignity in which 't is either fundamentally lodged or to which 't is inseparably concomitant Nor does the Dignity only but the necessities of affairs also recommend or enforce the exercise as well as Institution of
Heathen Princes and servile Conventions under Christian ones The Letter Distinguishing all Power into Spiritual and Temporal founds both of them in God which no Christian will deny of the Ecclesiastical Authority That this can be Rightly Exercised among Christians only not as enclosed within any Civil State or Community but as Members of a Spiritual Society of which Christ Jesus is the Head who has also given out Laws and appointed a standing Succession of Officers under himself for the Government of this Society which continued near 300 Years before any Civil Governours embraced Christianity So that the Spiritual Authority is not in its own Nature simply dependent on the Temporal That when supernatural means of Governing the Church were thought by its Founder to be no more necessary to its continuance it was left to the best ordinary means of Conduct and Preservation viz. assembling debating and by Majority of Voices deciding concerning the Rules and Principles of Government That the Law of this Society is made to their hands not to be altered added or diminished but the applying thereof to particular Cases explaining Doubts upon it deducing Consequences from it in things not explicitly determined already by that Law and enforcing Submission and Obedience to their Determinations are the proper Objects of their Power That this Society can better claim an inherent and unalterable Right to the exercise of this Power than any Sect among us it not being Lost by Magna Charta by its Giving the Church a Legal Freedom Thus the Letter p. 17 18 19 20. The Doctor The Case stated on each side Is by no means satisfied that the Church has any Command or Authority from God to assemble Synods he is not aware that either in the Old or New Testament there is so much as one single direction given for its so doing And excepting the singular Instance of Acts XV. he knows of no Example that can with any shew of Reason be offered of such a Meeting And whether that were such a Synod as of which the Question is may justly be doubted The Foundation of Synods in the Church in his Opinion is the same as that of Councils in the State The Necessities of the Churches when they began to be enlarged first brought in the One as those of the Commonwealth did the other And therefore when men are incorporated into Societies as well for the service of God Then it seems the Church is not sociated till incorporated with the civil State to spiritual as well as temporal Ends. and salvation of their souls as for their Civil Peace and Security these Assemblies are to be as much subjost to the Laws of the Society and to be regulated by them as any other Publick Assemblies are Nor has the Church any inherent Divine Right to set it at liberty from being concluded by such Rules as the Governing part of every Society shall prescribe to it as to this matter As for those Realms in which the Civil Power is of another Perswasion Natural Reason will prompt the Members of every Church to consult together the best they can how to manage the Affairs of it and to agree upon such Rules and Methods as shall seem most proper to preserve the Peace and Vnity of it and to give the least Offence that may be to the Government under which they live And what Rules are by the common consent of every such Church agreed to ought to be the Measure of assembling and acting of Synods in such a Countrey Thus the Doctor p. 365 366 c. § 2. The Doctor 's Tergiversation This is what the Doctor replies about the Affairs of Ecclesiastical Synods to the Letter Wherein any Man may plainly see that he shuffles and turns his Back in the vety Fundamental Article in Controversie not daring professedly to refute the Hypothesis of the Letter by any good Proof from Reason or Authority nor yet ingenuously confessing those well-laid Truths which he was not able to oppose but to steal away the Reader from observing this Impotency he is fobb'd off with a poor precarious and not so much as evasive a Scheme of Imaginations for which he can hardly find any Church-Advocate nor any Credentials from any Divine or valuable Humane Writings § 3. Terms explained But before we come to winnow these Elements of Independent or rather Erastian Divinity for there is a mixture of these Contraries in which Erastiaenism much preponderates it is necessary that we six the principal Terms of Matters Fundamental in his Enquiry Authority what And first for Authority in Matters of Government it is known to signifie either a just or rightful or at least lawful Power to rule the Subjects according to Equity and Laws of Justice or else an uncontroulable Freedom and Impunity only of acting which is the priviledge of all Supreme Governors as being above all Legal and Judicial Coercion with their Subjects Right Now all Acts of Authority in the former and proper Sense appear in themselves Good and Right and no Powers or Persons whatsoever can have any opposite Good and Lawful Authority But the mere Exercises of an uncontroulable Domination Uncontroulable Domination tho called by the specious name of Authority cannot vacate any Just and Valid Rights Liberties and Authorities of any Subject Persons or Societies For it must be noted that an Inherent Right and Valid Title cannot be legally extinguished by any External Violations of Breedom or Obstructions of its Fruition or Practice which tho not accountable for at any Domestick Tribunal shall yet fall under the Sentence and Condemnation of God the present Civil Impunity giving no Right to any injurious measures nor Exemption from that divine Bar. Secondly We are to define an Ecclesiastical Council or Synod Synod what wherein I will take the Doctors Definition namely 't is literally a Meeting of Ecclesiastical Persons I mean Ministers upon an Ecclesiastical Affair (a) p. 60. And it is either subordinate The sorts of Synods consisting of one or more Bishops and inferiour Ministers or Co-ordinate consisting only of one equal Order either of Bishops alone or Inferiour Ministers alone For in want of a Bishop * Cyp. Ep. 3 Ep. 18. the Inferiour Clergy are the Council for the vacant Church according to the limits and powers of their Order A Convention of Clergy †Cyp. 26 Sect. 4 Ep. 31. Sect. 5. under their proper Bishop for Ecclesiastical Consultations or Acts we now should call a Diocesan Synod A Convention of a College of Bishops for a Province we may call a Provincial Synod which generally ever was attended with the Service of Inferiour Orders Councils called General are of the fame Nature in themselves tho of a larger extent and not of a Canonical originally but of Imperial Collection Other extraordinary and unusual Conventions of Select Bishops and Ministers not delegated so much by the Church upon her regular Constitutions
as convened by the Will only of Princes may be called Synods tho of themselves they have no Canonicol Authority for their Acts which must either stand or fall by the consequent Reception or Refusal of the Church notwithstanding all the Ratifications that the Temporal Powers give them a mere Ecclesiastical Commission from a Prince Ecclesiastical Commissioners of Princes no Canonical Synod being not of the same sort of Efficacy and Authority as a free Convention of the Powers Ecclesiastical Tho therefore such Commissioners may Grammatically be called a Synod yet Canonically a Synod is a Convention of the State or Powers Ecclesiastical on their own Right and Authority whosoever calls them to the Exercise thereof Thirdly we are to consider the. Attribute of Christian as given either to Princes or private Persons Now * Euseb reekons two lay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly a Christian is a Person baptized into and continuing in the Christian Faith but loosely and improperly Hereticks claim and use the Character which also may improperly be given to such as profess a Belief thereof before ever they are admitted to any Ordinance or Station of the Church for so Constantine the Great Dem. ev l. 2. c. 4. Sect. 38. So Origen con Cels l. 3. Ambr. de Myster initiand c. 4. Aug. in Joh. c. 2.3 Tract 11. and Constantius c. have been reputed Christian Emperors tho not Baptized nor so much as admitted Catechumens or Competents till a little before their Death Which Preliminary Explications will be found of great Use in this present Controversie § 4. Being thus harnessed we will consider the strength of the Doctor 's Hyyothesis first before we come to justisie that of the Letter The Doctor 's Principle worse than the Independents First then he makes a Synod under Heathen Powers to be but an independent huddle of Christians in common contriving their Affairs by no Authority but that of Humane Prudence But then I shall say that if this be a Synod such a Concourse of mere Lay-Christians may be a Synod and determine the common Process of their Conduct For he places this Care simply in the Natural Reason of the Members of every Church not the Governors nor Powers therein constituted for he does not suppose it a regular Society till incorporated with the Civil State Nor will it help to say that he defines a Synod a Meeting of Ecclesiastical Persons upon an Ecclesiastical Affair for all Members of the Church may with Grammatical Propriety be called and accounted Eccle jastica◠Persons in distinction from Aliens or absolutely tho Custom has given this Title as a distinctive of the Clergy from the Laity So that tho I in assuming the Doctors Definition of a Synod do by Ecclesiastical Persons mean the Clergy yet 't is not certain that the Doctor intends so except only of Synods called by Christian Princes but rather these Members of the Church under Heathen Powers must be the Ecclesiastical Persons convened in Synod under them without any Distinction of Orders or Authorities among them And if we will but add one Pastor among them here we have the true form of an Independent Church or Congregation which is its own constant Synod at all Meetings only the Independent Principle claims a Divine Right and relies not alone upon mere humane Inauthoritative Prudence and so is nearer to Truth and Reason than the Doctor 's But if the Doctor 's Principles be true that such Synods are Conventions of Church-Members upon Prudence only without any inherent Right or Authority wherein they are to give the Insidel Powers the least Offence that may be I doubt that Prudence will oblige them not to convene at all For certainly we are not in Prudence to give Insidel Powers or any Persons whatsoever any needless Offence at all But certainly Subjects having no Authority to convene yet convening against the Laws of Civil Powers do incur their great Offence which natural Reason cannot prompt Men to For if Christians should be called by such Infidel Powers to account for such prohibited Conventions by what Authority they do such things if they should set forth a good Divine Authority this would be a good though not perhaps a successul Plea but if they should say we have no Authority for it but only natural Reason and Prudence how can that direct a Man to disobey Laws which destroy no Man's Authority or Right Nor can it be shifted here that they have Right but not Authority for tho even a mere Right to synodize is enough to the jus divinum asserted by the Letter yet a Right to synodize is a Right to a publick Conduct by Rules and Methods to preserve the Peace and Unity of the Church and that is Authority tho never so democratical And if they have natural Reason for this Conduct that Nature that has given them just Reason has given them just Right to it for in such Matters Right and Reason is the same doing Men Right being properly called doing Men Reason If then they have natural Reason they have natural Right and if natural Right natural Authority to convene for their publick Conduct and that is a good Plea against the Laws of Infidel Powers But on the contrary if they have no Authority so to do they have no Right and if no Right no Reason and if no Reason how can this be done without Offence against the Civil Powers that forbid it and have just Right indeed to forbid all Assemblies which have no Authority Right or Reason But to conclude the Dr. has given these Synods a more fundamental Authority than he was aware of when he tells us that the necessities of the Church when it began to be enlarged Common-wealth did brought them into the Church as the necessities of the Councils of State Very well and a good Parallel but are not Councils of State endued with Authority founded on that popular Necessity The Doctor dares not say No to the State because the Leviathan is not safely to be angred but why then should not the Councils of the Church be authoritative for its Conduct and Preservation upon the same bottom of equal Necessity and that under the Heathen Powers For it appears that on this Necessity Synods were held in the Church in full Vigour and Spiritual Authority before there were any Christian States for heir Incorporation And therefore the necessity was the greater and by these the Doctor 's Rules the Authority should be so too tho yet he allows them no Authority because no Society till their Civil Incorporation which is tho the Doctor sees not the necessary Consequence to deny the Unity of the Catholic Church and its Constitution under Spiritual Governors of its own for the three first Centuries of Christianity § 5. But he further tells us Incorp that the Incorporation of the Church into the State being an Association for the saving of their Souls as well as Secularities subjects them