several Kinds of Fasts Sect. II. Several Occasions of Fasting particularly Penitence and Baptism p. 20 Chap. III. Concerning the Fast before the Festival of the Resurrection Sect. I. The General Presumption for its Apostolical Antiquity Sect. II. A Particular Proof of it from Irenaeus Sect. III. The different Length of that Fast down to Irenaeus his time with some probably of 40 days p. 31 Chap. IV. The Practice of Fasting mentioned about the Year 200 by Clemens Alexandrinus and Tertullian Sect. I. The Weekly Fasts of Wednesday and Friday mentioned by Clemens Alexandrinus Sect. II. Testimonies out of Tertullian concerning both the Weekly and Ante-Paschal Fasts Sect. III. Observations upon those Testimonies Some part of the Ante-Paschal Fast thought Necessary by the Catholicks of his time the rest Discretionary p. 46 Chap. V. Sect. I. A Testimony from Origen for the Devotion of Fridays and of the Paschal Season and thence to Whitsuntide Another from him but of Ruffinus his Transtation concerning the Fast of the Quadragesima or the Forty Season Sect. II. A distinct Account of the Passion-Week from Dionysius of Alexandria about the middle of the Third Century Sect. III. What were the first Paschal Solemnities mentioned by St. Cyprian and concerning the Passion-Week p. 70 Chap. VI. Sect. I. A mention of a Forty Days Fast by Peter of Alexandria before the Council of Nice Sect. II. Very probably they were the Days before Easter p. 88 Chap. VII Sect. I. Good-Friday and Days of solemn Fasting mentioned by Constantine Sect. II. The Forty Season expresly mentioned by the Council of Nice Sect. III. And that Forty Days are to be understood proved from St. Chrysostome p. 98 Chap. VIII Sect. I. This Forty Season particularly observed by the Candidates for Baptism Sect. II. And by Penitents p. 112 Chap. IX Sect. I. A Lent always and every where observed though not of Forty Days Sect. II. Mr. Daille 's Objections against it from Cassian Sect. III. From St. Jerome Sect. IV. From St. Chrysostome p. 122 Chap. X. Sect. I. Sozomen 's Account of the keeping of Lent in his Time about Ann. Chr. 440. Sect. II. What Additions have been made since Sect. III. Socrates his Account of the Practice of the same Age I suppose by the Novatians Sect. IV. His Wonder That Lents of differing Lengths should all of them be called the Forty Season Sect. V. The Conclusion p. 133 PART II. The Essay concerning its Original Preface p. 149 REPART I. That most of the Ancient Christian Ordinances were derived from the Jews Chap. I. or II. for so it is to be reckon'd hereafter by the error of the Press Sect. I. Not dishonourable for Christian Ordinances to be borrowed from the Jews and they generally were First such considered as are mentioned in Scripture as Sect. II. Baptism It was a Rite by which as well as by others Proselytes were admitted into Judaism Sect. III. Christian Baptism as expressed in the New Testament an Imitation of it p. 153 Chap. III. Sect. I. The Nature of the Paschal Sacrifice and the Description the Jewish Traditions give of that Supper Sect. II. Agreeable to the History in the Gospels of our Lord's Supper and to the Nature of it p. 167 Chap. IV. Sect. I. The Church of Christ succeeds to the Church of the Jews Sect. II. The Officers of the One rais'd from the Officers of the Other The Apostles of each Sect. III. And the Bishops Sect. IV. The Presbyters or Elders of the Jews Sect. V. The Christian Presbyters and their Power Sect. VI. The Ministerial Officers of the Jews Sect. VII Answered by our Deacons p. 175 Chap. V. Sect. I. The Excommunicates of the Jews and their Condition Sect. II. The Condition of Mourners among the Jews compared with that of the Excommunicate Sect. III. Their Excommunicates restrained from the Liberty not only of Civil Conversation but of Religious Communion Sect. IV. Excommunication mentioned in the New Testament as practis'd by the Jews and by Christians p. 209 Chap. VI. Sect. I. Circumstances relating to Baptism under Five Heads practis'd in the Church of Christ in the Second Century Sect. II. These all agreeable to Jewish Custom and First in General as to the Persons baptiz'd and Baptizing and the Solemn Time of Baptism Sect. III. In Particular Secondly as to the Distinction and Instruction of its Candidates Sect. IV. Thirdly As to the Action of Baptism Sect. V. Fourthly Its Confirmation Sect. VI. And Lastly the Sequel and Close of the whole Ceremony p. 236 Chap. VII Sect. I. Several Particulars practis'd in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper by the Primitive Christians which vary'd from those of the Paschal Supper Sect. II. These speak Our Lord's Supper to have succeeded the Paschal in its general nature as a Memorial of Thanks Sect. III. The Description of a Jewish Offering of Praise and Thanks with the Feasting upon it Sect. IV. The Christian Eucharist answer'd to it and in what manner Sect. V. A Tradition of the Jews That in the days of the Messiah only the Eucharistical Sacrifice should remain p. 266 Chap. VIII Sect. I. The Distinction of Clergy and Laiety specified by Tertullian That of Bishops Priests and Deacons by Him Irenaeus also being his Leader for the Apostolical Authority of Bishops Sect. II. And by Ignatius as the other at least of the Laiety and Clergy by St. Clemens of Rome Sect. III. The First Distinction deriv'd from the Language of the Old Testament The Offices of the Second from those of the Jewish Sanhedrim and likewise of the Temple the Upper parts of our Churches being also suppos'd to answer the Temple Courts of the Priests and the Altar p. 291 Chap. IX Sect. I. The Sentence and Effects of Excommunication with Christians as with Jews and the Relaxation of it alike Sect. II. Their Agreement in the estimate of the Guilt of Sins and the appointments of Penance p. 318 Chap. X. Sect. I. A Parallel of Christian Rites mention'd by Tertullian and Sect. II. Of those Vsages mention'd by Origen particularly about Prayer 1. Disposition of Mind 2. Posture of Body 3. Direction of the Face Sect. III. 4. Times of Daily Prayer Sect. IV. 5. Matter and Method Sect. V. The Antient Order of Christian Prayer Sect. VI. And the Order of the Jewish Sect. VII Compar'd Sect. VIII A Parallel of some few other Usages p. 332 Chap. XI Sect. I. The Second Prejudice against a Jewish Origination of Lent from want of Authority in the Talmudical Writings Sect. II. Answer'd by shewing 1. That those Traditional Accounts were not without some Antient Foundation of their own Sect. III. Secondly That they are Confirm'd in many points by Collateral Evidence Sect. IV. And Thirdly That they were not borrow'd by the Jews from Foreign Authors Sect. V. The Third Prejudice against such an Origination from the Novelty of it Answer'd p. 364 REPART II. A Conjecture concerning the Original of Lent Chap. I. Our Easter kept for some time with the Jewish
when he says (d) Hebr. 13.10 11 c. We have an Altar whereof they have no right to eat who serve the Tabernacle for they eat not of the Oblation made for their Sins as we do of our Blessed Saviour by whom by whose Body and in whose Name we offer the Sacrifice of Praise Thanksgiving to God continually that is the Fruit or Oblation of our Lips or which our Lips have Vowed to return as well as what we do return with our Li ceasing not to do Good and to Distribute both out of our Oblations and the rest of our Substance for with such Sacrifices such Offerings of our Praise and Goods in the general and at the Eucharist in particular God is well pleased § I. d Of this I needed not have given an Instance but there is one that will likewise serve to another purpose De Coron Cap. 3. Eucharistiae Sacramentum in tempore Victus Omnibus mandatum à Domino etiam Antelucanis coetibus nec de aliorum manu quam Praesidentium sumimus e The word is often us'd even in one Chapter the 34th of his Fourth Book Adversus Haeres and I shall give but one Instance in that fam'd Passage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 f Just Mart. Apol. secunda uti vulgo numeratur prope finem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the Oblation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 likewise do g Examples will appeat in those Passages to be produc'd in the next Chap § 2. i Tertullian Apolog. Cap. 39. Coena nostra de nomine rationem sui oftendit Id vocatur quod Dilectio penes Graecos k Epist ad Smyrnaeos After a general prohibition against the doing any thing in the Church without the Bishop and after a particular mention of the Eucharist there follows further 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 m This Order of Oblation and Invocation is not only to be seen in the Antient Liturgies but is plainly express'd by that Antient and Venerable Author Irenaeus in the Chapter above-cited e § III. d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Maim de Cult Divino Tract 5.9.5 e Nehem. 12.31 Then I brought up the Princes of Judah upon the Wall and appointed two great Companies of them that gave Thanks Whereof one went upon the right hand of the Wall c. By this Procession the Jews suppose the Bounds of the Holy City to have been determin'd and that the Bread of Thanksgiving which was not to be carried out of Jerusalem was therefore carried about now to mark its utmost Limits And accordingly by two great Thanks as it is in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they understand two great oblations of Bread of Thanks making the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the whole Sacrifice of Thanks to stand here for the Bread only and that only the Leaven'd So Rabbi Salom on the place And Maim in the Book above mention'd Tract 1. Cap. 6. § 12. § IV. a I confess that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in t is Case where we translate it a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving is rendred most commonly in the Greek of the Septuagint so call'd by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and never by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But it is notorious that the sence is the same Neither do they always interpret that word by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but on the fame subject they once put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Levit. 22.29 and in another place we shall meet in the next Section Jerem. 33.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Name by which our Christian Sacrament is also known The truth is the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is found in the Septuagint in no sense but it is frequent in the Apocrypha and in the New Testament and Aquila in his Translation of Amos 4.5 uses it for this very matter CHAP. VIII § I. The Distinction of Clergy and Laiety specified by Tertullian That of Bishops Priests and Deacons by Him Irenaeus also being his Leader for the Apostolical Authority of Bishops § II. And by Ignatius as the other at least of the Laiety and Clergy by St. Clemens of Rome § III. The First Distinction deriv'd from the Language of the Old Testament The Offices of the Second from those of the Jewish Sanhedrim and likewise of the Temple the Upper parts of our Churches being also suppos'd to answer the Temple Courts of the Priests and the Altar § I. WE come next to the Officers of the Christian Church expressed in the Scripture under general Names and which answer'd sufficiently to those us'd by the Jews but whose signification was not in some Cases so well distinguish'd as to make out the Parallel exactly Now the Writings of the Primitive Christians speak on these occasions more expresly and clear up the Confusion caus'd by ambiguous words determining their sense by such a distinction of Offices as had all along obtain'd from the days of the Apostles Certain it is from what we have already seen of Tertullian that in his time at the end of the Second Century the Offices of Bishop and Presbyter and Deacon were the principal Offices of the Church and notoriously Distinct The Power says he (a) Ch. 6. §. 1. c of Conferring Baptism the High Priest hath who is the Bishop then the Priests and Deacons but not without the Authority of the Bishop to keep up the Honour of the Church without which Peace cannot be preserv'd otherwise even the Laiety have a power to do it Now whatever becomes of the controversy of Baptism by Lay hands it is manifest from our Author that there was a Distinction of the Laiety and the Clergy b and among the Clergy between the Bishop and the Priests and Deacons and that the Bishop had a singular supereminent Authority over the Presbyters as well as the Deacons And that he understood this separate Authority to have been deriv'd from the hands of the Apostles is as plain from his Treatise of Prescribing against Hereticks (c) De Praeser ◠32. There to Bar some Heresies which were as old as the Apostles from pleading that they were taught by the Apostles he bids them Shew the Origine of their Churches and deduce a series of their Bishops with such a continued Succession from the beginning as that the first Bishop of them may have some Apostle or Apostolical Man who continued in the Communion of the Apostles to vouch for his Author and Predecessor For so the Apostolical Churches bring down their Pedegree as the Church of Smyrna reckons Polycarp placed there by St. John and the Church of Rome Clemens ordain'd by St. Peter and as other Churches name those who were made Bishops by the Apostles and to whom the Seed of the Apostolical Doctrine was transmitted This is Tertullian's Opinion and as it appears from his manner of delivering it was the general acknowledg'd Opinion of that Time But on the same Argument Irenaeus
the Bishop Presiding in the place of God and the Presbyters in the place of the Consistory Synedrium of the Apostles and the Deacons being intrusted with the Ministry of Jesus Christ. And speaking of Deacons to the Trallians he says expresly they are not Ministers of Meats and Drinks but Servants of the Church of God I know well that these now Unusual expressions and High Comparisons have been construed into a prejudice against the Authority of these Letters But it is not reasonable to judge either Antient Practice or Phrase by the Modern for possibly those Primitive Christians would be at as great a loss to understand some later Divinity The Passage that may appear the most strange is that to the Smyrneans Follow your Bishop as Christ Jesus followed the Father But we are to remember that the Hereticks whom he warns them to avoid were those who deny'd the reality of our Saviour's Flesh saying that He Suffer'd and Rose again in Appearance only themselves also dispensing with the Reality of their Duty as he tells them and being Christians only in Appearance High-minded and puffed up These he Commands them to avoid and for the same intent he cautions them to shun Divisions among themselves as the beginning of those and most other evils and to Follow the Bishop Polycarp a Faithful Servant of Christ Approv'd and intrusted with the Charge of them by the Blessed St. John adding as Christ Jesus the Father a comparison that no more equals the Bishop to the Father than it does the other Christians of that Church to Jesus Christ It imported only that they should not be high-minded and conceited but should be subject to their Bishop for Christ also himself was in reality found in the form of a Servant and obedient unto the Father even unto the Death of the Cross and that they should receive the Commandments from Polycarp and act as they saw him to act for as St. John lately departed from them had inform'd them Christ also did or spoke (d) 8.28.12.49 nothing from himself and he both Taught and kept the Commandments of the Father (e) 15.10 This seems to be the occasional Analogy of that Expression And as for the others that the Bishop presides in the place of God or is to be look'd on as our Lord these speak him only as a Substitute and lower Representative of God and Christ invested with some degree of Authority from them as when St. Paul Commands Christian Servants to obey even Heathen Masters as Christ (f) Eph. 6.5 neither were the Presbyters to be follow'd as the Apostles for the Parity they held but for the similitude they bore being Assistants to the Bishop as the Apostles were to our Saviour For so was Moses heretofore put in the place of God (g) Exod. 7.1 and as in Ignatius the Presbyters are said to preside in the place of the Consistory or Sanhedrim of the Apostles so the Apostles themselves may be suppos'd to succeed in the place of the Twelve Princes the Chief Assistants to Moses Neither has this Language of Ignatius to Christians any other meaning than it might have had if a Jew should have admonish'd his Brethren Jews to have obey'd their Nasi or Patriarch as God for so they were to have obey'd Moses their first Nasi and his Assessors as they would have done the Assessors of Moses for to those in some manner they succeeded Thus Ignatius concerning Church Officers And to go higher yet up into the first Age for then St. Clemens of Rome undoubtedly wrote his Epistle if not before the Destruction of the Temple h there if we have not an Authority for the Distinction of them by proper names one from another yet we have a certain instance of the use of the word Lay before mention'd whereby they were discriminated from the rest of the Congregation The place whether speaking of the Jewish or of the Christian Church and of the Christian in likelyhood it does runs thus i To the High-Priest proper Offices are given and to the Priests a proper Place is appointed and on the Levites proper Ministries are incumbent The Layman is bound to Lay Duty Let every one of you Brethren in his own Station give Thanks or celebrate the Euchari to God having a Good Conscience and not transgressing the Rule of his own Office as he ought to do in Holy Decency § III. This was the certain Distinction in the Antient Church betwixt the Laiety and the Clergy and among the Clergy betwixt the Bishops Priests and Deacons and that it was deriv'd from the Language and Polity of the Jews we may have already discern'd in part from the account above given (a) Ch. 4. As to the Denomination of Laiety as distinct from the Tribe of Levi it must be directly understood to have been in use with the Jews by those who will understand the passage from St. Clemens last cited concerning the Jewish Priesthood And those too who will have it taken of the Christian Priesthood must conclude from the ordinary and current manner of using this Phrase in the beginning of Christianity that it had been receiv'd before and was as well known as that of Priest and Levite But besides the Ground also of this Appellation is from the Old Testament For there as the Nation of the Israelites is contradistinguish'd to other Nations and is separated for the Peculiar Propriety (a 2) Ex. 19.5 Deut. 14.2 and Inheritance (b) Deut. 4.20 of God the signification of the Greek word Clerus and they might all therefore have been properly stil'd the Clergy of God in respect of other People the meaning of the word Lay for in that regard they all are call'd Priests (c) Exod. 19.6 So in this Holy Nation one Tribe of it was more particularly Chosen and Holy and separated from the rest God not only claiming them to be his Own yet more Peculiarly and in the place of the First Born (d) Numb 3.45 but declaring Himself also to be their Peculiar and Inheritance (e) Num. 18.20 and might well therefore have been appropriately stil'd the Clergy even in respect of the rest of the Holy People who were then for distinction to be call'd the People Neither was this term the People at all dishonourable to the other Tribes for it appears by the Phrase of St. Luke (f) Acts 26.17 2◠to have been the name whereby they chose to distinguish themselves from the Gentiles or Nations and the disparaging acception which the Pharisaical Rabbins give it when they oppose it to the Disciples of the Learn'd and make it to signify the Illiterate and Rude seems to be rais'd by them for their own honour since they have come in to the room of the Priests and usurp'd their Privilege (g) See Ch. 4. §. 4. Next I am come to compare the several Officers of the Christian Church so distinguish'd as above with the several Officers of the
recommended the Custom of his side That there were too deposited in Asia the Remains of very great Saints and Martyrs Philip and his three Daughters St. John who lay in our Lord's breast Polycarp Thraseas Sagaris and Melito who all had kept the 14th day of the Passover according to the Gospel and so adds he have I according to the Tradition of my Kinsmen or Countrymen or my Predecessors in this See i with some of whom I conversed They were seven and I am the eighth and they always kept the Day when Leaven was forbid I therefore who am now 65 Years old in the Lord and have conversed with our Brethren of the whole World and have perused all holy Scripture am not at all moved at those who trouble and threaten me For my Betters have said God is rather to be obeyed than Man This Holy Man was himself a great Evidence of the Antiquity of the Custom for which he stands He was about the 8th Bishop from St. John for however the Word is to be rendered about so many sate in the same interval at Rome and writes this about 90 Years after his Death when he himself had been a Christian 65 Years of them and able to testifie of all those Years if he was baptized Adult as they then generally were We may too think that he had some particular Instances in his View of the Practice of those Persons whose Names he vouches if we may infer from what we chance to know of two of them Melito and Polycarp For Melito who was Bishop of Sardes had as Eusebius tells us in another place (k) Hist Eccl. 4.26 some twenty Years before wrote a Treatise of the Lord's Day and two Books concerning the Passover or the Christian Solemnity at that time of the Year there having been a great Dispute raised about it at Laodicea then when Sagaris the Bishop of that Place named here by Polycrates received his Martyrdom a Dispute I suppose of the same nature with This. And in it Polycarp here too mentioned had been engaged before who went to Rome as St. Jerome (l) Catal. Scâ—ip Eccl. expresses it about some Questions concerning the Paschal Observation in Anicetus his Pontificate And the Conversation which he had with Anicetus about that Subject we have related by Irenaeus a Disciple of Polycarp's and who had been bred up in Asia He now Bishop of Lyons in France though declaring for Victor yet interposing and endeavouring to moderate the Heat of the Controversie in a piece which Eusebius has sav'd of that Letter (m) 5.24 among other things told Victor as follows And the Presbyters before Soter who presided in the Church which you now govern I mean Anicetus and Pius and Hyginus and Telesphorus and Xystus neither kept the 14th day themselves nor permitted those of their Church to do it And nevertheless they not keeping it held Communion with those who came from other Dioceses where it was kept Although then when they were together in Rome the keeping it was more contrary to those who kept it not n And none were ever refus'd Communion for this Matter But the Presbyters before you who kept it not sent the Eucharist to those of the Dioceses who kept it And when Blessed Polycarp was at Rome in Anicetus his time and there were some Differences between them about other things They presently agreed never proceeding to have any Contention on this Subject Anicetus not prevailing with Polycarp to forego a Custom which he had all along observ'd with St. John the Disciple of our Lord and the other Apostles with whom he had conversed and Anicetus alledging That he for his part ought to keep the Custom of the Bishops his Predecessors And these things standing so they communicated together and in the Congregation Anicetus gave Polycarp the Respect of Celebrating the Eucharist and they departed from each other in Peace in all the Churches those who kept and those who did not keep preserving Peace and Communion one with another Here then we have Polycarp a Disciple of St. John attesting to the Asian Tradition an undeniable Witness of its Apostolical Antiquity We know too that this Discourse of his with Anicetus must be at farthest in the year 161 if we reckon Anicetus his Death with Bishop Pearson and in the year 153 if with Mr. Dodwell between 30 and 40 years before this Dispute of Victor's And indeed it seems plain from the same piece of Irenaeus his Letter that this Difference had been taken notice of almost from St. John's time though mutually tolerated For to that purpose he mentions the behaviour of Anicetus Pius Hyginus Telesphorus Xystus all Bishops of Rome up to the year of our Lord 101 by Bishop Pearson 102 by Mr. Dodwell very near the time of St. John's Decease From all which we see not only what good Authority the Asiaticks disputing with Victor had for their Tradition but that this matter had been long before brought into Question and made so remarkable very early that those of both sides must have had some distinct and more than general remembrance of the successive Practice of their several Customs convey'd down to them Neither indeed could those of Victor's Judgment have ever oppos'd the Asiatick Observation whose Antiquity was so well prov'd if they had not produc'd on their side as good Evidence for their own such Evidence I say as they might well be furnisht with from the elder Memorials of the same debate And thus did both sides of this Great Dispute however they differ'd in the particular manner of their Paschal Observation absolutely agree in the general concerning the Apostolical Antiquity of it A little while after this time Clemens of Alexandria wrote a Treatise concerning the Paschal Observation and some Dissertations concerning Fasting all which are lost And the Design of his Paschal Book as Eusebius tells us (o) Eus Eccl. H. l. 6. c. 13. was to deliver down the Traditions which he had receiv'd from those before him about that subject and in it he made mention of Melito and Irenaeus whose Relations he set down Hippolitus likewise a Bishop and Martyr a Disciple of Irenaeus in the year 221 wrote a Book of the Paschal Season in which (p) Eus E. H. lib. 6. c. 22. as Eusebius says he gives an Account of the past Times by a repeated Cycle of 16 Years concluding in the first Year of Alexander the Emperour's Reign which Book is wanting But a Table of his engraven in Stone was happily dug up at Rome the last Age which beginning at that first Year of Alexander gives all the Easter Days which were then to come for 112 Years with as much Formality and Method as they have been us'd to be calculated since (q) Apud Bâ—â—her in Vidorium Such express Accounts of the Paschal Season there have been heretofore given very near the Apostles times which had they been preserved might have more particularly informed us
abesse sub dio versari cum pecoribus suis procul ab hominibus pastum recedere these Two Sorts of People with those that liv'd in Wall'd Houses making up the whole Number of the Children of Israel CHAP. VI. § I. Circumstances ralating to Baptism under Five Heads practis'd in the Church of Christ in the Second Century § II. These all agreeable to Jewish Custom and First in General as to the Persons baptiz'd and Baptizing and the Solemn Time of Baptism § III. In Particular Secondly as to the Distinction and Instruction of its Candidates § IV. Thirdly As to the Action of Baptism § V. Fourthly Its Confirmation § VI. And Lastly the Sequel and Close of the whole Ceremony § I. HOW much the Ordinances of Christianity Recorded in the Scripture agree with those of the Jewish Church we have seen Now several Circumstantials of those Ordinances are remembred to have been practis'd in the next Age as well as several other Usages of which the Scripture is silent and whether they were not deriv'd from the Jews also we now come to consider I begin with the Rituals and Circumstances of Baptism many of which were undoubtedly practis'd very early in the second Age being mention'd by Tertullian at the latter end of it as used then by the Church time out of Mind Now this Author in his Treatise which he writ expresly of Baptism and besides scatteringly in other places hath happily inform'd us both in general concerning the Persons capable of Receiving this Sacrament Those Able to give it and the Common Time of Administring it and also particularly concerning the Administration of it letting us know some Circumstantials of the Preparation to the Action of the Action it self of the Seal or Confirmation of it and of the Solemnity that afterwards attended it First What I have added in this Column for Explication is taken out of other Authors not later than the IVth Century The Church at that time Baptized Children their Godfathers undertaking for 'em a as well as Grown Persons and the Solemn Time for the Administration of that Sacrament was b the Paschal Season 1 Saturday in the Evening before Easter-Day Cyril Cat. Myst 1. Ambr. de Sacram. 1.1 The High Priest who is the Bishop had the Right of conferring it and the Presbyters and Deacons by his Authority tho' the Lay-Men in Case of Necessity had Right to give it also c Secondly The Church then made a Distinction d between the common Gentile or Jew and one of them in some measure perswaded to Christianity called a Hearer or one under Instruction who profess'd Repentance for his past Life as well as between the last sort and a perfect Christian 2 Those of the Middle Kind and not yet Christians were also at least afterwards subdistinguished The Hearers were such as had been informed of some general and Preliminary Points of the True Religion e and were half come over if Heathens having renounc'd their Idolatry and gross Immorality and if Jews acknowledging the True Messia but not yet intirely satisfied in all Points necessary suffered therefore to hear the Scriptures and Sermons for their further Conversion The Catechumens or those under Instruction were willing to become Christians and resolv'd it but either did not esteem themselves worthy as yet or were not fully approv'd by the Church and these had their particular Instruction from whence they were called and professing Repentance for the Sins of their Unconverted State had the Privilege to stay after Sermon and to have the Prayers of the Congregation for them and to be dismiss'd with a Blessing And lastly when they were admitted to stand for Baptism they then entered into a stricter Course of Repentance and had the peculiar Articles of the Faith more plainly inculcated called now the Enlightned and after frequent Examination and Scrutiny were at last Received into the Body of the Faithful f And those were not promiscuously admitted in its Assemblies but had their distinct places assign'd 'em 3 The Places of Assembly or Churches had commonly an Area or Court before them Cloyster'd on either Hand Fig. 2. aa beyond the Court to the East generally was the Building which we may conceive at present to have been in Three Divisions whether they were separated or not within by any Rais'd Partitions or distinguished without by any Difference of Structure The Lowermost next the Outer Doors we may call the Ante-Church Fig. 2. AB the Next was the Church CD and the Last the Apartment of the Altar or Sanctuary EF Now the Ante-Church was also subdivided into Two Parts and in the Lowermost Part or Portico A and next to the Court was the Place of the Hearers properly so call'd The Catechumens Station B was above them next to the Church And in the Head of them the Enlightned or Immediate Candidates were I suppose posted being those who were in a little while to proceed further and to be taken into the Church it self the Place of the Faithful And so the Faithful themselves were orderly disposed according to the Difference of their Sex and Age and the Church was likewise in Two distinct Parts having the Desk or Pulpit S in the Middle that Below the Desk answering near to the Body of our Collegiate Churches C belonging to the Women chiefly who were seated in the Sides of it beneath and in Galleries above cc and the Upper Part D belonging to the Men the Whole or the greater Portion of which is now taken up by our Choir g Thirdly The Person to be Baptized protested first among other things before the Congregation That he Renounc'd the Devil his Pomp and Angels h Thence he went to the Water and made the same Renunciation again 4 For being come to the Porch of the Baptistery he turned to the West and stretching out his Hands spoke to Satan as if present I renounce thee Satan c. Cyr. Cat. Myst and then turning to the East he said the Creed and going into the Baptistery he was stripp'd ibid. and then he dipp'd thrice with solemn Responses h 5 For being ask'd whether he believ'd in God the Father c. he answer'd I believe and was dipp'd and so at the second and third Questions concerning the other two Persons of the Trinity Cyrill Cat. M. 2. Ambr. de Sacr. 3.2 Fourthly When he came out of the Water he both tasted h of a mixture of Milk and Honey and was anointed i with the Blessed Oyntment the Chrism as heretofore the Sons of Aaron had been anointed to the Priesthood He was also sign'd k or seal'd with the Sign of the Cross on the Forehead 6 Some Difference of Practice there was here between the Latin and Greek Church In the Greek the Chrism was given by the Person that officiated on the Forehead as well as on the other Parts of the Body Cyril C. M. 3. as now their Priest Anoints the Baptiz'd signing them with the
had before said the same thing (d) Iren. Lib. 3. Cap. 3. where he names the Succession of the Bishops of Rome down to Eleutherius of his own time the twelfth from the Apostles presupposing the same succession of such single Persons in all the Apostolick Churches and giving it as a Truth in matter of Fact on which he might found the Truth of the Catholick Doctrine and which the Hereticks themselves could not gainsay This plain Testimony of so Learn'd and Venerable a Person at no longer a distance from the Apostles seems unexceptionable but for the Church of Smyrna it is absolutely Unquestionable For there he speaks almost from his own personal Knowledge having himself been acquainted with Polycarp who was immediately ordain'd by the Apostles And as sure as this Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna so plain it is there that Anicetus was of Rome in his time and from their very Conference together reported by this Irenaeus as we have seen (e) Part 1. Ch. 1. §. 4. it also evidently appears that such Bishops had been always there presiding of whom we know as many are mention'd in that place on occasion of the Paschal Dispute as reach'd up to the very beginning of the Second Century Neither need I dissemble that those Bishops are stil'd Presbyters in the place last mention'd since they are known to be Presbyters of the more eminent Degree and to be the same single Persons with the same superiour Character the same distinction still remaining between them and the inferiour Presbyters § II. I might well be content with the Evidence Tertullian and Irenaeus give for the Apostolical Distinction between the Bishop and the other Presbyters and may therefore presume that what I have further to say of the same nature from Ignatius will not fail to be credited For how unreasonable it is to suspect his Writings for the peculiar Dignity he attributes to Bishops and that is the greatest Argument of Suspicion they have has already appear'd from the little I have produc'd as the Reader may find both that and all the lesser Cavils at large and unanswerably refuted by our Bishop Pearson (a) Vind. Ignat. This Ignatius Bishop of Antioch being in his Journey through Asia the less to his Martyrdom at Rome about the year 116 at farthest (b) Dodw. Diss in Ir. 1. sect 17. wrote several Letters to the adjacent Cities thanking the Churches there for their Christian Courtesie to him which they had shew'd by their Messengers and express'd by other Tokens of Fraternal Love and taking at the same time occasion to make them some effectual return and confirm them in the Faith and Discipline of Christ These Letters as all others even the Apostolical would be much better understood by us if we distinctly knew the particular Circumstances of those Churches to which no doubt he speaks very properly tho' we now out of the same words can make but a general and sometimes a very ordinary sence But however something of the Circumstances of those Times and of his Intention in those Letters appears thro' them And as his Design seems to be to fortifie them against the Fears of the present Persecution and to warn them of the dangerous Heresies sprung from Simon Magus and then prevailing so he manifests a particular care against Schism and for the preserving the Government of the Church Before this time the Divisions of the Church of Corinth about their Governors had occasion'd a Letter from the Church of Rome by Clemens's Hand and now in Asia when St. John himself the surviving Apostle was dead and the supreme controuling Authority was extinct it is very likely that the Orders before establish'd were in some danger of being subverted by the Ambition and Unruliness of such whom the Spirit by St. Paul had expresly foretold to Timothy the Bishop of their capital City (c) 1 Tim. 4.1 Now that such Attempts were then made upon the Authority of Church-Officers and to the confusion of their Distinction may be gather'd from this Ignatius as it also appears from his manner of Expression that such a Distinction was no novel thing and of modern erection nor was it of slight concern In this view as we may suppose he tells the Ephesians That they ought to glorifie Jesus Christ who had glorified them to be of one mind and to say the same thing and to be subject to the Bishop and to the Presbytery that they may be wholly sanctified You ought says he to concur with your Bishop as you do for your Presbytery is as consonant to him as strings to an Instrument And let no Man be deceiv'd he that is not within the Altar falls short of the Bread of God and he that does not come to the Assembly is Proud and it is written God resisteth the Proud d Let us not then resist the Bishop that we may be subject to God And the more modest and condescending your Bishop is the more he is to be reverenc'd for he is to be look'd on as the Lord himself And lastly he speaks of their Concurrence with Christ that they may obey the Bishop and the Presbytery with an undistracted Mind breaking that one Bread which is the Medicine for Immortality the Antidote against Death This it seems was necessary to be said on this subject to the Ephesians amongst whom as amongst the other Asiatick Churches to whom he writes the Peace of the Church which St. John's presence had hitherto secur'd began to be disturb'd Whereas therefore in his letter to the Roman Church whose zeal in this case was so well known he makes no mention of their obedience to spiritual Governours in all his other letters to the Asiaticks he enlarges much on the same Topick and was it seems oblig'd to press that Duty even upon the Smyrneans where Polycarp himself was Bishop He does it after this manner Fly Divisions as the beginning or cause of Evils All of you follow the Bishop as Christ Jesus the Father and follow the Presbytery as the Apostles and reverence the Deacons as the Commandment or Mandatories e of God Let no one do any thing appertaining to the Church without the Bishop Let that be esteem'd a good Eucharist which is under the Administration of the Bishop or such as He shall appoint Where the Bishop appears there let the People be as where Jesus Christ is there is the Catholick Church It is not lawful without the Bishop neither to Baptize nor keep the Love-Feast but what He approves that is it which is acceptable to God So to the Philadelphians after Exhortation to Unity under the Bishop he adds Take care therefore to use one Eucharist For there is one Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ one Cup wherein his Blood is united one Altar as there is one Bishop with the Presbytery and my Fellow Servants the Deacons As also in that to the Magnesians he directs Endeavour to do all things in the Vnanimity of God
All as there was commonly before it a Portico and a Piazza Such Rooms as these Private Men also built in Great Houses and being Christians might lend to the use of Christian Assemblies whence as they say it afterwards came that Churches were built in the same fashion retaining also the Name Basilicae Now that those Halls might have sometimes and somewhere serv'd to that use and were very convenient for it may be granted but as one cannot think that the Form of such a Hall gave occasion to the several Ranks and Offices of Christians so neither to the Building which was to be suited to them I should rather suppose that the Congruity of those two sorts of Aedifices was accidental and that the name came from the similitude t There are indeed others who take the Modules of our Churches from the Jews but either from their Synagogues or from the Temple House consisting of the H Fig. 1. Porch the Holy I and the Holy of Holies K Whereas the Synagogue goes but half way and neither now has nor ever pretended to an Altar and the Altar of Incense and Table of Shewbread which were in the House were we know in the Outer Part and not in the inmost the Holy of Holies It appears therefore that the Temple as it consisted of its several Courts was rather the Pattern which the Christians follow'd for the Place of their Worship For as for the House as it might before have been an Imitation of the Heavens the Holy of Holies representing the Third Heaven so now it might be suppos'd to be no longer on Earth but chang'd into that not made with Hands into which the High Priest was now enter'd with his own Blood as the Author to the Hebrews observes (u) Hebr. 9.11 12 24. We all in the mean time waiting without in expectation of his Return and until that his coming again by his particular Command continuing to celebrate the Joyful Memorial of that Sacrifice with which he Appears now in the presence of God for us But to return to my Argument whatever may become of the Conjecture concerning the Figure of our Churches this is certain by the express Declaration of the Scripture (x) See Repart 2. Ch. 2. §. 2. that our Saviour Christ is the High Priest of our Profession and in the Opinion of the Primitive Church all the several Bishops seem to have been as so many Sagans or Vicars of that High Priest officiating at their several Altars with equal and among themselves independant Authority y Under His Direction the Presbyters are as Priests assisting that their Vice High Priest in their several Stations and the Deacons as Levites attend and administer unto them So are our Bishops Representatives of our Saviour either as he is our Prince or our Priest his Deputies both in the Synagogue and in the Temple And thus as the Fathers of the Consistories with the Jews the Presidents under the Princes might have been properly enough stil'd by the Title signifying a Bishop or Superintendent So we actually know that the Vice High Priest whom now the Jews call Sagan was heretofore in the Old Testament express'd by that very name (z) See Chap. 4. §. 3. § 1. b One Part of the Distinction the Laici are specified in the place last cited and the other the Clerus containing the Ordines Ecclesiastici iâ— as expresly and familiarly mention'd in his Book de Monog cap. 12. occurring very often in the compass of a few lines § 2. d St. Peter argues in the same manner 1. 5. 5. e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mandatum it may be in the sense of the Civil Law and the Deacons here to be understood as Mandataries or Agents for such they were to the Bishops Const. Apost 2.28 and such Proctors the High Priest had whom the Jews call Entelers or Antalars from the Greek as may be seen at large in Seld. de Synedr 2.10.7 h According to Mr. Dodwell Dissert 2. Cap. 6. § 24. Libr. Posth Cestriens Episc Pearsonii i Clem. Rom. Ep. ad Cor. § 40 41. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 § 3. i Tertull. De Praeser Haer. Cap. 41. hodie Presbyter qui cras Laicus nam Laicis munera Sacerdotalia injungunt m The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. was the Place where the Communion was distributed to the Laiety and from the Lord's Body being there on that occasion Goar would have it call'd Solium as others from the Seat of the Emperour but Du Fresne seems to have given a more probable Original of the word Constant Chr. libr. 3. cap. 73. Solea says he à Solo Pavimento Editiori quippe apud Italos quicquid supra Pavimentum tantisper eminet Soglia dicitur uti apud Francos Seuil But Solea it self in Latin may possibly answer the signification and that place which is a little higher than the Quire may be reputed the Basis of the Bema its Solea or Crepida as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is expounded by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Solea in Festus by Materia Roborea supra quam Paries Cratitius extruitur not to mention that this place might be call'd Solea as that in the Amphitheaters next the Arena was call'd Podium n This Solea is said by Sim. Thessal to be call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Goar Euch. pag. 18. t The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tribunal by which the Altar-space is call'd and the Cancelli and Vails or Curtains by which it was separated from the rest of the Church and also the Candles and Book upon the Table may indeed concur to strengthen the Opinion I have oppos'd But it may be consider'd that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it self in that fence may well come from the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that therefore the Jews may be suppos'd to have us'd their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more willingly and that the Christians took it from them And so we know that though the Cancelli and Veiles were us'd to inclose the Apartment of Secular Governours yet Veils were us'd in the House of God and that these Cancelli divided the Court of the Altar from that of the Priests And lastly whereas it is true that the Furniture of the Table of the Praefecti Praetorio was a Book of his Office standing up between Candles on each side as it is design'd in the Notitia Imp. of Pancirollus it is also to be observ'd that this Civil State was deriv'd from sacred Eastern Usage that Candles were burnt before God in one part of the House and the Law lodg'd in the other and accordingly in the Jewish Synagogues their Repository of the Law has those Canâ—les before it and when the Law is brought out to be read it is placed on a Table that has a Cloth over it Buxt Syn. Cap. 14. and that therefore our Christian Altar instead of Fire which it needed not might have those Lights continually burning
and might withal be the sacred Table on which the Word of God should be plac'd that Lamp unto our Feet and Light unto our Paths y The Excellently Learn'd Mr. Dodwell in his Book of One Priest and One Altar differs not from what is here said He puts indeed our Bishops in the place of the Jewish High Priests Ch. 9. but then he supposes those High Priests to have been the Representatives of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the High-High Priest Ch. 8. As therefore Bishops now are the Substitutes of our Lord so they answer the old High Priest are such in some sense High Priests themselves but as He has now been pleas'd openly to own and to Execute that Office so they are thenceforth in propriety of Speech to forbear that title and to own themselves for his Vicegerents and Sagans CHAP. IX § I. The Sentence and Effects of Excommunication with Christians as with Jews and the Relaxation of it alike § II. Their Agreement in the estimate of the Guilt of Sins and the appointments of Penance § I. EXcommunication as we have seen (a) Ch. 5. was with the Jews a Punishment with which their Presbyterial Authority was arm'd and which besides if it was not also decreed was certainly Executed by the Sacerdotal and that Sentence we must think was then most valid and most effectual when it was pass'd by both those Powers Such an Excommunication we have seen too Directed in the New Testament and Executed and afterwards Releas'd And the same Jurisdiction how it continued to be Exercis'd in the Church we are now to consider This Discipline then is well known to have been Executed in the Primitive Church by the Bishops and Priests with great severity and to have been much dreaded by the Guilty And the account of it we may take from Tertullian as he describes it in his Apology (b) Ch. 39. Being to justify the Christian Assemblies from the Imputation put upon them by the Imperial Officers and common Opinion of their being Unlawful Associations and dangerous Conventicles He says We are indeed a Corporation embodied by our Agreement in the same Religion and Obedience to the same Discipline and are Confederate by the same Hope We Meet together but it is before God Him we surround with our Prayers and as it were with our Numbers Force but this is such a violence as is acceptable unto Him And then our Prayers are for our Emperours for their Officers and such as are put in Authority We meet but it is to refresh our memory by Reading the Word of God There too c is the place for Exhortation and for Reproof and there our Manners are Inspected and Censur'd as it were by God himself For Causes are there judg'd with great deliberation as it is fit to be done by those who know that they Judge in the Presence and sight of God and if any one shall be found so Criminal as to be Excluded from the Communion of our Prayers and Assemblies and from the rest of our Holy Commerce this Judgment so pass'd upon him is taken for the Highest Presumption that can be of a like Judgment to come Elders or Governours the best approv'd Preside over us such as have purchas'd the Honour not by Money but by their Deserts for nothing belonging to God is to be bought with Money By those who Preside over us we are chiefly to understand the Bishop and then the Presbyters who are said above (d) Ch. 8. §. 2. in the language of Ignatius to the Magnesians to preside also And likewise it appears manifestly that the Authority by which they act is not look'd on as founded upon any voluntary agreement of the Fraternity but upon the Law of God Neither is it necessary that I should trouble the Reader with any further Proof from the Antients either for the Immemorial Practice of Excommunication or for the constant Presumption of its Authority from God Fig. I. Fig. II. Fig. III. place this after P◠And agreeably to this we have already seen that Excommunication with the Jews was Lighter or Heavier and differently Aggravated as the Cause deserv'd (f) Ch. 5. §. 1. It has likewise appear'd probable that the several Excommunicates may have lain under several Prohibitions as to their Approach in the Synagogues or Temple (g) Sect. 3. And since it has been shown that the Jewish Proselytes enter'd into their Religion by the same Degrees by which the Christians did (h) Ch. 6. we cannot doubt but those of them who had been solemnly excluded the Temple ordinarily Re-enter'd it after the same manner advancing successively thorough the several Courts as those did who had been under corporal Pollution according to the measure of their suppos'd Purification We have yet spoken only of the spiritual effect of Excommunication and Tertullian mentions the Exclusion from all Sacred Commerce only and this no doubt is the proper jurisdiction of that Presbyterial Authority which pretends not to govern the Commerce or Negotiations of this World But there can be no question but that the Faithful always avoided any great Familiarity or intimate Conversation with the Excommunicates other than to Reform and Reconvert them And this the Scripture it self seems to direct (i) 1 Cor. 5.11 and necessary it was to the Humiliation and Mortification of the Criminal and for the danger of others being corrupted by him though the other common Entercourse the Christians were to have with their Neighbours of all sorts was to be regulated by the Policy of that Temporal Government to which they belong'd But when the Government became Christian as it thought fit to enlarge the proper Presbyterial Power with some new Jurisdiction in things confining upon that Office as in Causes Testamentary and Matrimonial so it back'd their Excommunication with civil Restraints and Penalties And thence those who were under the Greater Excommunication have been forbid all common Conversation renderd uncapable of several Legal Benefits and sometimes Imprison'd or otherwise punish'd in Body or Estate in all which proceedings the Patterns of the Jews as is evident has been much follow'd as it seems to be in the Three Admonitions before the Sentence the consideration of the contempt of the Court on which it is founded the pronouncing it by Bell and Candle and Executing it even upon the Dead (k) See Ch. 5. §. 1. § II. AND thus much may suffice at present for the correspondence of the Sentence and Effect of Excommunication with the Jews and with the Christians but they also agree further about the Crimes that are to be the Cause of it and about the means of its Absolution The most Grievous Crimes in the judgment of the Antient Church were Idolatry Adultery and Murder as Morinus has demonstrated (a) Mor. de Poen lib. 5. cap. 1. And that they are so estimated by the Jews he has also sufficiently prov'd (b) Ibid Cap. 3. And concerning Repentance and Expiation or