serviceable to the Publishers purpose For though an unjust Sentence ought to be submitted to when pronounced by a proper Iudge yet when the Cause does not lie within the Cognizance of the Court all the Proceedings are null and void It should have been made out that the Bishops insisted on their Right and challenged Submission from their People for if they acquiesced the Case does not come up to the Matter in Hand But here the Manuscript fails as it does also in clearing whether the Behaviour of the Bishops and People was founded upon Principles at that time owned For if want of due Information or Fear or Interest made them act as they did we have no reason to be governed by their Examples The Vindicator pâ—â—â—eeds to give in Counter-evidence and proves from St. Cyprian who disputes the Case of Sehism at large and lived in an Age very valuable for Antiquity and Integrity That the Catholick Church maintained the Right of Canonical Bishops both against Secular Magistrates and Schismatical Intruders As appear'd in the Case of Cornelius Bishop of Rome who was owned by the whole Church notwithstanding the Opposition made by Decius the Emperor and Novarian the Anti-bishop And Martian Bishop of Arles was refused the Communion of his Brethren for owning that of Schismaticks He observes that the Principles insisted on by St. Cyprian were not peculiar to his own Age but maintained likewise by St. Augustin and Optatus in their Disputes against the Donatists The Vindicator pursues the Argument and proves the Anti-bishops and their Adherents guilty of Heresy for the avoiding of which the Author of the Manuscript himself allows separation to be justifiable and necessary this charge he presseth upon them not only because they defend their Novelties by Principles but by such Principles as strike at the Root of Ecclesiastical Government For their being Bishops supposes all Spiritual as well as Civil Authority derived from the State which Doctrines make it impossible for the Church to subsist in a time of Persecution And since no Society whether Spiritual or Secular can stand without an intrinsick Power of Government and the Advantages of Society cannot be had any longer than the Society whence they arise continues From hence it follows that those Opinions which destroy any Society must destroy all those Advantages which were design'd in the Constitution and guarded by it Such Tenents when they relate to the Church may with propriety enough be called Fundamental Errors which brings them under the Modern and received notion of Heresy The Learned Vindicator in the second part of his Book goes on and shows that though the Oxford Manuscript how favourable soever would have been a very slender Defence for the Anti-bishops and their Party yet they have not so much as the Countenance of this Record the Instances produced being Foreign to the present Controversy For in all the Cases mentioned in this Manuscript excepting that of Callinicus which is dubious and not to their purpose either the Deprivations were passed in an Ecclesiastical Synod or were grounded upon Resignation or Heresy or else the Deprived Bishops insisted upon their Right and with their People formed distinct Communions from their Intruders And thus in the Course of 900 Years which is the length of the Manuscript they have not one Instance to prove that a Lay-Deprivation had any Force against the Spiritual Authority of the Church So singular as well as destructive are the Principles our Adversaries establish themselves upon Lastly The Learned Vindicator subjoins a Collection of Canons drawn from those called the Apostles from the Council of Gangra Antioch Carthage and Constantinople which in all rational Conjecture were added by the Author of the Manuscript though omitted by the Publisher In these Canons 't is solemnly Decreed That if any Deacon or Priest should despise their Bishop and hold separate Meetings from him unless he were deprived by a Synod they were to be degraded This Fault in the Laity was punished with Excommunication And if a Bishop withdrew Communion from his Metropolitan unless Synodically deprived he was to be deposed By all which we may understand how far these Councils were from supposing that the Civil Magistrate had any Power to deprive Ecclesiasticks of their Spiritual Authority These are some of the Heads upon which the Learned Vindicator proceeds and which he maintains with admiâ—able strength of Reason and Authority If the Reader is inclin'd to see the Argument pursu'd at Length and with its just Advantages he may please to consult his excellent Discourse From the Independency of the Church thus proved these Conclusions naturally follow First That it is no more in the Power of the State to deprive the Church Governors of their purely Spiritual Authority than it is in the Power of the Church to remove the Magistracy or disincorporate the State For all Punishment and Censure supposes Jurisdiction in the Person who inflicts it But this Supposition is inconsistent with the Notion of Independency Those who are Independent being in this sense equal so far as their Independency reaches and have no Privileges to Command or Duties to Obey on either side From whence it follows Secondly That the Bishops notwithstanding the Lay-Deprivation have the same Spiritual Authority they formerly had and their People the same Obligation to remain in their Communion The Consequence of which is Thirdly That the Anti-bishops who are possessed of their Sees have no Authority to Govern These the People are bound to avoid upon the Score of Intrusion and Schism I say upon the Score of Schism For since they have subjected the Power of the Keys to the Civil Supremacy given up as much as in them lies the Fundamental Rights of the Church and made the Being of Religion precarious and dependent on the Pleasure of the Magistrate Since they have either Usurped the Authority of Lawful and Canonical Bishops or own'd those who are guilty of such Invasions the Charge of Schism and Separation must lie at their own Doors Such dangerous Innovations as these as long as they are maintained must cut off all Religious Correspondence and make Communion impracticable Insomuch that those who joyn with the Intruders will justly fall under the same Imputation of Schism for revolting from their Lawful Bishops and making themselves One with those who are divided from the Church Fourthly This Privilege of Independency in Matters purely Spiritual will reach the Inferior Clergy For their Authority being derived from the Bishops and of the same Nature with theirs it can be subordinate or related to no other Head of Jurisdiction And therefore these can be no more discharged the Exercise of their Function by a Lay Power than the Bishops Thus we see Communion with the pretended Church of England must be Unlawful even supposing the law-Law-Authority unexceptionable and that the Church-Service remain unaltered However let us put the Case for we may suppose any thing that the depriving Authority was it self defective
and illegal and no less a Breach of the Constitution than an Encroachment upon the Church Suppose farther that the Publick Prayers are stuffed with Immoral Petitions that God is made a Party to Injustice and invoked to prosper that which He hath threatned to punish Such singular Mixtures as these must give the Service a very ill Complexion and make Devotion look like a solemn Iniquity To say we dont joyn in the exceptionable Petitions is no answer First Because the Notion of Communion the Prayers in their Form and Rubrick suppose the contrary Secondly If we may joyn in Communion where some part of the Worship is sinful then by Parity of Reason we may Communicate with all Sorts of Christians and not only so but with Jews and Mahometans because all these Divisions of Religion acknowledge the same God and have many things which are pious and commendable in their Worship But this part of the Argument having receiv'd Satisfaction from a good Hand already needs not be pursued any farther I shall therefore make two or three Remarks and so conclude First This Spiritual Independency of the Church can give no just grounds of Jealousie to the State Princes need not to be awaken'd into any Suspicions of being disturbed in their Administrations or having any part of their Prerogative wrested from them this Privilege pretends to no Temporal Jurisdiction but leaves all the Branches of Justice and Property to the Civil Magistrate It never offers to support it self by violence but gives up Seditious Church-men to the Correction of the State as well as others It allows no Liberty to Dethrone Princes for misfortunes of Belief It teaches no Man to be False and Treacherous for the sake of Religion nor founds any Merit upon Ingratitude and Rebellion In short this Authority relates only to Conscience And tho' it may challenge Obedience within a proper compass and the contempt of it will be deeply reveng'd hereafter yet since there is no Force claim'd for the Execution of its Censures it must be perfectly inoffensive here Secondly Since even the Inferior Clergy are with respect to their Spiritual Authority Independent of Princes certainly private Persons tho' never so considerable should allow them the same Advantage Church-men we see have their Authority from God and are therefore his Ministers not the Peoples the Branches of their Office such as Instruction Absolution and Blessing imply Super-intendency and Power and ought not to come under a servile Character For as on the one side 't is a fault to grow vain upon their Relation to neglect the meanest Christian or as the Apostle speaks to be have themselves as Lords over God's Heritage 1 S. Pet. 5. 3. So 't is no less on the other to prostitute their Function to Greatness and make themselves Servants to Ceremony and State And without doubt they may find other ways of paying a due Regard to Persons without making themselves and Religion ridiculous Neither will the Consideration of Mony or Entertainment degrade their Character and make them BELONG to those of whom they receive it For Money is given to Parents to Princes and to God himself and therefore does not always suppose Subjection in the Receiver When Micah contracted with the Levite to perform the Offices of Religion in his Family he was far from thinking he entertain'd a Servant as we may see Judges 17. 10. Dwell with me and be unto me a Father and a Priest and I will give thee ten Shekels of Silver c. And as for the Obligation St. Paul thought there was a fair Equivalent returned as we may perceive by his Question If we have sowâ— unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things 1 Cor. 9. 11. Indeed the notion of a Priest supposes a peculiar and incommunicable Relation to God Almighty And in this sense Natural as well as Revealed Religion has understood it the Roman Emperors tho' they were vain enough yet never pretended to have Priests BELONG to them till they were dead and Deified And if any are so extravagant as to exceed the Pride of a Heathen Emperor tho' in Charity we ought to pray for them yet I am afraid 't is to little purpose to pray with them Thirdly The Clergy ought to form Assemblies for the Service of God Since our late Brethren have dispossessed us of our own Churches and made it Impracticable to come to theirs Since Violence has removed us from the one and Schism from the other Since we are banished the Holy Ground and driven from the Place where God's Honour used to dwell Since we cannot perform his Worship with those Circumstances of Advantage with that Magnificence and Solemnity which were to be wished let us carry the Opportunity as far as it will reach and do our Duty in the best manner we can God as the Scripture speaks is not confined to Temples made with Hands In a state of Hardship Necessity and Devotion may Consecrate and the Primitive Upper-Room will not be unacceptable Above all things let us take Care not to neglect the Service of God least we grow indifferent to all Religion and by avoiding Schism sink into Profaneness 't is not the danger of Suffering will excuse us For it was in a time of Persecution when the Apostle charged the Hebrews not to forsake the assembling themselves together Heb. 10. 25. Many are the Advantages of Publick Worship above that which is performed in Private By the former we pay a more solemn Homage to God and make a more open Acknowledgement of our Dependency In our joint and uniform Petitions we declare the Harmony of our Judgments and the Extent of our Charity and that we are willing to assist each other at the Throne of Grace Besides the Occasion of coming and the Example of those that come are not without their Advantage These Circumstances are apt to keep up Attention and improve good Dispositions and make us more affected with the Impressions of Religion Farther by our united Prayers we may hope for a greater Support from Heaven than from single and solitary Devotions It was upon Assemblies that the miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost were bestowed as we may learn from several Places of Scripture Acts 2. 2. 4. 31. 10. 44. And though since our Religion has been fully Confirm'd these extraordinary Assistances have been withdrawn Yet when we meet in Obedience to God's Command when we serve him with the greatest Reverence and Resolution we may reasonably expect a proportionable Blessing And as the Publick Services are more beneficial so the use of them can never be more necessary than when the Church lies under Disorder and Distress When Atheism grows upon us when Virtue seems ready to expire and the Faithful fall from among the Children of Men when Temptations have the greatest Weight and Perseverance is pressed and we cannot maintain our Innocency without more than ordinary Difficulty then is the proper Time to call in all the Aids of Religion and to put our Devotions in the bâ—st posture of Advantage Upon such a melancholy Occasion we have need if ever to unite our Prayers and frequent the Sacrament and fortify our Minds with all the Supports of mutual and supernatural Assistance To stand off from danger and confine our selves to the numbers of Security and be frighted from Publick Communion looks like the Conduct of an Army that disbands at the Approach of an Enemy The Honour of God and the Good of the Church are without doubt best promoted by an open Profession by Resolution and Religious Bravery Those who thus distinguish themselves carry Light and Heat in their Examples They awaken Inquiry and encourage Imitation and transfuse a Spirit of Gâ—eatness into others Now the Interest of another World all Christians grant to be incomparably the greatest and where there is no proportion in the Value one would think there should be no difficulty in the Choice Let nothing therefore discourage us in our Duty for whatever wordly Inconveniences may happen we may be assured of the Divine Protection And besides the future Rewards of Constancy and Patience we shall have the present Satisfaction of Suffering for the best Cause and the best Communion Printed in the Year 1692.
had entrusted it with Least of all can we imagine He would build it upon a Sandy Foundation and make it depend upon the Arbitrary Power of its Enemies Our Saviour foresaw that all the Princes of the World would disbelieve and many of them Persecute his Doctrine for several Ages together and therefore would be very improper Persons to have been trusted with the Sovereign Administration of Ecclesiastical Affairs Had the Government of the Church been derived from them or depended upon their Allowance Christianity had been a very short liv'd Religion and never out-grown its Infancy In this Case the Publick Assemblies Ordinations Sacraments and Discipline must have lain at the Mercy of Unbelievers and the Clergy ought not to have executed their Function nor taken care of their Flock unless the Civil Magistrate would have given them leave For if the Spiritual Supremacy were the Right of Princes tho' they might possibly abuse the Management of this Prerogative yet it ought to lie absolutely at their Disposal and under their Regulation And for any Person to meddle in Ecclesiastical Matters without a Commission from them but especially against their Commands would be an open Violation of their Right which no Man ought to be guilty of tho' for the support of the best Religion because we ought not to do Ill that Good may come of it And since no Society can subsist without Government and Discipline if the Bishops could Exercise no Spiritual Authority without a Lay-permission it would be in the Civil Magistrates Power to make the Perpetuity of the Church impracticable and the Christian Religion would depend upon the pleasure of the Prince But besides the Absurdity of this way of Reasoning we have in the Third Place The Practice of the Apostles and of the whole Primitive Church to prove that the Ecclesiastical Authority was perfectly sui juris and never under the Controul of the Secular Magistrate Thus when the Sanhedrim of the Jews who acted by the Authority of the Romans and had the Assistance of the Captain of the Temple when they Imprisoned the Apostles and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Iesus Act. 4. 19. to this their Answer is plain and positive whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye verse 20. that is to say they had a Commission from Heaven to preach the Gospel which they were bound to execure and which no Temporal Jurisdiction had any Authority to revoke Whereas had the Church been under the Check of the State in Matters purely Spiritual St. Peter and St. John were much to blame for â—efusing to obey their Superiors they ought to have acquieâ—ced in the Sanhedrims Prohibition and not to have purâ—ued their Function after they were so solemnly silenc'd and thaâ— by those whom themselves owned to be Rulers of the People Act. 4. 8. Either therefore the Church must be Constituted Independent of the State or the Apostles can never be cleared of the Charge of Sedition The same Imputation will upon the Modern Principles affect the Bishops of the Universal Church for the first 300 Years who held publick Assemblies Governed their Clergy and their People and perform'd all parts of their Office not only without any Authority from their respective Princes but often contrary to their express Commands which matter of Fact is so well known that it would be superfluous to enlarge upon the proof of it If it be said that these were Heathen Princes but when the Emperors became part of the Church the Case was otherwise To this I answer That the change of the Emperor's Religion could not gain them any such new Jurisdiction as is pretended For as Magistracy in general does not imply a Right to Spiritual Authority so neither does the denomination of Christian give it any such Advantage For I suppose Spiritual Dominion is no more founded in Grace than Temporal In short if Princes receive any such Authority by virtue of their Christianity it must be conveyed either by Revelation or implied in the notion of Baptism As to the Point of Revelation The Scripture no where teaches us that Princes upon their turning Christian should have their Commission enlarged with the addition of Episcopal or Priestly Power I grant it was foretold that Kings should be nursing Fathers to the Church Isa. 49. 23. but then it is added that they shall bow down to Her with their Faces towards the Earth and elsewhere that they shall Minister to Her or serve Her Isa. 60. 10. We see therefore we must not strain upon the Letter in these Expressions nor press the Metaphor too far unless we will conclude Contradictions Therefore the Character of their being Nursing Fathers is sufficiently fulfilled by their affording Christians Protection and Encouragement under their Government and by finishing the Contempt of Religion But that the Magistrates Conversion should alter the Seat of Ecclesiastical Government put a Period to the Apostolical Succession and dissolve the Church into the State is not so much as the least hinted And as for Baptism there is no Authority of any kind implied in the Receiving that Sacrament If there were every Christian would have an equal share in this Privilege which would make the Constitution of the Church monstrous in which all its Members would be Governors and so none under an Obligation of being governed If it is objected that the Oxford Greek Manuscript published the last Year has proved by a Collection of several Instances that Bishops though unjustly deprived have for the sake of Peace laid down their Function and not contested their Right with their Successors provided they were not Hereticks And that the People made no scruple to Communicate with the New Bishops To this it may be returned that this Manuscript has been lately undertaken and shewn to be altogether unserviceable to the Publisher's Design Vid. A Vindication of the Deprived Bishops c. where the Learned Vindicator has proved First that though the Instances alledged in the Manuscript were applicable to the present Dispute they would fall far short of gaining the Cause I shall just mention some of his Reasons He hath shewn the Author of the Manuscript to be defective in point of Antiquity and little more than 400 Years Old and that none of the Instances rise higher than the fourth Century that they are not universal in respect of Place all of them being confin'd to the Greek Church and most to the single See of Constantinople Farther the Learned Vindicator observes that the Precedents cited by the Manuscript are nakedly represented without shewing whether the People who deserted the Deprived Bishops believed them unjustly Deprived If they did not 't is no wonder they withdrew their Obedience Neither do his Instances prove that the People thought them tried by an incompetent Authority as well as unjustly deprived Now this ought to have been proved to have made the Manuscript