and the lawful Rights Ceremonies and Observations of the same by his Majesties advice and confirmation under the great Seal of England shall be by all his Graces Subjects fully believed obeyed observed and performed to all purposes and intents upon the pains and penalties therein to be comprized as if the same had been in express words and sentences plainly and fully made set forth declared and contained in the said Act 32 H. 8. c. 26. where note That the two Houses of Parliament were so far from medling in the matter which was then in hand that they did not so much as require to see the Determinations and Decrees of those Learned men whom his Majesty had then Assembled before they passed the present Act to bind the Subject fully to believe observe and perform the same but left it wholly to the judgment and discretion of the King and Clergy and trusted them besides with the ordaining and inflicting of such pains and penalties on disobedient and unconformable persons as to them seemed meet This ground-work laid the work went forwards in good order and at last being brought unto as much perfection as the said Arch-Bishops Bishops and other Learned men would give it without the co-operation and concurrence of the Royal assent it was presented once again to the Kings consideration who very carefully perused it and altered many things with his own hand as appears by the Book it self still extant in the famous Library of Sir Robert Cotton and having so altered and corrected it in some passages returned it to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who bestowed some further pains upon it to the end that being to come forth in the King's Name and by his Authority there might be nothing in the same which might be justly reprehended The business being in this forwardness the King declares in Parliament Anno 1544. being the 34 year of his Reign his zeal and care not only to suppress all such Books and Writings as were noysome and pestilent and tended to the seducing of his Subjects but also to ordain and establish a certain Form of pure and sincere Teaching agreable to God's Word and the true Doctrine of the Catholick and Apostolick Church whereunto men may have recourse for the decision of some such controversies as have in Times past and yet do happen to arise And for a preparatory thereunto that so it might come forth with the greater credit he caused an Act to pass in Parliament for the abolishing of all Books and Writings comprizing any matters of Christian Religion contrary to that Doctrine which since the year 1540. is or any time during the King's life shall be set forth by his Highness and for the punishment of all such and that too with most grievous pains which should preach teach maintain or defend any matter or thing contrary to the Book of Doctrine which was then in readiness 34 35 H. 8. c. 1. Which done he caused the said Book to be Imprinted in the year next following under the Title of A necessary Doctrine for all sorts of People prefixing a Preface thereto in his Royal Name to all his faithful and loving Subjects that they might know the better in those dangerous Times what to believe in point of Doctrine and how they were to carry and behave themselves in points of Practice Which Statute as it is the greatest Evidence which those Times afford to shew that both or either of the Houses of Parliament had any thing to do in matters which concerned Religion so it entitles them to no more if at all to any thing then that they did make way to a Book of Doctrine which was before digested by the Clergy only revised after and corrected by the Kings own hand and finally perused and perfected by the Metropolitan And more then so besides that being but one Swallow it can make no Summer it is acknowledged and confessed in the Act it self if Poulton understand it rightly in his Abridgment That recourse must be had to the Catholick and Apostolick Church for the decision of Controversies Which as it gives the Clergy the decisive power so it left nothing to the Houses but to assist and aid them with the Temporal Sword when the Spiritual Word could not do the deed the point thereof being blunted and the edge abated Next let us look upon the time of K. Ed. 6. and we shall find the Articles and Doctrine of the Church excepting such as were contained in the Book of Common-Prayer to be composed confirmed and setled in no other way then by the Clergy only in their Convocation the Kings Authority co-operating and concurring with them For in the Synod held in London Anno 1552. the Clergy did compose and agree upon a Book of Articles containing the chief Heads of the Christian Faith especially with reference to such Points of Controversie as were in difference between the Reformators of the Church of England and the Church of Rome and other Opponents whatsoever which after were approved and published by the Kings Authority They were in number 41. and were published by this following Title that is to say Articuli de quibus in Synodo London Anno 1552. ad tollendum opinionum dissentionem consensum verae Religionis firmandum inter Episcopos alios Eruditis viros Convenerat Regia authoritate in lucem Editi And it is worth our observation that though the Parliament was held at the very time and that the Parliament passed several Acts which concerned Church-matters as viz. An Act for Vniformity of Divine Service and for the Confirmation of the Book of Ordination 5 and 6 Edw. 6. c. 1. An Act declaring which days only shall be kept for Holy days and which for Fasting days C. 3. against striking or drawing weapon either in the Church or Church-yard C. 4. And finally another Act for the legitimating of the Marriages of Priests and Ministers C. 12. Yet neither in this Parliament nor in that which followed is there so much as the least syllable which reflecteth this way or medleth any thing at all with the book of Articles Where by the way if you behold the lawfulness of Priests Marriages as a matter Doctrinal or think we owe that point of Doctrine and the indulgence granted to the Clergy in it to the care and goodness of the Parliament you may please to know that the point had been before determined in the Convocation and stands determined by and for the Clergy in the 31 of those Articles and that the Parliament looked not on it as a point of Doctrine but as it was a matter practical conducing to the benefit and improvement of the Common-wealth Or if it did yet was the Statute built on no other ground-work than the Resolution of the Clergy the Marriage of Priests being before determined to be most lawful I use the very words of the Act it self and according to the Word of God by the Learned Clergy of this realm
his time save that the latter clause was altered and that for praising God for Saints departed put instead thereof as we may see in Bishop Latimers Sermon preached at Stanford whereof more anon Hitherto are we clear for King Edwards time and no less clear are we for King Henries also especially for the latter part thereof in which the use of Bidding prayers or moving the people unto prayer had by him been imposed upon the Clergy before this time the people had been trained up in a very gross ignorance not knowing explicitely the Articles of their belief accustomed to a Latin service in their publick Churches and to a daily stint of Pater-nosters and Ave-Maries in the Latin tongue which few or none of them understood But that King having taken on himself the Title of supreme Head of the Church of England and adding of the same to the stile Imperial viz. Anno 1535 there issued out an order by his Authority in this Form that followeth This is an Order taken for Preaching and Bidding of Beads in all Sermons to be made within this Realm First Whosoever shall Preach in the presence of the Kings Highness and the Queen's Grace shall in the bidding of Beads pray for the whole Catholick Church of Christ as well quick as dead and especially for the Catholick Church of this Realm and first as we be most bounden for our Soveraign Lord King Henry the VIII being immediatly next under God the only supreme Head of this Catholick Church of England And for the most gracious Lady Qu. Anne his Wife and for the Lady Elizabeth Daughter and Heir to them both And no further Item the Preacher in all other places of this Realm not in the presence of the Kings said Highness and the Queens Grace shall in the bidding of the Beads pray first in manner and Form and word for word as is above ordained and limited Adding thereto in the second part For all Archbishops and Bishops and for the whole Clergy of this Realm And specially such as the Preacher shall name of his devotion And thirdly for all Dukes Earls Marquess's and for all the whole Temporalty of this Realm and specially for such as the Preacher shall name of devotion And finally for the souls of all them that be dead and specially for such as it shall please the Preacher to name So far the very words of the Injunction as it relates unto the business now in hand which differs very little if at all in Form and fashion though there be some difference in the matter from those which followed in the Reign of K. Edward VI. and Q. Eliz. both of which out of question took their hint from hence Besides it is to be observed that the said King having assumed unto himself the stile and Title of supreme Head of the Church of England as before is said did before this by Proclamation dated June 9. An. 1534. declare and signifie his Royal pleasure that all and all manner of Ecclesiastical persons should teach preach publish and declare in all manner of Churches the said his just Title Stile and Jurisdiction on every Sunday and high Feast throughout the year which after was enjoyned in the Injunction of the year Anno 1536 set out by the Lord Cromwell being then Vicar General with the Kings authority As also in the Injunctions of King Edward the 6. An. 1547. which again was revived in the Queens Injunctions Anno 1559. As after in the first Convocation of King James in the year 1603. And besides this it was appointed in the said Injunctions of King Henry the 8. that the Preacher or Parochial Priest should every Sunday in the Pulpit rehearse distinctly the Lords prayer the Articles of the Creed and the ten Commandments in the English Tongue for the better instructing of the people in their duties both to God and Man which being ordered at the same time as the bidding of the Beads in the Forni spoken of before was first enjoyned shews plainly the intention and effect of both to be no other than to instruct the people in the principles of faith and piety So that as well to teach the people how to pray and what things they chiefly were to pray for in the publick meeting as to make known unto them the Kings just Title by which they were to recommend him in their devotions the Form before remembred of Bidding prayers or Beads was prescribed the Priests by them to be proposed unto the people in their several Sermons For instance of the which in point of practice in the said Kings time we need but look upon a Sermon of Bishop Latimers being that before the Convocation Anno 1536. which was the 28. of King Henries Reign In which being entred on his matter as the use then was he thus bids the prayers That all that I say shall may turn to the glory of God your Souls health and the edifying of Christs Body I pray you all to pray with me unto God and that also in your Petitions you desire that these two things he vouchsase to grant us First a mouth for me to speak rightly next Ears for you that in hearing me you may take profit at my hands and that this may come to effect you shall desire him unto whom our Master Christ bad we should pray saying even the same prayer which Christ himself did Institute Wherein we shall pray for our Sovereign Lord the King chief and supreme Head of the Church of England under Christ and for the most excellent gracious and vertuous Lady Queen Jane his most lawful Wife and for all his whether they be of the Clergy or Laity whether they be of the Nobility or else other his Grace's Subjects humbly beseeching Almighty God that every one of us even from the highest to the lowest may in his degree and Calling earnestly endeavour to set forth the glory of God and the Gospel of his Son Christ Jesus that so living in his fear and love we may in the end of our days depart out of this life in his friendship and favour For these graces and what else his wisdom knoweth more needful for us let us pray as we are taught saying Our Father c. Put all that hath been said together and the sum is this That if we do interpret the Canon of the year 1603. by the Queens Injunctions and construe both of them according to the Injunctions in King Edwards and King Henries days we shall see plainly that the Form of prayer appointed by the Canon is no new Invention neither obtruded on the Church by the Bishops of these times on a design to stint the Spirit as some now give out or on a like design of Archbishop Bancroft and the Prelates of his time as is said by others but carried and transmitted from hand to hand since the very first beginning of the Reformation nor did it stand thus only in point of Law not being reduced unto practice
appointed by the Church for the assembly of Gods people we should lay by our daily business and all worldly thoughts and wholly give our selves to the heavenly exercises of Gods true Religion and Service But to encounter them at their own weapon it is expresly said in the Act of Parliament about keeping Holy-days that on the days and times appointed as well the other Holy days as the Sunday Christians should cease from all kind of labour and only and wholly apply themselves to such holy works as appertain to true Religion the very same with that delivered in the Homily If wholly in the Homily must be applied unto the day then it must be there and then the Saints days and the other Holy-days must be wholly spent in religious exercises When once we see them do the one we will bethink our selves of doing the other As for the residue of that Homily which consists in popular reproofs and exhortations that concerns not us in reference to the point in hand The Homilies those parts thereof especially which tend to the correction of manners and reformation of abuses were made agreeable to those times wherein they were first published If in those times men made no difference between the Working-day and Holy-day 〈◊〉 kept their Fairs and Markets and bought and sold and rowed and ferried and drow and carried and rode and journeyed and did their other business on the Sunday as well as on the other days when there was no such need but that they might have tarried longer they were the more to blame no doubt in trespassing so wilfully against the Canons of the Church and Acts of Parliament which had restrained many of the things there specified The Homily did well to reprove them for it If on the other side they spent the day in ungodliness and filthiness in gluttony and drunkenness and such like other crying sins as are there particularly noted the Prelates of the Church had very ill discharged their duty had they not taken some course to have told them of it But what is that to us who do not spend the Lords day in such filthy fleshliness whatever one malicious sycophant hath affirmed therein or what is that to dancing shooting leaping vaulting may-games and meetings of good Neighbourhood or any other Recreation not by Law prohibited being no such ungodly and filthy acts as are therein mentioned Thus upon due search made and full examination of all parties we find no Lords day Sabbath in the book of Homilies no nor in any writings of particular men in more than 33 years after the Homilies were published I find indeed that in the year 1580 the Magistrates of the City of London obtained from Queen Elizabeth that Plays and Enterludes should no more be acted on the Sabbath-day within the liberties of their City As also that in 83. on the 14th of January being Sunday many were hurt and eight killed outright by the sudden falling of the Scaffolds in Paris-garden This shews that Enterludes and Bear-baitings were then permitted on the Sunday and so they were a long time after though not within the City of London which certainly had not been suffered had it been then conceived that Sunday was to be accounted for a Sabbath But in the year 1595. some of that faction which before had laboured with small profit to overthrow the Hierarchy and government of this Church of England now set themselves on work to ruinate all the orders of it to beat down at one blow all days and times which by the wisdom and authority of the Church had been appointed for Gods service and in the stead thereof to erect a Sabbath of their own devising These Sabbath speculations and Presbyterian directions as mine Author calls them they had been hammering more than ten years before thought they produced them not till now and in producing of them now they introduced saith he a more than cither Jewish or Popish superstition into the Land Rogers in preface to the Articles to the no small blemish of our Christian profession and scandal of the true servants of God and therewith doctrine most erroneous dangerous and Antichristian Of these the principal was one Dr. Bound who published first his Sabbath Doctrins Anno 1595. and after with additions to it and enlargements of it Anno 1606. Wherein he hath affirmed in general over all the book that the Commandment of sanctifying every seventh day as in the Mosaical decalogue is natural moral and perpetual That where all other things in the Jewish Church were so changed that they were clean taken away as the Priesthood the Sacrifices and the Sacraments this day the Sabbath was so changed that it still remaineth p. 91. that there is great reason why we Christians should take our selves as straitly bound to rest upon the Lords day as the Jews were upon their Sabbath for being one of the moral Commandments it bindeth us as well as them being all of equal authority p. 247. And for the Rest upon this day that it must be a notable and singular Rest and most careful exact and precise Rest after another manner than men were accustomed p. 124. Then for particulars no buying of Victuals Flesh or Fish Bread or Drink 158. no Carriers to travel on that day 160. nor Parkmen or Drovers 162. Scholars not to study the liberal Arts nor Lawyers to consult the Case and peruse mens Evidences 163. Sergeants Apparitours and Sumners to be restrained from executing their Offices 164. Justices not to examine Causes for preservation of the Peace 166. no man to travel on that day 192. that ringing of more Bells than one that day is not to be justified p. 202. No solemn Feasts to be made on it 206 nor Wedding Dinners 209. with a permission notwithstanding to Lords Knights and Gentlemen he hoped to find good welcome for this dispensation p. 211. all lawful Pleasures and honest Recreations as Shooting Fencing Bowling but Bowling by his leave is no lawful pleasure for all sorts of people which are permitted on other days were on this day to be forborne 202. no man to speak or talk of pleasures p. 272. or any other worldly matter 275. Most Magisterially determined indeed more like a Jewish Rabbin than a Christian Doctor Yet Jewish and Rabbinical though his Doctrin were it carried a fair face and shew of Piety at the least in the opinion of the common people and such who stood not to examine the true grounds thereof but took it up on the appearance such who did judge thereof not by the workmanship of the stuff but the gloss and colour In which it is most strange to see how â—uddenly men were induced not only to give way unto it but without more ado to abett the same till in the end and that in very little time it grew the most bewitching Errour the most popular Deceit that ever had been set on foot in the Church of England And verily I persuade my self
trust them with a power to meddle with matters of Religion this Convocation being holden the sixth year of his Reign when Gardiner Bâ—nner Day and Tunstall and others of the stiffest Romanists were put out of their places most of the Episcopal Sees and Parochial Churches being filled with men according unto his desires and generally conformable to the Forms of Worship here by Law established Thirdly the Church of England for the first five years of Queen Elizabeth retained these Articles and no other as the publick tendries of the Church in point of Doctrine which certainly she had not done had it been recommended to her by a less Authority than a Convocation lawfully assembled and confirmed And fourthly that it is true that the Records of Convocation during this King and the first years of Queen Mary are very defective and imperfect most of them lost amongst others those of this present year And yet one may conclude as strongly that my Mother died Childless because my Christening is not to be found in the Parish Register as that the Convocation of this year was barren because the Acts and Articles of it were not entred in the Journal Book To salve this sore it is conceived by the Objector that the Bishops and Clergy had passed over their power to some select Divines appointed by the Kings in which sense they may be said to have made these Articles themselves by their delegates to whom they had deputed their Authority the case not being so clear Id. Ib. but that it occasioned a Cavil at the next Convocation the first of Queen Mary when the Papists therein assembled renounced the legality of any such former transactions And unto this it shall be answered That no such defect of legality as was here pretended was charged against the book of Articles it self but only against a Catechism which was bound up with it countenanced by the Kings Letters Patents prefix'd before it approved by many Bishops and learned men and generally voiced to be another of the products of this Convocation And therefore for so much as concerns this Catechism it was replyed by Mr. John Philpot Archdeacon of Winchester who had been a member in the former and was now a member of the Convocation in the first of Queen Mary That he thought they were deceived in the Title of it Acts and Monum fo 1282. in that it owned the Title of the last Synod of London many which were then present not being made privy to the making or publishing of it He added That the said former Convocation had granted the Authority of making excellent Laws unto certain persons to be appointed by the Kings Majesty so as whatsoever Ecclesiastical Laws they or the most part of them did set forth according to a Statute in that behalf provided might be well said to be done in the Synod of London though such as were of the house had no notice thereof before the promulgation And thereupon he did infer That the setters forth of the Catechism did not slander the House as they went about to persuade the World since they had the Authority of the Synod unto them committed to make such Spiritual Laws as they thought convenient and necessary for the good of the Church In which Discourse we may observe that there was not one word which reflects on the Book of Articles all of it being made in reference to the Catechism before remembred though if the Objection had been made as indeed it was not against the Articles themselves the defence of that learned man and godly Martyr would have served as fully for the one as it did for the other But whatsoever may be said in derogation to the Authority of the Book of Articles as it was published in the time of King Edward the sixth Anno Dom. 1552. certain I am that nothing can be said unto â—â—e contrary but that they were received and the far greater part of them agreed upon in full Convocation Anno 1562. And therefore for avoiding of all Disputes I am resolved to take them in this last capacity as they were ratified by Queen Elizabeth Anno 1563. confirmed by King James An. 1604. and finally established by the late King Charles with his Majesties Royal Declaration prefixt before them Anno 1628. Less doubt there is concerning the intent of this Convocation in drawing up the Articles in so loose a manner that men of different judgments might accommodate them to their own Opinions which I find both observed and commended in them by the former Author by whom we are informed that the Articles of the English Protestant Church Chur. Hist lib. 9. fol. 72. in the infancy thereof were drawn up in general terms foreseeing that posterity would grow up to fill the same meaning that these holy men did prudently discover that differences in judgment would unavoidably happen in the Church and were loth to unchurch any and drive them off from any Ecclesiastical communion for petty differences which made them pen the Articles in comprehensive words to take in all who differing in the branches meet in the root of the same Religion This hath been formerly observed to have been the artifice of those who had the managing of the Council of Trent and is affirmed to have been used by such men also as had the drawing up of the Canons at the Synod of Dort But the Composers of the Articles of the Church of England had not so little in them of the Dove or so much of the Serpent as to make the Articles of the Church like an upright shoe which may be worn on either foot or like to Theramenes shoe as the Adage hath it fit for the foot of every man that was pleased to wear it and therefore we may say of our first Reformers in reference to the present Book of Articles as was affirmed of them by Dr. Brancroft then Bishop of London in relation to the Rubrick in private Baptism that is to say that those reverend and learned men intended not to deceive any by ambiguous terms for which see Conf. at Hampton Court Confer p. 15. And to this supposition or imagination it is also answered That the first Reformers did not so compose the Articles as to leave any liberty to diffenting judgments as the said Author would fain have it in some words preceding but did not bind men to the literal and Grammatical sense they had not otherwise attained to the end they aimed at which was ad tollendam Opiniorum Dissentionem consensum in vera Religione firmandum that is to say to take away diversity of Opinions and to establish an agreement in the true Religion Which end could never be effected if men were left unto the liberty of dissenting or might have leave to put their own sense upon the Articles as they list themselves For where there is a purpose of permitting men to their own Opinions there is no need of definitions and
and approbation published the Exposition or Analysis of our Articles in which he gives the Calvinist as fair quarter as can be wished But first beginning with the last so much of the Objection as concerns Bishop Bancrost is extreamly false not agreeing to the Lambeth Articles not being Bishop of London when those Articles were agreed unto as is mistakingly affirmed and that Analysis of Explication of our English Articles related to in the Objection being published in the year 1585. which was ten years before the making of the Lambeth articles and eighteen years before Bancroft had been made Archbishop And secondly It is not very true that King James liked that is to say was well pleased with the putting of those Articles into the confession of the Church of Ireland though the said Confession was subscribed in his name by the Lord Deputy Chichester is plainly enough not without his consent for many other things were in the Confession to which the Lord Deputy subscribed and the King consented as affairs then stood which afterwards he declared no great liking to either of the Tenor or effect thereof For the truth is that the drawing up of that Confession being committed principally to the care of Dr. Vsher and afterwards Lord Primate of Ireland a professed Calvinian he did not only thrust into it all the Lambeth Articles but also many others of his own Opinions as namely That the Pope was Antichrist or that man of sin that the power of sacerdotal Absolution is no more than declaratory as also touching the morality of the Lords day Sabbath and the total spending of it in religious Exercises Which last how contrary it is to King Jame's Judgment how little cause he had to like it or rather how much reason he had to dislike it his declaration about lawful Sports which he published within three years after doth express sufficiently so that the King might give confent to the confirming of these Articles amongst the rest though he liked as little of the one as he did of the other And he might do it on these Reasons For first The Irish Nation at that time were most tenaciously addicted to Errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome and therefore must be bended to the other extream before they could be sireight and Orthodox in these points of doctrine Secondly It was an usual practice with the King in the whole course of his Government to ballance one extream by the other countenancing the Papist against the Puritan and the Puritan sometimes against the Papist that betwixt both the true Religion and Professors of it might be kept in safety With greater Artifice but less Authority have some of our Calvinians framed unto themselves another Argument derived from certain Questions and answers printed at the end of the Bible published by Rob. Barker his Majesties own Printer in the year 1607. from whence it is inferred by the Author of the Anti-Arminianism Anti-Armin p. 54. and from him by others that the said Questions and Answers do contain a punctual Declaration of the received doctrine of this Church in the points disputed But the worst is they signifie nothing to the purpose for which they were produced For I would fain know by what Authority those Questions and Answers were added to the end of the Bible If by Authority and that such Authority can be produced the Argument will be of force which it takes from them and then no question but the same Authority by which they were placed there at first would have preserved them in that place for a longer time than during the sale of that Edition The not retaining them in such Editions as have followed since the sale of that shews plainly that they were of no anthority in themselves nor intended by the Church for a rule to others and being of no older standing than the year 1607. for ought appears by Mr. Prin who first made the Objection they must needs seem as destitute of antiquity as they are of authority so that upon the whole matter the Author of the Book hath furnished those of different Judgment with a very strong argument that they wrre foisted in by the fraud and practice of some of the Emissaries of the Puritan Faction who hoped in time to have them pass as currant amongst the people as any part of Canonical Scripture Such Piae fraudes as these are we should have too many were they once allowed of Some prayers were also added to the end of the Bible in some Editions and others at the end of the publick Liturgy Which being neglected at the first and afterwards beheld as the authorized prayers of the Church were by command left out of those Books and Bibles as being the compositions of private men not the publick acts of the Church and never since added as before But to return unto King James we find not so much countenance given to the Calvinians by the fraud of his Printer as their opposites received by his grace and favour by which they were invested in the chief preferments of the Church of England conferred as openly and freely upon the Anti-Calvinians as those who had been bread up in the other persuasions Tros Tyriusque mihi nullo discrimine habentur as we know who said For presently upon the end of the Conference he prefers Bishop Bancroft to the Chair of Canterbury and not long after Dr. Barlow to the See of Rochester On whose translation unto Lincoln Dr. Richard Neil then Dean of westminster succeeds at Rochester and leaves Dr. Buckridge there for his successour at his removal unto Lichfield in the year 1609. Dr. Samuel Harsnet is advanced to the See of Chichester and about ten years after unto that of Norwich In the beginning of the year 1614. Dr. Overald succeeds Neil then translated to Lincoln in the See of Coventry and Lichfield Dr. George Mountein succeeded the said Neil then translated to Durham in the Church of Lincoln In the year 1619. Dr. John Houson one of the Canons of Christs Church a professed Anti-Calvinist is made Bishop of Oxon. And in the year 1621. Dr. Valentine Cary Successor unto Overald in the Deanry of St. Paul is made Bishop of Exon and on the same day Dr. William Laud who had been Pupil unto Buckridge as before said is consecrated Bishop of St. Davids By which encouragements the Anti-Calvinians or old English Protestants took heart again and more openly declared themselves than they had done formerly the several Bishops above-named finding so gracious a Patron of the learned King are as being themselves as bountiful Patrons respect being had to the performants in their nomination to their Friends and followers By means whereof though they found many a Rub in the way and were sometimes brought under censure by the adverse party yet in the end they surmounted all difficulties and came at last to be altogether as considerable both for power and number as the Calvinists were Towards which
darling Doctrine of this present time so is it very eagerly pursued by Buchannan who affirms expresly Quicquid juris populus alicui dederit Buchann de jure Regni idem justis de causis posse reposcere that whatsoever power the people give unto their King or Supream Magistrate they may resume again upon just occasions Their Power they make so small and inconsiderable that they afford them very little even in matters of Temporal and no Authority at all in things Spiritual Calvin professeth for himself that he was very much agrieved to hear that King Henry the eighth had took unto himself the Title of Supream Head of the Church of England accuseth them of inconsiderate zeal nay blasphemy who conferred it on him and though he be content at last to allow Kings a Ministerial power in matters which concern the Reformation of Gods Publick Worship yet he condemns them as before of great inconsiderateness Calvin in Amos cap. 7. Qui facerent eos nimis spirituales who did ascribe unto them any great authority in spiritual matters The designation of all those who bear publick Office in the Church the calling of Councils or Assemblies the Presidency in those Councils Ordaining publick Fasts and appointing Festivals which anciently belonged unto Christian Princes as the chief branches of the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction which is vested in them are utterly denied to Kings and Princes in their Books of Discipline Insomuch that when the Citizens of Embden did expel their Earl they did it chiefly for this reason Thuan. hist l. 114. Quod se negotiis Ecclesiasticis Consistorialibus praeter jus aequitatem immisceret that he had intermedled more than they thought fit in Ecclesiastical causes and intrenched too much upon their Consistory As for their power in Temporal or civil Causes by that time Knoxes Peers and Buchannans Judges Paraeus his inferiour Magistrates and Calvins popular Officers have performed their parts in keeping them within the compass of the Laws arraigning them for their offences if they should transgress opposing them by force of Arms if any thing be done unto the prejudice of the Church or State and finally in regulating their Authority after the manner of the Spartan Ephori and the Roman Tribunes all that is left will be by much too little for a Royd'Ivitot or for a King of Clouts as we English phrase it Last of all for their persons which God held so sacred that he gave it for a Law to his people Israel not to speak evil of their Princes saying Thou shalt not speak evil of the Ruler of thy people Let us but look upon these men and we shall find the basest attributes too good for the greatest Kings Calvin calls Mary Queen of England by the name of Proserpine Calvin in Amos cap. 7. and saith that she did superare omnes Diabolos that all the Devils of Hell were not half so mischievous Beza affords Queen Mary of Scotland no better Titles than those of Medea and Athaliah Beza in Epist ad Jo. of which the last was most infamous in divine the other no less scandalous in humane stories the one a Sorceress and a Witch the other a Tyrant and Usurper The Author of the Altare Damascenum whosoever he was can find no better attribute for King James of most blessed memory than infensissimus Evangelii hostis Didoclaviuâ— in Epistola ad â—â—ctor the greatest and deadly Enemy of the Gospel of Christ And Queen Elizabeth her self did not scape so clear but that the zealous Brethren were too bold sometimes with her Name and Honour though some of them paid dearly for it and were hanged for their labour How that seditious Hugonot the Author of the lewd and unworthy Dialogue entituled Eusebius Philadelphus hath dealt with three great Princes of the House of France and what reproachful names he gives them I had rather you should look for in the Author than expect from me being loath to wade too far in these dirty puddles save that I shall be bold to add this general Character which Didoclavius gives to all Kings in general viz. Naturâ insitum est in omnibus Regibus Christi odium that all Kings naturally hate Christ which may serve for all This is enough to let us see how irreconcileable an hatred these of the Calvinian faction bear against Kings and Princes how well they play the part of the very Antichrist in exalting themselves against whatsoever is called God and that the special reason why they affect so much to be called the Saints is out of a strong probable hope to see the day in which they shall bind Kings in chains and all the Princes of the earth in fetters of iron Finally such is their disaffection unto sacred Monarchy which they have sucked out of the grounds and principles here laid down by Calvin that we may justly say of them what was most truely said of the ancient Romans quasi nefas esset Regem aliquem prope eorum terminos esse Jâ—stin hist l. 29. they have bestirred themselves so bravely in defiance of the Regal Government as if they did account it an unpardonable sin to suffer any King though most good and gracious to border near them Which lest they should not be of power to compass by their popular Magistrates or by the Judges or the Peers or the People severally which make the main Battel for this Combat let us next look on the Reserve and see what hopes they have to effect the business by the three Estates conjoyned in Parliament or by what other name soever we shall call their meeting which Calvin in the last place doth reflect upon but cautiously with a qua forte or a peradventure as in that before CHAP. V. What are the three Estates in each several Kingdom in which CALVIN speaks and what particularly in the Realm of England 1. Of the division of a People into three Estates and that the Priests or Clergy have been always one 2. The Priests employed in Civil matters and affairs of State by the Egyptians and the Persians the Greeks Gauls and Romans 3. The Priests and Levites exercised in affairs of Civil Government by Gods own appointment 4. The Prelates versed in Civil matters and affairs of State in the best and happiest times of Christianity 5. The Clergy make the third Estate in Germany France Spain and the Northern Kingdoms 6. That antiently in the Saxon times the Ecclesiasticks of this Realm were called to all publick Councils 7. The Prelates an essential fundamental part of the English Parliament 8. Objections answered and that the word Clerus in the Legal notion doth not extend unto the Prelates 9. That the inferior Clergy of the Realm of England had anciently their Votes in Parliament to all intents and purposes as the Commons had 10. Objections answered and that the calling of the Clergy to Parliaments and Convocations were after different maners and by several Writs
be placed according to ancient custom at the East end of the Chancel and railed about decently to prevent base and profane usages and where the Chancel wanted any thing of repairs or the Church it self both to be amended Having thus shewed his care first for the House of God to set it in good order the next work followed was to make his own dwelling House a fit and convenient Habitation that to the old Building he added a new one which was far more graceful and made thereto a Chappel next to the Dining-room that was beautified and adorned with silk Hangings about the Altar in which Chappel himself or his Curate read Morning and Evening Prayer to the Family calling in his Labourers and Workfolks for he was seldom without them while he liv'd saying that he loved the noise of a Work-mans hammer for he thought it a deed of Charity as well as to please his own fancy by often building repairing to set poor People a work and encourage painful Artificers and Tradesmen in their honest Callings Yet after his death his Eldest Son was sued for Dilapidations in the Court of Arches by Dr. Beamont his Fathers Successor but the ingenious Gentleman pleaded his cause so notably before Sir Giles Swet then Judge of the Court that he was discharged there being no reason or justice he should be troubled for Dilapidations occasioned by the long War when his Father was unjustly turn'd out of his House and Living In July 1630. he took his Degree of Batchelor in Divinity His Latin Sermon was upon these words Mal. 4.19 Facim vos fieri piscatores hominum Upon the Sunday following being the time of the Act he Preach'd in the Afternoon on Matth. 13.25 In Feb. 13. A. D. 1633. He took his Degree of Dr. in Divinity an honour not usually in those days conferr'd upon men of such green years but our young Doctor verified those excellent words of the Son of Syrach That honourable Age is not that which standeth in length of time nor that is measured by number of years but Wisdom is the grey unto men and an unspotted life is an old Age Wisd 4.8 9. He entertain'd some hopes that Dr. Prideaux his animosities in so long a Tract of time as from 1627. to 1633. might have cooled In his first Disputation he had insisted on the Churches Visibility and now he resolved to assert and establish its Authority and to that purpose made choice to answer for his Degree upon these three questions viz. An Ecclesia habeat Authoritatem In determinandis fidei controversus An Ecclesia habeat Authoritatem Interpretandi S. scripturas An Ecclesia habeat Authoritatem Decernendi Ritus Caeremonias All which he held in the Affirmative according to the Doctrine of the Church of England in the 20th Article But Dr. Prideaux was as little pleased with these questions and the Respondents stating of them as he was with the former And therefore to create unto the Respondent a greater odium he openly declared that the Respondent had falsified the publick Doctrine of the Church and changed the Article with that sentence viz. Habet Ecclesia ritus sive caeremonias c. which was not to be found in the whole body of it and for the proof thereof he read the Article out of a Book which lay before him beginning thus Non licet Ecclesiae quicquam instituere quod verbo Dei scripto adversetur c. To which the Respondent readily answered That he perceived by the bigness of the Book which lay on the Doctors Cushion that he had read that Article out of the harmony of Confessions published at Geneva A. D. 1612. which therein followed the Edition of the Articles in the time of King Edward VI. A.D. 1552. in which that sentence was not found but that it was otherwise in the Articles agreed on in the Convocation A. D. 1562. The Respondent caused the Book of Articles to be sent for out of the Book-sellers shop which being observed by the Doctor he declared himself very willing to decline any further prosecution of that particular But Dr. Heylyn was resolved to proceed on no further Vsquedum liberaverit animam suam ab ista calumnia as his own words were At the coming in of the Book the Respondent read the Article in the English Tongue viz. The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority in Controversies of Faith c. Which done he delivered the Book to one of the Standers by who desired it of him the Book passing from one hand to another till all men were satisfied The Regius Professor had no other subterfuge but this He went to prove that not the Convocation but the High Court of Parliament had power of ordering matters in the Church in making Canons ordaining Ceremonies and determining Controversies in Religion And he could find no other medium to make it good but the Authority of Sir Edward Coke in one of the Books of his Reports An Argument that Dr. Heylyn gratified with no better answer than Non Credendum est cuique extra suam artem For these things and the Professors ill words in the former Disputation Dr. Heylyn caused him to be brought before the Council Table at Woodstock where he was publickly reprehended And upon the coming out of the Kings Declaration concerning lawful sports Dr. Heylyn translated the Regius Professors Lecture upon the Sabbath into English and putting a Preface before it caused it to be Printed a performance which did not only justifie his Majesties proceedings but took off much of that opinion which Dr. Prideaux had amongst the Puritanical Faction in those days A. D. 1634. The grievances which the Collegiate Church of Westminster suffered under the Government of John Lord Bishop of Lincoln then Commendatory Dean thereof became so intolerable that Dr. Heylyn with Dr. Tho. Wilson Dr. Gabriel Moor and Dr. Lud. Wemys with other of the Prebends drew up a Charge of no less than 36 Articles against the Bishop and by way of complaint humbly Petitioned his Majesty for redress of these grievances Whereupon a Commission was issued out to the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York the Earl of Manchester Earl of Portland the Lord Bishop of London and the two Secretaries of State Authorizing them to hold a Visitation of the Church of Westminster to examine the particular Charges made against John Lord Bishop of Lincoln who afterwards calling the Prebends to meet him in the Jerusalem-Chamber desired to know of them what these things were that were amiss that so he might presently redress them But to that Dr. Heylyn replied that seeing they had put the business into his Majesties hands it would but ill become them to take the matters out of his into their own Amongst other grievances the Bishop had most disgracefully turned out the Prebends of the great Seat or Pew under the Pulpit Dr. Heylyn being chosen Advocate for his Brothren did prove before
that why should you think of any thing but despising this as Tully did unto Mark Antony Catilinae gladios contempsi non timebo tuos Why may you not conclude with David in the like sense and apprehensions of Gods preservation that he who saved him from the Bear and Lion would also save him from the sword of that railing Philistine and you may see that the Divine Providence is still awake over that poor remnant of the Regular and Orthodox Clergy which have not yet bowed their knees to the golden Calves of late erected by putting so unexpectedly a hook into the Nostrils of those Leviathans which threatned with an open mouth to devour them all I will not say as Clemens of Alexandria did in a case much like that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to indulge too much to apprehensions of this nature in matters which relate to Gods publick service All I shall add is briefly this that having presented you with these Considerations I shall with greediness expect the sounding of the Bell to morrow morning and in the mean time make my Prayers to Almighty God so to direct you in this business as may be most for his glory your own particular comfort and the good of this people with which expressions of my Soul I subscribe my self Your most affectionate Friend and Brother in Christ Jesus PETER HEYLYN After this good Letter Mr. Huish went on in his prayers as formerly and this little Church withstood all the batteries and fierce assaults of its Enemies who were never able to demolish it or unite it to Saint Ellens So well had the Doctor managed the business for the publick good and benefit of the Parish for as to his own particular he might have spared that pains and charge having in his house an Oratory or little Chappel which he built after his coming thither where he had constant Prayers and Sacraments for his own Family and some particular Neighbors who had a desire to hear the Service and receive the Sacrament according to the Church of England He was a strict keeper of Lent save only Sundays and an exact observer of the Holy-days And as he was a strict observer of all the Rites and Orders of our Church so he was a perfect abhorrer of Popery and Romish superstitions in so much that he would not hold a correspondency with a Papist or with one so reputed as I can instance an example of one Mr. Hood whose Family and the Doctors were very kind when he lived at Minster being near Neighbors the Gentleman afterward turning Papist and coming to Abingdon to give him a Visit the Doctor sent his man Mr. Gervis to him to bid him be gone and shut the doors against him saying that he heard he was turn'd Papist for which he hated the sight of him and so my Gentleman went away never daring to give him another Visit In the Year 1658. he put forth Respondet Petrus or his Answer to Dr. Bernards Book entituled The Judgment of the late Primate of Ireland c. at the same time Dr. Bernard who was before an Irish Dean but was now Chaplain to Oliver one of his Almoners and Preacher in Grayes Inn would have procured an Order from Olivers Privy Council not only for suppressing but the burning of that Book which caused a common report that Dr. Heylyns Book was publickly burnt but it was a mistake for the Book never saw either the Fire or any Answer At the same time the Doctor printed an Appendix to Respondet Petrus in answer to certain passages in Mr. Sandersons History of the Life and Reign of King Charles in which he layeth a scandal upon the Doctor that he was an Agent for the See of Rome The Doctor indeed in all his Writings did ever assert the Kings Prerogative and the Churches Rights for which he incurr'd the Odium of the opposire Party with whom 't is ordinary to brand such persons with the ignominious name of Papists or being Popishly affected as abhor the other extreme of Puritanism in which kind of Calumnies the Doctor hath sufficiently had his share though no man hath written more sharply against the Church of Rome as appears from most of his Books and particularly in his Theologia Veterum and his Sermons upon the Tares but though these have not been able to secure him from the malicious Tongues and Pens of ill men yet his innocence hath found very worthy Advocates Among whom I thank particularly the Reverend and Learned Dr. Stillingfleet in his Answer to T.G. who would have made use of the Puritans accusation for the Papists purpose but the worthy Doctor quickly refuted him out of the fourth Sermon of Doctor Heylyn upon the Tares where he lays at the door of the Papists the most gross Idolatry greater than which was never known among the Gentiles But against these things 't is commonly said and as commonly believed that some persons and those of most illustrious quality have been perverted from the Protestant Faith to Popery by reading some of the Doctors Books and particularly that which he writ about the History of the Reformation called Ecclesia Restaurata And Mr. Burnet in his late History upon the same subject has done all he can to confirm the world in that belief For after a short commendation of Dr. Heylyns style and method it being usual with some men slightly to praise those at first whom they design to sting and lash afterward he presumes to tell his Reader that either the Doctor was ill inform'd or very much led by his passions and he being wrought on by most violent prejudices against some that were concerned in that time delivers many things in such a manner and so strangely that one would think that he had been secretly set on to it by those of the Church of Rome though I donbt not but he was a sincere Protestant but violently carried away by some particular conceits In one thing he is not to be excused that he never vouched any Authority for what he writ which is not to be forgiven any who write of Transactions beyond their own time and deliver us things not known before This Objection having many particular Charges contained in it will require as many distinct Answers which I shall give in short And first if it be true that any have embraced the Roman Faith by means of that Book he may enclude them to be very incompetent Judges in the matters of Religion that will be prevailed upon to change it upon the perusal of one single History and especially in the Controversies between us and the Papists which do not depend upon matter of fact or an Historical Narration of what Occurrences happened in this Kingdom but upon doctrine of Faith what we are to believe and disbelieve in order to our serving God in this life and being Eternally blessed with him in the next Secondly As for his vouching no Authority for what he writ which is
Rituals The Papists of the two the more moderate Adversary and such whose edg was sooner taken off from the prosecution of the Quarrel than the others were For though the first Liturgy of King Edward the sixth compiled by many Learned and Religious persons was cryed up both by Act of Parliament 2.3 â—d 6. cap. 1. and by Fox himself as done by the especial aid of the holy Ghost yet it gave no small offence to some scrupulous Men who relished nothing that related to the Antient Forms And when by the Authority of Calvin the opposition in conformity of Bishop Hooper and the great power and policy of John Earl of Warwick after Duke of Northumberland it was brought under a Review and altered in such things as were thought offensive yet then it would not down neither with those tender stomachs Witness the troubles raised to the English Church at Francford in Queen Maries days by Knox Whittingham and their Associates at their returning from Geneva and the definitive sentence of Calvin in it to whom it was thought good to refer the Difference And he accordingly declares to content his followers In Liturgia Anglicana multas esse tolerabiles ineptias that he found in it very many tolerable follies Calv. Epist Anno 15 55. Reliquias Papisticae faecis the very dregs of Popery as he afterwards calls it Brought to a Review in Queen Elizabeths time and purged of a passage in the Letany which gave distast unto the Papists it grew into such general esteem and reputation as being fitted to the common Principles of Christianity in which all parties did agree that Pius the fourth Anno 1560. made offer by Parpatio Abbot of St. Saviours whom he sent with Letters to the Queen Liturgiam Anglicam Authoritate sua confirmaturum Cambd. in Annal Eliz. to ratifie and confirm the same by his Authority The Scots obliged themselves by a publick Subscription to observe the same Religionis cultui Ritibus cum Anglis communibus subscripserant as we read in Buchannan the fancy of Extemporary Prayer not being then taken up Histor Scot. lib. 19. as is affirmed by Knox himself in his Scottish History So grateful was it for a time to all sorts of people that the Papists for the first ten years of Queen Elizabeths Reign did diligently frequent the Church and attend the publick Services and performance of it as is affirmed by Sir Edward Coke in his charge given at the Assizes held at Norwich and in his Speech against Garnet and the other Traytors Anno 1605. And this not spoken on vulgar hear-say but on his own certain knowledg and observation he having noted Bedding field Cornwallis and divers others of that party to repair frequently to the Church without any scruple And though we may take this well enough on so good Authority yet may it possibly find more credit because averr'd by Queen Elizabeth herself in her Instructions to Sir Francis Walsingham bearing date August 11. Anno 1570. In which it is affirmed expresly of the Heads of that party and therefore we may judge the like of the Members also that they did ordinarily resort from the beginning of her Reign in all open places to the Churches and to divine services in the Church without contradiction or shew of misliking But in the year 1568. Sanders and others of the Popish Emissaries began to practise on that party under pretence of doing service to the Catholick Cause as Button Bellingham Compl. Embassad l. 4. and Benson sticklers for the Genevian Interesse did upon those who were inclinable to their Opinions And they so far prevailed on their several Partisans Cambd. Annal 1568. that about two years after upon the coming out of the Bull of Pope Pius Quintus against the Queen the Papists generally withdrew themselves from that conformity and came no longer to our Churches as before they had done And on the other side the Puritans as they then began to call them animated by Cartwright and the rest of their Leaders did separate themselves also from the Congregation declaming in their frequent Pamphlets against the Liturgy as superstitious and impure and altogether savouring of the Romish Missals Favoured underhand by Arch-bishop Grindal and openly countenanced by the Earl of Leicester they became so confident at the last that some of their Leaders being demanded by an Honourable Counsellor if the abolition of some Ceremonies would not serve their turn they answered with arrogancy enough Ne ungulam esse relinquendam that they would not leave so much as a Hoof behind But notwithstanding this strong vapour partly by the constancy and courage of Arch-bishop Whitgift who succeeded Grindal Anno 1583. the opportune death of the Earl their Patron Anno 1588. and the incomparable pains of judicious Hooker Anno 1595. but principally by the seasonable Execution of Copping and Hacker hanged at St. Edmondsbury in Suffolk for publishing the Pamphlets of Rob. Brown against the Book of Common Prayer pouer publier le liveres de Rob. Brown en countre le Livre de Commune Prayer as Compton doth report the Case in his Lawyers French they become so quiet Compton in his Office of Justices that the Church seemed to be restor'd to some hopes of peace No Libelling or Seditious preachings no great disturbance after this for some years together the Brethren turning their assaults into underminings and enterprising that by practice which they had found impossible to be gained by violence By which means having formed their party prepared their way by some new Libels back'd by the Scots and countenanced by some leading members in both Houses of Parliament Anno 1640. they brake out again the Smectymnuans openly appearing in the way of Argument while others of more Brains and Power managed the business for them in their several Houses The Liturgy by the one affirmed to have been intended by the first Reformers to be an help only to the want or weakness of a Minister and not to be imposed on any but such as would confess themselves unable to pray without it by some resembled unto Crutches and such like helps to insufficiency not to be made use of but by those only who otherwise could make no use of their legs reproached by their vulgar followers with the name of Pottage a dish to stay their stomachs till the meat came in all Offices of Piety reduced to Preaching and all Devotion to the Prayer of the Preachers making To this extremity were things brought when for the reasons elsewhere specified I took in hand the Answer to the Humble-Remonstrance Pref. to the Tract of Liturgies in which I found the whole building as to this particular to be laid on this foundation viz. that if by Liturgy we understand prescribed and stinted Forms of Administration composed by some and imposed upon all the rest Smectym Answ pag. 6. then they are sure that no such Liturgy had been used anciently by
the Jews or Christians Considering therefore they appeal'd to the ancient practice of the Jews and Christians I was resolved that to the ancient practice they should go for their justification and to that end drew down the Pedigree and Descent of Liturgies among the Jews from the time of Moses unto CHRIST carrying it on thorow the constant practice of the Greeks and Romans and finally thorow the whole state of the Christian Church from the time of CHRIST our Saviour till the death of Saint Augustin when Liturgies and Set Forms of Prayer were universally received in all parts of Christendom But hardly had I finished my Undertaking Plutarch in Mario when the War broke out and I knew well as Marius was once heard to say in another case That the voice of the Laws could not be heard for the noise of Weapons the Dispute being then like to be determin'd by stronger Arguments than could be urged on either side by pen and paper On which consideration the Work lay by me as it was till the Ordinance of the third of January 1644. did seem to put an end to the Disputation by abolishing the Book of Common Prayer and authorizing the Directory or New Form of Worship to be observed in the three Kingdoms But finding in that Directory that all set times of Publick Worship were reduced to One that one supposed to be commanded in the Scripture and that the Festival days vulgarly called Holy-days Direct pag. ult having no warrant in the Word of God were not to be continued longer I took that hint or opportunity to enlarge my self in laying down the ancient practice both of Jews and Christians in appointing Holy-days and recommending them to the pious practice of all men which did desire to live conformably to establisht Laws And finding afterwards that notwithstanding the Care taken by that Directory That Places of publick assembling for worship among us should be continued and employed to their former use Ibid. some Men began to threaten them with a speedy destruction and breathed out nothing but Down with them Down with them even unto the ground reproaching them in the mean time with the name of Steeple-houses I interserted also in convenient places the pious care of the Jewish Nation in erecting Synagogues and Oratories for Gods publick Worship and of the Primitive Christians not to say any thing of the like care in the ancient Gentiles in building consecrating and adorning Churches for the like employments And this I did to let the Reader understand that the accustomed times and places which were designed and set apart for Gods publick service had more authority to rest on than those Men gave out the Liturgy it self being apt enough to be beaten down without any such Ordinance if once those times and places should be discontinued By these degrees and on these several occasions the whole Work came to that perfection in which it is now presented to thee not to be now presented to thee neither if the necessity of doing my Duty unto God and the Church and offering something unto the consideration of the Higher Powers had not prevailed with me above all respects of my private interest Liturgies and Set Forms of Worship being thus asserted my next care was to vindicate the Church in that Form of Prayer which is prescribed to be used by Preachers before their Sermons Can. 55. For certainly the Church had not sufficiently provided for the Common peace if she had tied her Ministers to Set Forms in the Daily Office and left them to their own liberty in conceiving Prayers to be used by them in the Pulpit before their Sermons The inconvenience which that liberty hath brought upon us in these latter days being so apparent that it is very hard to say whether the Liberty of Prophesying or the Licenciousness in Praying what and how we list hath more conduced to these distractions which are now amongst us And if there were no such effect too visible of this licentiousness which I desire the present State to take notice of the scandal which is thereby given unto our Religion in speaking so irreverently with such vain repetitions and tautologies to Almighty God as in extemporary and unpremeditated Prayers is too frequently done seems a sufficient consideration to bring us back again to that ancient Form which the wisdom of the Church prescribed to prevent the Mischief Such was the care and providence of the elder times and happiest ages of the Church as to ordain that no unlearned person should make use of any of those Prayers which himself had framed nisi prius eas cum instructioribus fratribus contulerit Concil Carthag Can. 23. before he had conferred about them with more learned men The reason of which is thus given in the Council of Milevis Can. 12. Ne forte aliquid contra fidem vel per ignorantiam vel per minus studium sit compositum for fear lest any thing should escape them against faith and piety either through the ignorance of the Composer or carelesness in the Composition And if such care were taken of Mens private Prayers no question but a greater care is to be observed in ordering those publick Prayers which are to be offered unto God in the Congregation Never did Men so literally offer unto God the Calves of their lips as they have done of late since the extemporary way of Praying hath been taken up And if it were prohibited by the Law of Moses to offer any thing unto God in the way of the legal Sacrifices which was maim'd spotted or imperfect how can it rationally be conceived that God should be delighted with those Oblations or Spiritual Sacrifices which have nothing almost in them but maims spots and blemishes In which respect I have subjoyned to the Tract of Liturgies a brief Discourse about restraining Preachers to that Form of Prayer which is prescribed them by the Church and that not only in the Canon of 603. but in the Injunction of King Harry the 8th King Edward the 6th and Queen Elizabeth of famous memories till the predominating Humour of drawing all Gods publick Worship to the Pulpit-prayer carried all before it But here it is to be observed that one of the chief reasons for abolishing the publick Liturgy was that the Ministers might put forth themselves to exercise the Gift of Prayer with which our Lord Jesus Christ pleaseth to furnish all his servants whom he calls to that Office Pref. to the Direct p. 2 3. and that nothing was less effected than the end intended For first the Directory which prescribes not alone the Heads but the sense and scope which is the whole matter of the Prayers and other parts of publick Worship Ibid. p. 4. doth in effect leave nothing to the Ministers spirit but the wording of it which if it be not a restraining of the Gift of Prayer I am much to seek the Spirit being as much restrained and
Adeo Argumenta ab absurdo petita ineptos habent exitus said Lactantius truly Now for my History and my proceedings in it that must next be known my business being to make good the matter of Fact that is to say that in all Ages of the Church there hath been an imparity of Ministers that the chief of these Ministers was called the Bishop that this Bishop had the Government of all Presbyters and other Christian people within his Circuit and finally that the powers of Jurisdiction and Ordination were vested in him In which particulars if the Affirmative be maintain'd by sufficient evidence it will be very difficult if not impossible to prove the Negative And for the better making good of the Affirmative I have called in the ancient Writers the holy Fathers of the Church to testifie unto the truth of what is here said either as writing on those Texts of Scripture in which the Institution and Authority the Church in their several times in the Administration and Government whereof they had most of them some special interess Their Testimonies and Authorities I have fully pondered and alledged as fully not misreporting any of them in their words or meaning according to the best of my understanding as knowing well and having seen experience of it that such false shifts are like hot waters which howsoever they may serve for a present pang do in the end destroy the stomach And for those holy and renowned Authors thus by me produced I desire no more but that we yieldas much Authority unto them in Expounding Scripture as we would do to any of the Modern writers on the like occasion and that we would not give less credit to their Affirmations speaking of things that hapned in their own times and were within the compass of their observation than we would do to any honest Country Yeoman speaking his knowledg at the Bar between man and man And finally that in relating such orrurrences of Holy Church as hapned in the times before them we think them worthy of as much belief as we would give to Livy Tacitus or Suetonius reporting the Affairs of Rome from the Records Monuments and Discourses of the former times This is the least we can afford those Reverened Persons whether we find them acting in publick Councils or speaking in their own private and particular Writings and if I gain but this I have gained my purpose I hope to meet with no such Readers as Peter Abeilard of whom Saint Bernard tells us that he used to say Omnes Patres sic ego autem non sic though all the Fathers hold one way he would hold the contrary To such if any such there be I shall give no other answer at this time but what Dr. Saravia gave to Beza in this very case viz. Qui omnem Patribus adimit Authoritatem nullam sibi relinquit that is to say He which takes all Authority from the ancient Fathers will in fine leave none unto himself I should proceed next to the Canonical Ordination of Priests and Deacons the Stewards which the Lord hath set over his Houshold the ordinary Dispensers of Mysteries of Eternal life which like the Angels ascending and de scending upon Jacobs Ladder offer the People Prayers to God and signifie Gods good pleasure and commands to the rest of the People Offices not to be invaded or usurp'd by any who are not lawfully Ordained that is to say who are not inwardly prompted and inclined unto it by the Holy Spirit outwardly set apart and consecrated to Gods publick service by Prayer and imposition of Hands A point so clear as to the Designation of some persons unto sacred Offices that it hath been universally received in all times and Nations The sanctifying of the Tribe of Levi for the service of the Tabernacle amongst the Jews the instituting of so many Colledges of Priests for the service of their several Gods by the ancient Gentiles Acts 13. v. 2. the Separating of Paul and Barnabas to the work of the Ministery in the first dawnings of the Gospel sufficiently evidence this truth And no less clear it is as to the Laying on of Hands in that Sacred action retained since the Apostles times in all Christian Churches at the least deservedly so called And this the Presbyterian-Calvinists saw well enough who though profest Adversaries to all the old Orders of the Church do notwithstanding admit none amongst them to the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments but by the Laying on of the Hands of their Presbyteries But if it be objected that there is no such thing required by the Ordinance of approbation of publick Ministers bearing date March 20. 1653. I answer that that Ordinance relateth not to Ordination but to Approbation and Admission it being supposed that no Man is presented to any Benefice with cure of souls or unto any publick Lecture and being so presented craves to have Admission thereunto who is not first lawfully Ordained That Ordinance was made for no other end but to great Admission to such fit persons as were nominated and presented to them and thereby to supply the place of Institution and Induction which had been formerly required by the Laws of the Land And therefore the said Ordinance declares very well that in such Approbations and Admissions there is nothing sacred no setting apart of any Person to a particular Office in the Ministery that being the sole and proper work of Ordination but only by such trial and approbation to take care that places destitute may be supplyed with able and faithful Preachers throughout the Nation The Question is not then about Ordination or about Laying on of Hands in which all agree but what it is which makes the Ordination lawful whose Hands they are which make it to be held Canonical The Genevians and the rest of Calvins Discipline challenge this power to their Presbyteries a mungrel company not heard of till these latter times consisting of two Lay-elders for each preaching Minister The Lutherans with better reason appropriate it to their Superintendents which in their Churches execute the place of Bishops But all Antiquity Councils Fathers the general usage of the Churches of the East and West with those also of the Aethiopian or Habassine Empire carry it clearly for the Bishop who hath alone the power to Ordain and Consecrate and by the imposition of Hands to set apart some Men to the publick Ministery though he call in some Presbyters as Assistants to him Saint Jerom no great friend to Bishops doth acknowledg this Quid facit Episcopus excepta Ordinatione quod Presbyter non faciat What doth a Bishop saith the Father but what a Presbyter may do also except Ordination And to the disquisition of these Canonical Ordinations I shall next proceed as hath been promised in the Title But I have said so much to that Point in the Course of the History as Part 1. Cap. 2. Num. 11 12. Cap. 4. Num. 2,3 Cap. 5.
Num. 2 3 4 5 6 Part 2. Cap. 1. Num. 10 c. Cap. 4 Numb 7. Cap. 5. Num. 5 6. Cap. 6. Num. 5 7. besides many other passages here and there interserted to the same effect that I shall save my self the trouble of adding any thing further to those Observations And to them therefore I refer the Reader for his satisfaction At this time I shall say no more but that the Church had never stood so constantly to Episcopal Government were it not for the great and signal benefits which redound unto it by the same Of which there is none greater or of more necessary use to Christianity than the preserving of a perpetual succession of Preists and Deacons ordained in a Canonical way to be Ministers of holy things to the rest of the people that is to say to Preach the Word Administer the Sacraments and finally to perform all other Divine and Religious Offices which are required of them by the Church in their several places Thus have I laid before thee good Christian Reader the Method and Design of this following Work together with the Argument and Occasion of each several Piece contained in it Which as I have done with all Faith and Candor in the sincerity of my Heart and for the Testimony of a good Conscience laying it with all humble reverence at the feet of those who are in Authority so with respective duty and affection I submit the same unto the judgment of which Persuation or Condition soever thou art for whose instruction in the several Points herein declared it was chiesly studied And I shall heartily beseech all those who shall please to read it that if they meet with any thing therein which either is less fitly spoken or not clearly evidenced they would give me notice of it in such a charitable and Christian way as I may be the better for it and they not the worse Which favour if they please to do me they shall be welcome to me as an Angel of God sent to conduct me from the Lands of error into the open ways of truth And doing these Christian Offices unto one another we shall by Gods good leave and blessing not only hold the bond of external peace but also in due time be made partakers of the spirit of Vnity Which Blessing that the Lord would graciously bestow on his afflicted and distracted Church is no small part of our Devotions in the publick Liturgy where we are taught to pray unto Almighty God that he would please continually to inspire his universal Church with the spirit of Truth Vnity and Concord and grant that all they which do confess his holy Name may agree also in the truth of his holy Word and live in Vnity and godly Love Unto which Prayer he hath but little of a Christian which doth not heartily say Amen Lacies Court in Abingdon April 23. 1657. The Way of the REFORMATION OF THE Church of England DECLARED and JUSTIFIED c. THE INTRODUCTION Shewing the Occasion Method and Design of the whole discourse My dear Hierophilus YOUR company is always very pleasing to me but you are never better welcome han when you bring your doubts and scruples along with you for by that means you put me to the studying of some point or other whereby I benefit my self if not profit you And I remember at the time of your last being with me you seemed much scandalized for the Church of England telling me you were well assured that her Doctrine was most true and orthodox her Government conform to the Word of God and the best ages of the Church and that her publick Liturgie was an Extract of the Primitive Forms nothing in all the whole composure but what did tend to edification and Increase of piety But for all this you were unsatisfied as you said in the ways and means by which this Church proceeded in her Reformation alleding that you had heard it many times objected by some Partisans of the Church of Rome that our Religion was meer Parliamentarian not regulated by Synodical Meetings or the Authority of Councels as in elder times or as D. Harding said long since in his Answer unto B. Jewel That we had a Parliament Religion a Parliament Faith and a Parliament Gospel To which Scultinguis and some others after added that we had none but Parliament Bishops and a Parliament Clergy that you were apt enough to think that the Papists made not all this noise without some ground for it in regard you have observed some Parliaments in these latter days so mainly bent to catch at all occasions whereby no manifest their powers in Ecclesiastical matters especially in constituting the new Assembly of Divines and others And finally that you were heartily ashamed that being so often choaked with these Objections you neither knew how to traverse the â—ndictment nor plead Not guilty to the Bill Some other doubts you said you had relating to the King the Pope and the Protestant Churches either too little or too much look'd after in our Reformation but you were loth to trouble me with too much at once And thereupon you did intreat me to bethink my self of some fit Plaister for the sore which did oft afflict you religiously affirming that your desires proceeded not from curiosity or an itch of knowledge or out of any disaffection to the Power of Parliaments but meerly from an honest zeal to the Church of England whose credit and prosperity you did far prefer before your life or whatsoever in this world could be dear unto you Adding withal that if I would take this pains for your satisfaction and help you out of these perplexities which you were involved in I should not only do good service to the Church it self but to many a wavering member of it whom these objections had much staggered in their Resolutions In fine that you desired also to be informed how far the Parliaments had been interessed in these alterations of Religion which hapned in the Reigns of K. Hen. VIII K. Edw. VI. and Q. Elizabeth What ground there was for all this clamour of the Papists And whether the Houses or either of them have exercised of old any such Authority in matters of Ecclesiastical or Spiritual nature as some of late have ascribed unto them Which though it be a dangerous and invidious Subject as the times now are yet for your sake and for the truth's and for the honour of Parliaments which seem to suffer much in the Popish calumny I shall undertake it premising first that I intend not to say any thing to the point of Right whether or not the Parliament may lawfully meddle in such matters as concern Religion but shall apply my self wholly unto matters of Fact as they relate unto the Reformation here by law established And for my method in this business I shall first lay down by way of preamble the form of calling of the Convocation of the Clergy here in England that
Submission brought down the Convocation to the same Level with the Houses of Parliament yet being made unto the King in his single person and not as in conjunction with his House of Parliament it neither brought the Convocation under the command of Parliaments nor rendred them obnoxious to the power thereof That which they did in former times of their self-authority in matters which concerned the Church without the Kings consent co-operating and concurring with them the same they did and might do in the times succeeding the Kings Authority and Consent being superadded without the help and midwifery of an Act of Parliament though sometimes that Authority was made Use of also for binding of the subject under Temporal and Legal penalties to yield obedience and conformity to the Churches Orders Which being the true state of the present business it makes the clamour of the Papists the more unreasonable but then withal it makes it the more easily answered Temporal punishments inflicted on the refractory and disobedient in a Temporal Court may add some strength unto the Decrees and Constitutions of the Church but hey take none from it Or if they did the Religion of the Church of Rome the whole Mass of Popery as it was received and settled here in Qu. Maries Reign would have a sorry crutch to stand upon and might as justly bear the name of a Parliament-Faith as the reformed Religion of the Church of England It is true indeed that had those Convocations which were active in that Reformation being either called or summoned by the King in Parliament or by the Houses separately or convenedly without the King Or had the Members of the same been nominated and impowered by the House alone and intermixt with a considerable number of the Lords and Commons which being by the way the Case of this New Assembly I do not see how any thing which they agree on can bind the Clergy otherwise than imposed by a strong hand and against their privileges Or finally had the conclusions or results thereof been of no effect but as reported to and confirmed in Parliament the Papists might have had some ground for so gross a calumny in calling the Religion which is now established by the name of a Parliament-Religion and a Parliament-Gospel But so it is not in the Case which is now before us the said Submission notwithstanding For being the Body being still the same privileged with the same freedom of debate and determination and which is more the Procurators of the Clergy invested with the same power and Trust which before they had There was no alteration made by the said Submission in the whole constitution and composure of it but only the addition of a greater and more excellent power Nor was there any thing done here in that Reformation but either by the Clergy in their Convocations and in their Convocations rightly called and Canonically constituted or with the councel and advice of the Heads thereof in more private conferences the Parliaments of these times contributing very little towards it but acquiescing in the Wisdom of the Sovereign Prince and in the piety and zeal of the Ghostly Fathers This is the ground-work or foundation of the following Building I now time I should proceed to the Superstructures beginning first with the Ejection of the Pope and vesting the Supremacy in the Regal Crown 2. Of the Ejection of the Pope and vesting the Supremacy in the Regal Crown AND first beginning with the Ejection of the Pope and his Authority that led the way unto the Reformation of Religion which did after follow It was first voted and decreed in the Convocation before ever it became the subject of an Act of Parliament For in the year 1530. 22 Hen. 8. the Clergy being caught in a premunire were willing to redeem their danger by a sum of money and to that end the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury bestowed upon the King the sum of 100000 l. to be paid by equal portions in the same year following but the King would not so be satisfied unless they would acknowledge him for the supream Head on earth for the Church of England which though it was hard meat and would not easily down amongst amongst them yet it passed at last For being throughly debated in a Synodical way both in the upper and lower Houses of Convocation they did in sine agree upon this expression Cujus Ecclesiae sc Anglicanae Singularem protectorem unicum Supremum Dominum quantum per Christi leges licet Supremum caput ipsius Majestatem recognoscimus To this they all consented and subscribed their Hands and afterwards incorporated it into the publik Act or Instrument which was presented to the King in the Name of his Clergy for the redeeming of their errour and the grant of their money which as it doth at large appear in the Records and Acts of the Convocation so it is touched upon in a Historical way in the Antiq. Britan. Mason de Minist Anglic. and other Authors by whom it also doth appear that what was thus concluded on by the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury was also ratified and confirmed by the Convocation of the Province of York according to the usual custom save that they did not buy their pardon at so dear a rate This was the leading Card to the Game that followed For on this ground were built the Statutes prohibiting all Appeals to Rome and for determining all Ecclesiastical suits and controversies within the Kingdoms 24 H. 8. c. 12. That for the manner of electing and consecrating of Arch-Bishops and Bishops 25 H. 8. c. 20. and the prohibiting the payment of all Impositions to the Court of Rome and for obtaining all such dispensations from the See of Canterbury which formerly were procured from the Popes of Rome 25 H. 8. c. 21. Which last is builkt expresly upon this foundation That the King is the only supream Head of the Church of England and was so recognized by the Prelates and Clergy representing the said Church in their Convocation And on the very same foundation was the Statute raised 26 H. 8. c. 1. wherein the King is declared to be the supream Head of the Church of England and to have all honour and preheminences which were annexed unto that Title as by the Act it self doth at full appear Which Act being made I speak it from the Act it self only for corroboration and confirmation of that which had been done in the Convocation did afterwards draw on the Statute for the Tenths and first fruits as the point incident to the Headship or supream Authority 26 H. 8. c. 3. The second step to the Ejection of the Pope was the submission of the Clergy to the said King Henry whom they had recognizanced for their supream Head And this was first concluded on in the Convocation before it was proposed or agitated in the Houses of Parliament and was commended only to the care of the
Parliament that is might have the force of a Law by a civil Sanction The whole debate with all the Traverses and emergent difficulties which appeared therein are specified at large in the Records of Convocation Anno 1532. But being you have not opportunity to consult those Records I shall prove it by the Act of Parliament called commonly The Act of submission of the Clergy but bearing this Title in the Abridgment of the Statutes set out by Poulton That the Clergy in their Convocations shall enact no constitutions without the Kings assent In which it is premised for granted that the Clergy of the Realm of England had not only acknowledged according to the truth that the Convocation of the same Celrgy is always hath been and ought to be assembled always by the Kings Writ but also submitting themselves to the Kings Majesty had promised in verbo Sacerdotis That they would never from henceforth presume to attempt alleadge claim or put in ure enact promulge or execute any new Canons Constitutions Ordinances provincial or other or by whatsoever other name they shall be called in the Convocation unless the Kings most Royal Assent may to them be had to make promulge and execute the same and that his Majesty do giv his most Royal Assent and Authority in that behalf Upon which ground-work of the Clergies the Parliament shortly after built this superstructure to the same effect viz. That none of the said Clergy from henceforth should presume to attempt alleadge claim or put in ure any Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodals or any other Canons norshall enact promulge or execute any such Canons Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial by whatsoever names or names they may be called in their Convocations in time coming which always shall be assembled by the Kings Writ unless the same Clergy may have the Kings most Royal Assent and Licence to make promulge and execute such Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial or Synodical upon pain of every one of the said Clergy doing the contrary to this Act and thereof convicted to suffer Imprisonment and make Fine at the Kings Will 25 H. 8. c. 19. So that the Statute in effect is no more than this An Act to bind the Clergy to perform their promise to keep them fast unto their word for the time to come that no new Canon should be made in the times succeeding in the favour of the Pope or by his Authority or to the diminution of the Kings Royal Prerogative or contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm of England as many Papal Constitutions were in the former Ages Which Statute I desire you nto take notice of because it is the Rule and Measure of the Churches power in making Canons Constitutions or whatsoever else you shall please to call them in their Convocations The third and final Act conducing to the Popes Ejection was an Act of Parliament 28 H. 8 c. 10. entituled An Act extinguishing the Authority of the Bishop of Rome By which it was enacted That if any person should extol the Authority of the Bishop of Rome he should incur the penalty of a preamunire that every Officer both Ecclesiastioal and Lay should be Sworn to renounce the said Bishop and his Authority and to resist it to his power and to repute any Oath formerly taken in maintenance of the said Bishop or his Authority to be void and finally that the refusal of the said Oath should be judged High Treason But this was also usher'd in by the determination first and after by the practice of all the Clergy For in the year 1534. which was two years before the passing of this Act the King had sent this Proposition to be agitated in both Vniversities and in the greatest and most famous Monasteries of the Kingdom that is to say An aliquid authoritatis in hoc Regno Angliae Pontifici Romano de jure competat plusquam alii cuicunque Episcopo extero By whom it was determined Negatively that the Bishop of Rome had no more power of Right in the Kingdom of England than any other forreign Bishop Which being testified returned under the hands and seals respectively the Originals whereof are still remaining in the Library of Sr. Robert Cotton was a good preamble to the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy assembled in their Convocation to conclude the like And so accordingly they did and made an Instrument thereof subscribed by the hands of all the Bishops and others of the Clergy and afterwards confirmed the same by their corporal Oaths The copies of which Oaths and Instrument you shall find in Foxes Acts and Monumets Vol. 2. fol. 1203. and fol. 1210 1211. of the Edition of John Day Anno 1570. And this was semblably the ground of a following Statute 35 H. 8. c. 1. wherein another Oath was devised and ratified to be imposed upon the Subject for the more clear asserting of the Kings Supremacy and the utter exclusion fo the Popes for ever which Statutes though they were all repealed by an Act of Parliament 1 and 2 d. of Phil. and Mary c. 1. yet were they all revived in 1 Elize save that the name of supream Head was changed unto that of the supream Governour and certain clauses altered in the Oath of Supremacy Where by the way you must take notice that the Statutes which concern the Kings Supremacy are not introductory of any new Right that was not in the Crown before but only declaratory of an old as our best Lawyers tell us and the Statute of the 26 of H. 8. c. 1. doth clearly intimate So that in the Ejection of the Pope of Rome which was the firt and greatest steptowards the work of Reformation the Parliament did nothing for ought it appears but what was done before in the Convocation and did no more than fortifie the Results of Holy Church by the addition and corroboration of the Secular Power 3. Of the Translation of the Scriptures and permitting them to be read in the English Tongue THE second step towards the work of Reformation and indeed one of the most especial parts thereof was the Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue and the permitting all sorts of people to peruse the same as that which visibly did tend to the discovery of the errours and corruptions in the Church of Rome and the intolerable pride and tyranny of the Roman Prelates upon which grounds it had been formerly translated into English by the hand of Wickliff and after on the spreading of Luthers Doctrine by the pains of Tindal a stout and active man in K. Henries days but not so well befriended as the work deserved especially considering that it hapned in such a time when many Printed Pamphlets did disturb the State and some of them of Tindals making which seemed to tend unto sedition and the change of Government Which being remonstrated to the King he caused divers of his Bishops together with sundry of the Learned'st and
most eminent Divines of all the Kingdom to come before him whom he required freely and plainly to declare as well what their opinion was of the aforesaid Pamphlets as what they did think fit to be done concerning the Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue And they upon mature advice and deliberation unanimously condemned the aforesaid Books of Heresie and Blasphemy no smaller crime then for translating of the Scriptures into the English tongue they agreed all with one assent that it depended wholly on the will and pleasure of the Sovereign Prince who might do therein as he conceived to be most agreeable to his occasions but that with reference to the present estate of things it was more expedient to explain the Scripture to the people by the way of Sermons than to permit it to be read promiscuously by all sorts of men yet so that hopes were to be given unto the Laily that if they did renounce their errours and presently deliver to the hands of his Majesties Officers all such Books and Bibles which they conceived to be translated with great fraud and falshood and any of them had in keeping his Majesty would cause a true and catholike Translation of it to be published in convenient time for the use of his Subjects This was the sum and substance of the present Conference which you shall find laid down at large in the Registers of Arch-Bishop Warham And according to this advice the King sets out a Proclamation not only prohibiting the buying reading or translating of any the aforesaid Books but straitly charging all his Subjects which had any of the Books of Scripture either of the Old Testament or of the New in the English Tongue to bring them in without delay But for the other part of giving hopes unto the people of a true Translation if they delivered in the false or that at least which was pretended to be false I find no word at all in the Proclamation That was a work reserved unto better times or left to be solicited by the Bishops themselves and other Learned men who had given the counsel by whom indeed the people were kept up in hope that all should be accomplished unto their desires And so indeed it proved at last For in the Convocation of the year 1536. the Authority of the Pope being abrogated and Cranmer fully settled in the See of Canterbury the Clergy did agree upon a form of Petition to be presented to the King That he would graciously indulge unto his Subjects of the Laity the reading of the Bible in the English Tongue and that a new Translation of it might be forthwith made for that end and purpose According to which godly motion his Majesty did not only give Order for a new Translation which afterwards He authorized to be read both in publique and private but in the interim he permitted CROMWEL his Vicar General to set out an Injunction for providing the whole Bible both in Latine and English after the Translation then in Use which was called commonly by the name of Matthews Bible but was no other than that of Tindal somewhat altered to be kept in every parish-Parish-Church throughout the Kingdom for every one that would repair thereunto and caused this mark or character of Authority to be set upon them in red Letters Set forth with the Kings most gracious Licence which you may see in Fox his Acts and Monuments p. 1248. and 1363. Afterwards when the new Translation so often promised and so long expected was compleat and finished Printed at London by the Kings Authority and countenanced by a grave and pious Preface of Arch-Bishop Cranmer the King sets out a Proclamation dated May 6. Anno 1541. Commanding all the Curates and Parishioners throughout the Kingdom who were not already furnished with Bibles so authorized and translated as is before said to provide themselves before All-hallowtide next following and to cause the Bible so provided to be placed conveniently in their several and respective Churches straitly requiring all his Bishops and other Ordinaries to take special care to see his said commands put in execution And therewithal came out Instructions from the King to be published by the Clergy in their several Parishes the better to possess the people with the Kings good affection towards them in suffering them to have the benefit of such Heavenly Treasure and to direct them in a course by which they might enjoy the same to their greater comfort the reformation of their lives and the peace and quiet of the Church Which Proclamation and Instructions are still preserved in that most admirable Treasury of Sir Robert Cotton And unto these Commands of so great a Prince both Bishops Priests and People did apply themselves with such chearful reverence that Bonner even that bloody Butcher as he after proved caused six of them to be chained in several places of St. Paul's Church in London for all that were so well inclined to resort unto for their edification and instruction the Book being very chargeable because very large and therefore called commonly for distinctions sake The Bible of the greater Volum Thus have we seen the Scriptures faithfully translated into the English Tongue the Bible publickly set up in all parish-Parish-Churches that every one which would might peruse the same and leave permitted to all people to buy them for their private Uses and read them to themselves or before their Families and all this brought about by no other means than by the Kings Authority only grounded on the advice and judgment of the Convocation But long it was not I confess before the Parliament put in for a share and claimed some interest in the work but whether for the better or the worse I leave you to judge For in the year 1542. the King being then in agitation of a League with Charles the Emperour He caused a complaint to be made unto him in this Court of Parliament That the Liberty granted to the people in having in their hands the Books of the Old and New Testament had been much abused by many false glosses and interpretations which were made upon them tending to the seducing of the people especially of the younger sort and the raising of sedition within the Realm And thereupon it was enacted by the Authority of the Parliament on whom He was content to cast the envy of an Act so contrary to his former gracious Proclamations That all manner of Books of the Old and New Testament of the crafty false and untrue Translation of Tindal be forthwith abolished and forbidden to be used and kept As also that all other Bibles not being of Tindals Translation in which were found any Preambles or Annotations other than the Quotations or Summaries of the Chapters should be purged of the said Preambles and Annotations either by cutting them out or blotting them in such wise that they might not be perceived or read And finally That the Bible be not read openly in
was only by the King's Authority by vertue of the Headship or Supremacy which by way of recognition was vested in him by the Clergy either co-operating and concurring with them in their Convocations or else directed and assisted by such learned Prelates with whom he did advise in matters which concerned the Church and did relate to Reformation By virtue of which Headship or Supremacy he ordained the first and to that end caused certain Articles or Injunctions to be published by the Lord Cromwel then his Viear General Anno 1536. And by the same did he give order for the second I mean for the saying of the Letany in the English Tongue by his own Royal Proclamation Anno 1545. For which consult the Acts and Monuments fol. 1248 1312. But these were only preparations to a greater work which was reserved unto the times of K. Edw. 6. In the beginning of whose Reign there passed a Statute for the administring the Sacrament in both kinds to any person that should devoutly and humbly desire the same 1 E. 6. c. 1. In which it is to be observed that though the Statute do declare that the ministring of the same in both kinds to the people was more agreeable to the first Institution of the said Sacrament and to the common usage of the primitive Times Yet Mr. Fox assures us and we may take his word that they did build that Declaration and consequently the Act which was raised upon it upon the judgment and opinion of the best learned men whose resolution and advice they followed in it fol. 1489. And for the Form by which the said most blessed Sacrament was to be delivered to the common people it was commended to the care of the most grave and learned Bishops and others assemby the King at His Castle of Windsor who upon long wise learned and deliberate advice did finally agree saith Fox upon one godly and uniform zOrder for receiving of the same according to the right rule of Scriptures and the first use of the primitive Church fol. 1491. Which Order as it was set forth in Print Anno 1548. with a Proclamation in the name of the King to give Authority thereunto amongst the people so was it recommended by special Letters writ unto every Bishop severally from the Lords of the Council to see the same put in execution A copy of which Letters you may find in Fox fol. 1491. as afore is said Hitherto nothing done by Parliament in the Forms of Worship but in the following year there was For the Protector and the rest of the Kings Council being fully bent for a Reformation thought it expedient that one uniform quiet and godly Order should be had throughout the Realm for Officiating God's divine Service And to that end I use the words of the Act it self appointed the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops and other learned men of the Realm to meet together requiring them that having as well eye and respect to the most pure and sincere Christian Religion taught in Scriptures as to the usages in the Primitive Church they should draw and make one convenient and meet Order Rite and fashion of Common Prayer and Administration of Sacraments to be had and used in this his Majesties Realm of England Well what did they being thus assembled that the Statute tells us Where it is said that by the aid of the Holy Ghost I pray you mark this well and with one uniform agreement they did conclude upon and set forth an Order which they delivered to the Kings Highness in a Book entituled The Book of Common-Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church after the use of the Church of England All this was done before the Parliament did any thing But what was done by them at at last Why first considering the most godly travel of the King's Highness and the Lord Protector and others of his Highness Council in gathering together the said B. and learned men Secondly The Godly Prayers Orders Rites and Ceremonies in the said Book mentioned Thirdly The motive and inducements which inclined the aforesaid learned men to alter those things which were altered and to retain those things which were retained And finally taking into consideration the honour of God and the great quietness which by the grace of God would ensue upon it they gave his Majesty most hearty and lowly thanks for the same and most humbly prayed him that it might be ordained by his Majesty with the assent of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same that the said Form of Common-Prayer and no other after the Feast of Pentecost next following should be used in all his Majesties Dominions with several penalties to such as either should deprave or neglect the same 2 and 3. E. 6. cap. 1. So far the very words of the Act it self By which it evidently appeareth that the two Houses of Parliament did nothing in the present business but impose that Form upon the people which by the learned and religious Clergy-men whom the K. appointed thereunto was agreed upon and made it penal unto such as either should deprave the same or neglect to use it And thus doth Poulton no mean Lawyer understand the Statute who therefore gives no other title to it in his Abridgement publish'd in the year 1612. than this The penalty for not using uniformity of Service and Ministration of the Sacrament So then the making of one uniform Order of celebrating divine Service was the work of the Clergy the making of the Penalties was the work of the Parliament Where let me tell yu by the way that the men who were employed in this weighty business whose names deserve to be continued in perpetual memory were Thomas Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury George Day Bishop of Chichester Thomas Goodrich B. of Ely and Lord Chancellour John Ship Bishop of Hereford Henry Holbeck Bishop of Lincoln Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rochester translated afterwards to London Thomas Thirlby Bishop of Westminster Dr. May Dean of St. Pauls Dr. Taylor then Dean afterwards Bishop of Lincoln Dr. Hains Dean of Exeter Dr. Robertson afterwards Dean of Durham Dr. Redman Master of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge and Dr. Cox then Almoner to the King afterward Dean of Westminster and at last Bishop of Ely men famous in their generations and the honour of the Age they lived in And so much for the first Liturgy of King Edwards Reign in which you see how little was done by Authority or power of Parliament so little that if it had been less it had been just nothing But some exceptions being taken against the Liturgy by some of the preciser sort at home and by Calvin abroad the Book was brought under a review And though it had been framed at first if the Parliament which said so erred not by the ayd of the Holy Ghost himself yet to comply with
the curiosity of the Ministers and mistakes of the people rather than for any other weighty cause As the Statutes 5 and 6 Ed. 6. cap. 1. it was thought expedient by the King with the assent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled that the said Order of Common Service should be faithfully and godly perused explained and made fully perfect Perused and explained by whom Why questionless by those who made it or else by those if they were not the same men who were appointed by the King to draw up and compose a Form of Ordination for the Use of the Church And this Assent of theirs for it was no more was the only part that was ever acted by the Parliament in matter of this present nature save that a Statute passed in the former Parliament 3 and 4 Ed. 6. c. 12. unto this effect that such form and manner of making and consecrating Arch-Bishops Bishops Priests Deacons and other Ministers of the Church which before I spake of as by six Prelates and six other men of this Realm learned in Gods Laws by the King to be appointed and assigned shall be devised to that purpose and set forth under the great Seal shall be lawfully used and exercised and none other Where note that the King only was to nominate and appoint the men the Bishops and other learned men were to make the Book and that the Parliament in a blind obedience or at the least upon a charitable confidence in the integrity of the men so nominated did confirm that Book before any of their Members had ever seen it though afterwards indeed in the following Parliament this Book together with the Book of Common-prayer so Printed and explained obtained a more formal confirmation as to the use thereof throughout the Kingdom but in no other respect for which see the Statute 5 and 6 Ed. 6. c. 1. As for the time of Q. Elizabeth when the Common-prayer book now in use being the same almost with the last of King Edward was to be brought again into the Church from whence it was cast out in Queen Maries Reign it was committed to the care of some learned men that is to say to M. Whitehead once Chaplain to Q. Anne Bullen Dr. Parker after Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Dr. Grindal after Bishop of London Dr. Cox after Bishop of Ely Dr. Pilkington after Bishop of Durham Dr. May Dean of Saint Pauls Dr. Bill Provost of Eaton after Dean of Westminster and Sir Tho. Smith By whom being altered in some few passages which the Statute points to 1 Eliz. c. 21. it was presented to the Parliament and by the Parliament received and established without more ado or troubling any Committee of both or either Houses to consider of it for ought appears in their Records All that the Parliament did in it being to put it into the condition in which it stood before in Kings Edwards Reign partly by repealing the Repeal of King Edw. Statutes made in the first of Q. Mary c. 2. and partly by the adding of some farther penalties on such as did deprave the Book or neglect to use it or wilfully did absent themselves from their Parish-Churches And for the Alterations made in King James his time being small in the Rubrick only and for the additions of the Thanksgivings at the end of the Letany the Prayer for the Queen and the Royal Issue and the Doctrine of the Sacraments at the end of the Catechisme which were not in the Book before they were never referred unto the Parliament but were done only by Authority of the Kings Commission and stand in force by virtue only of His Proclamation which you may find before the Book the charge of buying the said Book so explained and altered being laid upon the several and respective Parishes by no other Authority than that of the eightieth Canon made in Convocation Anno 1603. The like may also be affirmed of the Forms of Prayer for the Inauguration-day of our Kings and Queens the Prayer-books for the fifth of November and the fifth of August and those which have been used in all publick Fasts All which without the help of Parliaments have been composed by the Bishops and imposed by the King Now unto this discourse of the Forms of Worship I shall subjoyn a word or two of the times of Worship that is to say the Holy-days observed in the Church of England and so observed that they do owe that observation chiefly to the Churches power For whereas it was found in the former times that the number of the Holy-days was grown so great that they became a burthen to the common people and a great hinderance to the thrift and manufactures of the Kingdom there was a Canon made in the Convocation An. 1536. For cutting off of many superstitious and superfluous Holy-days and the reducing them into the number in which they now stand save that St. George's day and Mary Magdalens day and all the Festivals of the blessed Virgin had their place amongst them according to which Canon there went out a Monitory from the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to all the Suffragans of his Province respectively to see the same observed in their several Diocesses which is still extant on Record But being the Authority of the Church was then in the wane it was thought necessary to confirm their Acts and see execution done upon it by the Kings Injunction which did accordingly come forth with this Form or preamble That the abolishing of the said Holy-days was decreed ordained and established by the Kings Highness Authority as Supream Head in Earth of the Church of England with the common consent and assent of the Prelates and Clergy of this his Realm in Convocation lawfully Assembled and Congregate Of which see Fox his Acts and Monuments fol. 1246 1247. Afterwards in the year 1541. the King perceiving with what difficulty the people were induced to leave off those Holy-days to which they had been so long accustomed published his Proclamation of the twenty-third of July for the abolishing of such Holy-days amongst other things as were prohibited before by his Injunctions both built upon the same foundation namely the resolution of the Clergy in their Convocation And so it stood until the Reign of King E. 6. at which time the Reformation of the publick Liturgie drew after it by consequence an alteration in the present business no days being to be kept or accounted Holy but those for which the Church had set apart a peculiar office and not all those neither For whereas there are several and peculiar offices for the day of the Conversion of St. Paul and the day of St. Barnabas the Apostles neither of these are kept as Holy-days nor reckoned or esteemed as such in the Act of Parliament wherein the names and number of the Holy-days is precisely specified which makes some think the Act of Parliament to have had an over-ruling power on the Common-prayer-Book but it is not so
there being a specification of the Holy-days in the Book it self with this direction These to be observed for Holy-days and none other in which the Feasts of the Conversion of St. Paul and the Apostle Barnabas are omitted plainly and upon which specification the Stat. 5 6. Ed. 6. cap. 3. which concerns the Holy-days seems most expresly to be built And for the Offices on those days in the Common-prayer Book you may please to know that every Holy-day consisteth of two special parts that is to say rest or cessation from bodily labour and celebration of Divine or Religious duties and that the days before remembred are so far kept holy as to have still their proper and peculiar Offices which is observed in all the Cathedrals of this Kingdom and the Chappels Royal where the Service is read every day and in most Parish Churches also as oft as either of them falls upon a Sunday though the people be not in those days injoined to rest from bodily labour no more than on the Coronation-day or the Fifth of November which yet are reckoned by the people for a kind of Holy-days Put all which hath been said together and the sum is this That the proceedings of this Church in the Reformation were not meerly Regal as it is objected by some Puritans much less that they were Parliamentarian in so great a work as the Papists falsly charge upon us the Parliaments for the most part doing little in it but that they were directed in a justifiable way the work being done Synodically by the Clergy only according to the usage of the Primitive times the King concurring with them and corroborating what they had resolved on either by his own single Act in his letters Patent Proclamations and Injunctions or by some publick Act of State as in times and by Acts of Parliament 6. Of the power of making Canons for the well ordering of the Clergy and the directing of the People in the publick Duties of Religion WE are now come to the last part of this design unto the power of making Canons in which the Parliament of England have had less to do than in either of the other which are gone before Concerning which I must desire you to remember that the Clergy who had power before to make such Canons and Constitutions in their Convocation as to them seemed meet promised the King in verbo Sacerdotij not to Enact or Execute and new Canons but by his Majesties Royal Assent and by his Authority first obtained in that behalf which is thus briefly touched upon in the Ant. Brit. in the life of William Warham Arch Bishop of Canterbury Clerus in verbe Sacerdotij sidem Regi dedit ne ullas deinceps in Synodo ferrent Ecclesiasticas leges nisi Synodus authoritate Regia congregata constitutiones in Synodis publicatae eadem authoritate ratae essent Upon which ground I doubt not but I might securely raise this proposition That whatsoever the Clergy did or might do lawfully before the act of Submission in their Convocation of their own power without the Kings Authority and consent concurring the same they can and may do still since the act of their Submission the Kings Authority and consent co-operating with them in their Councils and giving confirmation to their Constitutions as was said before Further it doth appear by the asoresaid Act 25 H. 8. c. 19. That all such Canons Constitutions Ordinances and Synodals Provincial as were made before the said Submission which be not contrary or repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm nor to the damage or hurt of the Kings Prerogative Royal were to be used and executed as in former times And by the Statute 26 H. 8. c. 1. of the Kings Supremacy that according to the Recognition made in Convocation our said Soveraign Lord his Heirs and Successors Kings of this Realm shall have full power and authority from time to time to visit repress reform order correct c. all such Errours Heresies Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever they be .c as may be most to the pleasure of Almighty God the increase of virtue in Christs Religion and for the peace unity and tranquillity of this Realm and the confirmation of the same So that you see these several ways of ordering matters for the publick weal and governance of the Church First by such ancient Canons and Constitutions as being made in former times are still in force Secondly by such new Canons as are or shall be made in Convocation with and by the Kings consent And thirdly By the Authority of the Sovereign Prince according to the Precedents laid down in the Book of God and the best ages of the Church concerning which you must remember what was said before viz. That the Statutes which concern the Kings Supremacy are Declaratory of an old power only not Introductory of a new which said we shall the better see whether the Parliament have had any thing to do either in making Canons or prescribing Orders for the regulating of Spiritual and Ecclesiastical matters and unto whom the same doth of right belong according to the Laws of the Realm of England And first King Henry being restored to his Headship of Supremacy call it which you will did not conceive himself so absolute in it though at the first much enamoured of it as not sometimes to take his Convocation with him but at all times to be advised by his Prelates when he had any thing to do that concerned the Church for which there had been no provision made by the ancient Canons grounding most times his Edicts and Injunctions Royal upon their advice and resolution For on this ground I mean the judgement and conclusions of his Convocation did he set out the Injunctions of the year 1536. for the abolishing of superstitious Holy-days the exterminating of the Popes Authority the publishing of the Book of Articles which before we spake of num 8. by all Parsons Vicars and Curates for preaching down the use of Images Reliques Pilgrimages and superstitious Miracles for rehearsing openly in the Church in the English tongue the Creed the Pater noster and the Ten Commandments for the due and reverend ministring of the Sacraments and Sacramentals for providing English Bibles to be set in every Church for the use of the people for the regular and sober life of Clergy-men and the relief of the poor And on the other side the King proceeded sometimes only by the advice of his Prelates as in the injunctions of the year 1538. for quarterly Sermons in each Parish for admitting none to Preach but men sufficiently Licenced for keeping a Register-book of Christnings Weddings and Burials for the due paying of Tythes as had been accustomed for the abolishing of the commemoration of St. Thomas Becket for singing a Parce nobis Domine instead of Ora pro nobis and the like to these And of this sort were the Injunctions which
came out in some years succeeding for the taking away of Images and Reliques with all the Ornaments of the same and all the Monumens and writings of feigned Miracles and for restraint of offering or setting up Lights in any Churches but only to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in which he was directed chiefly by Arch-Bishop Cranmer as also those for eating of white meats in the time of Lent the abolishing the Fast on St. Marks day and the ridiculous but superstitious sports accustomably used on the days of St. Clement St. Katherine and St. Nicholas All which and more was done in the said Kings Reign without help of Parliament For which I shall refer you to the Acts and Mon. fol. 1385 1425 1441. The like may also be affirmed of the Injunctions published in the name of K. E. 6. An. 1547. and printed also then for the Use of the Subjects And of the several Letters missive which went forth in his Name prohibiting the bearing of Candles on Candlemas-day of Ashes in Lent and of Palms on Palm-sunday for the taking down of all the Images throughout the Kingdom for administring the Communion in both kinds dated March 13 1548. for abrogating of private Masses June 24 1549. for bringing in all Missals Graduals Processionals Legends and Ordinals about the latter end of December of the same year for taking down of Altars and setting up Tables instead thereof An. 1550. and the like to these All which particulars you have in Foxes Book of Acts and Mon. in King Edwards life which whether they were done of the Kings meer motion or by advice of his Council or by consultation with his Bishops for there is little left upon Record of the Convocations of that time more than the Articles of the year 1552 certain I am that there was nothing done nor yet pretended to be done in all these particulars by the Authority of Parliament Thus also in Q. Elizabeths time before the new Bishops were well settled and the Queen assured of the affections of her Clergy she went that way to work in the Reformation which not only her two Predecessors but all the Godly Kings and Princes in the Jewish State and many of the Christian Emperours in the Primitive times had done before her in the well ordering of the Church and People committed to their care and government by Almighty God and to that end she published her Injunctions An. 1559. A Book of Orders An. 1561. Another of Advertisements An. 1562. All tending unto Reformation unto the building up of the new Jerusalem with the advice and counsel of the Metropolitan and some other Godly Prelates who were then a-about her by whom they were agreed on and subscribed unto before they were presented to her without the least concurrence of her Court of Parliament But when the times were better settled and the first difficulties of her Reign passed over she left Church-work to the disposing of Church-men who by their place and calling were most proper for it and they being met in Convocation and thereto Authorised as the Laws required did make and publish several Books of Canons as viz. 1571. An. 1584. An. 1597. Which being confirmed by the Queen under the broad Seal of England were in force of Laws to all intents and purposes which they were first made but being confirmed without those formal words Her Heirs and Successors are not binding now but expired together with the Queen No Act of Parliament required to confirm them then nor never required ever since on the like occasion A fuller evidence whereof we cannot have than in the Canons of year 1603. being the first year of King James made by the Clergy only in the Convocation and confirmed only by the King for though the old Canons were in force which had been made before the submission of the Clergy as before I shewed you which served in all these wavering and unsettled times for the perpetual standing rule of the Churches Government yet many new emergent cases did require new rules and whilst there is a possibility of Mali mores there will be a necessity of bonae Leges Now in the confirmation of these Canons we shall find it thus That the Clergy being met in their Convocation according to the Tenour and effect of his Majesties Writ his Majesty was pleased by virtue of his Prerogative Royal and Supream Authority in causes Ecclesiastical to give and grant unto them by his Letters Patents dated April 12. and June 25. full free and lawful liberty licence power and authority to convene treat debate consider consult and agree upon such Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they should think necessary fit and convenient for the honour and service of Almighty God the good and quiet of the Church and the better government thereof from time to time c. to be kept by all persons within this Realm as far as lawfully being members of the Church it may concern them which being agreed on by the Clergy and by them presented to the King humbly requiring him to give his Royal assent unto them according to the Statute made in the 25 of K. H. 8. and by his Majesties Prerogative and Supream Authority in Ecclesiastical causes to ratifie and confirm the same his Majesty was graciously pleased to confirm and ratifie them by his Letters Patents for himself his Heirs and lawful Successors straightly commanding and requiring all his loving Subjects diligently to observe execute and keep the same in all points wherein they do or may concern all or any of them No running to the Parliament to confirm these Canons nor any question made till this present by temperate and knowing men that there wanted any Act for their confirmation which the law could give them 7. An Answer to the main Objections of either Party BUT against this all which hath been said before it will be objected That being the Bishops of the Church are fully and wholly Parliamentarian and have no more Authority and Jurisdiction nisi à Parliamentis derivatum but that which is conferred upon them by the power of Parliaments as both Sanders and Schultingius do expresly say whatsoever they shall do or conclude upon either in Convocation or in more private conferences may be called Parliamentarian also And this last calumny they build on the several Statutes 24 H. 8. c. 12. touching the manner of Electing and Consecrating Arch-Bishops and Bishops that of the 1 E. 6. c. 2. appointing how they shall be chosen and what Seals they shall use these of 3 and 4 Ed. 6. c. 12. 5. 6 E. 6. for Authorizing of the Book of Ordination But chiefly that of the 8 Eliz. c. 1. for making good all Acts since 1 Eliz. in Consecrating any Arch Bishop or bishop within this Realm To give a general answer to each several cavil you may please to know that the Bishops as they now stand in the Church of England derive their Calling together with
their Authority and power in Spiritual matters from no other hands than those of Christ and his Apostles their Temporal honours and possessions from the bounty and affection only of our Kings and Princes their Ecclesiastical jurisdiction in causes Matrimonial Testamentary and the like for which no action lieth at the common Law from continual usage and prescription and ratified and continued unto them in the Magna Charta of this Realm and owe no more unto the Parliament than all sort of Subjects do besides whose Fortunes and Estates have been occasionally and collaterally confirmed in Parliament And as for the particular Statutes which are touched upon that of the 24 H. 8. doth only constitute and ordain a way by which they might be chose and consecrated without recourse to Tome for a confirmation which formerly had put the Prelates to great charge and trouble but for the form and manner of their Consecration the Statute leaves it to those Rites and Ceremonies wherewith before it was performed and therefore Sanders doth not stick to affirm that all the Bishops which were made in King Henries days were Lawfully and Canonically ordained and consecrated the Bishops of that time not only being acknowledged in Queen Maries days for lawful and Canonical Bishops but called on to assist at the Consecration of such other Bishops Cardinal Pool himself for one as were promoted in her Reign whereof see Masons Book de Minist Ang. l. c. Next for the Statute 1 E. 6. cap. 2. besides that it is satisfied in part by the former Answer as it relates to their Canonical Consecrations it was repealed in Terminis in the first of Queen Maries Reign and never stood in force nor practice to this day That of the Authorizing of the Book of Ordination in two several Parliaments of that King the one à parte ante and the other à parte post as before I told you might indeed seem somewhat to the purpose if any thing were wanting in it which had been used in the formula's of the Primitive times or if the Book had been composed in Parliament or by Parliament-men or otherwise received more Authority from them then that it might be lawfully used and exercised throughout the Kingdom But it is plain that none of these things were objected in Queen Maries days when the Papists stood most upon their points the Ordinal being not called in because it had too much of the Parliament but because it had too little of the Pope and relished too strongly of the Primitive piety And for the Statute of 8 of Q. Elizabeth which is chiefly stood on all that was done therein was no more than this and on this occasion A question had been made by captious and unquiet men and amongst the rest by Dr. Bonner sometimes Bishop of London whether the Bishops of those times were lawfully ordained or not the reason of the doubt being this which I marvel Mason did not see because the book of Ordination which was annulled and abrogated in the first of Queen Mary had not been yet restored and revived by any legal Act of Queen Elizabeths time which Cause being brought before the Parliament in the 8th year of her Reign the Parliament took notice first that their not restoring of that Book to the former power in terms significant and express was but Casus omissus and then declare that by the Statute 5 and 6 E. 6. it had been added to the Book of Common-prayer and Administration of the Sacraments as a member of it at least as an Appendant to it and therefore by the Statute 1 Eliz. c. 2. was restored again together with the said Book of Common-prayer intentionally at the least if not in Terminis But being the words in the said Statute were not clear enough to remove all doubts they therefore did revive now and did accordingly Enact That whatsoever had been done by virtue of that Ordination should be good in Law This is the total of the Statute and this shews rather in my judgment that the Bishops of the Queens first times had too little of the Parliament in them than that they were conceived to have had too much And so I come to your last Objection which concerns the Parliament whose entertaining all occasions to manisest their power in Ecclesiastical matters doth seem to you to make that groundless slander of the Papists the more fair and plausible 'T is true indeed that many Members of both Houses in these latter Times have been very ready to embrace all businesses which are offered to them out of a probable hope of drawing the managery of all Affairs as well Ecclesiastical as Civil into their own hands And some there are who being they cannot hope to have their sancies Authorized in a regular way do put them upon such designs as neither can consist with the nature of Parliaments nor the Authority of the King nor with the privileges of the Clergy nor to say truth with the esteem and reputation of the Church of Christ And this hath been a practice even as old as Wickliffe who in the time of K. R. 2. addressed his Petition to the Parliament as we read in Walsingham for the Reformation of the Clergy the rooting out of many false and erroneous Tenets and for establishing of his own Doctrines who though he had some Wheat had more Tears by odds in the Church of England And lest he might be thought to have gone a way as dangerous and unjustifiable as it was strange and new he laid it down for a position That the Parliament or Temporal Lords where by the way this ascribes no Authority or power at all to the House of Commons might lawfully examine and reform the Disorders and Corruptions of the Church and a discovery of the errors and corruptions of it devest her of all Tithes and Temporal endowments till she were reformed But for all this and more than this for all he was so strongly backed by the Duke of Lancaster neither his Petition nor his Position found any welcome in the Parliament further than that it made them cast many a longing eye on the Churches patrimony or produced any other effect towards the work of Reformation which he chiefly aimed at than that it hath since served for a precedent to Penry Pryn and such like troublesome and unquiet spirits to disturb the Church and set on foot those dreams and dotages which otherwise they durst not publish And to say truth as long as the Clergy were in power and had Authority in Convocation to do what they would in matters which concerned Religion those of the Parliament conceived it neither safe nor fitting to intermeddle in such business as concerned the Clergy for fear of being questioned for it at the Churches Bar. But when that Power was lessened though it were not lost by the submission of the Clergy to K. H. 8. and by the Act of the Supremacy which ensued upon it then did the Parliaments
begin to intrench upon the Churches Rights to offer at and entertain such businesses as formerly were held peculiar to the Clergy only next to dispute their Charters and reverse their privileges and finally to impose some hard Laws upon them And of these notable incroachments Matthew Parker thus complains in the life of Cranmer Qua Ecclesiasticarum legum potestate abdicata populus in Parliamento coepit de rebus divinis inconsulto Clero Sancire tum absentis Cleri privilegia sensim detrahere juraque duriora quibus Clerus invitus teneretur Constituere But these were only tentamenta offers and undertakings only and no more than so Neither the Parliaments of K. Edward or Q. Elizabeths time knew what it was to make Committees for Religion or thought it fit that Vzzah should support the Ark though he saw it tottering That was a work belonging to the Levites only none of the other Tribes were to meddle with it But as the Puritan Faction grew more strong and active so they applyed themselves more openly to the Houses of Parliament but specially to the House of Commons putting all power into their hands as well in Ecclesiastical and Spiritual Causes as in matters Temporal This amongst others confidently affirmed by Mr. Pryn in the Epistle to his Book called Anti-Arminianism where he avers That all our Bishops our Ministers our Sacraments our Consecration our Articles of Religion our Homilies Common-prayer Book yea and all the Religion of the Church is no other way publickly received supported or established amongst us but by Acts of Parliament And this not only since the time of the Reformation but That Religion and Church affairs were determined ratified declared and ordered by Act of Parliament and no ways else even then when Popery and Church men had the greatest sway Which strange assertion falling from the pen of so great a Scribe was forthwith chearfully received amongst our Pharisees who hoped to have the highest places not only in the Synagogue but the Court of Sanhedrim advancing the Authority of Parliaments to so high a pitch that by degrees they fastened on them both an infallibility of judgment and an omniotency of power Nor can it be denied to deal truly with you but that they met with many apt Scholars in that House who either out of a desire to bring all the grist to their own Mill or willing to enlarge the great power of Parliaments by making new precedents for Posterity or out of faction or affection or what else you please began to put their Rules in practice and draw all matters whatsoever within the cognizance of that Court In which their embracements were at last so general and that humour in the House so prevalent that one being once demanded what they did amongst them returned this answer That they were making a new Creed Another being heard to say That he could not be quiet in his Conscience till the holy Text should be confirmed by an Act of theirs Which passages if they be not true and real as I have them from an honest hand I assure you they are bitter jests But this although indeed it be the sickness and disease of the present Times and little to the honour of the Court of Parliament can be no prejudice at all to the way and means of the Reformation amongst sober and discerning men the Doctrine of the Church being settled the Liturgy published and confirmed the Canons authorized and executed when no such humour was predominant nor no such power pretended to by both or either of the Houses of Parliament But here perhaps it will be said that we are fallen into Charybdis by avoiding Scylla and that endeavouring to stop the mouth of this Popish Calumny we have set open a wide gap to another no less scandalous of the Presbyterians who being as professed Enemies of the Kings as the Popes Supremacy and noting that strong influence which the King hath had in Ecclesiastical affairs since the first attempts for Reformation have charg'd it as reproachfully on the Church of England and the Religion here established that it is Regal at the best if not Parliamentarian and may be called a Regal Faith and a Regal Gospel But the Answer unto this is easie For first the Kings intended by the Objectors did not act much in order to the Reformation as appears by that which hath been said but either by the advice and co-operation of the whole Clergy of the Realm in their Convocations or by the Counsel and consent of the Bishops and most eminent Church men in particular Conferences which made it properly the work of the Clergy only the Kings no otherwise than as it was propouned by him or finally confirmed by the Civil Sanction And secondly had they done more in it than they did they had been warranted so to do by the Word of God who hath committed unto Kings and Sovereign Princes a Supreme or Supereminent power not only in all matters of a Temporal or Secular nature but in such as do concern Religion and the Church of Christ And so St. Augustine hath resolved it in his third Book against Cresconius In hoc Reges sicut iis divinitus praecipitur pray you note that well Deo serviunt in quantum Reges sunt si in suo Regno bona jubeant mala prohibeant non solum quae pertinent ad humanum societatem verum etiam ad Divinam Religionem Which words of his seemed so significant and convincing unto Hart the Jesuite that being shewed the Tractate writ by Dr. Nowel against Dorman the Priest in the beginning of Q. Elizabeths time and finding how the case was stated by that Reverend person he did ingenously confess that there was no Authority ascribed to the Kings of england in Ecclesiastical affairs but what was warranted unto them by that place of Augustine The like affimed by him that calleth himself Franciscus de S. Clara though a Jesuite too that you mjay see how much more candid and ingenuous the Jesuits are in this point than the Presbyterians in his Examen of the Articles of the Church of England But hereof you may give me opportunity to speak more hereafter when you propose the Doubts which you say you have relating to the King the Pope and the Churches Protestant and therefore I shall say no more of it at the present time SECT II. The manner of the Reformation of the Church of England declared and justified HItherto I had gone in order to your satisfaction and communicated my conceptions in writing to you when I received your Letter of the 4th of January in which you signified the high contentment I had given you in condescending to your weakness as you pleased to call it and freeing you from those doubts which lay heaviest on you And therewithal you did request me to give you leave to propound those other scruples which were yet behind relating to the King the Pope and the Protestant-Churches either too little
or too much looked after in the Reformation And first you say it is cvomplained of by some Zelots of the Church of rome that the Pope was very hardly and unjustly dealt with in being deprived of the Supremacy so long enjoyed and exercised by his Predecessors and that it was an Innovation no less strange than dangerous to settle it upon the King 2. That the Church of England ought not to have proceeded to a Reformation without the Pope considered either as the Patriarch of the Weftern world or the Apostle in particular of the English Nation 3. That if a Reformation had been found so necessary it ought to have been done by a General Council at least with the consent and co-operation of the Sister-Churches especially of those who were engaged at the same time in the same designs 4. That in the carrying on of the Reformation the Church proceeded very unadvisedly in letting the people have the Scriptures and the publique Liturgy in the vulgar tongue the dangerous consequents whereof are now grown too visible 5. That the proceedings in the point of the Common-prayer Book were meerly Regal the body of the Clergy not consulted with or consenting to it and consequently not so Regular as we fain would have it And 6. That in the power of making Canons and determining matters of the Faith the Clergy have so fettered and intangled themselves by the Act of Submission that they can neither meet deliberate conclude nor execute but as they are enabled by the Kings Authority which is a Vassalage inconsistent with their native Liberties and not agreeable to the usage of the Primitive times These are the points in which you now desire to have satisfaction and you shall have it in the best way I am able to do it that so you may be freed hereafter from such troubles and Disputants as I perceive have laboured to perplex your thoughts and make you less affectionate than formerly to the Church your Mother 1. That the Church of England did not Innovate in the Ejection of the Pope and settling the Supremacy in the Royal Crown And in this point you are to know that it hath been and still is the general and constant judgment of the greatest Lawyers of this Kingdom that the vesting of the Supremacy in the Crown Imperial of this Realm was not Introductory of any new Right or Power which was not in the Crown before but Declaratory of an old which had been anciently and originally inherent in it though of late Times usurped by the Popes of Rome and in Abeyance at that time as our Lawyers phrase it And they have so resolved it upon very good reasons the principal managery of affairs which concern Religion being a flower inseparably annexed to the Regal Diadem not proper and peculiar only to the Kings of England but to all Kings and Princes in the Church of God and by them exercised and enjoyed accordingly in their times and places For who I pray you were the men in the Jewish Church who destroyed the Idols of that people cut down the Groves demolished the high places and brake in pieces the Brazen Serpent when abused to Idolatry Were they not the godly Kings and Princes only which sway'd the Scepter of that Kingdom And though 't is possible enough that they might do it by the counsel and advice of the High-Priests of that Nation or of some of the more godly Priests and Levites who had a zeal unto the Law of the most high God yet we find nothing of it in the holy Scripture the merit of these Reformations which were made occasionally in that faulty Church being ascribed unto their Kings and none but them Had they done any thing in this which belonged not to their place and calling or by so doing had intrenched on the Office of the Priests and Levits that God who punished Vzzab for attempting to support the Ark when he saw it tottering and smote Osias with a Leprosie for burning Incense in the Temple things which the Priests and Levites only were to meddle in would not have suffered those good Kings to have gone unpunished or at least uncensured how good soever their intentions and pretences were Nay on the contrary when any thing was amiss in the Church of Jewry the Kings and not the Priests were admonished of it and reproved for it by the Prophets which sheweth that they were trusted with the Reformation and none else but they Is it not also said of david that he distributed the Priests and Levites into several Classes allotted to them the particular times of their Ministration and designed them unto several Offices in the publick Service Josephus adding to these passages of the Holy Writ That he composed Hymns and Songs to the Lord his God and made them to be sung in the Congregation as an especial part of the publick Liturgy Of which although it may be said that he composed those Songs and Hymns by vertue of his Prophetical Spirit yet he imposed them on the Church appointed Singing-men to sing them and prescribed Vestments also to these Singing-men by no other power than the regal only None of the Priests consulted in it for ought yet appears The like Authority was exercised and enjoyed by the Christian Emperors not only in their calling Councils and many times assisting at them or presiding in them by themselves or their Deputies or Commissioners but also in confirming the Acts thereof He that consults the Code and Novelles in the Civil Laws will find the best Princes to have been most active in things which did concern Religion in regulating matters of the Church and setting out their Imperial Edicts for suppressing of Hereticks Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesia What hath the Emperor to do in matters which concern the Church is one of the chief Brand-marks which Optatus sets upon the Donatists And though some Christians of the East have in the way of scorn had the name of Melchites men of the Kings Religion as the word doth intimate because they adhered unto those Doctrines which the Emperors agreeable to former Councils had confirmed and ratified yet the best was that none but Sectaries and Hereticks put that name upon them Neither the men nor the Religion was a jot the worse Nor did they only deal in matters of Exterior Order but even in Doctrinals matters intrinsecal to the Faith for which their Enoticon set out by the Emperor Zeno for settling differences in Religion may be proof sufficient The like Authority was exercised and enjoyed by Charles the Great when he attained the Western Empire as the Capitulars published in his Name and in the names of his Successors do most clearly evidence and not much less enjoyed and practised by the Kings of England in the elder times though more obnoxious to the power of the Pope of Rome by reason of his Apostleship if I may so call it the Christian Faith being first preached unto the English
Saxons by such as he employed in that Holy work The instances whereof dispersed in several places of our English Histories and other Monuments and Records which concern this Church are handsomely summed up together by Sir Edward Cook in the fifth part of his Reports if I well remember but I am sure in Cawdries Case entituled De Jure Regis Ecclesiastico And though Parsons the Jesuite in his Answer unto that Report hath took much pains to vindicate the Popes Supremacy in this Kingdom from the first planting of the Gospel among the Saxons yet all he hath effected by it proves no more than this That the Popes by permission of some weak Princes did exercise a kind of concurrent jurisdiction here with the Kings themselves but came not to the full and entire Supremacy till they had brought all other Kings and Princes of the Western Empire nay even the Emperors themselves under their command So that when the Supremacy was recognized by the Clergy in their Convocation to K. H. 8. it was only the restoring of him to his proper and original power invaded by the Popes of these latter Ages though possibly the Title of Supream Head seemed to have somewhat in it of an Innovation At which Title when the Papists generally and Calvin in his Comment on the Prophet Amos did seem to be much scandalized it was with much wisdom changed by Q. Elizabeth into that of Supream Governour which is still in use And when that also would not down with some queasie stomacks the Queen her self by her Injunctions published in the first year of her Reign and the Clergy in their book of Articles agreed upon in Convocation about five years after did declare and signifie That there was no Authority in sacred matters contained under that Title but that only Prerogative which had been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himself that is That they should rule all Estates and degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and to restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers as also to exclude thereby the Bishop of Rome from having any jurisdiction in the Realm of England Artic. 37. Lay this unto the rest before and tell me if you can what hath been acted by the Kings of England in the Reformation of Religion but what is warranted unto them by the practice and example of the most godly Kings of Jewry seconded by the most godly Emperours in the Christian Church and by the usage also of their own Predecessors in this Kingdom till Papal Usurpation carried all before it And being that all the Popes pretended to in this Realm was but Usurpation it was no Wrong to take that from him which he had no Right to and to restore it at the last to the proper Owner Neither prescription on the one side nor discontinuance on the other change the case at all that noted Maxim of our Lawyers that no prescription binds the King or Nullum tempus occurrit Regi as their own words are being as good against the Pope as against the Subject This leads me to the second part of this Dispute the dispossessing of the Pope of that Supream Power so long enjoyed and exercised in this Realm by his Predecessors To which we say that though the pretensions of the Pope were antient yet they were not primitive and therefore we may answer in our Saviours words Ab initio non fuit sic it was not so from the beginning For it is evident enough in the course of story that the Pope neither claimed nor exercised any such Supremacy within this Kingdom in the first Ages of this Church nor in many after till by gaining from the King the Investiture of Bishops under Henry the First the exemption of the Clergy from the Courts of Justice under Henry the Second and the submission of King John to the See of Rome they found themselves of strength sufficient to make good their Plea And though by the like artifices seconded by some Texts of Scripture which the ignorance of those times incouraged them to abuse as they pleased they had attained the like Supremacy in France Spain and Germany and all the Churches of the West Yet his Incroachments were opposed and his Authority disputed upon all occasions especially as the light of Letters did begin to shine Insomuch as it was not only determined essentially in the Council of Constance one of the Imperial Cities of High germany that the Council was above the Pope and his Authority much curbed by the Pragmatick Sanction which thence took beginning But Gerson the learned Chancellor of Paris wrote a full Discourse entituled De auferibilitate Papae touching the total abrogating of the Papal Office which certainly he had never done in case the Papal Office had been found essential and of intrinsecal concernment to the Church of Christ According to the Position of that learned man The greatest Princes in these times did look upon the Pope and the Papal power as an Excrescence at the best in the body mystical subject and fit to be pared off as occasion served though on self ends Reasons of State and to serve their several turns by him as their needs required they did and do permit him to continue in his former greatness For Lewis the 11th King of France in a Council of his own Bishops held at Lions cited Pope Julius the 2d to appear before him and Laustrech Governour of Millaine under Francis the 1st conceived the Popes Authority to be so unnecessary yea even in Italy it self that taking a displeasure against Leo the 10th he outed him of all his jurisdiction within that Dukedom anno 1528. and so disposed of all Ecclesiastical affairs ut praefecto sacris Bigorrano Episcopo omnia sine Romani Pontificis authoritate administrarentur as Thuanus hath it that the Church there was supreamly governed by the Bishop of Bigor a Bishop of the Church of France without the intermedling of the Pope at all The like we find to have been done about six years after by Charles the Fifth Emperor and King of Spain who being no less displeased with Pope Clement the 7th Abolished the Papal power and jurisdiction out of all the Churches of his Kingdoms in Spain Which though it held but for a while till the breach was closed yet left he an example by it as my Author noteth Ecclesiasticam disciplinam citra Romani nominis autoritatem posse conservari that there was no necessity of a Pope at all And when K. Henry the 8th following these examples had banished the Popes Authority out of his Dominions Religion still remaining here as before it did the Popes Supremacy not being at the time an Article of the Churistian Faith as it hath since been made by Pope Pius the 4th that Act of his was much commended by most knowing men in that without more alteration in the face of the Church
Romanae sedis exuisset obsequium saith the Author of the Tridentine History he had freed himself and all his Subjects from so great a Vassalage Now as K. Henry the 8th was not the first Christian Prince who did de facto abrogate the Popes Authority so was he not the last that thought it might be abrogated if occasion were For to say nothing of King Edward the 6th and Queen Elizabeth two of his Successors who followed his example in it We find it to have been resolved on by K. Henry the 4th of France who questionless had made the Arch-Bishop of Bourges the Patriarch of the Gallicane Church and totally withdrawn it from acknowledging of the Authority of the See of Rome had not Pope Clement the 8th much against his will by the continual solicitations of Cardinal D' Ossat admitted him to a formal Reconciliation on his last falling off to Popery How near the Signeury of Venice was to have done the like anno 1608. the History of the Interdict or of the Quarrels betwixt that State and Pope Paul the 5th doth most plainly shew This makes it evident that in the judgment and esteem of most Christian Princes in other things of the Religion of the Church of Rome the Popes Supremacy was looked upon as an incroachment and therefore might be abrogated upon better reasons than it had formerly been admitted in their several Kingdoms By consequence the doing of it here in England is neither so injurious or unjust as your Zelots make it 2. That the Church of England might proceed to a Reformation without the Approbation of the Pope or Church of Rome But here you say it will be replied that though the Pope be not considered as the Supream Head or Universal Pastor of the Church with reference whereunto his supereminent jurisdiction was disputed in the former times yet it cannot be denied with reason but that he is the Patriarch of these Western Churches and the Apostle in particular of the English Nation In these respects no Reformation of the Church to be made without him especially considering that the Church of England at that time was a Member of the Church of Rome and therefore to act nothing in that kind but by consent of the whole according to that known Maxim of the Schools Turpis est pars ea quae totisuo non cohaereat This though it be a Triple Cord will be easily broken For first the Pope is not the Patriarch of the West One of the Patriarchs of the West we shall easily grant him but that he is the Patriarch we will by no means yield To tell you why we dare not yield it I must put you in mind of these particulars 1. That all Bishops in respect of their Office or Episcopality are of equal power whether they be of Rome or Rhegium of Constantinople or Engubium of Alexandria or of Tanais as S. Hierom hath it Potentia divitiarum paupertatis humilitas vel sublimiorem vel inferiorem Episcopum non facit A plentiful Revenue and a sorry Competency makes not saith he one bishop higher than another in regard of his Office though possibly of more esteem and reputation in the eyes of men 2. That in respect to Polity and external order the Bishops antiently were disposed of into Sub et supra according to the platform of the Roman Empire agreeable to the good old Rule which we find mentioned though not made in the general Councel of Chalcedon that is to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The government of the Church is to be sitted and accommodated to the Civil State 3. That the Roman Empire was divided antiently into 14 Juridical Circuits which they called Diocesses reckoning the Praefecture of rome for one of the number six the of which that is to say the Diocesses of Italy Africk Spain Britain Gaul and Illyricum occidentale besides the Praefecture of the City were under the command of the Western Emperors after the Empire was divided into East and West 4. That in the Praefecture of the City of Rome were contained no more than the Provinces of Latium Tuscia Picenum Suburbicarium Samnum Apulia and Calabria Brutium and Lucania in the main land of Italy together with the Islands of Sicilie Corsica and Sardinia 5. That every Province having several Cities there was agreeable to this model a Bishop placed in every City a Metropolitan in the chief City of each Province who had a superintendence over all the Bishops and in each Diocess a Primate ruling in chief over the Metropolitans of the several Provinces And 6. Though at first only the three Primates or Arch-Bishops of Rome Antioch and Alexandria commonly and in vulgar speech had the name of Patriarchs by reason of the wealth and greatness of those Cities the greatest of the Roman Empire and the chief of Europe Asia and Africa to which the Bishops of Hierusalem and Constantinople were after added yet were they all of equal power among themselves and shined with as full a splendor in their proper Orbs as any of the Popes then did in the Sphere of Rome receiving all their light from the Sun of Righteousness not borrowing it from one another for which the so much celebrated Canon of the Nicene Council may be proof sufficient If not the Edicts of Justinian shall come in to help by which it was decreed that all Appeals in point of grievance should lie from the Bishop to the Metropolitan and from the Metropolitans unto the Primates the Patriarchs as he calls them of the several Diocesses By which accompt it doth appear that the Patriarchate of Rome was antiently confined within the Praefecture of that City in which respect as the Provinces subject to the Pope were by Ruffinus called Regiones Suburbicariae or the City Provinces so was the Pope himself called Vrbicus or the City-Bishop by Optatus Afer To prove this point more plainly by particular instances I shall take leave to travel over the Western Diocesses to see what marks of Independence we can find among them such as dissenting in opinion from the Church of Rome or adhering unto different ceremonies and forms of worship or otherwise standing in defence of their own Authority And first the Diocess of Italy though under the Popes nose as we use to say was under the command of the Arch-Bishop of Milain as the Primate of it which City is therefore called by Athanafius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Metropolis or chief City of Italy The Saturdays fast observed at Rome and not at Milain Quando Romae sum jejuno Sabbato quum hic sum non jejuno Sabbato as S. Ambrose hath it shews clearly that the one had no dependence upon the other And yet the difference of Divine Offices or Forms of worship is a more pregnant proof than this the Churches of Milain officiating for many Ages by a Liturgie which S. Ambrose had a special hand in they of the Patriarchate of Rome following the
old Roman Missals not fully finished and compleated till the time of Pope Gregory Whence the distinction of Ecclesiae Ambrosianae Ecclesiae Gregorianae extant in Bonaventure and others of the Writers of the latter times Cross we the Seas unto the Diocess of Africk governed in chief by the Primate or Arch-Bishop of Carthage And there we find S. Cyprian determining against Pope Stephen in the then controverted case of Rebaptization and calling him in his Epistle to Pompeius an obstinate and presumptuous man and a fautor of Hereticks no very great tokens of subjection if you mark it well The error of his judgement in the point debated I regard not here but I am sure that in defence of his authority and jurisdiction he was right enough and therein strongly seconded by the African Church opposing the incroachments of Zosimus Boniface and Celestine succeeding one another in the Roman Patriarchate prohibiting all Appeals to Rome in the Councils of Milevis and Carthage and finally excommunicating Lupicinus for appealing to Pope Leo the first contrary to the Rites and Liberties of the African Church Next for the Diocess of Spain I look upon the Musarabick Liturgy composed by Isidore Arch-Bishop of Sevil and universally received in all the Churches of that Continent for as unquestionable a character of self-subsistency as the Ambrosian Office was in the Church of Milain the Roman or Gregorian Missal not being used in all this Countrey till the year 1083. At which time one Bernard a French-man and a great stickler in behalf of the Roman Ceremonies being made Arch-Bishop of Toledo by practising with Alfonso the then King of Castile first introduced the Roman Missal into some of the Churches of that City and after by degrees into all the rest of those Kingdoms soon after the Churches of France the greatest and most noble part of the Gallick Diocess they were originally under the Authority of the Bishop of Lions as their proper Primate not owing any suit or service to the Court of Rome but standing on their own Basis and acting all things of themselves as the others did The freedom wherewith Irenaeus the renowned Bishop of that City reproved the rashness of Pope Victor in the Case of Easter not well becoming an inferior Bishop to the Supream Pastor shews plainly that they stood on even ground and had no advantage of each other in respect of sub supra as Logicians say notwithstanding that more powerful Principality potentior principalitas as the Latine hath it which Irenaeus did allow him over those at home But a more evident proofof this there can hardly be than those large liberties and freedoms which the Church Gallican doth at this time enjoy the remainders past all doubt of those antient Rights which under their own Patriarch they were first possessed of not suffering the Decrees of the Council of Trent that great supporter of the Popedom to take place amongst them but as insensibly and by the practices of some Bishops they were introduced curbing the Popes exorbitant power by the pragmatick Sanction and by the frequent Judgments and Arrests of Parliament insomuch as a Book of Cardinal Bellarmines tending to the advancement of the Papal Monarchy and another Writ by Beanus the Jesuite entituled Controversia Anglicana in maintenance of the Popes Supremacy were suppressed and censured Anno 1612. Another Writ by Gasper Scioppius to the same effect but with far less modesty being at the same time burnt by the hands of the Hangman Finally for the Churches of the Diocess of Britain those of Illyricum lying too far off to be brought in here they had their own Primate also the Arch-Bishop of York and under him two Metropolitans the Bishops of London and Caer-leon And for a character of their Freedom or self-subsistence they had four different customs from the Church of Rome as in the Tonsure and the keeping of the Feast of Easter wherein they followed the Tradition of the Eastern Churches So firm withal in their obedience to their own Primate the Arch Bishop of Car-leon on Vsh the only Arch-Bishop of three which before they had that they would by no means yield subjection unto Augustine the Monk the first Arch-Bishop of the English though he came Armed amongst them with the Popes Authority Nor would they afterwards submit unto his Successors though backed by the Authority of the Kings of England acknowledging no other Primate but the Bishop of St. Davids to which the Metropolitan See was then translated until the time of Henry II. when the greatest part of South Wales and the City of S. Davids it self was in possession of the English These were the Patriarchs or Primates of the Western Churches and by these Primates the Church was either governed singly but withal Supreamly in their several Diocesses taking the word Diocese in the former notion or in conjunction each with other by their Letters of advice and intercourse which they called Literas Formatas and Communicatorias You see by this that though the Pope was one of the Western Patriarchs yet was he not originally and by primitive Institution either the Patriarch of the West that is to say not the only one nor could pretend unto their Rights as any of their Sees were ruined by the barbarous Nations and consequently his consent not necessary to a Reformation beyond the bounds of his own Patriarchate under that pretence Let us next see what power he can lay claim unto as the Apostle in particular of the English Nation Which memorable title I shall never grudge him I know well not only that the Wife of Ethelbert King of Kent a Christian and a Daughter of France had both her Chappel and her Chappellance in the Palace Royal before the first preaching of Austin the Monk but that the Britains living intermixt with the Saxons for so long a time may be supposed in probability and reason to have gained some of them to the Faith But let the Pope enjoy this honour let Gregory the Great be the Apostle of the English Saxons by whom that Augustine was sent hither yet this entituleth his Successors to no higher Prerogatives than the Lords own Apostles did think fit to claim in Countreys which they had converted For neither were the English Saxons Baptized in the name of the Pope they had been then Gregoriani and not Christiani or looked upon him as the Lord of this part of Gods Heritage but as an helper to their joy S. Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles did disclaim the one S. Peter the Apostle of the Jews did dissuade the other The Anglican Church was absolute and Independent from the first beginning not tied so much as to the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome it being left by Gregory to the discretion of Augustine out of the Rites and Rubricks of such Churches as he met with in his journey hither these of Italy and France he means to constitute a form of worship for the Church
of England And for a further proof hereof he that consults the Saxon Councils collected by that Learned and Industrious Gentleman Sir H. Spelman will find how little there was in them of a Papal influence from the first planting of the Gospel to the Norman Conquest If we look lower we shall find that the Popes Legat à Latere whensoever sent durst not set foot on English ground till he was licensed and indemnified by the Kings Authority but all Appeals in case of grievance were to be made by a Decree of Henry II. from the Arch-Deacon to the Bishop from the Bishop to the Metropolitan Et si Archiepiscopus defecerit in justitia exhibenda ad Dominum Regem deveniendum est postremo and last of all from the Metropolitan to the King himself no Appeal hence unto the Pope as in other places so that the Clergy of this Land had a Self-authority of treating and concluding in any business which concerned their own peace and happiness without resorting to the Pope for a confirmation Out of which Canons and Determinations made amongst our selves Lindwood composed his Provincial though framed according to the method of the Roman Decretal to be the standing body of our Canon-Law that on the other side neither the Canons of that Church or Decretals of the Popes were concluding here but either by a voluntary submission of some fawning and ambitious Prelates or as they were received Synodically by the English Clergy of which the constitutions made by Otho and Othobon Legats à latere from the Pope may be proof sufficient and finally that Anselm the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was welcomed by Pope Vrban II. to the Council of Bari in Apulia tanquam alterius orbis Papa as in William of Malmesbury tanquam Patriarcham Apostolicum as John Capgrave hat it as the Pope Patriarch and Apostolick Pastor of another World Divisos orbe Britannos as you know who said Which titles questionless the Pope would never have conferred upon him had he not been as absolute and supream in his own jurisdiction succeeding in the Patriarchal Rights of the British Diocess as the Pope was within the Churches subject unto his Authority And this perhaps might be the reason why Innocent II. bestowed on Theobald the third from Anselm and on his Successors in that See the Title of Legati nati that they might seem to act rather in the time to come as Servants and Ministers to the Pope than as the Primates and chief Pastors of the Church of England And by all this it may appear that the Popes Apostleship was never looked on here as a matter of so great concernment that the Church might not lawfully proceed to a Reformation without his allowance and consent Were that plea good the Germans might not lawfully have reformed themselves without the allowance of the English it being evident in story that not only Boniface Arch-Bishop of Mentz called generally the Apostle of Germany was an English man but that Willibald the first Bishop of Eystel Willibad the first Bishop of Bremen Willibrod the first Bishop of Vtretcht Swibert the first Bishop of Virdem and the first converters of those parts were of England also Men instigated to this great work all except the first not so much by the Popes zeal as their own great piety By this that hath been said it is clear enough that the Church of England at the time of the Reformation was not indeed a Member of the Church of Rome under the Pope as the chief Pastor and Supream Head of the Church of Christ but a Fellow-member with it of that Body Mystical whereof Christ only is the Head part of that Flock whereof he only is the Shepherd a sister Church to that of Rome though with relation to the time of her last conversion but a younger Sister And if a Fellow-member and a sister-Sister-Church she might make use of that Authority which naturally and originally was vested in her to reform her self without the leave of the particular Church of Rome or any other whatsoever of the Sister-Churches The Church is likened to a City in the Book of God a City at Vnity in it self as the Psalmist calls it and as a City it consisteth of many houses and in each house a several and particular Family Suppose this City visited with some general sickness may not each Family take care to preserve it self advise with the Physitian and apply the Remedy without consulting with the rest Or if consulting with the rest must they needs ask leave also of the Mayor or principal Magistrate take counsel with no other Doctors and follow no other course of Physick than such as he commends unto them or imposeth on them Or must the lesser languish irremediably under the calamity because the greater and more potent Families do not like the cure Assuredly it was not so in the Primitive times when it was held a commendable and lawful thing for National and particular Churches to reform such errors and corruptions as they found amongst them nor in the Church of Judah neither when the Idolatries of their Neighbours had got ground upon them Though Israel transgress let not Judah sin saith the Prophet Hosea chap. 4. Yet Israel was the greater and more numerous people Ten Tribes to two two of the ten the Eldest Sons of their Father Jacob all of them older than Benjamin the last begotten being the second of the two which notwithstanding the Kings of Judah might and did proceed to a Reformation though those of Israel did refuse to co-operate with them The like was also done de facto and dejure too in the best and happiest times of Christianity there being many errors and unsound opinions condemned in the Councils of Gangra Aquilia Carthage Milevis and not a few corruptions in the practical part of Religion reformed in the Synods of Eliberis Laodicea Arles and others in the fourth Century of the Church without advising or consulting with the Roman Oracle or running to the Church of Rome for a confirmation of their Acts and doing though at that time invested with a greater and more powerful principality than the others were No such regard had in those times to the Church of Rome though the elder Sister but that another National Church might reform without her nor any such consideration had of the younger Sisters that one should tarry for another till they all agreed though possibly they might all be sensible of the inconvenience and all alike desirous of a speedy Remedy But of this more anon in Answer to the next Objections Proceed we now a little further and let us grant for once that the Church of England was a Member at that time of the Church of Rome acknowledging the Pope for the Head thereof Yet this could be no hindrance to a Reformation when the pretended Head would not yield unto it or that the Members could not meet to consult about it The whole Body of the Church was
miseries of his own May not both Factions see by this what a condition the poor Church of England is involved in by them The sight whereof althoug it justifie them not in their several courses as being not without example in their present practices yet it may serve to let you know that as the distractions and confusions under which we suffer are not the consequents of our translating of the Scriptures and publick Liturgies into the common vulgar Tongues so it is neither new nor strange that such confusionsand distractions should befal the Church 5. That the proceedings of this Church in setting out the English Liturgy were not meerly Regal and of the power of Soveraign Princes in Ecclesiastical affairs Having thus proved that nothing hath been done amiss by the Church of England with reference to Gods Word the testimonies of godly Fathes and the usage of the primitive times in leaving off the Latine Service and celebrating all Divine Offices in the English Tongue I am to justifie it next in order to the carrying on of that weighty business whether so Regular or not as we fain would have it I see you are not scrupled at the subject-matter of the Common-prayer-book which being translated into Greek Latine French and Spanish hath found a general applause in most parts of Christendom no where so little set by as it is at home All scruples in that kind have been already fully satisfied by our learned Hooker who hath examined it per partes and justified it in each part and particular Office But for the greater honour of it take this with you also which is alledged in the Conference of Hampton Court touching the Marquess of Rhosny after Duke of Sally and Lord High Treasurer of France who coming Ambassador to King James from Henry IV. and having seen the solemn celebration of our Service at Canterbury and in his Majesties Royal Chappels did often and publickly affirm that if the Reformed Churches in France had kept the same Orders as were here in England he was assured there would have been many thousand Protestants in that Kingdom more than were at that time That which you seem to stick at only is in the way and manner of proceeding in it which though you find by perusal of the Papers which I sent first unto you not to have been so Parliamentarian as the Papists made it yet still you doubt whether it were so Regular and Canonical as it might have been And this you stumble at the rather in regard that the whole Body of the Clergy in their Convocation had no hand therein either as to decree the doing of it or to approve it being done but that it was resolved on by the King or rather by the Lord Protector in the Kings Minority with some few of the Bishops by which Bishops and as small a number of Learned Church-men being framed and fashioned it was allowed of by the King confirmed or imposed rather by an Act of Parliament Your question hereupon is this Whether the King for his acting it by a Protector doth not change the Case consulting with a lesser part of his Bishops and Clergy and having their consent therein may conclude any thing in the way of a Reformation the residue and greatest part not advised withal nor yielding their consent unto it in a formal way This seems to have some reference to the Scottish Liturgie for by your Letter I perceive that one of the chief of your Objectors is a Divine of that Nation and therefore it concerns me to be very punctual in my Answer to it And that my Answer my be built on the surer Ground it is to be considered first whether the Reformation be in corruption of manners or abuses in Government whether in matters practical or in points of Doctrine 2. If in matters practical whether such practice have the character of Antiquity Universality and Consent imprinted on it or that it be the practice of particular Churches and of some times only And 3. If in points of Doctrine whether such points have been determined of before in a General Council or in particular Councils universally received and countenanced or are to be defined de novo on emergent controversies And these Distinctions being laid I shall answer briefly First If the things to be reformed be either corruptions in manners or neglect of publick duties to Almighty God abuses either in Government or the parties governing the King may do it of himself by his sole Authority The Clergy are beholden to him if he takes any of them along with him when he goeth about it And if the times should be so bad that either the whole body of the Clergy or any though the greatest part thereof should oppose him in it he may go forwards notwithstanding punishing such as shall gainsay him in so good a work and compelling others And this I look on as a Power annexed to the Regal Diadem and so inseparably annexed that Kings could be no longer Kings if it were denied them But hereof we have spoke already in the first of this Section and shall speak more hereof in the next that follows And on the other side if the Reformation be in points of Doctrin and in such points of doctrine as have not been before defined or not defined in form and manner as before laid down The King only with a few of his Bishops and Learned Clergy though never so well studied in the point disputed can do nothing in it That belongs only to the whole Body of the Clergy in their Convocation rightly called and constituted whose Acts being ratified by the King bind not alone the rest of the Clergy in whose names they Voted but all the residue of the subjects of what sort soever who are to acquiesce in their Resolutions The constant practice of the Church and that which we have said before touching the calling and authority of the Convocation makes this clear enough But if the thing to be Reformed be a matter practical we are to look into the usage of the Primitive times And if the practice prove to have been both ancient and universally received over all the Church though intermitted for a time and by time corrupted The King consulting with so many of his Bishops and others of his most able Clergy as he thinks fit to call unto him and having their consent and direction in it may in the case of intermission revive such practice and in the case of corruption and degeneration restore it to its Primitive and original lustre whether he do it of himself of his own meer motion or that he follow the advice of his Council in it whether he be of age to inform himself or that he doth relie on those to whom he hath committed the publick Government it comes all to one So they restrain themselves to the ancient patterns The Reformation which was made under josias though in his Minority and acting by the Counsel of the
Elders as Josephus telleth us Antiqu. Jud. 1. cap. was no less pleasing unto God nor less valid in the eyes of all his Subjects than those of Jehosaphat and Hezekiah in their riper years and perhaps acting singly on the strength of their own judgments only without any advice Now that there should be Liturgies for the use of the Church that those Liturgies should be celebrated in a Language understood by the people That in those Liturgies there should be some prescribed Forms for giving the Communion in both kinds for Baptizing Infants for the reverent celebration of Marriage performing the last office to the sick and the decent burial of the Dead as also for set Feasts and appointed Festivals hath been a thing of primitive and general practice in the Christian Church And being such though intermitted or corrupted as before is said the King advising with his Bishops and other Church-men though not in a Synodical way may cause the same to be revised and revived and having fitted them to edification and increase of piety either commend them to the Church by his sole authority or else impose them on the people under certain penalties by his power in Parliament Saepe Coeleste Regnum per Terrenum proficit The Kingdom of Heaven said Reverend Isidore of Sevil doth many times receive increase from these earthly Kingdoms in nothing more than by the regulating and well ordering of Gods publick worship We saw before what David did in this particular allotting to the Priest the Courses of their Ministration appointing Hymns and Songs for the Jewish Festivals ordaining Singing-men to sing and finally prescribing Vestments for the Celebration Which what else was it but a Regulating of the Worship of God the putting it into a solemn course and order to be observed from time to time in succeeding Ages Sufficient ground for Christian Princes to proceed on in the like occasions especially when all they do is rathe the reviving of the Ancient Forms than the Introduction of a new Which as the King did here in England by his own Authority the Body of the Clergy not consulted in it so possibly there might be good reason why those who had the conduct of the Kings affairs thought it not safe to put the managing of the business to a Convocation The ignorance and superstition of the common people was at that time exceeding profitable to the Clergy who by their frequent Masses for the quick and dead raised as great advantage as Demetrius and the Silver-Smith by Dianas shrines It hapned also in a time when many of the inferiour Clergy had not much more learning than what was taught them in the Massals and other Rituals and well might fear that if the Service were once extant in the English tongue the Laity would prove in time as great Clerks as themselves So that as well in point of Reputation as in point of Profit besides the love which many of them had to their former Mumpsimus it was most probable that such an hard piece of Reformation would not easily down had it been put into the power of a Convocation especially under a Prince in Nonage and a state unsettled And yet it was not so carried without them neither but that the Bishops generally did concur to the Confirmation of the Book or the approbation of it rather when it passed in Parliament the Bishops in that time and after till the last vast and most improvident increase of the Lay-nobility making the most considerable if not the greatest part of the House of Peers and so the Book not likely to be there allowed of without their consent And I the rather am inclined unto that Opinion because I find that none but Tunstal Gardiner and Bonner were displaced from their Bishopricks for not submitting in this case to the Kings appointments which seems to me a very strong and convincing argument that none but they dissented or refused conformity Add here that though the whole body of the Clergy in their Convocation were nto consulted with at first for the Reasons formerly recited yet when they found the benefit and comfort which redounded by it to good Christian people and had by little and little weaned themselves from their private interesses they all confirmed it on the Post-fact passing an Article in the Convocation of the year 1552. with this Head or Title viz. Agendum esse in Ecclesiae linguae quae fit Populo nota which is the 25th Article in King Edwards Book Lay all that hath been said together and the result of all will be briefly this that being the setting out of the Liturgy in the English Tongue was a matter practical agreeable to the Word of God and the Primitive times that the King with so many of his Bishops and others of the Clergy as he pleased to call to Counsel in it resolved upon the doing of it that the Bishops generally confirmed it when it came before them and that the whole body of the Clergy in their Convocation the Book being then under a review did avow and justifie it The result of all I say is this that as the work it self I say was good so it was done not in a Regal but a Regular way Kings were not Kings if regulating the external parts of Gods publick worship according to the Platforms of the Primitive times should not be allowed them But yet the Kings of England had a further right as to this particular which is a power conferred upon them by the Clergy whether by way of Recognition or Concession I regard not here by which they did invest the King with a Supream Authority not only of confirming their Synodical Acts not to be put in execution without his consent but in effect to devolve on him all that power which formerly they enjoyed in their own capacity And to this we have a parallel Case in the Roman Empire in which there had been once a time when the Supream Majesty of the State was vested in the Senate and people of Rome till by the Law which they called Lex Regia they transferred all their Power on Caesar and the following Emperors Which Law being passed the Edicts of the Prince or Emperor were as strong and binding as the Senatus Consulta and the Plebiseita had been before Whence came that memorable Maxim in Justinians Institutes that is to say Quod Principi placuerit legis habet vigorem The like may be affirmed of the Church of England immediately before and in the Reign of K. Henry VIII The Clergy of this Realm had a self-Self-authority in all matters which concerned Religion and by their Canons and Determinations did bind all the Subjects of what rank soever till by acknowledging that King for their Supream Head and by the Act of Submission not long after following they transferred that power upon the King and on his Successors By doing whereof they did not only disable themselves upon concluding any thing in their Convocations
or putting their results into execution without his consent but put him into the actual possession of that Authority which properly belonged to the Supremacy or the Supream Head in as full manner as ever the Pope of Rome or any delegated by and under him did before enjoy it After which time whatsoever the King or his Successors did in the Reformation as it had virtually the power of the Convocations so was it as effectual and good in Law as if the Clergy in their Convocation particularly and in terminis had agreed upon it Not that the King or his Successors were hereby enabled to exercise the Keys and determine Heresies much less to preach the Word and administer the Sacraments as the Papists falsly gave it out but as the Heads of the Ecclesiastical Body of this Realm to see that all the members of that Body did perform their duties to rectifie what was found amiss amongst them to preserve peace between them on emergent differences to reform such errors and corruptions as are expresly contrary to the Word of God and finally to give strength and motions to their Councils and Determinations tending to Edification and increase of Piety And though in most of their proceedings towards Reformation the Kings advised with such Bishops as they had about them or could assemble without any great trouble or inconvenience to advise withal yet was there no necessity that all or the greater part of the Bishops should be drawn together for that purpose no more than it was anciently in the Primitive Times for the godly Emperors to call together the most part of the Bishops in the Roman Empire for the establishing of the matters which concerned the Church or for the godly Kings of Judah to call together the greatest part of the Priests and Levites before they acted any thing in the Reformation of those corruptions and abuses which were crept in amongst them Which being so and then withal considering as we ought to do that there was nothing altered here in the state of Religion till either the whole Clergy in their Convocaton or the Bishops and most eminent Church-men had resolved upon it our Religion is no more to be called a Regal than a Parliament-Gospel 6. That the Clergy lost not any of their just Rights by the Act of Submission and the power of calling and confirming Councils did anciently belong to the Christian Princes If you conceive that by ascribing to the King the Supream Authority taking him for their Supream Head and by the Act of Submission which ensued upon it the Clergy did unwittingly ensnare themselves and drew a Vassallage on these of the times succeeding inconsistent with their native Rights and contrary to the usage of the Primitive Church I hope it will be no hard matter to remove that scruple It 's true the Clergy in their Convocation can do nothing now but as their doings are confirmed by the Kings Authority and I conceive it stands with reason as well as point of State that it should be so For since the two Houses of Parliament though called by the Kings Writ can conclude nothing which may bind either King or Subject in their civil Rights until it be made good by the Royal Assent so neither is it fit nor safe that the Clergy should be able by their Constitutions and Synodical Acts to conclude both Prince and People in spiritual matters until the stamp of Royal Authority be imprinted on them The Kings concurrence in this case devesteth not the Clergy of any lawful power which they ought to have but restrains them only in the exercise of some part thereof to make it more agreeable to Monarchical Government and to accommodate it to the benefit both of Prince and People It 's true the Clergy of this Realm can neither meet in Convocation nor conclude any thing therein nor put in execution any thing which they have concluded but as they are enabled by the Kings Authority But then it is as true withal that this is neither inconsistent with their native Rights nor contrary unto the usage of the Primitive Times And first it is not inconsistent with their native Rights it being a peculiar happiness of the Church of England to be always under the protection of Christian Kings by whose encouragement and example the Gospel was received in all parts of this Kingdom And if you look into Sir Henry Spelman's Collection of the Saxon Councils I believe that you will hardly find any Ecclesiastical Canons for the Government of the Church of England which were not either originally promulgated or after approved and allowed o either by the Supream Monarch of all the Saxons or by some King or other of the several Heptarchies directing in their National or Provincial Synods And they enjoyed this Prerogative without any dispute after the Norman Conquest also till by degrees the Pope in grossed it to himself as before was shewn and then conferred it upon such as were to exercise the same under his Authority which plainly manifests that the Act of Submission so much spoke of was but a changing of their dependance from the Pope to the King from an usurped to a lawful power from one to whom they had made themselves a kind of voluntary Slaves to him who justly challenged a natural dominion over them And secondly that that submission of theirs to their natural Prince is not to be considered as a new Concession but as the Recognition only of a former power In the next place I do not find it to be contrary to the usage of the Primitive times I grant indeed that when the Church was under the command of the Heathen Emperors the Clergy did Assemble in their National and Provincial Synods of their own Authority which Councils being summoned by the Metropolitans and subscribed by the Clergy were of sufficient power to bind all good Christians who lived within the Verge of their jurisdiction They could not else Assemble upon any exigence of affairs but by such Authority But it was otherwise when the Church came under the protection of Christian Princes all Emperors and Kings from Constantine the Great till the Pope carried all before him in the darker times accompting it one of the principal flowers as indeed it was which adorned their Diadems I am not willing to beat on a common place But if you please to look into the Acts of ancient Councils you will find that all the General Councils all which deserve to be so called if any of them do deserve it to have been summoned and confirmed by the Christian Emperors that the Council of Arles was called and confirmed by the Emperor Constantine that of Sardis by Constans that of Lampsacus by Valentinian that of Aquileia by Theodosius that of Thessalonica National or Provincial all by the Emperor Gratian That when the Western Empire fell into the hands of the French the Councils of Akon Mentz Meldun Wormes and Colen received both life and
one pronounced the blessing word by word till the three verses were ended And the people answered not after every verse but they made it in the Sanctuary one blessing And when they had finished all the people answered Blessed be the Lord God the God of Israel for ever and ever Id. Ibid. By which we may preceive most clearly first that the Priests were tyed precisely to a form of blessing prescribed by the Lord himself And secondly that to this form of blessing thus prescribed by God the Church did after add of her own Authority not only several external and significant rites but a whole clause to be subjoyned by the people after the Priest had done his part Now as the Priests were limited by Almighty God unto a set and prescribed form wherewith they were to bless the people in the Name of God So did he also set a form unto the People in which they were to pay their Tithes and First-fruits to the Lord their God towards the maintenance of the Priests First for the form used at the oblation of the First-fruits it was this that followeth the words being spoke unto the Priest I profess this day unto the Lord thy God that I am come unto the Countrey which the Lord sware unto our Fathers to give us Which said and the Oblation being placed by the Priest before the Altar the party which brought it was to say A Syrian ready to perish was my Father and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there with a few and became there a Nation great mighty and populous And the Egyptians evil intreated us and afflicted us and laid upon us hard bondage And when we cryed unto the Lord God of our Fathers the Lord beard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labour and our oppression And the Lord brought us forth of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an out-stretched arm and with great terribleness and with signs and with wonders And he hath brought us into this place and hath given us this Land even a Land that floweth with Milk and Honey And now behold I have brought the First-fruits of the Land which thou O Lord hast given unto me Then for the tendry of the Tithe of the third year which only was payable to the Priest those of the other two years being due to the Levites in the Countrey it was to be brought unto Hierusalem and tendred in these following words viz. I have brought away the hallowed thing out of mine House and also have given them unto the Levite and unto the Stranger to the Fatherless and to the Widow according to all thy Commandments which thou hast commanded me I have not transgressed thy Commandments neither have I forgotten them I have not eaten thereof in my journeying neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use nor given ought thereof for the dead but I have bearkened to the voice of the Lord my God and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me Look down from thy holy habitation from Heaven and bless thy people Israel and the Land which thou hast given us as thou swarest to our Fathers a Land that floweth with Milk and Honey Of this see Deut. 26. from the 1 verse to the 16. Led by these precedents and guided by the Wisdom of the Spirit of God the Church in the succeeding times prescribed a set form to be used in burning their leaven which after they had searched for with such care and diligence that a Mouse-hole was not left unransacked they threw it in the fire with this solemn form of execration viz. Let all that Leaven or whatsoever leavened thing is in my power whether it were seen of me or not seen whether cleansed by me or not cleansed let all that be scattered destroyed and accounted of as the dust of the Earth A prescribed form they also had in a constant practice for the confession of their sins to the Throne of God The ground thereof they took indeed from the holy Scripture where the Lord God commanded saying And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live Goat and confess over him all the Iniquities of the Children of Israel and all their Transgressions in all their sins putting them upon the head of the Goat c. Lev. 16.21 Ask Lyra what kind of Confession is there meant and he will tell you that it was a general Confession of the peoples sins made by the mouth of the Priest for and in their names sicut facimus in Confessione in principio Missae as we the Priests are wont to make in the beginning of the Mass The Learned Morney comes more home and informs us thus Lyr. in Levit. cap. 18.21 Confessio olim in sacrificio solennis Ejus praeterquam in lege vestigia in Prophetis formulam habemus In ipsis Judaeorum libris verba tanquam concepta extant quae sacerdos pronunciare solitus Of old they had a solemn or set manner of Confession Mornaeus de Missal 1. cap. 5. whereof besides those footsteps of it which are remaining in the Law the form is extant in the Prophets And in the Jewish Liturgy the express words are to be seen which were pronounced by the Priest Now if we ask of Paulus Phagius than whom none more acquainted with the Jewish Liturgies what the precise form was which the Priest did use he will thus inform us Forma confessionis qua tum usus est summus Pontifex secundum Hebraeorum relationem haec fuit c. The form saith he used then by the High Priest in Confessing the peoples sins as the Hebrew Doctors have recorded was as followeth P. Phagius in Chaldaea Paraphr in cap. 16. Levit. O Lord thy People of the House of Israel have sinned they have done wickedly they have grievously transgressed before thee O Lord make Atonement now for the Sins and for the Iniquities and for the Trespasses that thy People the House of Israel have sinned and unrighteously done and trespassed before thee as it is written in the Law of Moses thy Servant that in this day he shall make Atonement for you This for the people on the Scape-goat And there were two other Confessions made by the Priest also as the Rabbins testifie one for himself Maymoni apud Aynsw in cap. 16. Levit. the other for himself with the other Priests both on the Bullock of the Sin-offering mentioned v. 6. each of which also had their certain and prescribed forms For when he offered the Bullock for a Sin-offering for himself he said O Lord I have sinned and done wickedly and have grievously transgressed I beseech thee now O Lord be merciful unto those sins and iniquities and grievous transgressions wherein I have sinned P. Phagius loco supr citato done wickedly and transgressed against thee And when he offered for himself and the rest of the Priests then he used these words saying
regam juxta morem qui colunt honorant regunt uxores fideliter Do autem tibi dotem virginitatis tuae ducentos aureos i.e. 50 siclos quin etiam alimentum tuum vestitum atque sufficientem necessitatem tuam Cornel. Bertram item cognitionem tui juxta consuetudinem universae terrae That is to say Be thou a Wife to me according to the Law of Moses and Israel and I shall worship and honour thee according to the Word of God I shall seed and govern thee according to the custom of those who worship honour and govern their Wives faithfully I give thee for the Dowry of thy Virginity two hundred pence i. e. 50 Shekels as also thy food cloathing and all sufficient necessaries and knowledge of thee according to the custom of the whole earth A Shekel was a piece of money among the Jews amounting in our coyn to 1 s. 3 d. Judg. 14.11 1 Sam. 18.25 Ruth 4.2 Much of which form as to the main and substance of it is exceeding Ancient For in the Marriage of Sampson we find the Children of the Bride-Chamber being the thirty young men his Companions as they are there called in that of David unto Michael the Daughter of Saul the bringing in of an hundred Foreskins of the Philistins in loco dotis as the Dowry-money in that of Ruth the presence of ten men to bear witness to it Nor was this done being a business of such moment without a special Benediction For at the Marriage of Boaz to Ruth the People and the Elders said The Lord make the Woman which is come into thine House like Rachel and like Leah which two did build the House of Israel and do thou worthily in Ephrata and be famous in Bethlehem and let thy House be like the House of Pharez of the Seed which the Lord will give thee of this young Woman Ruth 4.11 12. Upon this ground it was that Marriage was not solemnized amonst them without Prayers and Blessings the form whereof in the ensuing times was this as followeth Benedictus sis Domine Deus noster Rex universi c. Blessed be the Lord our God the King of the World who hath Created Man after his own Image according to the Image of his own likeness and hath thereby prepared unto himself an everlasting building Blessed be thou O Lord God who hast Created him Moses Aaron l. 6. cap. 4. Then followeth again Blessed be thou O Lord our God who hast Created joy and gladness the Bridegroom and the Bride Charity and Brotherly love Rejoycing and Pleasure Peace and Society I beseech thee O Lord let there be suddenly heard in the Cities of Judah and the Streets of Hierusalem the voice of joy and gladness the voice of the Bridegroom and the Bride the voice of exaltation in the Bride-Chamber is sweeter than any Feast and Children sweeter than the sweetness of a song Which Prayer thus ended one of the Bride-men or Companions took a cup having before been blessed in the wonted form and drinks unto the Married-couple As for the form and rites of Burial not to say any thing either of the washing or embalming of the Corps which was common unto them with other Nations Chiristan Synagogue l. 1. cap. 6. sict 8. Paraph. 15. Diat 1. their custom was after the body was interred to speak something of the justice of God and of mans sin which meriteth death and they prayed God in justice to remember mercy This said they gave a Cup of Consolation to the sad-hearted Finally on the grave or Tombstone they caused these words ensuing to be written Sit anima ejus in fasciculo vitae cum caeteris justis Amen Amen Selah That is to say let his soul be in the bundle of life with the rest of the just Amen Amen So be it These as they were the ancient forms and ceremonies used in their Marriages and Burials so after when they had erected Synagogues in convenient places they solemnized their Marriages in a Tent Maymon cited in Fishter's defence cap. 17. set upon four Pillars near their Synagogue which shews that there was something in it wherewith the Priest or Prophet was to intermeddle and that they did esteem it of a nature not so meerly civil but that the blessing of the Minister was required unto it But it is time I now go forward to the Ages following CHAP. III. Of the condition and estate of the Jewish Liturgy from the time of David unto Christ 1. Several hours of prayer used amongst the Jews and that the prayers then used were of prescribed forms 2. The great improvement of the Jewish Liturgie in the time of David by the addition of Psalms and Instruments of Musick 3. The form of Celebrating Gods publick Service according unto Davids Institutions described by the Jewish Rabbins 4. The solemn form used in the dedicating of the first and second Temples 5. The Temple principally built for an House of Prayer 6. The several and accustomed gestures used among the Jews in the performance of Gods publick worship 7. The weekly reading of the Law on the Sabbath days not used until the time of Ezra 8. The reading of the Law prescribed and regulated according to the number of the Sections by the care of Ezra and of the 18 Benedictions by him composed 9. The Exposition of the Law prescribed and ordered by the Authority of the Church 10. The first foundation of Synagogues and Oratories and for what employments 11. The Church of Jewry ordained Holy-days and prescribed forms of prayer to be used thereon 12. Set days for publick annual Feasts appointed by the Jewish Church with a set form of prayer agreeable to the occasion 13. The form of Celebrating Gods publick Service according as it is described by Jesus the Son of Syrac 14. Jesus the Son of God conforms himself unto the forms established in the Jewish Church 15. A transition from the forms received in the Jewish Church to those in Vse amongst the Gentiles THE Nation of the Jews being thus setled into an established Church by the hand of Moses and several forms of Prayer and Praise and Benediction prescribed unto them either immediately by the Lord himself or by the Church directed by the wisdom of Almighty God it was not long before that divers other points were added by the like Authority until the Liturgy thereof became full and absolute Of these the first in course of time was the deputing of certain and determinate hours in every day for the performance of those moral duties of Prayer and Praises in which Gods publick worship did consist especially which were the third the sixth and the ninth For clearer knowledge of the which we shall add thus much that the Jews did usually divide their day into four great parts hours of the Temple they were called that is to say the third hour which began at six of the Clock in the Morning and held on
of the Law either as a distinct and special duty or as an ordinary part of the publick Liturgy during the standing of the first Temple which was that of Solomon For further proof whereof if we but look into Chronology it will there appear that the finding of the book of God before remembred did happen in the 3412. yer of the worlds Creation Tornielli Annales A. M. 3412. not forty years before the desolation of that Temple in which short space the Princes being careless and the times distracted we have no reason to expect such a blessed Ordinance But in the second Temple or rather whilst it stood and flourished the Law of Moses grew to be read more constantly unto the people than it had been formerly Not every seventh year only on the feast of Tabernacles as had before been ordered and set down by Moses but upon every Sabbath day and each solemn meeting and sometimes on the week-days also nor only in the Temple of Hierusalem as it used to be but in the Towns and principal places of each several Tribe and then and there they did not only read the book of Deuteronomy which was the book prescribed by Moses but the whole body of the Law Which excellent and useful Ordinance is generally referred to Ezra a Priest by calling and very skilful in the Laws of Moses who having taken great pains to seek out the Law and other parts and portions of the book of God digested and disposed them in that form and method in which we have them at the present Of this see Irenaeus l. 3. c. 25. Tertullian de habitu mulierum Clemens Alexandr Strom. l. 1. Chrysost Homil. 8. in epist ad Hebraeos and divers others And if we place this Ordinance or Institution introduced by Ezra Id. anno 3610. in the 3610. year of the Creation which was the time wherein that solemn reading of the Law was kept which we find mentioned in the viii of Nehemiah there will occur betwixt that time and the first general Council holden in Hierusalem 490. years or thereabouts Which might be ground enough to the Apostle to affirm of Moses that in the old time he had them that preached him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath day Act. 15.21 and yet not go so high as Philo and Josephus do to setch the pedigree or original rather of the Institution This then I take to be unquestionable that the weekly reading of the Law was brought into the Jewish Church in the time of Ezra and being brought in I take it as unquestionable that it was used as a part of the daily Office an ordinary portion of the publick Liturgy Not to be read at the discretion of the Minister as his own choice or chance directed and much les as an exercise to take up the time whilst one man tarried for anothers coming until the Congregation were grown full and fit for other business as in some Churches of the Reformation it is used of late but as a special portion of the service which they did to God And this appears by the division of the Law of Moses into those great sections which they call the Parasha being in number 54. which they read in the 52 Sabbaths of the year joyning two of the shortest twice together that the whole might be finished in a years space Aynsw Annot. in Gen. 6. Of this thus write the Hebrew Doctors It is say they a common custom throughout all Israel that they finish wholly the reading of the Law in one year beginning in the Sabbath which is after the feast of Tabernacles at the first section of Genesis in the second at These are the Generations of Noah in the third at The Lord said to Abraham Gen. xii 1. c. So they read and go on in this order till they have ended the Law at the feast of Tabernacles Maim ap Aynsw ibid. By which it seems that as the form of their publick service was not voluntary so neither were the parts thereof uncertain but all set down in rule and order by the authority of the Church and the wisdom of the Governours and chief Rulers in it as might conduce best to the glory of God and the edification of his people Nor was this all that Ezra did in the advancement of Gods service of his publick worship For unto him appointed thereunto by the Authority of the Consistory the Rabbins generally ascribe those eighteen Prayers or Benedictions so much in use amongst the Jews Of which thus Maimony Descripsit cunctas benedictiones Ezra Maim ap Selden in Eutych Alex. p. 51. c. Ezra saith he composed all those Benedictions which by the Consistory were enjoyned to be perpetually observed so that it was not lawful to change or alter them neither to add unto them or diminish from them every alteration of those formulas which by their Wise-men were devised and confirmed in those Benedictions being accounted for a fault And this was done as the same Rabbin doth inform us in another place Vt scilicet in cujuslibet ore bene disponerentur omnesque eas discerent c. That every man might have them in his mouth and be perfect in them Id. ap eundem p. 44. and that thereby the prayers of the rude and ignorant might be as compleat as those of a more eloquent tongue Of these eighteen the three first and the three alst related to the glory of God the other twelve as it is noted in the Gemara Hierosolymit ad ea quae humano generi necessaria Ap. tundem Pâ— 43. to such things as were necessary for the life of man or as it is inlarged by Maimony to all those things quae singulis hominibus habenda in votis which either do concern particular men or are thought necessary to the State or Nation These Prayers or Benedictions thus composed were not alone thought necessary for all sorts of people and therefore called by the Jews preces officii necessario praestandi an office of necessity to be performed Ap. tund p. 47. but used both by Priest and People as an ordinary part of their publick Liturgy Whereof we are thus told by Rabbi Maimony Publicus Minister seu universitatis aut populi Apostolus liberat plebem ab officio suo hic praestando c. Id. p. 47.48 The publick Minister or the Apostle as they called him of the Congregation did ease the people of this service if when he said the prayers they did hearken to him and unto every Benediction answered AMen for by so doing the people also are conceived to pray But this saith he is only in such cases w hen the people is not perfect in those prayers or cannot say the same by heart for they who can repeat the prayers do not aright discharge their duty as they ought to do in case they did not pray themselves with the publick Minister And so much for the
Prayers and Benedictions devised by Ezra Which had they been the very first stinted forms of prayer which ever had been heard of in the Jewish Church Smectymn indicat p. 20. as some men give out although indeed it be not so it would make more than they imagine both for the Authority and Antiquity of set forms of worship But to return again unto the Reading of the Law set on foot by Ezra besides that by this institution the reading of the Law of Moses became an ordinary part of the Jewish Liturgy for the Sabbath days he caused it also to be read upon the second and the fift days being our Monday and Thursday that they might not rest three days from hearing the Law and at the Evening prayer of the Sabbath days because of idle persons who perhaps were absent at the Morning service Id. in Tephillah ubircath c. 12. cited by H. Thorndike In his religious Assemblies c. 8. The difference was only this that in these Readings on the by if I may so call them the Minister or the Reader was not tyed to read the whole Section or Parasha as upon the Sabbath but was therein left unto himself conditioned that he read no less than ten verses at each several reading and that there were three men to read it on the days aforesaid Now to this reading of the Law in the Congregation every Sabbath day was also added at some times and on some occasions the Exposition of the same and that I find to have been done two ways either by way of Comment and Application or else by reading with the Law some part of passage of the Prophets as seemed most parallel unto it Of these the first may seem to take beginning from the Act of Ezra who in that famous reading of the Law mention whereof is made in Nehemiah cap. viii not only caused a Pulpit of wood to be provided for that purpose that so he might be heard the better but placed about the same divers Priests and Levites to expound the Text and give the sense and meaning of it that so the people might the better understand the reading Whereof as of a thing never used before the reason is thus given by Torniellus because the Hebrew tongue wherein the Scriptures were first written was grown strange unto them Torniel annal A.M. 3610. n. 9. Chaldaico seu Syriaco idiomate in locum ejus surrogato the Syriack or Chaldee language being generally received in the place thereof And hereunto agrees Cunaeus who saith expresly that whilst the former Temple stood Interpretatio magistrorum commentatio nulla there was no gloss or exposition of the Law made as of course unto the people Cunaeus de Repub. Jud. l. 1. c. 17. That office being supplyed when there was occasion by such holy Prophets as God raised amongst them at extraordinary times and for no ordinary purposes But that these Expositions of the Law thus begun by Ezra were afterwards used constantly amongst the Jews every Sabbath day as I do no where find it so I dare not say it If so it were it could not be done presently but in tract of time of which more anon In the mean time we will behold the second kind of Exposition which before we spake of that which was made by reading with the Law some part or passage of the Prophets which came near unto it The first beginning of the which the Jews refer unto the furious raging of Antiochus furnamed Epiphanes who had not only defiled the Temple and forbid the use of Circumcision but also did prohibit the reading of the Law of Moses upon pain of death On which occasion and to prevent the mischief which might thereby grow if the reading of the Law should be quite left off they chose chapters and divisions out of the writings of the Prophets which were most answerable to those parts of the Law of Moses which were read before as for this Section of the Law In the beginning God Created c. They made choice of that in Esa xlii 5. So saith the Lord the Creator of Heaven and Earth continuing to the 11. verse of the xliii These fractions of the Law they called Haphtara And though the tyranny of Antiochus being over-blown Christ Synag lib. 1. cap. 4. they fell again unto the reading of the Law of Moses as was used before yet they continued still the reading of the holy Propohets as finding it a very wholsome institution and sometimes joyned thereunto such Expositions as the Scribes and Rabbins made upon the same according to their several Talents Certain I am that so it was in our Saviurs time and in the time of his Apostles For thus we find in S. Luke's Gospel that when our Saviour came into the Synagogue of Nazareth and stood up to read Luk. 4.16 c. there was delivered him the book of the Prophet Esay and that when he had read the place he closed the Book and gave it again unto the Minister the Apostle of the Congregation as the Rabbins call him and afterwards expounded and applyed the Text. And in his History of the Apostles we find that Paul and Barnabas being present at the Synagogue of Antiochia Act. 13.14 15. on the Sabbath day sate down and that after the reading of the Law and Prophets the Rulers of the Synagogue sent unto them saying Ye Men and Brethren if ye have any word of Exhortation for the people say on c. In which we have at once the custom of those latter times for the expounding of the Law in the Congregation as being by this time made a part of Gods holy Service as the place and room also which it held in the publick Liturgy that is to say next to the reading of the Law and Prophets as now the Sermon followeth on the reading of the Epistle and the Gospel As for the gesture which was used by these several Ministers in the discharge of those distinct and several Offices I find that the reading of the Law and Prophets and the exposition of the same was with the face of him that did it towards the face of the people whereof see Luk. iv 16. And that the Minister who read the Prayers whom they called the Apparitour of the Synagogue stood with his back towards the people his face being turned unto the Ark. This leads me on unto another Institution not known before the building of the second Temple or the times of Ezra which was the setting up of Synagogues and Oratories throughout the Countrey Of these we find no mention in the former times and but little Use the total sum of all Gods publick worship being cast into the Temple of Hierusalem For where it is supposed by some that there were Synagogues of the Jews in the time of David who for the proof thereof did produce these words They have burnt up all the Synagogues of God in the Land Psal lxxiv. the supposition
of publick worship which before we spake of The daily Sacrifice performed by the Priests alone the moral part of Gods divine service joyntly discharged by Priests and People The Singers we find singing Hymns and Songs of Praise to the Lord their God the People first making Confession of their Sins and to that purpose falling flat upon their faces and after pouring out their souls in prayer for his grace and mercy the High Priest giving of the blessing to the Congregation as the Lord appointed the people bowing down and worshipping at the receiving of the same And all this in a regular and prescribed way nothing in all the course thereof being left unto the liberty of Priest or People but the confession of their private and particular sins which every one had leave to cast in what mould he would As for the reading of the Law and Prophets it 's true we find no mention of it in this description of the service by the Son of Syrac But then perhaps the reason was because the reading of the Law was only used as an ordinary part of the publick Liturgy on the Sabbath days and it appeareth not by the place that this was done upon the Sabbath Finally such and none but such was the daily service of the Synagogue excepting that there was no Sacrifice to be done therein Of which this Maimony the learnedest and most exact of all the Rabbins Let a man saith he go always Morning and Evening to the Synagogue for his Prayer is not heard always but in the Synagogue And he that dwelleth in a City where there is a Synagogue and prayeth not there with the Congregation this is he that is called a bad Neighbour Cited by H. Thorndike ut supra And certainly as 't is well noted to my hand he well may be called a bad Neighbour who will not lend his Neighbours Prayers the strength of his own but himself finds the fruit of his own bad Neighbourhood when his own prayers want the assistance of his Neighbours The mentioning of Jesus the Son of Syrac serves here most fitly as an Usher to make room for Jesus the Son of God whose testimony to the point in hand whether by way of Affirmation or of Approbation will be worth our having For sure there 's no man so profanely impudent as to affirm so impiously wretched as to think that Christ our Saviour would have kept himself to the Jewish forms in case the Jewish Church had done amiss in the devising of such forms and other Ceremonies or wanted good Authority to enjoynn the same In those points therefore wherein he conformed himself to the Jewish Ordinances there is no question to be made but that those Ordinances were conform to the Word of God When they were otherwise in such points as they made the Word of God of none effect by their traditions he therein left them to themselves and gave no countenance at all unto them by the authority of his practice Their Synagogues for which they had no special warrant from the Word of God he liked well enough and therefore often honoured them with his blessed presence The weekly reading of the Law and Prophets Luk. 4.16 for which there was no order and command of Moses or of any other of Gods Secretaries for ought which hitherto appears he approved right well taking the book when it was offered by the Minister reading the place or lesson destinate to the present day and after preaching on the same Ibid. The course of publick worship in the holy Temple he esteemed so highly that he confirmed the title given unto it in the Prophet Esay namely that glorious Attribute of Domus Orationis or an House of Prayer And for the Feast of Dedication though of no other institution than meerly Ecclesiastical and humane he thought it no disparagement to the Lord and Master of the Feast to keep and celebrate the same with the rest of the people Joh. 10.22 23. It was at Hierusalem the Feast of the Dedication And Jesus walked in the Temple in Solomons Porch But that wherein he shewed himself most punctually conformable to the Jewish rites was in the keeping of the Passeover Of which Aynsworth in Exod. 12. thus Aynsworth in his notes on Exodus These observations of the Jews saith he whiles their Common-wealth stood and to this day may give light unto some particulars in the Passeover which Christ kept as viz. why they lay down one leaning on anothers bosom Joh. xiii 23. contrary to the first institution of it why he rose from Supper and washed and sate down again Joh. xiii 4 5 12. why he blessed or gave thanks for the bread apart and for the cup apart Mark xiv 22 23. why it is said he took the cup after Supper Luk. xxii 20. And finally why they sung an Hymn or Psalm at the end of the Supper Mat. xxvi 30. Beza goeth somewhat further yet and to those points before observed addeth also this Ex iis demum intelligitur quaenam sit illa panis benedictio fractiò porrectio itidemque poculi mutua praebitio Reza in Annot. in Mat. 25. by which he makes the blessing breaking and distributing both of the bread and cup in the blessed Eucharist to have been borrowed from those Rites But he that hath gone furthest is the famous Scaliger who doth affirm expresly of our Saviour Christ Scalig. de Emendat Temp. l. 6. nihil immutasse in ritu that he did vary in no point of circumstance from the usual rites save that he changed those words which the Ancients used in giving to their guests the Bread and Wine and substituted others in the place thereof more sutable to his intention So that whatever poor opinion the world hath entertained of late concerning Liturgies and set forms of Prayer and of the authority of the Church in ordering matters which concern Gods publick worship It seems our Lord and Saviour was persuaded otherwise he had not else so punctually and precisely conformed unto the one and obeyed the other And therefore O most blessed Saviour since thou didst think it no dishonour to thy glorious Majesty to frame thy self unto those publick forms and rites of religious worship which were prescribed by that Church wherein thou didst vouchsafe to sojourn for a certain season Continue unto us that humble modesty that we may gladly yield obedience to those forms of worship which were prescribed by the Church our common Mother assisted by as great a measure of thy grace and Spirit Thus having drawn down the beginning and success of Liturgies or of prescribed and determinate Forms of Worship call it which you will from the first times unto the best from the first giving of the Law to the end thereof we might now see in what condition they have stood in the Christian Church and that too in the purest and best times of Christianity But we must first observe
charge to go teach all Nations Id. 28.19 And when he found them backward in pursuit thereof he quickned Peter by a Vision and called Paul as it were of purpose Act. 10.11 to bear his name before the Gentiles to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness unto light Act. 9.17 and from the power of Satan unto God So that although the Jews and Gentiles were not collected into one body in our Saviours time Act. 26.18 I mean the time in which he pleased to sojourn here upon the Earth yet being done by his Authority and by the conduct and direction of his blessed Spirit it can be said of none but him quod fecit utraque unum that he made both one bringing them both into one Church Ephes 2.14 and making both partakers of the same communion who were before at such a distance as was conceived to be irreconcilable Unto the constituting of which Church our Saviour brought not any thing of Rite or Ceremony determined nothing that we meet with in his holy Gospels touching the time or place of publick Worship the Form and manner of the same save that he gave a general intimation that Hierusalem should no longer be the place in which men should be bound to Worship Joh. 4.21 The pains he took were principally spent in points of Doctrin clearing the truths of holy Scripture from those false glosses and corrupt traditions which had been put upon it by the Scribes and Pharisees and setting forth a new and clearer body of Divinity than had been taught the people in the Law of Moses that the Father might be worshipped in succeeding times with a greater measure of the spirit and a more perfect knowledge of the truth Joh. 4.23 24. than he had been formerly As for the circumstances and out-parts of Worship he left them in the state he found them that is to say to the disposing of the Church in whose power it was to institute such Rites and Ceremonies as might apparently conduce to the increase of Piety and to the setting forth of Gods praise and glory Himself had given a personal and most exemplary obedience to the Church of Jewry conforming to such Rites and Ordinances wherein there was no deviation from the Law of God as had in former times been setled by the power thereof And therefore had no cause of his collecting a Church conducted in those points which pertain to godliness by such a visible co-operation of the Holy Ghost especially considering what a fair example of Conformity he should leave behind him Besides all people of the world both Jews and Gentiles were setled at that time in a full perswasion of the necessity of set times and determinate places for the assembling of themselves together in the acts of Worship and had their prescribed Forms both of Prayer and Praise their Rituals and established Ceremonies and therewith also an opinion that those things were to be eprformed by the Priest alone Which being agreed on in the general both people might be brought with more facility to fall on some particular conclusions to which they were inclined already by their common principles And so indeed it proved in a short event times places and set Forms for worship being unanimously and universally received amongst them within a very little while after our Lords departure The Jews already had their Synagogues their Proseuchas or Oratories as before was said How small a labour was it to the blessed Apostles and their successors in that work to turn those Synagogues of theirs into Christian Churches for Preaching of the Word of God and the administration of the Sacraments accordingly as they did win upon the Jews to embrace the Gospel Nor is this only a bare speculation it was done de facto it being recorded in a book ascribed unto Athanasius that on the converting of the Jews Inhabitants of Beritus to the faith of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas de passione imaginis Dom. nostri To. 2. gr l. p. 631. that the Bishop who had laboured in it converted the Synagogue of the Jews into a Christian Church and dedicated it to our Lord and Saviour And for the Temples of the Gentiles when once their superstitions were suppressed and the Gospel countenanced by Authority they were converted also to the self-same use Vid. Bed hist Eccles 1. as the Jewish Synagogues had been in other places Gods Servants being in the mean time contented with such safe retreats as their necessities inforced them to make use of in those fiery times or with such publick places of Assembly but mean and under the degree of envy as either upon sufferance or by special leave they were permitted to erect As soon if not more suddenly all parties also were agreed on the times of worship which was reduced with general and joynt consent unto the first day of the week the Lords day or the Sunday call it which you will wherein all members of the Congregation were to meet together for Gods publick Service A business wherein the Church proceeded with great care and wisdom setting apart one day in seven to hold the fairer quarter with the Jews who were so zealous of a Sabbath but altering the day it self and paring off those legal Ordinances which had made it burdensome the better to content the Gentiles Yet so that they had also their daily meetings as occasion served for celebration of the Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist in those fiery times Whereof as being instituted for the Christian Sacrifice and of the Evangelical Priesthood to attend the same we shall speak anon In the mean time the next thing here to be considered is the form and order wherein the Church did celebrate Gods publick Service in those purer times those Forms of Prayer and Invocation wherewith they did address themselves to the Lord their God That all Religious offices in the House of God should be performed in form and order 1 Cor. 14. is not only warranted but enjoyned by the Apostles Canon made for those of Corinth and consequently for all Churches else And that for the avoiding of Battologies and all effusions of raw and undigested prayers besides what hath been shewn before to have been generally in use both with Jew and Gentile in being bound and regulated by set Forms of Prayer We have a Form laid down by our Lord and Saviour both for our use and imitation And first that it was made for our imitation is generally agreed on even by those who otherwise approve not set Forms of Prayer Calv. in Harm Evangel Calvin doth so resolve it saying In hunc finem tradita est haec regula ad quam preces nostras exigere necesse est si legitimas censeri Deoque probari cupimus And in the words not long before Non jubet Christus suos conceptis verbis orare sed tantum ostendit quorsum vota omnia precesque referri
and doth not only reach the Priests but caeteros omnes praesEntes all who were present in the Church Anastas Ep. ap Binium in To. 2. Concil And doubtless 't was in use before though but now enjoyned Sozomen blaming it in the Alexandrians and he lived long before the time of Anastasius that at the reading of the Gospels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishop stood not up as in other places Sozomen hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 19. Yet you must understand it so that they used not to stand upright sed curvi venerabundi saith the letter decretal but with the bowing of the body as in the way of adoration and more than so too if the name of Jesus did occur in the reading of it they used with all reverence and duty to bow the knee which in those parts and times was the greatest sign both of humility and subjection Of this we need no other witness than the great S. Ambrose whose speaking in his Hexaemeron Ambros in opera Hexaem l. 6. c. 9. touching the particular office of each several member he makes the bowing of the knee at the name of Jesus the proper duty of that part Kneeling they used both in the act of Prayer and Invocation as also in the participation or receiving of the blessed Sacrament First in the act of Prayer or Invocation for when Tertullian blamed it in the Gentiles that they did assidere sub aspectu contraque aspectum ejus Tertullian de Orat. cap. 12. Origen in Numer Homil. 5. sit down irreverently before their Gods as soon as they had done their Prayers And when as Origen asks the reason quod genua flectimus orantes why we should kneel upon our knees in the time of Prayer both of them put it out of question that in the act of Prayer or Invocation the Christians of those early times were upon their knees Next for the reverence which they used in the time of Participation the least that can be said of them is that they received the Sacrament upon their knees What else can be the meaning of that of Ambrose where he informeth us of the Christians of his time that they did carnem Christi in mysteriis adorare adore the flesh of Christ in the holy mysteries Ambros de Sp. S. lib. 3. c. 12. Chrysost Homil. 3. in Ephes or that of Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When thou seesT all things ready at the great Kings Table the Angels ministring at the same the King in presence and thou thy self provided of a Wedding garment cast thy self down upon thy knees at least and so Communicate And what else think you caused the Gentiles to accuse the Christians living in S. Austins time for worshipping Ceres and Bacchus two good Belly-gods August contra Faustum Man l. 20. c. 13. but that they were observed to kneel when they received the Bread and Wine in the blessed Eucharist And all this done with hands stretched out and heads uncovered manibus expansis Tertullian Apologet. c. 30. Basil Ep. 63. capite nudo as Tertullian hath it and as S. Basil doth observe of Gregory Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he used not to be covered in the time of prayer Add that they turned towards the East in the act of worship whereof consult with Justin Martyr in his Book of Questions and Answers ad Orthodopes Qu. 118. Tertullian in his Apologetick chap. 16. Origen in his 5. Homily on the Book of Numbers not to say any thing of those who came after them And then we have a perfect view of the most usual and material orders used by the Primitive Christians in Gods publique service Before I do conclude this Age I shall subjoyn some few notes on the Gloria Patri retained on so good grounds in this Church of England so oft repeated in the divine service of the same so solemnly and reverently pronounced by those who either understand their own Christian duties or the intentions of the antient holy Catholick Church And those remembrances I shall reduce unto these three heads First I shall shew the Antiquity and Original of it Secondly when and by what Authority it became a part of the publick Liturgies And thirdly in what posture Gods people used to put themselves as often as there was occasion to pronounce the same Concerning the Antiquity of the Gloria Patri I know it is referred by some to the Council of Nice or the times immediately succeeding and that it is by them conceived to have been framed of purpose for a Counterpoise to the Arian Heresie and to train up the people in the right perswasion of the holy Trinity And were it so it need not be ashamed of its Original or look into the world for a better petigree the space of 1300 years and more being abundantly sufficient to procure it credit and set it far enough above the reach of contentious men But yet S. Basil who lived near that Council Basil de Sp. S. c. 27. Id. ibid. c. 29. goes a great deal higher and fetcheth the Original of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the tradition of the Apostles and cites some of the antient Fathers and amongst them S. Clemens the Apostles Scholar and Dionysius of Alexandria who died long time before this Council and in whose writings this doxology was expresly found For the Apostles being commanded by their Lord and Saviour to teach and Baptize all people in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost there is no question to be made but that in due conformity to their Masters pleasure they did accordingly proceed and for a preparatory thereunto required of such as were to be added to the Church a solemn profession of that Faith into which they were to be Baptized And this Confession of the Faith he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Original and mother as it were of that Doxologie then and of long time used in the Church of Christ Id. ibid. c. 27. And then it followeth in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. That as they had received so they did Baptize and as they did Baptize so they did believe Id. ibid. Ep. 78. and as they did believe so they also glorified But they Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and they believed in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Ghost and therefore also had some Form of ascribing Glory to the Father Son and Holy Ghost which was the Form remaining on record in those antient Fathers whose names there occur And this he further proves by an antient ceremony used of old at Candle tinding which he ascribeth also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the tradition of the Fathers but by which of them devised or first introduced that he could not tell Onely he noteth that at the first bringing in of the Evening lights the people were
at the end of every Psalm they should add these words Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. Which being thus ordained in the Churches of the Roman Patriarchate became forthwith admitted also into other Churches of the West as appears plainly by that Canon of the Council of Vaisons which you had before which I choose rather to refer with the Collector of the Councils to the time of Theodosius the 2d who lived after Damasus than with Baronius to the year 337. when no such Form to which that Canon doth relate had gotten any footing in the Western Liturgies Now the said Canon taking notice of a former usage of some other Churches where this Doxologie was added at the end of the Psalms ordains the like to be observed in the Churches of France quod nos in universis Ecclesiis nostris dicendum esse decrevimus Concil Valens Can. 5. as their words there are And to this purpose besides that of Cassian which we shall presently produce for another point we may add these words of Pope Vigilius he began his Popedom An. 535. who in his Epistle unto Eleutherius gives us this short note In fine Psalmorum ab omnibus Catholicis ex more dici Gloria Patri filio c. That is to say Ep. Vigilii in Concil Tom. 2. that Gloria Patri was subjoyned at the end of the Psalms according to the antient custom by all Catholick persons As for the gesture which was used both by Priest and People at the repeating of this Doxologie it was the same with that which is still retained They said it standing on their feet And this appears expresly by the words of Cassian who telleth us that in the Province of Gaul Narbonnoyse where he then lived it was the custom of the Church Cassian lib. 2. cap. 8. in clausula psalmi omnes astantes concinere cum clamore Gloria Patri c. That at the close of every Psalm the whole Congregation standing up did sing together with a loud voice Glory be to the Father c. Contrary to the custom of the Eastern Churches In which it is to be observed that the singularity noted by that Author to have been used in those Countreys at the pronouncing of the Gloria Patri was not in that the Congregation stood upon their feet at the repeating of the same which was most like to be the custom of the East Churches also but that it was subjoyned in Gaul Narbonnoyse as in all Churches of the West at the end of the Psalms whereas it was used only in the East at the end of the Anthems as before was shewn you from this Author Now Cassian was S. Chrysostoms Scholar if not his Convert and lived about the year 430. before the Church was overgrown with needless Ceremonies or that the native piety of the true Religion was overshadowed by the superstitions of the Church of Rome 'T is true we find not any Canon which enjoyned this gesture but that it was first taken up by the voluntary usage and consent of Christian people who might conceive that gesture to be fittest for it in regard that it contained not only a bare Form of giving glory to the Lord but also a profession of the Christian Faith in the great mystery of the holy undivided Trinity and therefore fit to be pronounced in that very posture in which from all Antiquity they rehearsed their Creed And being so taken up as before was said it hath been still retained in the general practice of the Church to this very day not by any Canon of the Church or decree of Pope or other Ecclesiastical Constitution but ex vi Catholicae consuetudinis by force of a continual Catholick custom which in such points as these hath the power of Law For though in Articles of the Faith which are the credenda of the Church we may say with Hierom Hieron advers Jovinian Non credimus quia non legimus We are not bound to submit our belief unto them but as they are expressed in the Word of God or else deduced from the same by plain and evident illation yet in the outward Forms of Worship which are the Agenda of the Church we must say with the good Fathers of the Nicene Council 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nicen. Can. Let antient customs be observed and prevail amongst us And this is that for which S. Basil pleadeth so heartily in the very case of this Doxologie Where first he lays it for a ground 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That if we take away all unwritten usages from the Church of God as being of no efficacy in his publick service we shall do great detriment to the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in conclusion make the preaching of the Word but a powerless name Basil de Sp. S. c. 27. Of which kind he accounts and nameth the signing of the true Believers with the sign of the Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their turning towards the East when they said their prayers the Form of Consecrating the Bread and Wine in the blessed Sacrament of the Lords Supper the hallowing of the Water for the Sacrament of Baptism the trina immersio used of old 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the renouncing of the Devil and his Angels still in use amongst us And of this kind was that particular gesture which is now in question not recommended to our observation by any particular Law or Canon but only by successional tradition and the continual practice of the Christian Church which is Authority sufficient for a greater matter And in this track the Church of England went at her Reformation when she ordained according to the antient Canons that at the end of every Psalm throughout the year and likewise at the end of Benedictus Benedicite Magnificat and Nunc dimittis shall be repeated Rubrick before Te Deum Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. But for the gesture to be used referred it to the antient practice of the Church of Christ as formerly the Church had done in the self same case Which practice hath been constantly preserved since the Reformation in all the Cathedrals of this Kingdom in the Chappels Royal and in some Parish Churches also to which and to the usage of the primitive times it is more just and reasonable that all particular persons should conform themselves than that the antient and unblamable usages of the Church of God should be changed and varied according to the wild affections of particular men The Church is now as much in danger to be infected and destroyed by the Socinian Blasphemies as ever heretofore by the Arian Heresies and therefore this Doxologie as necessary in these present times and to be said with as great reverence and solemnity by all good Christian people as in those before We cannot better make profession of our faith in the
now come unto the Christians where we shall find that from their first having the use of Churches to assemble in the Dedications of those Churches were in use amongst them And first St. Cyril a right godly Bishop of Jerusalem speaks of a Church in that City called commonly the upper Church of the Apostles not called so because dedicated to them but because dedicated by them and therefore said by Beda to be Ecclesia ab Apostolis fundata of the foundation of the blessed Apostles because being given to them for the use of the Church it was by them dedicated and appropriated to Gods publick service Of this we have spoke more at large in the last Section of the fifth Chapter of this Narration and therefore shall not here repeat it In the next Century we find Pope Pius writing thus in an Epistle to Justus Viennensis a chief Friend of his in the Year 158. or thereabouts Plus P. ad Just Vienn Soror nostra Euprepeia sicut bene recordaris titulum domus suae pauperibus assignavit ubi nunc cum pauperibus nostris commorantes Missas agimus Our Sister Euprepeia hath turned her House into a Church remember what was said of this in the last Section of the sixth Chapter for the use of the poor servants of Christ where now abiding with our said poor Brethren we celebrate the Mass or Sacrament of the blessed Supper And in another Epistle to the same Justus thus Pastor Presbyter Titulum condidit digne in Domino obiit That is to say Pastor the Priest or Presbyter hath built a Church and so died worthily in the Lord. Why we have rendred Titulus by the word Church and how those places being at first but private Houses were turned into Churches for publick use we shall see anon in the mean time we may take notice that neither of these two Epistles have hitherto been questioned by our modern Criticks nor ranked amongst those counterfeit Decretals whose authority hath been so deservedly abrogated by the learned Protestants In the next Century after him lived Felix the first who entred on the See of Rome An. 272. and not long after him lived Marcellinus succeeding in the same See An. 296. of the first of which it is affirmed by Metaphrastes that he consecrated the House of Cecilia and of the second by Damasus that he consecrated the House of Lucina making them thereby Churches or places of Religious worship for the use of Christians But these being times of persecution afford us not so clear nor so frequent evidences as the Age next following in which the first glad sight which the Christians saw were the Encaenia the Dedication of those Churches which either had been taken from them and profaned by Idolatry or otherwise were laid waste and made unserviceable in those fiery times No Man more forward in this work than the Emperour Constantine who having founded the Temple of the holy Martyrs in Jerusalem prepared himself for the ENCAENIA or Dedication of the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as in the Title of the fourth Chapter de Land Constant Eusebius hath it De laud. Const l. 4. c. 40. Thus Athanasius writing unto the Emperour Constantius and speaking of a Church not consecrated prayeth that the Emperour might live to see it done and celebrate the Ceremonies of it Athan. Apol. ad Constant Tu tamen interim Deo dilectissime Auguste vivas multos annorum recursus solennia Dedicationis perficias as the Latin hath it Thus not to wander into more particulars in these Eastern Churches the Author of the Panegyrick in Eusebius telleth us once for all that never any King but Christ had filled all Countreys and Cities of the World with these Dedications Quis Rex c. omnem locum Regionem Civitatem Euseb l. 10. c 4. tam Graecum quam Barbaricum regalibus suis Palatiis divinorumque Templorum Consecrationibus adimplevit as the words there are A matter judged so necessary in those early times that the Arians charged it as a grievous crime on Athanasius that he had celebrated Divine Service in a Church not consecrated for which he thus Apologizeth to the angry Emperour Encaeniorum Festium non celebravimus religiosissime Auguste c. And so proceeds shewing the necessity which did enforce him to do namely the incapacity of all other Churches thereabouts to receive the multitudes then assembled the unresistable importunity of the people and such other impulsions The like clear evidence we have for the Western Churches there being a Sermon of St. Ambrose entituled De Dedicatione Basilicae Ambros Serm. 89. preached at the Dedication of a Church built by Vitalianus and Majanus the ground of his Discourse taken from the good Centurion of whom the Jews told our Saviour in St. Luke's Gospel Luke 7.5 That he loved their Nation and had built them a Synagogue Ambros Epist lib. 10. Ep. 85. The same Father writing to his Sister speaks of a Church which himself had consecrated Nam cum Basilicam Dedicassem c. And writing unto Felix Bishop of Como invites him to the consecration of a Church then newly built by one Bassianus requiring him not to fail of his being there in regard that he had promised for him Ne duos Sacerdotes redarguas te qui non affueris me qui tam facile promiserim Id. Epis 5. l. 1. The like authority we have from Paulinus also another Bishop of those times invited by Sulpitius Severus his especial Friend Ad Basilicam quae proxime in nomine Domini consummabitur Paulin. Nol. Epist 11. dedicandum To be present at the dedicating of a Church of his foundation as soon as it was finished and made fit for those sacred Ceremonies More of this Argument both in the East and Western Churches we shall see hereafter when we are come to the magnificent Feasts and great Solemnities used antiently by the Christians in these Consecrations In the mean time as well for the better understanding of somewhat which was said before and of some things that follow after there are two words that is to say the Titulus of the Romans and the Encaenia of the Greeks to be considered and explained The word Titulus in the former Section we have rendred Church according to the Ecclesiastical notion of it Churches being called Tituli by the Roman Christians of those times either because by their Dedication the name of Christ our Lord was as it were inscribed upon them as the manner then was to set the names or Titles of the Owners upon their Houses and possessions or because they gave a Title of Cure or Denomination to the Presbyters who officiated in them and to whose charge they were committed at that time as they do now unto the Cardinals in the Church of Rome Plat. in vit Evarist That he assigned unto the Presbyters or Priests of Rome their several Churches the
of work since the time of the old Martin Mar-prelat began to teem again with a new brood of Libellous Pamphlets the Females of Sedition as a Learned Gentleman truly calls them in which the Bishops were reproached with Innovating in the Worship of God here by Law established in order to some dark design to bring in Popery The antient usages of the Church grounded on Law required by Canon and Authorized by the stamp of Supream Authority had lien so long under the Rubbish of neglect and discontinuance by the remisness to say no worse of it of the former Government that the endeavour of reducing them to use and practice was forthwith clamorously branded with the odious name of an Innovation though when it came unto the trial the Innovation lay at their doors who had raised he clamor Amongst which Innovations so unjustly charged there was none made a greater and more general noise than the requiring a set Form of Prayer to be used by Preachers before their Sermons imputed by H. E. to the late Archb. as an act of his and yet confessed so much he was transported by his spleen and passion to be prescribed in the Canon of 603. full 30 years before that Prelate had attained the See of Canterbury During these heats I was requested by the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of W. to ease him of some pains in searching into the constant practice of this Church since the Reformation as to that particular as also to consider of the grounds and motives which might induce the Bishops of those times to compose the Canon in which that Form had been prescribed that haing satisfied himself in all points which concerned that Argument towards which my poor endeavours were not likely to contribute much he might with greater confidence require the Clergy of his Diocess to conform unto it An employment which I undertook with a ready chearfulness as one that had been always trained up in the School of obedience and looked upon the just motions of my Superiors as in the nature of commands What satisfaction this discourse then gave unto hisLordship I forbear to add and what contentment it may give to the Reader now I forbear to guess The fate of Books depends not in these times as in those before on the capacity of the Reader but on his private interess so as it is not to be hoped that such as are approved by some will be liked of all though most of those who may mislike may give no sufficient reason for it All therefore which I have to do is to submit it to the judgment of the equaland unbyassed Reader from whom I am as willing to receive satisfaction in any controverted point as to use my best endeavours to give it to him And so good Reader I conclude with those words of the Poet Tu vergo si quid novisti rectius istis Candidus imperti si non his utere mecum If thou hast better reasons lend me thine Or otherwise make bold with these of mine A BRIEF DISCOURSE Touching the Form of Prayer c. 1. The Introduction to the whole 2. The Canon of the year 1603. 3. The meaning and purpose of that Canon 4. The Injunction of Qu. Elizabeth to the same effect 5. The Injunction of King Edward VI. to the same effect 6. The like Injunction of King Henry VIII 7. The ground and reason of the Injunction of that King and the exemplification of it in the practice of Bishop Latimer 8. The difference between Invocation and that bidding of Prayer which is required by the Canon 9. The Canon justified by the practice of Bishop Andrews 10. By the practice of Bishop Jewel in Qu. Elizabeths time 11. By the practice of Archbishop Parker in King Edwards time 12. By the like practice of Bishop Latimer in that Kings time also 13. More of the practice of Bishop Latimer in this point 14. The same proved also by the practice of Bishop Gardiner 15. The result arising both from the precept and the practice of the Church herein 16. How the now Form of Prayer by way of Invocation was first taken up 17. No Prayer by way of Invocation used by the Antients in their Sermons 18. The Prayer appointed by the Canon and Injunctions used rather heretofore as a part of the Sermon than as a preparation to it 19. Bidding of Prayer more consonant unto the meaning of the Law than any set Prayer in the way of Invocation 20. Bidding of Prayer more proper for the place or Pulpit which was not made for Prayer but for Exhortation 21. The like concluded from the posture of the Preacher also 22. Some inconveniences arising from the Form of Prayer by Invocation 23. More inconveniencies of that nature by accusing the Liturgie as defective 24. The conclusion and submission of the whole to his Lordships judgment INventae erant Epistolae ut certiores faceremus absentes si quid esset quod eos scire aut nostrum aut ipsorum interesset Epistles were devised as Tully writes to Curio to this end and purpose that we might certifie the absent of those things which are most proper for their knowledge and our relation They are our Messengers for love our Posts for business our Agents in the managing and dispatch of the weightiest Affairs such as most nearly do concern us which being a chief Use and Benefit of Letters no marvail if they have been used in all former Ages not only to maintain an intercourse between Friends in point of Amity but to lay down in them our resolutions as occasion is in point of Controversie The several Writings in this kind of the antient Authors as well the Christian as the Gentile what are they but so many precepts and directions by which to regulate our Conversations or reasons and authorities on the which to rest our judgments Upon which ground my most Honoured Lord I have adventured to declare by this way of Letter what I have found upon due search in answer to the proposition which your Lordship recommended to me touching the Form of Prayer appointed in the Canon to be used by Preachers before the Sermon Of which such question hath been made in these busie times whether it ought to be by way of Invocation as a formal Prayer or else by way of Exhortation as a bidding of Prayer For resolution of the which I shall first lay down the very Canon and after briefly shew unto you what is most like to be the true intention of it out of the publick Monuments of this Church and constant practice of those men who are above exception for the point in hand and also by such other pregnant reasons as I have thought most proper to confirm the same Now for the title of the Canon it runs thus Can. 55. The Form of a Prayer to be used by Preachers before their Sermons The body of it is this Before all Sermons Lectures and Homilies Preachers
but stood thus also in the practice of our Predecessors though not so frequently in these last as the former times as shall be presently made good by Witnesses and Proofs of unquestioned credit Mean while the Canon and Injunctions being laid together there will be little difference found between them in sum and substance except that praying for the dead used in the latter times of King Henry the 8. and the beginning of the Reign of King Edward the 6. hath since been changed into praising God for their departure in the faith and Gospel of our Lord and Saviour and at all nothing in the Form or any circumstance considerable in the present business for if we look upon the prayer therein appointed we shall find these four things to be considered 1. The substance or matter of it being the heads therein recited viz. the Catholick Church the Kings Majesty the Qu. the Royal issue the L Ls. spiritual and temporal 2. The phrase or garb of speech wherein the matter is expressed in those words or in other to the same effect 3. The quantity of time which is allowed for those expressions as briefly as conveniently we may and last of all the Form thereof being the point that is most in question which plainly is to be by way of exhortation Ye shall pray and I require you most especially to pray and not by way of Invocation with an immediate address to Almighty God as Men use it now Therefore as in King Edward's and the Queens Injunctions it is called a Bidding of Prayers the Form of bidding prayers generally to be used after this uniform sort and the Form of bidding the Common Prayers The Form of bidding the Beads in King Henries Injunction So in the Canon it is called a Moving it being therein ordered that before all Sermons Lectures and Homilies Preachers and Ministers shall move the people to joyn with them in prayer c. Bidding and Moving are two words but to one effect for when we bid the people pray we move them to it and in the Congregation we have no way to move the people but by that of bidding or exhorting Prayer as Saint Basil hath defined it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is requiring of some good from the hands of God and doth imply a punctual and immediate address unto him which is the peoples office to the Lord Almighty Bidding of prayer as the Injunctions or moving Men to pray as the Canon hath it is the Priests office to the people wherein he not only exhorts them to the performance of that Duty but layeth them down a Summary and brief recital of those things which they are to pray for as members of that one mystical Body whereof Christ Jesus is the Head Now where it is alledged by some who have turned Bidding into Praying that in the Canon it is not ordered precisely that Ministers shall move the people to joyn with them in prayer in this Form that followeth but only in this Form or to this effect It 's true what they alledge as unto the words though not as to the use they make thereof For by these words to this effect the Church hath no intent or meaning to give Men liberty to devise new Forms of Prayer nor indeed could she if she would as before we noted or to desert as well the usage of those Men which had been most obedient to her publick Orders as the Injunctions on the which the said use was founded Wherefore these words to this effect must have no reference to the Form and manner of expression for it is called in the Canon a moving of the people to joyn in prayer but only to the words and phrase it being not the Churches purpose to bind her Ministers precisely to the words which are there laid down but that in that very Form of words or other words to that effect they should move the people to be mindful of those particular Heads for which they were to joyn with him at the close of all in the Lords prayer as appeareth plainly by that passage of the Prayer in Bishop Latimers spoken of before That this and none but this was the Churches meaning will be easily proved and made apparent by the practice of the chiefest and most eminent persons who are called by Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eth. l. 1. For those who have the best authority to interpret Canons I mean my LLs. the two Archbishops with the greater part of the Bishops have and do use no other Form than that of Bidding or of Moving And so do also many antient Doctors both in the Universities and Cathedral Churches who being originally accustomed to the Form of Bidding have not yet turned their stile to a Form of Praying But since to speak of those who are now alive may possibly be subject to misconstruction we will take Counsel with the dead whose actions of this kind may be our example and their proceeding in this point our warrant of these I will make instance of five alone though I could in more all of the Hierarchie all Men of high esteem in their several times and therefore such as may be followed with most safety in the present business Of these the last in course of time was the most Learned Bishop Andrews of whom to say no more we may say with safety that he was Canonum observantissimus who being as he was a practised Preacher long time before and after the making of the said Canon did use no other Form of Prayer than that of Bidding All those that heard him cannot but confess that so it was and in the body of his Sermons collected by my Lord of Canterbury that now is and my Lord of Ely that then was there are some Tracts and footsteps of it which make it evident unto those that heard him not For this consult his 3d Sermon in Lent Anno 1593. his sixth in Lent 1596. his sixth for Whitsuntide Anno 1613. More specially in his second of the holy Ghost Anno 1608. in which immediately upon the division of his Text as his custom was he thus moves the people or which both comes to one he thus bids the prayers But for that there is no speaking of the Spirit without the Spirit nor bearing neither to the end that hearing and speaking he may help our infirmities c. And in his ninth Sermon of the Fifth of November 1617. the division ended as before he thus proceeded That these be done and that they may be done and that those things which shall be spoken may tend to this that they may be done c. Which last two passages being preambles or introductions unto his form of bidding Prayers give us an hint of that which we may find laid down at large in his Latine Sermons extant in his opuscula collected by the same most Reverend Prelates particularly in that before his Sermon Preached pro forma when he went out Doctor and that at the
that prayer also Those which were dangerously ill or but ill at ease sending their Bills abroad to several Preachers by them to be remembred in their Pulpit prayers Hereto they also had reduced particular Thanksgivings for the recovery of such persons as had been visited with Sickness or had escaped any present danger of what inferiour rank soever it were which grew so common at the last and in late times too that being once to Preach in the Church of Westminster before many of the Nobility and many other persons of great note and honour the Verger there brought me a Ticket in these words viz. N. N. of the Parish of St. Martins Shooe-maker having lately had a dangerous fall and now being pretty well recovered desires this Congregation to give thanks for him So that this Prayer of theirs became at last the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the general plaister for all sores the common receptacle for all sutes the universal comprehension of all pious offices The Service of the Church being thought mean while to be ineffectual nay by I know not what strange means it found such entertainment among them also who otherwise were not ill affected unto the order of the Church that in the end the usual Form of Bidding-prayers was in a manner laid aside by all sorts of men and is now forced to plead its Birth-right and seek for repossession as ex post liminio which it doth as followeth And first it may be pleaded from the antient practice not of our Church alone since the Reformation which is done already but of all Churches in all times in which there is no constat of any Form of Prayer by way of Invocation used or to be used before the Sermon Lecture Exercise or Homilies call it what you will The exposition of the Law in Ezras time which was a Lecture at the least if not a Sermon Nehem. 8. was nakedly delivered without any prayer so were the Sermons of the Prophets Our Saviours Sermon on the Mount had no Prayer before it that we can meet with Matt. 6.9 but there was in it questionless a Bidding of Prayers and a particular Form laid down after which to pray for it is said there we shall pray after this manner those of the Apostles also were delivered in the self same manner though in those times in the which no publick Liturgy was as yet universally agreed upon a formal Prayer before the Sermon might be thought more necessary In the next Ages when as the Church was setled and certain Forms of Prayer prescribed made either by the Apostles or Apostolick men we find not any for this purpose Nor is there only a non liquet of it in the publick formulas but nothing to be found which reflects that way in any of the Sermons Homilies or Expositions of the Antient Doctors either Greek or Latine As for the later times when as the service of the Church was brought unto that Form wherein it now continues for the most part in the Church of Rome the Sermon commonly was an enarration or an explication of the Gospel for the day appointed or otherwise some of the Homilies of the Holy Fathers and needed no much preparation thereunto as is now required Nor doth that use continue only in the Church of Rome but also in the Lutheran Churches as they call them as appeareth plainly by the Writings of Dietericus and other Doctors of that party A thing so universally received among them that in the alteration of Religion made in Brandenburg Anno 1614. It was declared by the Elector amongst other things Evangeliis Epistolis quae diebus Dominicis explicantur quotannis repetuntur Pastores non ita astrictos esse debere ut ipsis non liceat alium aliquem insignem textum biblicum praelegere pro concione tractare By which we may perceive that in the Lutheran Churches the Sermons are no other than a brief enarration of or on the Gospel and Epistle for the day appointed and so but little need of preparatory Prayers as before I noted so that as not of old in the former times so neither in the Lutheran Churches or any others of the Reformation which retain any Tract or footstep of the antient Liturgies as God be thanked here we do is there a shew of any thing that I can meet with to countenance and conclude a set Form of Prayer made before the Sermon according to the Preachers own conceptions either in prescript or in practice Geneva which first bred it doth alone retain it and those which on her commendations have since took it up Next we may argue for the Form of Bidding Prayers that at the first when it was introduced into the Church it rather was a part of the very Sermon one of the Principal instructions therein delivered than any preparation to it In the Injunctions of King Henry VIII it is commanded that the Curates should in their Sermons or Collations declare unto the People the Kings Supream Authority for which end especially the use of Bidding-Prayers seems to me to be first ordained and being so ordained and withal brought into a Form as it still continueth it was for ought we know at the Preachers pleasure to bring it in into his Sermon where he thought most fit Ten times at least in Bishop Latimer we find this Form of Bidding Prayers In the first whereof being that before the Convocation he spends three leaves and more ere he comes unto it two almost in the 2. and 6. before King Edward Eight almost being well near half his Sermon in that before that King at Westminster Anno 1550. and in the other six he doth not use it till he be entred on his matter as by what hath been said before doth at full appear Nay by the Rule laid down in the Queens Injunction it seems it was not to be used till the end of the Sermon and therefore no such necessary preparation to it as it is now conceived and made For presently on the conclusion of the said Form of Bidding prayers it followeth thus in the Injunction And this done shew the holy-Days and Fasts This by our present Liturgy confirmed in Parliament before the setting out of the said Injunctions is ordered to be done after the Homily or Sermon and might seem inconvenient if not absurd should it be done in the middle of the Sermon much more between the Prayer and the Sermon which also seems to have been put to practice in King Edwards time Dr. Parker not descending to the Bidding of prayers or to his Exhortation ad preces as it is there called till he was come to the conclusion of his matter in the close of all Now where the Canon hath appointed that the Form of Prayer there recited be used by Preachers before the Sermon i. e. before the substance of it the preface and division being only a manuduction thereunto and no parts thereof as Bishop Andrews always
They are all now for Root and Branch for the very Calling that having grubbed up those goodly Cedars of the Church the Bishops they might plant a stinking Elder as a noble person well observed in the place thereof Never was Learning so employed to cry down the encouragements and rewards of Learning The Branches needs must wither when the Root decays and what could else befall Cathedras as we see it too evidently but the inevitable exposing of them to a present ruin by making them Oblations unto Spoil and Rapine And now or never was the time for those that had a care of the Churches safety to put themselves into a posture of defence and be provided for the Battel In which if few appeared at the first on the Churches side it was not that they durst not give the onset but that they were reserved for succours For whilst the Humbly reverend Remonstrant was pleased to vindicate as well his own as the Churches honour there was small cause or rather none that other men should interpose themselves at all or rob him of the glory of a sole encounter Parque novum fortuna videt concurrere Bellum atque virum as in a case not much unlike was observed by Lucan But when that Reverend pen grew wearied not with the strength or number of his Adversaries but their importunity who were resolved to have the last words as himself observeth and that he hath been pleased to give way to others to shew their duty and affection in so just a cause it was then no hard matter to persuade me to such further courses as might be thought on and pursued for the Churches peace And I the rather was resolved to do somewhat in it because the Smectymnuans in a manner had ingaged me in the undertaking It seems they have forgotten what their own Darling HEILTN c. Smectym pag. 16 17. by giving me the Title of the Bishops Darling a Title which though given in scorn had been ill bestowed should I be wanting unto those of that Sacred Order which were supposed to let me hold so principal a place in their affections Doubly ingaged by duty and this provocation which I could not take but for a challenge I took their Book into my hand in which I found the whole dispute as it relates to the Episcopal Government reduced to these Propositions viz. 1. That the Impropriation of name and Imparity of place between Bishops and Presbyters was not of divine right and Apostolical institution but of humane invention and occasionally only and that a Diabolical occasion also and no more than so 2. That the eminent Superiority and Power of Ordination and Jurisdiction which our Bishops claim was both unknown to the Scripture and the Primitive times 3. That antiently in some places of the World the Episcopal Government was never known for many years together the people in those places being instructed in the faith without help of Bishops Hereupon they infer in the close of all That Bishops or Episcopacy being at the best a meer humane Ordinance may by the same Authority be abrogated by which it was first established This last I must confess delivered in the way of Quere but so delivered as to carry a Position in it more pertinent to their aim and purpose than the other three In prosecuting of which points as they have shewed the greatest of their wit and cunning to give the fairest colours to a rotten Cause so have they brought no new Objections against the Episcopal Order and Jurisdiction but what are either answered or prevented in the Learned works of B. Bilson B. Downham and other Worthies of this Church now in bliss with God Nihil dictum quod non dictum fuit prius had been an Answer new enough for an old Objection But seeing that these Men though they could bring no new supply of Arguments is make good their Cause would not rest satisfied with those old Answers which had been given in former times to their Predecessors I was resolved to deal with them in another way than what hath formerly been travelled Not in the way of Argumentation or a Polemical discourse there being no likelihood of any end in such Disputations as long as men had so much Sophistry as either to evade the Argument or find some sleight to weaken and shift off the Answer I rather chose having found good success in that kind before to manage the whole Controversie as it lay between us in the way of an Historical Narration as in point of fact which I conceive to be the readiest means to convince gainsayers and silence the dispute for the times to come For if History be Testis temporum the surest and most faithful witness of mens actions in the carriage of all publick businesses as no doubt it is it cannot but be also Magistra vitae both which the Orator affirms of it the best Instructress we can have in all Affairs of like nature as they come before us The History of Episcopacy collected from the Writings of the Antient Fathers cannot but be of special use and efficacy in setting forth the Government of the Church in the purest times especially when those Fathers are produced on no other occasion but either as writing on those Texts of Scripture in which the Institution and Authority of Bishops is most clearly evidenced or speaking of the condition of the Church in their several times in the Administration and Government whereof they had most of them some especial interess Out of whose testimonies so digested and compared together I doubt not but it will appear most evidently to an indifferent and impartial Reader first That our Lord and Saviour JESVS CHRIST laid the foundation of his Church in an imparity of Ministers and that according unto his example the Apostles did the like ordaining the three several Orders and Degrees of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the holy Ministry Next that the Government of Bishops being founded thus was propagated over all the World with the faith it self there being no Nation which received the one without the other And finally that in matter of Authority and Jurisdiction the Bishops of the primitive and purest Ages had full as much as ours of England in these latter times And if I have done this as I hope I have it may more rationally be inferred though perhaps not so safely as the times now are that Bishops or Episcopacy being of Divine and Apostolical institution no humane invention cannot with piety be abrogated by a less Authority than that by which it was ordained at the first appointment This is the sum and this is the end of my design In prosecution of the which I had drawn down my story to the times of Constantine by whose power and favour the Church began to settle in all parts of the Empire where it had formerly been persecuted with all kind of Extremities which either the wit of Tyranny could invent or an
and Rulers of the Church and that the Apostles after his ascension did ordain the Deacons to be the Ministers of their Episcopal function and the necessities of the Church Saint Ambrose doth affirm the same Ambros in 1. ad Cor. c. 12. Caput it aque in Ecclesia Apostolos posuit c. Christ saith he made the Apostles the head or supreme Governours of his Church they being the Legats or Ambassadours of Christ according unto that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.20 And then he adds Ipsi sunt Episcopi that they were Bishops More plainly in his Comment on the Ephesians Apostoli Episcopi sunt Prophetae explanatores Scripturarum The Apostles saith he In Comment in Ephes 4. are Bishops and Prophets the Expositors of Scripture But because question hath been made whether indeed those Commentaries are the works of Ambrose or of some other ancient Writer he tells us in his Notes on the 43. Psalm that in those words of Christ Pasce oves meas Peter was made a Bishop by our Lord and Saviour De Repub. Eccles l. 2. c. 2. n. 4. Significat Ambrosius Petrum Sacerdotem hoc est Episcopum electum illis verbis Pasce oves meas as the place is cited by the Arch-Bishop of Spalato And thus Saint Chrysostom speaking of the election of the Seven saith plainly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that then there were no Bishops in the Church Chrys hom 14. in Act 6. but only the Apostles But what need more be said in the present business than that which is delivered in the holy Scripture about the surrogation of some other in the place of Judas wherein the place or function of an Apostle is plainly called Episcopatus Acts 1.20 Episcopatum ejus accipiat alter let another take his Bishoprick as the English reads it His Bishoprick i. e. saith Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Principality his Priesthood Chrys hom 3. in Act. 1. the place of government that belonged unto him had he kept his station A Text most plain and pregnant as the Fathers thought to prove that the Episcopal dignity was vested in the persons of the Lords Apostles The Comment under the name of Ambrose which before we spake of having said Ipsi sunt Episcopi Ambros in 1. ad Cor. c. 12 that the Apostles were Bishops adds for the proof thereof these words of Peter Episcopatum ejus accipiat alter And the true Ambrose saying of Judas Id. Serm. 50. that he was a Bishop Episcopus enim Judas fuit adds for the proof thereof the same very Text. Finally to conclude this matter Saint Cyprian shewing that Ordinations were not made without the privity of the people in the Jewish Church Nisi sub populi assistentis conscientia lib. 1. ep 4. adds that the same was afterwards observed by the holy Apostles Quando de ordinando in locum Judae Episcopo when Peter spake unto the people about the ordering of a Bishop in the place of Judas But for a further proof of this that the Apostles were ordained Bishops by our Lord and Saviour we shall see more hereafter in convenient place Vide chap. 6. n. 12. when we are come to shew that in the government of the Church the Bishops were the proper Successors of the Apostles and so esteemed to be by those who otherwise were no great friends unto Episcopacy In the mean time we may take notice of that impudent assertion of Jobannes de Turrecremata viz. Quod solus Petrus à Christo Episcopus est ordinatus Lib. 2. Summae de Eccl. c. 32. ap Bell. de Rom Pont. that Peter only Peter was made Bishop by our Saviour Christ and that the rest of the Apostles received from Peter their Episcopal consecration wherein I find him seconded by Dominicus Jacobatius lib. 10. de Concil Art 7. A Paradox so monstrous and absurd that howsoever Bellarmine doth reckon it amongst other the Prerogatives of that Apostle in his first Book de Romano Pontifice cap. 23. yet upon better thoughts he rejects it utterly in his 4th Book upon that argument Cap. 22. and so I leave it Thus having shewn in what estate the Church was founded by our Saviour and in what terms he left it unto his Apostles we must next see what course was taken by them to promote the same what use they made of that authority which was trusted to them CHAP. II. The foundation of the Church of Hierusalem under the Government of Saint James the Apostle and Simeon one of the Disciples the two first Bishops of the same 1. Matthias chosen into the place of Judas 2. The coming of the Holy Ghost and on whom it fell 3. The greatest measure of the Spirit fell on the Apostles and so by consequence the greatest power 4. The several Ministrations in the Church then given and that in ranking of the same the Bishops are intended in the name of Pastors 5. The sudden growth of the Church of Hierusalem and the making of Saint James the first Bishop there 6. The former point deduced from Scripture 7. And proved by the general consent of Fathers 8. Of the Episcopal Chair or Throne of Saint James and his Successors in Hierusalem 9. Simeon elected by the Apostles to succeed S. James 10. The meaning of the word Episcopus and from whence borrowed by the Church 11. The institution of the Presbyters 12. What interest they had in the common business of the Church whilst S. James was Bishop 13. The Council of Hierusalem and what the Presbyters had to do therein 14. The Institution of the Seven and to what Office they were called 15. The names of Ecclesiastical functions promiscuously used in holy Scripture OUR Saviour Christ having thus Authorized his Apostles to Preach the Gospel over all the World to every Creature and given them power as well of ministring the Sacraments as of retaining and remitting sins as before is said thought fit to leave them to themselves Luk. 24.49 only commanding them to tarry in the City of Hierusalem until they were indued with further power from on high whereby they might be fitted for so great a work Act. 1.9 And when he had spoken those things while they beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight No sooner was he gone to the Heavenly glories but the Apostles with the rest withdrew themselves unto Hierusalem as he had appointed where the first care they took was to fill up their number to surrogate some one or other of the Disciples in the place of Judas that so the Word of God might be fulfilled Psal 69.26 which he had spoken by the Psalmist Episcopatum ejus accipiat alter A business of no small importance and therefore fit to be imparted unto all the Brethren not so much that their suffrage and consent herein was necessary as that they might together joyn in prayer to Almighty God Act. 1.21
Spirit found that there would be work enough elsewhere to choose one or other of their sacred number to be the Bishop of that Church and take charge thereof And this they did not now by lots but in the ordinary course and manner of election pitching on James the Son of Alpheus Gal. 1.19 who in regard of consanguinity is sometimes called in Scripture the Lords Brother and in regard of his exceeding piety and uprightness was surnamed the Just Which action I have placed here even in the cradle of the Church upon good Authority For first Eusebius tells us out of Clemens that this was done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccles Hist l. 2. c. 1. after the Ascension of our Saviour Hierome more plainly statim post passionem Domini immediately upon his passion In Scrip. Eccles We may with good security conclude from both that it was done not long after Christs Ascension as soon almost as the Believers were increased to a considerable number And lastly Ignat. in ep ad Trall that Ignatius hath made S. Stephen to be the Deacon or subservient Minister to this James the Bishop of Hierusalem and then we must needs place it in some middle time between the Feast of Pentecost and the 26. of December when Saint Stephen was Martyred So early did the Lord take care to provide Bishops for his Church and set apart a special Pastor for his holy City 'T is true there is no manifest record hereof in holy Scripture but then withal it is as true that in the Scripture there are many pregnant circumstances whereon the truth hereof may well be grounded Gal. 1.18 19. Saint Paul some three years after his Conversion went up unto Hierusalem to see Peter but found no other of the Apostles there save only James the Lords Brother Ask Hierome who this James was whom S. Paul then saw and he will tell you that it was James the Bishop of Hierusalem Hier. in Gal. 1. Hic autem Jacobus Episcopus Hierosolymorum primus fuit cognomento Justus And then withal we have the reason why Paul should find him at Hierusalem more than the rest of the Apostles viz. because the rest of the Apostles were dispersed abroad according to the exigence of their occasions and James was there residing on his Pastoral or Episcopal charge Fourteen years after his Conversion Gal. 21.1 being the eleventh year after the former interview he went up into Hierusalem again with Barnabas and Titus and was together present with them at the first general Council held by the Apostles In which upon the agitation of the business there proposed the Canon and determination is drawn up positively and expresly in the words of James Act. 15.20 Do you desire the reason of it Peter and others being there Chrysostom on those words of Scripture Act. 15.13 Hom. 33. in Act. c. 15. v. 23. James answered saying doth express it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this James was Bishop of Hierusalem And this no question was the reason why Paul reciting the names of those with whom especially he had conference at his being there puts James in the first place before Peter and John viz. Galat. 2.9 because that he was Bishop there as Estius hath noted on that Text. The Council being ended Paul returneth to Antioch and there by reason of some men that came from James Peter withdrew Vers 12 and separated himself eating no longer with the Gentiles Why takes the Apostle such especial notice that they came from James but because they were sent from him as from their Bishop about some business of the Church this James being then Bishop of Hierusalem Theoph. Oecum in Gal. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as both Theophylact and Oecumenius note upon the place Finally nine years after this being the 58. of Christs Nativity Paul makes his last journey to Hierusalem still he finds James there Act. 21.18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James c. as the Text informs us Chrysost hom 46. in Act. Chrysostom notes upon the place that James there spoken of was the Lords Brother 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Bishop of Hierusalem So that for 20 years together we have apparent evidence in Scripture of James residing at Hierusalem and that as Bishop there as the Fathers say For that Saint James was Bishop of Hierusalem there is almost no ancient Writer but bears witness of it Ignatius who was made Bishop of Antiochia Ignat. ep ad Trallian within eight years after the Death and Martyrdom of this James in their account who place it latest makes Stephen to be the Deacon of this James as Clemens and Anacletus were to Peter which is an implication that James was Bishop of Hierusalem out of which City we do not find that Stephen ever travelled Egesippus who lived near the Apostles times Hieron in loc Euseb l. 4. c. 21. Apud Euseb hist l. 2. c. 1. Ibid. l. 7. c. 14. makes this James Bishop of Hierusalem as both Saint Hierom and Eusebius have told us from him Clemens of Alexandria not long after him doth confirm the same And out of him and other monuments of antiquity Eusebius doth assure us of him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he was the first that held the Episcopal throne or chair in the Church of Hierusalem Saint Cyril Catech. 4. cap. de cibis Catech. 14. Bishop of Hierusalem speaks of him as of his Predecessor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the first Bishop of that Diocess And Epiphanius for his greater credit makes him not only the first Bishop that ever was Haeres 29. n. 3. but Bishop of the Lords own Throne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiph. adv haeres 78. n. 7. and that too by the Lords appointment S. Ambrose doth assign this reason why Paul going unto Hierusalem to see Peter Ambros in Gal. 1. De Scriptor Eccles should find James there quia illic constitutus erat Episcopus ab Apostolis because that by the rest of the Apostles he was made Bishop of that place Saint Hierom doth not only affirm as much as for his being Bishop of Hierusalem but also doth lay down the time of his Creation to be not long after our Redeemers passion as we saw before Saint Chrysostom Hom. ult in Ioh. besides what was alledged from him in the former Section tells in his Homilies on S. Johns Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Saint James had the Bishoprick of Hierusalem Where by the way I cannot but take notice of a lewd forgery or at the best a gross mistake of Baronius who to advance the Soveraignty of the Church of Rome An. 34. n. 291. will have this James to take the Bishoprick of Hierusalem from Saint Peters hands and cites this place of Chrysostom for proof thereof But surely Chrysostom saith no such matter for
people in the electing of their Bishops it had been ordinary for the Bishop yet in place to consecrate some one or other that should assist him whilst he lived and succeed after his decease only the Church of Alexandria never had that custom And they that had that custom Aug. ep 110. as it seems did not like it well for whereas Valerius Bishop of Hippo out of a vehement desire to have S. Austin his successour did consecrate or ordain him Bishop whilst as himself was yet alive Saint Austin was resolved for his part not to do the like it being a thing prohibited by the Nicene Council Quod ergo reprehensum est in me noli reprehendi in filio meo as he there resolveth So that the place in Epiphanius tendeth unto this alone viz. to shew the reason why Athanasius could not succeed Alexander in that See though by him designed which was that he being yet alive Ep. ad Euag. it was against the custom of that Church to ordain another Saint Hierom secondly observeth that the Presbyters of Alexandria unum ex se electum in excelsiori gradu collocatum Episcopum nominabant did use to chuse one from amongst themselves whom being placed in a more eminent degree than any of the rest they called a Bishop And this saith he continued in that Church à Marco Evangelista ad Heraclam Dionysium Episcopos from the time of Mark the Evangelist until the Bishopricks of Heraclas and Dionysius Smectymn p. 31. Some hereupon infer that the persons who brought in the imparity of Ministers into the Church were not the Apostles but the Presbyters An inference as faulty as was that before All that Saint Hierom means is this that from the time of Mark till the days of Heraclas and Dionysius the Presbyters of Alexandria had no other Bishop than one whom they had chosen out of their own body just as a man may say on the like occasion that from the first foundation till the time of Sir H Savil the Colledg of Eaton never had a Provost but one Euseb hist l. 6. c. 12. â—â— whom they had chosen out of their own society Now Heraclas before he was ordained Bishop was not a Presbyter of that Church although a Reader in the Schools of that famous City and belike Dionysius also was And therefore it is well observed by the Cardinal that Hierom writing to Euagrius relateth quid in ea Ecclesia usque ad haec Dionysii tempora in electione Episcoporum agi consueverit Annal. An. 1248. n. 5. what was the usage of the Church of Alexandria in the election of their Bishops until the times of Dionysus However we have gained thus much by Hierom that from Mark downward till those times and a long time after there wanted not a Bishop properly so called Hier. Comment in ep ad Titum in that famous Church and therefore sure they came not first into the Church Diaboli instinctu by the Devils instinct as he elsewhere saith There is another observation in the Commentaries ascribed to Ambrose which having some resemblance unto that before and a like sinister use being made thereof I shall here lay down and after give some Annotations on it to explain the place Comment in Eph. c. 4. The Author of those Commentaries affirmeth that Timothy whom Paul created Presbyter was by him called a Bishop because the first Presbyters were called Bishops it being the custom of the Church for so I think the sense must be made up ut recedente eo sequens ei succederet that he the first departing the next in order should succeed But being it was found that the following Presbyters were utterly unworthy of so high preferment that course was altered and it was provided by a Council ut non ordo sed meritum crearet Episcopum c. that merit and not seniority should raise a man he being appointed by the suffrages of many Priests to be a Bishop lest an unfit person rashly should usurp the place and so become a publick scandal These are the Authors words Resp ad tract de divers minist gradibus c. 23. be he who he will And from hence Beza doth collect that Bishops differed not from Presbyters in the Apostles times that there was only in every place a President of the Presbytery who called them together and porposed things needful for their consideration that this priority went round by course every one holding it in his turn for a week or more according as the Priests in the Jewish Temple had their weekly courses and finally that this Apostolical and primitive order was after changed upon the motives and inducements before remembred Smectymn p. 31. Some of our modern Writers against Episcopacy have gone more warily to work than so affirming from those words of Ambrose or whosoever was the Author that this Rectorship or priority was devolved at first from one Elder to another by succession when he who was in the place was removed the next in order amongst the Elders succeeded and that this course was after changed the better to keep out unworthy men it being made a matter of election and not a matter of succession These men come neer the point in their Exposition though they keep far enough in the Application inferring hence that the imparity of Ministers came in otherwise than by divine Authority For by comparing this of Ambrose with that before mentioned out of Hierom the meaning of the Author will be only this that as in some places the Presbyters elected one of their own Presbytery to be their Bishop so for preventing of Ambition and avoiding Faction they did agree amongst themselves ut uno recedente that as the place did vaike by death or deprivation by resignation cession banishment or any other means whatever the Senior of the whole Presbytery should succeed therein as the Lord Mayor is chosen for his year in London But after upon sight of those inconveniences which did thence arise it was thought fit in their election of the person rather to look upon his Merit than his Seniority So that for all this place of Ambrose were those Comments his the Bishop may enjoy a fixt preheminence and hold it by divine Authority not by humane Ordinances But to return unto Saint Peter and to the Churches by him planted and founded by him in Episcopacy in these Western parts I shall in part rely on the Authority of the Martyrologie of the Church of Rome though so fat only and no further as it is backed by venerable Bede and Vsuardus ancient Writers both the latest living in the year 800. and besides them in some particulars by other Authors of far more Antiquity Bellarm. de Scriptor And these for better methods sake we will behold according to the several Countries into which S. Peter either went himself or sent forth his Disciples to them to preach the Gospel And first for Italy
in person or sent from place to place on his occasions and dispatches as may appear by looking on the concordances of holy Scripture Now that Titus was ordained the first Bishop of Crete hath been affirmed by several Authors of good both credit and antiquity For first Eccles hist l. 3. c. 4. Eusebius making a Catalogue of Saint Pauls assistants or fellow-labourers and reckoning Timothy amongst them whom he recordeth for the first Bishop of the Church of Ephesus adds presently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so was Titus also the first Bishop of Crete Ambr. praef in ep ad Titum Saint Ambrose in the Preface to his Commentaries on the Epistle unto Titus doth affirm as much Titum Apostolus consecravit Episcopum the Apostle consecrated Titus a Bishop and therefore doth admonish him to be solicitous for the well ordering of the Church committed to him Saint Hierom writing on these words in that Epistle Hieron in Tit. c. 1. v. 5. For this cause left I thee in Crete c. doth apply them thus Audiant Episcopi qui habent constituendi Presbyteres per singulas urbes potestatem Let Bishops mark this well who have authority to ordain Presbyters in every City on what conditions to what persons for that I take to be his meaning Ecclesiastical orders are to be conferred Which is a strong insinuation that Titus having that authority must be needs a Bishop More evidently in his Catalogue of Writers or in Sophronius at the least Id. de Scrip. Eccles in Tit. if those few names were by him added to that Catalogue Titus Episcopus Cretae Titus the Bishop of Crete did preach the Gospel both in that and the adjacent Islands Apud Oecumen Praef. ad Tim. Theodoret proposing first this question why Paul should rather write to Timothy and Titus than to Luke and Silas returns this answer to the same that Luke and Silas were still with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but those had entrusted with the government of Churches But more particularly Titus a famous Disciple of Saint Paul Ap. eund in Praef. ad Tit. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was by him ordained Bishop of Crete being a place of great extent with a Commission also to ordain Bishops under him Theoph. in praef ad Tit. Oecum in Tit. c. 1. v. 5. Theophylact in his preface unto this Epistle doth affirm the same using almost his very words And Oecumenius on the Text doth declare as much saying that Paul gave Titus authority of ordaining Bishops Crete being of too large a quantity to be committed unto one alone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having first consecrate or made him Bishop Finally the subscription of this Epistle calls Titus the first Bishop of the Church of the Cretians which evidence though questioned now of late is of good Authority For some of late who are not willing that Antiquity should afford such grounds for Titus being Bishop of the Church of Crete have amongst other arguments devised against it found an irreparable flaw as they conceive in this Subscription Beza Annot at in Ep. ad Tit. in fine who herein led the way disproves the whole Subscription as supposititious because it is there said that it was written from Nieopolis of Macedonia A thing saith he which cannot be for the Apostle doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will winter here but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illic I will winter there and therefore he was somewhere else when he wrote this Epistle But Athanasius who lived neerer the Apostles times In Synopsi sacr script Ad Paulum Eustochium Comment in Ep. ad Tit. affirms it to be written from Nicopolis and so doth Hierome in his Preface unto that Epistle The Syriack translation dates it also thence as is confessed by them that adhere to Beza Theophylact and Oecumenius agree herein with Athanasius and the ancient Copies As for the criticism it is neither here nor there for Saint Paul being still in motion might appoint Titus to repair unto Nicopolis letting him understand that howsoever he disposed of himself in the mean time yet he intended there to Winter and so he might well say though he was at Nicopolis when he writ the same That Titus is there called the first Bishop of Crete Smectym p. 54. or of the Church of the Cretians is another hint that some have taken to vilifie the credit of the said Subscription asking if ever there were such a second Bishop Assuredly the Realm of England is as fair and large a circuit as the Isle of Crete And yet I do not find it used as argument that Austin the Monk had neither any hand in the converting of the English or was not the first Archbishop of the See of Canterbury Beda hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 27. because it is affirmed in Beda's History Archiepiscopus genti Anglorum ordinatus est that he was ordained the Archbishop of the English Nation Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And for an answer to the question we need but look into Eusebius where we shall find Pinytus a right godly man called in plain terms Bishop of Crete Cretae Episcopus saith the Latin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greek Original the self-same stile which is excepted at in Titus Now whereas it is said that Titus was left no otherwise in Crete than as Pauls Vicar General Commissary or Substitute to order those things in such sort as he had appointed which he could not dispatch himself when he was there present this can by no means be admitted the Rules prescribed unto him and Timothy being for the most part of that nature as do agree with the condition of perpetual Governours and not of temporary and removable Substitutes As for the anticipation of the time which I see some use relating that Saint Paul with Titus having passed through Syria and Cilicia to confirm the Churches did from Cilicia pass over into Crete where the Apostle having preached the Gospel left Titus for a while to set things in Order although I cannot easily tell on what Authority the report is built yet I can easily discern that it can hardly stand with Scripture We read indeed in the 15. Chapter of the Acts that he went thorow Syria and Cilicia confirming the Churches ver ult and in the first words of the following Chapter Acts 14.6 Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we find him at Derbe and Lystra Cities of Lycaonia the very next Province to Cilicia Northward from which it is divided by a branch of the Mountain Taurus Now whether of the two it be more probable that Paul should pass immediately from Cilicia unto Lycaonia upon the usual common Road or fetch a voyage into Crete Smectymn p. 50. as these men suppose and be transported back again into Lycaonia being an in-land Countrey far from any Sea which could not be without
and unreprovable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ Now Timothy was not like to live till Christs second coming the Apostle past all question never meant it so therefore the power and charge here given to exercise the same according to the Apostles Rules and Precepts was not personal only but such as was to appertain to him and to his successours for ever even till the appearing of our Lord and Saviour The like expression do we find in Saint Matthew when our Redeemer said unto his Apostles Matth. 28. ult Behold I am with you always even unto the end of the world Not always certainly with his Apostles not to the end of the World with those very men to whom he did address himself when he spake these words for they being mortal men have been dead long since Non solis hoc Apostolis dictum esse this was no personal promise then saith Calvin truly Harmon Evangel In Matth. 28. With them and their successours he might always be and to the end of the world give them his assistance Cum vobis successorlbus vestris as Denis the Carthusian very well observeth Saint Paul then gives this charge to Timothy and in him unto all his successors in the Episcopal function which should continue in the Church till Christs second coming And therefore I conceive the annotation of the ordinary gloss to be sound and good in Timotheo omnibus successoribus loquitur Apostolus Glossa Ordinar in 1 Tim. 6. that this was spoke in Timothy unto all his successors And so the Commentaries under the name of Ambrose do inform us also saying that Paul was not so solicitous for Timothy as for his successors ut exemplo Timothei Ecclesiae ordinationem custodirent In 1 Tim. 6. that they might learn by his Example i.e. by practising those directions which were given to him to look unto the ordering of the Church This ground thus laid we must next look on the authority which the Apostle gave to Timothy and Titus and in them to all other Bishops And the best way to look upon it is to divide the same as the School-men do into potestas ordinis and potestas jurisdictionis the power of Order and the power of jurisdiction in each of which there occur divers things to be considered First for the power of Order besides what every Bishop doth and may lawfully perform by vertue of the Orders he received as Presbyter there is a power of Order conferred upon him as a Bishop and that 's indeed the power of Ordination or giving Orders which seems so proper and peculiar to the Bishops Office as not to be communicable to any else Paul gives it as a special charge to Timothy to lay hands hastily on no man Tim. 5.22 which caution doubtless had been given in vain in case the Presbyters of Ephesus might have done it as well as he And Titus seems to have been left in Crete for this purpose chiefly Tit. 1. v. 5. that he might ordain Presbyters in every City which questionless had been unnecessary in case an ordinary Presbyter might have done the same The Fathers have observed from these Texts of Scripture that none but Bishops strictly and properly so called according as the word was used when they lived that said it have any power of Ordination Epiphanius in his dispute against Aerius Haeres 75. n. 4. observes this difference betwixt Bishops and Presbyters whom the Heretick would fain have had to be the same that the Presbyter by administring the Sacrament of Baptism did beget children to the Church but that the Bishop by the power of Ordination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did beget Fathers to the same A power from which he utterly excludes the Presbyter and gives good reason for it too for how saith he can he ordain or constitute a Presbyter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in his Ordination did receive no power to impose hands upon another Hom. 11. in 1 Tim. c. 3. Chrysostom speaking of the difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter makes it consist in nothing else but in this power of Ordination 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. only in laying on of hands saith he or in Ordination a Bishop is before or above a Presbyter and have that power only inherent in them Epistola ad Euagr. which the others have not Hierom although a great advancer of the place and Office of the Presbyter excludes him from the power of Ordination or any interest therein Quid enim facit excepta ordinatione Episcopus quod Presbyter non faciat What saith he doth a Bishop saving Ordination more than a Presbyter may do Neither doth Hierom speak de facto and not de jure quid facit not quid debet facere Smectymn p. 37. as I observe the place to be both cited and applyed in some late Discourses Hierom's non faciat is as good as non debet facere and they that look upon him well will find he pleads not of the possession only but the right and Title And we may see his meaning by the passage formerly alledged upon the words of Paul to Titus cap. 1. v. 5. Audiant Episcopi qui habent constituendi Presbyteros per singulas urbes potestatem By which it seems that Bishops only had the power of ordaining Presbyters and that they did both claim and enjoy the same from this grant to Titus For further clearing of this point there are two things to be declared and made evident first that the power of Ordination was so inherent in the person of a Bishop that he alone both might and did sometimes ordain without help of Presbyters and secondly that the Presbyters might not do the same without the Bishop And first that anciently the Bishops of the Church both might and did ordain without the help or co-assistance of the Presbyters Euseb hist Eccl. l. 6. c. 7. n. appeareth by the ordination of Origen unto the Office of a Presbyter by Theoctistus Bishop of Caesarea and Alexander Bishop of Hierusalem who laid hands upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as my Author hath it Which act of theirs when it was quarrelled by Demetrius he did not plead in bar that there were no Presbyters assistant in it but that the party had done somewhat and we know what 't was by which he was conceived to be uncapable of holy Orders Id. l. 6. c. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So when the Bishop whosoever he was out of an affectation which he bare unto Novatus not being yet a Separatist from the Church of God desired 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Clergy being all against it to ordain him Presbyter the matter stood upon as the story testifieth was not the Bishops being the sole agent in it but because it was forbidden by the ancient Canons that any one who had been formerly baptized being sick in bed and that had been Novatus case should be
extirpatio the extirpation of false doctrine This part of jurisdiction with those that follow I shall declare only but not exemplifie For being matters meerly practical and the proceedings on Record they will occur hereafter as occasion is in this following History And that which followeth first is very near of kin indeed unto that before For many times it happeneth so that howsoever men be charged not to teach strange doctrins and that their mouths be stopped and they put to silence yet they will persevere however in their wicked courses and obstinately continue in the same until at last their obstinacy ends in heresie What course is to be taken upon such occasions The Apostle hath resolved that also A man that is an Heretick saith he after the first and second admonition Tit. 3.10 is to be rejected Rejected but by whom why by Titus surely The words are spoken unto him in the second person and such as did possess the same place and office Hanc sive admonitionem sive correptionem intellige ab Episcopo faciendam Estius in Ep. ad Tit. c. 3. c. This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Saint Paul here speaks of whether that it be meant of gentle admonition or severe reproof must be done only by the Bishop and that not as a private person but as the governour of the Church and that both with authority and power by which he also may denounce him excommunicate if he amend not on the same So Estius in his Comment on the place and herewith Calvin doth accord Tito scribens Paulus Calvin in Titum c. 3. non disserit de Officio magistratus sed quid Episcopo conveniat Paul saith he writing unto Titus disputes not of the Office of the civil Magistrate but of the duty of a Bishop And this in answer unto some who had collected from these words of the Apostle that Hereticks were to be encountred with no sharper weapon than that of Excommunication nec esse ultra in eos saeviendum and that there was no other course to be taken with them In which these Moderns say no more as to the exercise and discharge of the Episcopal function in this case Hieron ad Riparium adv Vigilant a. than what the Ancients said before I marvail saith Saint Hierom speaking of Vigilantius a broacher of strange or other Doctrins in the Church of Christ that the Bishop in whose Diocess he is said to be a Presbyter hath so long given way to his impiety Et non virgâ Apostolica virgáque ferreâ confringere vas inutile and that he hath not rather broke in pieces with the Apostolick rod a rod of iron this so unprofitable a Vessel In which as the good Father manifests his own zeal and fervour so he declareth therewithal what was the Bishops power and office in the present business The last part of Episcopal jurisdiction which we have to speak of is the correction of ill manners whether in the Presbyters or in the People concerning which the Apostle gives both power to Timothy 1 Tim. 5.19 20. and command to use it First for the Presbyters Against an Elder receive not an accusation but before two or three Witnesses but if they be convicted them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear In the declaring of which power I take for granted that the Apostle here by Elder doth mean a Presbyter according to the Ecclesiastical notion of that word Hom. 15. in 1 Tim. in locum though I know that Chrysostom and after him Theophylact and Oecumenius do take it only for a man well grown in years And then the meaning of Saint Paul will be briefly this that partly in regard of the Devils malice apt to calumniate men of that holy function and partly to avoid the scandal which may thence arise Timothy and in him all other Bishops should be very cautious in their proceedings against men of that profession But if they find them guilty on examination then not to smother or conceal the matter but censure and rebuke them openly that others may take heed of the like offences The Commentaries under the name of Ambrose Amb. in 1. ad Tim. c. 5. do expound it so Quoniam non facile credi debet de Presbytero crimen c. Because a crime or accusation is not rashly to be credited against a Presbyter yet if the same prove manifest and undeniable Saint Paul commandeth that in regard of his irregular conversation he be rebuked and censured publikely that others may be thereby terrified And this saith he non solum ordinatis sed plebi proficit will not be only profitable unto men in Orders but to Lay people also Herewith agreeth as to the making of these Elders to be men in Orders the Comment upon this Epistle Hier. in Ep. 1. ad Tim. ascribed to Hierom Presbyters then are subject unto censure but to whose censure are they subject Not unto one anothers surely that would breed confusion but to the censure of their Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Epiphanius Epipha haer 75. n. 5. Theoph. in 1. ad Tim. c. 5. he speaks to Timothy being a Bishop not to receive an accusation against a Presbyter Theophylact also saith the same For having told us that if a Presbyter upon examination of the business be found delinquent he must be sharply and severely censured that others may be terrified thereby he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it becomes a Bishop in such cases to be stern and awful Lyra in eund locum Lyra observes the like in his Gloss or Postils viz. that the proceedings against inferiour Clergy-men in foro exteriori in a judiciary way is a peculiar of the Bishops But what need more be said than that of Beza Beza Annot. in 1. ad Tim. 5. who noteth on these very words that Timothy to whom this power or charge was given was President or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at that time of the Ephesian Clergy Which is a plain acknowledgment in my opinion that the correction of the Clergy by the law of God doth appertain unto the Bishop the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or President of the Presbytery call him what you will For what need we contend for words when we have the matter And this appeareth by the several Councils of Nice and Antioch Sardica Turin Africa and Sevil in all and every of the which the censure and proceedings against a Presbyter are left to their own Bishops severally but a course taken therewithal for their ease and remedy in case their own Bishops should proceed against them out of heat or passion For the Lay-people next that Paul gave Timothy a power of correcting them appears by the instructions which he gives him for the discharge of this authority towards all sorts of People whether that they be old or young of what sex soever Old men if they offend must be handled gently
Paraeus in Apocal c. 3. v. did afterwards recover and get strength again instanceth in Anatotius and Stephanus both eminent and learned men and both Bishops there whereas indeed they were not Bishops of this Laodicea but of Laodicea in Syria called antiently Seleucia Tetrapolis as he might easily have seen by a more careful looking on those places of Eusebius which himself hath cited Now in the Nicene Council if we like of that we find the Successors of those several Angels subscribing severally to the Acts thereof Act. Conc. Nic. in subser amongst other Prelates of that time as viz. Menophanes of Ephesus Eutychius B. of Smyrna for the province of Asia Artemidorus B. of Sardis Soron or Serras B. of Thyatira Ethymasius B. of Philadelphia for the Province of Lydia and finally Nunechlus B. of this Laodicea Perpet gover cap. 13. p. 269. for the Province of Phrygia for Theodotus who by Bilson is affirmed to have subscribed as Bishop of this Laodicea was Bishop of Laodicea in the Province of Syria amongst the Bishops of which Province his subscription is which I marvel that most learned and industrious Prelate did not see And though we find not him of Pergamus amongst them there yet after in the Council of Chalcedon doth his name occur In fine by the person that speaketh to the Pastors and those seven Churches and the name he gives them it is plain and evident that their vocation was not only confirmed by the Lord himself but their Commission expressed He speaketh that hath best right to appoint what Pastors he would have to guide his Flock till himself come to judgment The name he giveth them sheweth their power and charge to be delivered them from God and consequently each of them in his several charge and City must have Commission to reform the errors and abuses in their several Churches at whose hands it shall be required by him that shall sit judge to take account of their doings And so much for the Angels of the seven Churches in Asia remembred in the book of the Revelation But to go forwards to S. John the Author of it immediately on his return from Patmos he sets himself unto the reformation of these Churches calling together the Bishops of the same as before we shewed and governing both those and the adjoyning Churches of Asia minor by his Apostolical Authority and preheminence Which having done on the intreaty and request of some godly men he went unto the neighbour Nations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clemens Alex. ap Euseb hist l. 2. c. 17. in some places instituting or ordaining Bishops in others rectifying and reforming the whole Churches and in a word by the direction of the spirit founding a Clergy in the same It seems the journey was not far the places which he visited being said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the neighbouring Nations and indeed the Apostle was now grown too old to endure much travel being near an hundred at this time And therefore I conceive that the Episcopal Sees of Traellis and Magnesia were of his foundation Concil Chal. in subscript being Cities not far off and after reckoned as the Suffragans of the Archb. or Metropolitan of Ephesus Certain I am that they were both of them Sees of Bishops as doth appear by the Epistles of Ignatius in which he nameth Polybius Bishop of Trallis Ignat. Epist ad Magnesi and Damas Bishop of Magnesia and those not titular Bishops only but such as were to be obeyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without gain-saying and without whose allowance there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 layed upon the Presbyters who were not to do any thing in their ministrations but by his authority One other Bishop there is said to be of S. John's ordaining viz. the young man which Clemens speaks of Clem. Alex. ap Euseb hist l. 2. c. 17. whose aspect being liked by the Apostle he left him to the care and tutorage of an ancient Bishop of those parts And when the Young man afterwards for want of careful looking to became debauched and made himself the Captain of a crew of Out-laws the blessed Saint with much ado reclaimed him from that wretched course and afterwards having new moulded him and prepared him for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made him a Bishop in the Church But whether that the word will bear that sense as to the making him a Bishop or that it only doth imply that S. John placed him in some function of the holy Ministery Ecclesiae ministeri◠praefecit as Christophorson reads it I will not contend Only I cannot but observe that where the Bishop to whose care he was committed is in the prosecution of the story called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some have collected from the same Unbishopping of Tim. Tit. p. 126. that Bishops in those times were no more than Presbyters But this will prove if better looked on but a plain mistake the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that place noting the Bishops age and not his office as doth appear by that which followeth in the story where he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which certainly doth signifie an ancient man but not a Presbyter The Asian Churches being thus setled and confirmed in the faith of Christ partly by the pains and travel of this blessed man but principally by the Gospel and other pieces of Divine holy Scripture by him written and published about this time Beda de sex aetatibus In Annal. Ecc he went unto the Lord his God in a good old age being then 98 years old as Beda reckoneth in the beginning of the second century Anno 101. according to the computation of Baronius The Church at his departure he left firmly grounded in all the points of faith and doctrine taught by Christ our Saviour as well setled in the outward government the polity and administration of the same which had been framed by the Apostles according to the pattern and example of their Lord and Master For being that the Church was born of Seed immortal and they themselves though excellent and divine yet still mortal men it did concern the Church in an high degree to be provided of a perpetuity or if you will an immortality of Overseers both for the sowing of this Seed and for the ordering of the Church or the field it self This since they could not do in person they were to do it by their Successors who by their Office were to be the ordinary Pastors of the Church and the Vicars of Christ Now if you ask the Fathers who they were that were accounted in their times and ages the Successors of the Apostles they will with one accord make answer that the Bishops were To take them as they lived in order it is affirmed expresly by Irenaeus Iren. l. 3. c. 3. one who conversed familiatly with Polycarpus S. John's Disciple He speaking of those Bishops which were ordained by the Apostles
and shewing what perfections were in them required then adds Quos Successores relinquebant sunm ipsorum locum magisterii tradentes whom they did leave to be their Successors delivering unto them their own place of government Cypr. Epist 42. vel l. 2. ep 10. S. Cyprian next writing to Cornelius then Bishop of Rome exhorts him to endeavour to preserve that unity Per Apostolos nobis Successoribus traditam which was commended by the Apostles unto them their Successors So in another place speaking of the commission which our Saviour gave to his Apostles he adds that it was also given to those Praepositi Id. Epist 69. vel l 4. ep 10. rulers and governours of the Church Qui Apostolis Vicaria ordinatione succedunt which by their ordination have been substituted as Successors to them And lest we should mistake his meaning in the word Prupositi Firmilianut anothe â—i shop of those times Firmil ep Cy. Epist 79. in an Epistle unto Cyprian useth instead thereof the word Episcopi not varying in the rest from those very words which Cyprian had used before Hieron ad Marcell adv Mont. Hierom although conceived by some to be an adversary of the Bishops doth affirm as much Where speaking of Montanus and his faction he shews this difference betwixt them and the Church of God viz. that they had cast the Bishop downwards made him to be the third in order Apud nos Apostolorum locum Episcopi tenent but in the Catholick-Church of Christ the Bishops held the place or room of the Apostles The like he saith in his Epistle to Euagrius Id. ad Euagr. where speaking of the parity of Bishops amongst themselves that the eminency of their Churches did make no difference in their authority he gives this reason of the same Omnes Apostolorum successores sunt because they were all Successors to the Apostles So also in his Comments on the Book of Psalms writing upon those words Id. in Psal 44. Instead of thy Fathers thou shalt have Children he tells us that at first the Apostles were the Fathers of the Church but they being gon Habes pro his Episcopos filios the Church had Bishops in their stead which though they were her Children as begotten by her Sunt tamen patres tui yet they were also Fathers to her in that she was directed and guided by them August in Psal 44. S. Austin on the same words hath the like conceit the Fathers of the Church saith he were the Lords Apostles Pro Apostolis filii nati sunt tibi constituti sunt Episcopi instead of those Fathers the Church hath Children Bishops that be ordained in her such whom she calleth Fathers though her self begat them constituit in Sedibus patrum and placed them in the seats or thrones of those holy Fathers August Epist 42. The like the same Saint Austin in another place to the same effect The root saith he of Christian Religion is by the seats of the Apostles Successiones Episcoporum and the succession of the Bishops dispersed and propagated over all the world Grego Magn. hom 26. And so S. Gregory discoursing of the power of binding and loosing committed by the Lord unto his Apostles applies it thus Horum nunc in Ecclesiâ locum Episcopi tenent that now the Bishops hold their places in the Church of Christ Not that the Bishops do succeed them in their personal graces their mighty power of working Miracles speaking with tongues giving the Holy Ghost and others such as these which were meerly temporary but in their Pastoral charge and government as the chief Rulers of the Church the ordinary Pastors of the Flock of Christ Now that the Bishops are the ordinary Pastors of the Church and so conceived to be by the ancient Fathers will be made evident by as good authority as the point before Ignatius Ignat. Epist ad Antioch who conversed with most of the Apostles writing unto the Antiochians requireth them to call to mind Euodius who was his Predecessor in the See of Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertull. de fuga in persecut their most blessed Pastor Tertullian discoursing on those words of Christ The hireling seeth the Woolf coming and fleeth but that the good Shepherd layeth down his life for the Sheep Joh. 10. inferreth thereupon Praepositos Ecclesiae in persecutione fugere non oportere that the Prelates or Governours of the Church are not to fly in persecution By which it is most clear not to dispute the truth of his assertion that Pastor Praepositus Ecclesiae do come both to one Cypr. de Aleatore S. Cyprian in his tract de Aleatore is more plain and positive Nam ut constaret nos i. e. Episcopos Pastores esse ovium Spiritualium c. that it might evidently appear saith he that we the Bishops are the Pastors of the Flock of Christ He said to Peter feed my Sheep And in another place for fear the former Book may prove none of his expostulating with Pupianus Id. Epist 69. who charged him as it seemeth for some defect in his administration he thus drives the point Behold saith he for these six years Nec fraternitas babuerit Episcopum neither the Brother-hood hath had a Bishop nor the People a Praepositus or Ruler nor the Flock a Pastor nor the Church a Governour nor Christ a Prelate nor God a Priest Where plainly Pastor and Episcopus and so all the rest are made to be the same one function More clearly in another place of the same Epistle where he defineth a Church to be Plebs sacerdoti adunata Pastori suo grex adhaerens that is to say a People joyned or united rather to their Priest a Flock adhering to their Pastor Where by Sacerdos as before and in other Authors of the first times he meaneth no other than a Bishop as doth appear by that which followeth Vnde scire debes Episcopum in Ecclesia c. From whom thou oughtest to understand saith he the Bishop to be in the Church and the Church to be also in the Bishop and that whoever is not with the Bishop is not in the Church Optatus saith the same in brief Opta de schismate lib. 1. by whom Pastor sine grege Episcopus sine populo a Bishop without a Church or People and a Pastor without a Flock are joyned together as Synonyma S. Austin speaking of two sorts of Over-seers in the fold of Christ some of them being Children and the others hirelings then adds Praepositi autem qui filii sunt Pastores sunt Augâ—st Traâ—â— 46. in Job the Rulers which are Children of the Church they are the Pastors And in another place not long since cited speaking of Episcopale judicium the condemnation that attends the Bishops sentence he presently subjoyns Pastoralis tamen necessitas Id de corrâ—pt grat c. 15. that yet the necessity
incumbent on the Pastoral Office doth many times inflict such sentences for the publick safety of the Flock I might be infinite in this search but that I have spoke somewhat to the point already and am moreover saved all further labour in it by our learned Andrews affirming positively and expresly Resp ad Epis Petri Motinaei Apud veteres Pastorum nomen vix adhiberi nisi cum de Episcopis loquuntur the name of Pastor is scarce used among the Ancients but when they have occasion to speak of Bishops And Binius in his Notes upon the Councils excepts against a fragment of the Synod of Rhemes said to be held Anno 630. as not of that antiquity which is there pretended and that he doth upon this reason only Eo quod titulum â—astoris tribuat Parocho because the stile of Pastor is there given to the common Presbyter Tom. 3. part 2. p. 978. contrary to the usage of those elder times And certainly it is no wonder that it should be so that he who is Episcopus Pastor animarum the Bishop and Pastor of our Souls as Saint Peter calls him 1 Petri 2 2â— should confer on them both his Titles since he hath substituted and appointed them to be his Vicars here on Earth The Pope may challenge if he will this Title to himself alone but since antiquity hath given it to all Bishops equally to every one as much as to him of Rome Saint Ambrose hath resolved it generally Ambros in 1. ad cor cap. 11. Episcopus personam habet Christi the Bishop saith he susteineth the person of Christ and therefore every Woman ought to behave her self before the Bishop as before her Judg giving this reason therewithal Quia Vicarius domini est because he is the Vicar of the Lord. The Commentaries on Saint Matthew ascribed to Chrysostom doth affirm the same Opus imperfect in Matth. hom 17. where shewing that such men as persecuted or molested those of the holy Sacerdotal Order were either Gentiles or at least sordid and sensless Christians he gives his reason for the same Quia nec intelligunt nec considerant sacerdotes Christi Vicarios esse because they neither understand nor do consider that the Bishops whom he there meaneth by Sacerdotes are the Vicars of Christ Saint Austin to the same effect Lib. qu. vet N. test qu. 127. as before Saint Ambrose The Bishop is to be more pure and pious than another man for he seemeth to sustein the person of God Est enim Vicarius ejus for he is his Vicar The Fathers in the Council of Compeigne Anno 833. thus Scire omnes convenit Concil Com. it behoveth all men to understand what is the nature of the Government or Ministry of Bishops Quos constat esse Christi Vicarios who as it evidently appears are the Vicars of Christ Nay even Blesensis Petr. Blesens Serm. 47. though he lived and writ when the Papacy was at the height makes this description of a Bishop Ordinatur Christi Vicarius Ecclesiae Praelatus c. He is ordained a Vicar of Christ a Prelate of the Church a Father of men and a Pastor of Souls So far the Ancients have attested to the present business and yet there is one Testimony more which as it is more ancient so it is as pertinent as any hitherto produced viz. The Declaration of the Fathers in the Council of Carthage Anno 258. or rather the attestation of the Fathers to that which was affirmed by Clarus of Muscala one of the Bishops there assembled who being to give his Vote upon the business then in agitation first thus laid his grounds Conc. Carth. sub Cypr. Manifesta est sententia Domini nostri c. The judgment of our Lord and Saviour JESVS Christ is plain and evident bequeathing that authority unto his Apostles which had been given him by his Father to which Apostles we are now the successours eadem potestate Ecclesiam Domini gubernantes governing the Church by that authority which they had before In which we see a clear and manifest derivation of this power this Vicarship from God the Father unto Christ from Christ to his Apostles and by them also to the Bishops and their successours in the Church for ever Not that each Bishop in particular hath some particular Apostle whom he doth succeed I conceive not so but that the Bishops generally do succeed the Apostles and are in general Vicars unto Christ our Saviour as to the general Government of the Church of God Apostolis datos esse Episcopos successores non siagulis Apostolis sed in solidum universis De rep Eccles l. 2. c. 5. n. 3. as the unfortunate Arch-Bish of Spalato hath right well observed conform unto the Tenet of the Fathers in this very point The sum of these three Sections then in brief is this Christ by the mission which he had from his heavenly Father devolves all power on his Apostles for teaching governing and directing his little flock and they being sensible of their own mortality ordain by like authority a line of Bishops to succeed them ad consummationem seculi by whom that care might be perpetuated In whom as there is plenitudo potestatis a fulness of authority for that end and purpose Amb. in Ep 4. the Bishop as is said by Ambrose being made up of all the Orders in the Church nam in Episcopo omnes ordines sunt as his words there are so he both doth and may assume such and so many associates assistants and subservient Ministers in partem oneris for the discharge of this great trusi as were assumed by the Apostles or ordained by them rather for the publick service of the Church Thus have we seen the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour dispersed in very little time over all parts and quarters of the World of so much of it at the least whereof the Acts and Monuments have been recorded to posterity and therewith a transmission also of that form of Government which was begotten by it and grew up with it Nor is there any doubt at all but that into what coasts soever the Lords Apostles preached the one they also in the same did plant the other The late discoveries of those parts and Countreys which were unknown unto our Predecessours make this clear enough there being no place nor Region how remote soever where there was extant any thing of the Christian Faith in which there were not found as apparent footsteps of the Episcopal form of Government A pregnant evidence that as the Lords Apostles were by the Holy Ghost instructed in that Faith which they were to preach so by the same eternal Spirit they were directed to that form of Government which they were to plant They could not else have fallen so unanimously on the self same project nor had God blessed it with so flourishing and fair increase a growth so suddain and miraculous had
of his time it is clear and evident that Bishops had been setled even in those early days in many Cities wherein we do not find that any had been formerly ordained by the Apostles But how they were so setled and by whose authority hath in these later days been made a question Our Masters in the Church of Rome appropriate the power of instituting and erecting new Episcopal Sees to their Bishop only as being the only universal and supream Pastor of the Church Bellarmine hath resolved it so in terms express Bellarm. de Rom. pont l. 2. c. 12. Apostolorum proprium erat It properly pertained saith he to the Apostles to constitute Churches and propagate the Gospel in those Churches wherein it never had been Preached So far unquestionably true but what followeth after Et hoc ad Romanum Pontificem pertinere ratio experientia ipsa nos docet And that this doth belong to the Popes of Rome both reason and experience teach us Belong it doth indeed to the Popes of Rome so far we dare joyn issue with him but that it doth belong to the Pope alone and not to any other Bishops but by his sufferance and authority which is the matter to be proved that there is neither reason nor example for No reason certainly for if this did belong to all the Apostles as Bellarmine affirms it did then other Bishops which derive their pedigree from Andrew James John Paul or any other of the Apostles have as much interest herein as the Popes of Rome who challenge their descent from Peter And for Examples if they go by that they have a very desperate cause to manage 'T is true indeed that Clemens one of the first Bishops of the Church of Rome Ino Carnotens in Chron. M.S. citat à Patr. Junio did ordain several Bishops in his time and placed them in the chief Cities of those parts of Gallia which lay near unto him as viz. Photinus at Lions Paul at Narbon Gratian at Tours others in other places also as Ino Carnotensis hath reported of him But then it is as true withal that other Bishops did the like in their times and places Christianity and Episcopacy had not else in so short a time been propagated over all the World if those which dwelt far off and remote from Rome could not have setled and ordained Bishops in convenient places without running thither or having a Commission thence And though we have no precedent hereof in the present age yet we may see by the continual practice in the ages following that Bishops were first propagated over all the Churches by the assistance of such neighbour Churches in whom there had been Bishops instituted either by the Apostles and Evangelists themselves or by their Successors Frumentius being in some hope of gaining the Indians beyond Ganges to the faith of Christ was made a Bishop for that purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. Eccles hist lib. 1. c. 15. as the story hath it not by the Pope of Rome nor with his privity or consent that we can hear of but by Atbanasius the great and famous Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoret. hist Eccles l. 5. c. 4. And when Eusebius Samosatanus had a mind for the suppressing of the growth of Arianism to erect Dolicha 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as my Author calls it a small City but greatly pestred with that Heresie into an Episcopal See we find not that he sent to Rome for a Commission but actually ordained Maris Bishop of the place and went himself to see him inthronized in the same So in like manner Saint Basil ordained Gregory Nazianzen Bishop of Sasima making that Town a Bishops See which before was none Gregor Presb. in vita Nazian and thereupon Gregorius Presbyter writing the life of Nazianzen calls it very properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Bishoprick or Episcopal See of a new foundation And thus Saint Austin also in the age succeeding erected an Episcopal See in Fussata a City or walled Town in his own Diocess of Hippo making one Antonius the first Bishop there August Epist Bellarm. de Ecc. lib. 4. c. 8. the Primate of Numidia returning with him in the Ordination Nor did they this as fain the Cardinal would have it à sede Apostolica facultatem habentes by force of any faculty procured from Rome which is gratis dictum but by their own proper and innate authority as they were trusted with the Government of the Church of Christ So then the Bishops only of the Church of Rome had not the sole authority of instituting Bishops where none were before That 's a dream only of the Pontifician Authority they had to do it as had others also and hereof doth occur a notable and signal evidence in this present Age viz. the setling of the Church of Britain and planting Bishops in the same by Pope Eleutherius Damas in vita Eleuther apud Bin. in Concil Tom. 1. Of him it is affirmed in the Pontifical ascribed to Damasus who lived about the year 370. accepisse Epistolam à Lucio Britannico Rege ut Christianus efficeretur per ejus mandatum that he received an Epistle from Lucius a British King desiring that by his authority he might be made a Christian Our venerable Bede a right ancient Writer thus reports the story Anno ab incarnatione Domini 156 Beda hist Eccl. lib. 1. c. 4. c. In the 156 year after Christs Nativity Marcus Antonius Verus together with Aurelius Commodus his brother did in the fourteenth place from Augustus Caesar undertake the Government of the Empire In whose times when as Eleutherius a godly man was Bishop of the Church of Rome Lucius King of the Britains sent unto him obsecrans ut per ejus mandatum Christianus efficeretur intreating by his means to be made a Christian whose vertuous desire herein was granted and the faith of Christ being thus received by the Britains was by them kept inviolate and undefiled until the times of Dioclesian Wherein as I submit to Beda as to the substance of the story so I crave leave to differ from him as to the matter of Chronologie For by this reckoning Eleutherius must attain the Popedom Anno 167. as Beda elsewhere doth compute it Beda in histor Epitom which is ten years at least before the time assigned him by most other Writers And therefore I shall rather chuse to follow the commonly received account by which the said two Emperours are brought upon the Government of the Roman Empire Anno 161. and the attaining of the Popedom by this Eleutherius is placed in the 17th year of Mareus Anno 177. Lucius Aurelius Commodus being dead before But in this Controversie as it belongeth to Chronology I shall not meddle at the present It is enough that the planting of the Gospel amongst the Britains was as the greatest so the first action of this Pope done by him as we read in Platina
conferens bestowing with a liberal hand possessions and revenues both on Church and Church-men did ratifie the said donations by his publick Charters And this he saith on the Authority of Gildas who in a book of his entituled De victoria Aurelii Ambrosii not now extant had affirmed the same Radulphus de Diceto speaks more fully to the point in hand Eleutherus saith he Citat ap Armachan lib. de Primord c. 4. sent into Britain Faganus and Diwanus for so he calls him who having Baptized Lucius the King templa etiam quae in honorem plurimorum deorum fundata erant did dedicate unto the one and only God those Temples which had been built in former times to the honour of Idols More fully yet in fewer words Gervase of Tilbury doth relate it thus Hic Lucius omnia territoria templis pridem collata contulit Ecclesiis ampliavit Ap. eund c. 6. This Lucius saith he bestowed upon the Churches those Lands and Territories which had been formerly conferred on the Pagan Temples and inlarged them also So that we find the Church indowed and Bishops instituted in the time of Lucius and that I hold to be above all exception as will appear more evidently by the Episcopal succession reckoned from this time but whether in so large a number and upon that occasion as it is laid before us in our common Chroniclers that is the point to be considered Now our Historians old and new very few excepted report that in those times in Britain there were no less than 28 Cities of name and eminency whereof 25 had anciently been the seats of the Heathen Flamines the three remaining viz. York London and Caer-Leon upon Vske of the Archiflamines and that upon the introduction of the Gospel hither the Temples of the Idols being turned into Christian Churches instead of Flamines they placed Bishops Archbishops in the place of the Archi-Flamines All our own Writers which speak of the foundation of these Bishopricks from Geofry of Monmouth down to Polydore Virgil do report it thus And so do many forrein also beginning with Martinus Polonus who first took it up and so descending down to Platina and since to other later Authors both ours and theirs Erant tunc in Britannia vig inti octo Pontifices Idolorum quos Flamines vocabant inter quos tres Archiflamines erant Martin Polonus in Chron. Sed praedicti Sancti that is Faganus and Deruvianus de mandato Apostolici ubi erant Flamines instituerunt Episcopos ubi Archiflamines Archiepiscopos We had the same before in England save that the Popes appointment mandatum Apostolici doth here occur which there we had not And how far this may stand with probability or with truth of story is in the next place to be looked on And for the number of them first it cannot be denied but that of old there were no less than 28 Cities in these parts of Britain which we now call England Beda Hist Ecc. Angl. l. 1. cap. 1. Beda affirms it so expresly Erat viginti octo Civitatibus quondam nobilissimis insignita that Britain anciently was ennobled with 28 signal and noted Cities besides Towns and Castles Henry of Huntingdon doth not only declare as much Huntingdonen hist l. 1. in init but lets us know the several names whereby they had been called in the Britains time and by the which the most of them were known in the later Ages when he lived And possibly there might be Bishops in them all according as the Gospel did inlarge its borders and Provinces were gained to the Faith of Christ though neither all so early as the days of Lucius nor all of his foundation and endowment as it is supposed It was a work too mighty for a petty Prince to spread his arms at once over all the Island especially so many Provinces thereof being none of his What might be done in times succeeding and by his example is not now the question nor whether that which was done after might in some sort be ascribed to him as being the first that gave the on-set and shewed the way to others how to do the like as Rome is said to have been built by Romulus because he began it the greatest part thereof being built a long time after And this seems probable to me Ap. Bedam hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 29. as to the number of the Sees Episcopal that there were so many because that Gregory the great by his constitution appointed twelve Bishops for the Province of Canterbury and twelve also unto that of York which with the four in Wales which are still remaining will make up eight and twenty in the total But for the Flamines and Arch-flamines I must confess I am not so well satisfied in the probability and truth of that That by the name of Flamines the Gentiles used to call the Priests of their several Gods Isidor Origin l. 7. c. 12. I know well enough Socerdotes Gentilium Flamines dicebantur as it is in Isidore But being that one and the same City had not only many Flamines but also many Colleges of Flamines according to the number of the Gods they worshipped some for Mars others for Jupiter and some for Romulus and that there is no ancient Writer of the Roman stories which mentioneth either Archiflamines or Protoflamines Godwin Landavens tract de convers Brit. as is objected very well by B. Godwin I must confess I am not so well satisfied in this point as to deliver it for a certain and undoubted truth He that desires to see what may be answered unto those objections let him consult the learned and laborious work of Francis Mason Mason de Minist Ang. l. 2. c. 3. late Archdeacon of Norfolk De Ministerio Anglicano the sum whereof in brief is this Licet in una urbe multi Flamines that though there were many Flamines in one City yet was there only one which was called Pontifex or Primus Flaminum the Pope or principal of the Flamines of which kind one for every City were those whom our Historians speak of And for the Archiflamines or Proto-Flamines Beda hist eccl Angl. l. 2. c. 13. though the name occur not yet were there some in power and authority above the rest who were entituled primi Pontificum as indeed Coifi by that name is called in Beda which is the same in sense with Archiflamines although not in sound This if it satisfie the Reader shall not thwart with me who am no enemy unto the story or any part thereof which may well be justified If not but that it rather be accounted a device of Monkish ignorance I shall desire them who are so opinionated to consider this that few of the records of those elder days have come entire unto our hands and that it is no marvel it such an ancient story as this is considering through whose hands it passed hath in so long a tract of
some of these viz. the second and the three last there is good constat in Antiquity whether there be the like of all the residue I am not able to determine So for the Bishops or Arch-bishops of York of the British line besides Faganus the first Arch-bishop of this See as before was said and besides Eborius formerly remembred amongst the Subscribers to the Council of Arles Godw. in Archiep Ehoracen our Stories tell us of one Sampson said to be made the Bishop of the place in the time of Lucius Galfrid Monumet hist l. 9. c. 8. of one Pyramus preferred unto this honour by King Arthur whose domestick Chaplain he then was and finally of Tadiacus who together with Theonus the last Bishop of London of this line or Race fled into Wales the better to avoid the tyranny of the Saxons Math. westmon Matth. Florilegus in An. 586. Liber Eccles Landavens who then made havock of the Church And for the Bishops or Arch-bishops of Caerleon upon Vsk which was the third Metropolitical City in the account and estimate of those times we have assurance of Dubritius a right godly man ordained Bishop of the same by Germanus and Lupus two French Prelates at such time as they came to Britain for the suppressing of the Pelagian Heresie whose Successours we have upon Record under the Title of Llandaffe to this very day That Gloucester also in those times was a Bishops See besides what did appear before is affirmed by Cambden Cambden in dedescript Brit. in Dobunis who tells us that the Bishops of the same occur in the subscriptions to some ancient Councils under the name of Cluvienses for by the name of Clevum or Caer-Glowy was it called of old But not to wander into more particulars either Sees or Bishops Athanas Apo. 2. in initio we find in Athanasius that in the Council of Sardica holden in Anno 358. some of the British Bishops were assembled amongst the rest concurring with them in the condemnation of the Arian Heresies As also that in the Council of Ariminum Sulpit. Severus in hist sacr l. 2. held the next year after the British Bishops were there present three of the which were so necessitous and poor that they were fain to be maintained at the publick charge Sanctius putantes fiscum gravare quà m singulos thinking it far more commendably honest to be defraied out of the Exchequer than to be burdensom unto their Friends And when Pope Gregory sent Austin hither for the conversion of the Saxons Beda Ecc. hist l. 2. cap. 2. he found no fewer than seven Bishops in the British Churches viz. Herefordensis Tavensis Paternensis Banchorensis Elwiensis Wiccensis and Morganensis or rather Menevensis as Balaeus counts them Balaeus Cent. 1. c. 70. All of which that of Paternensis excepted only do still remain amongst us under other names Now if I should be asked whom I conceive to have been the Primate of the British Church during the time it flourished and stood upright neither oppressed by the tyranny of Dioclesian nor in a sort exterminated by the Saxons fury I answer that it is most likely to be the Metropolitan or Arch-bishop of York And this I do upon these reasons Tacit. Annal. lib. 14. For first however it appears by Tacitus that London was a Town of the greatest Trade copia negotiorum commeatuum maxime celebris as that Author hath it Id. ibid. yet neither was it ever made a Roman Colony nor made the seat at any time of the Roman Emperours But on the other side York was a Colony of the Romans even of long continuance as appears not only by the testimony of Ptolomy and Antoninus Cambden in Brit. descript but by this ancient inscription vouched by Mr. Cambden and by an old Coin of Severus the Roman Emperour bearing this inscription COL EBORACUM LEG VI. VICTRIX And as it was a Colony of the Roman people so was it also for a time the seat of the Roman Emperours For here the Emperour Severus before remembred yielded up his Soul and here Constantius Chlorus deceased also Id. ibid. having both kept their seat there a good time before here Constantine the great advancer of the Faith and Gospel Id. ibid. was first brought forth into the World and here did he first take upon him together with the name of Caesar the Government of that part of the Roman Empire which had belonged unto his Father So that Eboracum or York being the ancient seat of the Roman Emperours what time they pleased to be resident in the Isle of Britain was questionless the seat of their Vicarii or Lieutenants General when they were absent from the same and so by consequence the seat of the British Primate according to the Rules and Platform before laid down Add here that for the time the Romans held this Island in their possession they setled their Praetorium for the administration of Justice in the City of York drawing thither the resort of all the subjects which had any business of that kind for dispatch thereof in which regard it is called by Spartianus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spartian in vita Severi the City as by way of excellence Veniens in Civitatem primùm in templum Bellonae ductus est speaking of the entrance which Severus made into the City of York But that which most of all confirms me is the subscription of the British Bishops to the Council of Arles as it is published amongst the Gallick Councils by Sirmundus thus Eborius Episcopus de Civitate Eboracensi Provincia Britannia Restitutus Episcopus de civitate Londinensi Provincia supradicta Adelphius Episcopus de civitate Colonia Londinensium exinde Sacerdos Presbyter Arminius Diaconus By which subscription it is plain that the Bishop or Archbishop of York having place of London was Primate of the British Church there being otherwise no reason why he should have precedence in the Subscription And so much for the setling of Episcopacy in the Church of Britain at this reception of the Gospel from the See of Rome being the first time that the Faith of Christ was publickly received and countenanced not in this Island only but any other part of the World whatever All which I have laid down together that I might keep my self the closer to my other businesses to which now I hasten CHAP. III. The Testimony given unto Episcopal Authority in the last part of this second Century 1. The difference betwixt Pope Victor and the Asian Bishops about the feast of Easter 2. The interpleading of Polycrates and Irenaeus two renowned Prelates in the aforesaid cause 3. Several Councils called about it by the Bishops of the Church then being with observations on the same 4. Of the Episcopal succession in the four prime Sees for this second Century 5. An Answer to some Objections made against the same 6. The great authority and esteem of the said
four Sees in those early days 7. The use made of this Episcopal succession by Saint Irenaeus 8. As also by Tertullian and some other Ancients 9. Of the Authority enjoyed by Bishops in Tertullians time in the administration of the Sacraments 10. As also in enjoyning Fasts and the disposing of the Churches Treasury 11. And in the dispensation of the Keys 12. Tertullian misalledged in maintenance of the Lay-Presbytery 13. The great extent of Christianity and Episcopacy in Tertullians time concludes this Century HAVING thus setled the affairs of the Church of Britain we will look back again towards Rome where we find Victor sitting as successor unto Eleutherius and the whole Church though free from persecutions yet terribly embroyled with Schisms and Heresies For in the later end of Eleutherius Blastus and Florinus two notorious Hereticks had broached this doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Eccl. hist l. 5. c. 19. that God was the author of sin and possibly might have spread the venom of their Heresie exceeding far if Irenaeus that great and learned Bishop of Lyons being then at Rome had not prescribed a speedy and a sovereign Antidote in several Tractates and Discourses against the same But Eleutherius being dead and Victor in his place there hapned such a Schism in the Church of Christ by his precipitance and perversness that all the water which Irenaeus and many other godly men could pour into it Id. l. 5. c. 23. 24. was hardly sufficient to quench the flame The business which occasioned it was the feast of Easter or indeed not the Feast it self upon the keeping of the which all Christians had agreed from the first beginnings but for the day in which it was to be observed wherein the Churches of Asia had an old Tradition differing from the rest of Christendom For whereas generally that festival had been solemnized in the Church of Christ on the Lords Day next after the Jewish Passeover as being the day which our Redeemer honoured with his Resurrection the Christians of the Asian Churches kept it upon the 14th day of the month precisely being the very day prescribed for the Jewish Passeover A business of no great importance more than for a general conformity in the Church of Christ yet such as long had exercised the patience of it even from the time of Pius Pope of Rome who first decreed it to be kept on the Lords Day Die Dominico Pascha celebrari as it is in Platina Platina in vita Pii Pont. Euscb Ecc. hist l. 5. c. 24. but followed with most heat and violence by this Victor perhaps upon the Omen of his name Of whom Eusebius thus reporteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that he attempted to cut off the whole Church of Asia together with the Churches adjacent from the Communion of the Catholick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if they had maintained some heterodox or dangerous Doctrine contrary to the Faith of Christ A matter taken very tenderly not only by the Asian Bishops whom it most concerned but also by some other of the Western parts who more endeavoured the preservation of the Churches peace than the advancement and authority of the See of Rome those of chief note which interessed themselves therein being Irenaeus Polycrates the one Bishop of the Metropolitan Church of Lyons in France the other of the Church of Ephesus the Queen of Asia both honourable in their times and places And first Polycrates begins deriving the occasion and descent of their observation from Philip 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. ibid. one of the twelve Apostles not of the seven Deacons as our Christopherson most ridiculously and falsly doth translate it who died at Hierapolis a City of Phrygia and from Saint John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who rested on the bosom of our Lord and Saviour as also from Polycarpus and Thracias Bishops of Smyrna and both Martyrs Sagaris B. of Laodicea Papyrus and Melito and many others who kept the feast of Easter as the Asians did As for himself he certifieth that following the Traditions of his Elders he had done the like that seven of his kindred had been Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 himself being the eighth and all which did so observe the feast of Easter when the Jews did prepare the Passeover that having served God 65 years diligently canvassed over the holy Scriptures and held both intercourse and correspondence with many of the brethren over all the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was the least disturbed at those Bruta fulmina Adding withal that he might here commemorate those several Bishops that were assembled at his call to debate the point 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but that this bare retital of their names was too great a trouble who though they could not but be sensible of his imperfections yet thinking that he bare not those gray hairs for nought did willingly subscribe unto his Epistle So far Id. ibid. c. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to this purpose he And on the other side Irenaeus writing unto Victor utterly dislikes that his severe and rigid manner of proceeding in cutting off so many Churches from the Communion of our Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only because they did adhere to the Tradition of their Ancestors in a point of Ceremony shewing how much he differed in this business from the temper and moderation of his Predecessours Soter Anicetus Pius Higinus Sixtus and Telesphorus who though they held the same opinions that he did did notwithstanding entertain the Asian Bishops when they came unto them with great affection and humanity sending to those who lived far distant the most blessed Eucharist in testimony of their fellowship and Communion with them Nor did he write thus unto Victor only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to the Governours or Bishops of many other Churches also And certainly it was but need that such a Moderator should be raised to atone the difference the billows beating very highly and Victor being beset on every side for his stiff perversness by the Prelates of the adverse party 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sharply assaulting him both with words and Writings For the composing of this business before it grew to such a heat there could no better means be thought of than that the Bishops of the Church in their several quarters should meet together to debate and determine of it And so accordingly they did Euseb hist Eccl. l. 5. c. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and many Synods and assemblies of the Bishops were held about it viz. one in Caesarea of Palestine wherein Theophilus B. of the place and Narcissus B. of Hierusalem did sit as Presidents another at Rome a third of all the Bishops of Pontus in the which Palmas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the chief amongst them of that Order did then preside A fourth there was of the French or Gallick Churches in the which Irenaeus sat
was a very pregnant evidence that they had neither verity nor antiquity to defend their Doctrins nor could with any shew of Justice challenge to themselves the name and honour of a Church Id. ibid. ca. 36. And such and none but such were those other Churches which he after speaketh of viz. of Corinth Philippi Thessalonica Ephesus and the rest planted by the Apostles apud quas ipsae Cathedrae Apostolorum suis locis praesidentur in which the Chairs of the Apostles to that time were sate in being possessed not by themselves but by their Successors By the same argument Optatus first and after him St. Austin did confound the Donatists that mighty faction in the Church St. Austin thus Numerate Sacerdotes vel ab ipsa sede Petri August contr Petil. l. 2. in illo ordine quis cui successerit videte Number the Bishops which have sate but in Peters Chair and mark who have succeeded one another in the same A Catalogue of which he gives us in another place Id. Epist 165. lest else he might be thought to prescribe that to others on which he would not trust himself Nay so far he relyed on the authority of this Episcopal Succession in the Church of Christ as that he makes it one of the special motives quae eum in gremio Ecclesiae justissimè teneant which did continue him in the bosom of the Catholick Church Id. contr Epist Manichaei c. 4. As for Optatus having laid down a Catalogue of the Bishops in the Church of Rome till his own times He makes a challenge to the Donatists to present the like Optat. de schis Donat. l. 2. Vestrae Cathedrae originem edite shew us saith he the first original of your Bishops and then you have done somewhat to advance your cause In which it is to be observed that though the instance be made only in the Episcopal succession of the Church of Rome Irt. adv haere lib. 3. cap. 3. the argument holds good in all others also it being too troublesome a labour as Irenaeus well observed omnium Ecclesiarum enumerare successiones to run through the succession of all particular Churches and therefore that made choyce of as the chief or principal But to return again unto Tertullian whom I account amongst the Writers of this Age though he lived partly in the other besides the use he made of this Episcopal succession to convince the Heretick he shews us also what authority the Bishops of the Church did severally enjoy and exercise in their successions which we will take according to the proper and most natural course of Christianity First for the Sacrament of Baptism which is the door or entrance into the Church Tertul. lib. de Baptism c. 17. Dandi quidem jus habet summus sacerdos i. e. Episcopus The Right saith he of giving Baptism hath the High-Priest which is the Bishop and then the Presbyters and Deacons non tamen sine Episcopi antoritate yet not without the Bishops licence and authority for the Churches honour which if it be preserved then is Peace maintained Nay so far he appropriates it unto the Bishop as that he calleth it dictatum Episcopi officium Episcopatus a work most proper to the Bishop in regard of his Episcopacy or particular Office Which howsoever it may seem to ascribe too much unto the Bishop in the administration of this Sacrament is no more verily than what was after affirmed by Hierom Hieron adver Lucifer shewing that in his time sine Episcopi jussione without the warrant of the Bishop neither the Presbyters nor the Deacons had any authority to Baptize not that I think that in the days of Hierom before whose time Parishes were assigned to Presbyters throughout the Church the Bishops special consent and warrant was requisite to the baptizing of each several Infant but that the Presbyters and Deacons did receive from him some general faculty for their enabling in and to those Ministrations Next for the Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist that which is a chief part of that heavenly nourishment by which a Christian is brought up in the assured hopes of Eternal life he tells us in another place non de aliorum manu quam Praesidentium sumimus Tertul. de Corona Militis that they received it only from their Bishops hand the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or President of the Presbytery as Justin Martyr seconded by Beza did before call him Which Exposition or construction lest it should be quarrelled as being injurious to the Presbyters who are thereby excluded from the honour and name of Presidents I shall desire the Reader to consult those other places of Tertullian in which the word Prefident is used as viz. Prescriptio Apostoll Bigames non sinit praesidere Tert. ad axor lib. ad uxorem and lib. de Monogamia in both of which the man that had a second Wife is said to be disabled from Presiding in the Church of God and on consideration to determine of it whether it be more probable that Presbyters or Bishops be here meant by Presidents Besides the Church not being yet divided generally into Parishes but only in some greater Cities the Presbyter had not got the stile of Rector and therefore much less might be called a President that being a word of Power and Government which at that time the Presbyters enjoyed not in the Congregation And here Pope Leo will come in to help us if occasion be assuring us that in his time it was not lawful for the Presbyter in the Bishops presence nisi illo jubente Leo Epist 88. unless it were by his appointment conficere Sacramentum corporis sanguinis Christi to consecrate the Sacrament of Christs body and blood The author of the Tract ascribed to Hierom entituled de Septem Ecclesiae ordinibus doth affirm as much but being the author of it is uncertain though it be placed by Erasinus amongst the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 docta we will pass it by From the Administration of the Sacraments which do belong ad potestatem ordinis to the power of Order proceed we on to those which do appertain ad potestatem jurisdictionis unto the power of Jurisdiction And the first thing we meet with is the appointing of the publick Fasts used often in the Church as occasion was A priviledg not granted to the common Presbyter and much less to the common people but in those times wherein the Supream Magistrate was not within the pale or bosom of the Church entrusted to the Bishop only This noted also by Tertullian in his book entituled de jejuniis which though he writ after his falling from the Church and so not to be trusted in a point of Doctrine may very well be credited in a point of custom Quod Episcopi universae plebi mandare jejunia assolent non dico de industria stipium conferendarum sed ex aliqua sollicitudinis Ecclesiae causa
Tertul. lib. de jejuniis c. 13. That Bishops use to impose Fasts upon the people is not done of purpose for lucre or the Alms then given but out of a regard of the Churches welfare or the sollicitousness which they have thereof Wherein as he removes a cavil which as it seems was cast upon the Church about the calling of those Fasts so plainly he ascribes the calling of them to the Bishop only according unto whose appointment in unum omnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 agitabant they met together for the humbling of themselves before God the Lord. So for disposing of the Churches Treasure for Menstrua quaque die modicam quisque stipem vel quam velit Id. in Apol. c. every month the people used to bring their Offerings as we call them now every man as he would and could that also appertained unto the Bishop Which as it was distributed most commonly amongst the Clergy for their present maintenance so was it in the Bishops power to bestow part thereof upon other uses as in relief of Widows and poor Virgins which appears plainly in that place and passage of Tertullian Tertul. de Virg. veland cap. 9. in his book de Virginibus velandis where speaking of a Virgin which contrary to the custom of the Church had been admitted into the rank of Widows he adds cui si quid refrigerii debuerat Episcopus that if the Bishop did intend to allow her any thing towards her relief and maintenance he might have done it without trespassing on the Churches discipline and setting up so strange a Monster as a Virgin-Widow And this is that which after was confirmed in the Council of Antioch Conc. Antioch Can. 25. where it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Bishop ought to have authority in the disposing of the things or goods that appertained unto the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that so he might dispose them unto such as stood in need in the fear of God Finally for the reconciling of a Penitent to the Church of God in the remitting of his sins Tertul. de pudicitia cap. 18. and bringing of him back to the fold again that in Tertullians time was a Peculiar of the Bishop also For speaking of Repentance after Faith received de poenitentia post fidem as he calls it he is content to give this efficacy thereunto though otherwise he held being then a Montanist that heinous Sinners after Grace received were not to be admitted to Repentance I say he is content to give this efficacy thereunto that for smaller sins it may obtain pardon or remission from the Bishop for greater and unpardonable from God alone But take his own words with you for the greater surety and his words are these viz. Salva illa poenitentiae specie post fidem quae aut levioribus delictis veniam ab Episcopo consequi potest aut majoribus irremissibilibus à Deo solo Pamel Annot. praedict lib. 159. In which Pamelius seems to wonder at his moderation as being of a better temper in this point than was Montanus into whose Sect he now was fallen who would have no man to make confession of his sins to any other than to God and seek for reconciliation from no hands but from his alone And in another place of the same book also Tertul. lib. de Pudicit cap. 1. although he seem to jeer and deride the usage he granteth that the Bishops of the Christian Church did usually remit even the greatest fins upon the performance of the Penance formerly enjoyned For thus he bringeth in the Bishop whom in the way of scorn he calleth Pontifex Maximus and Episcopus Episcoporum proclaiming as it were a general Pardon to such as had performed their Penance Ego moechiae fornicationis delicta poenitenti functis dimitto that he remitted to all such even the sins of Fornication and Adultery Which words of his declare not more his Errour than the Bishops Power in this particular What interest the Presbyters of the Church did either challenge or enjoy in this weighty business of reconciling Penitents to the Lord their God we shall see hereafter when as the same began to be in practice and was by them put in execution Mean time I take it for a manifest and undoubted Truth that properly originally and in chief it did belong unto the Bishop both to enjoyn Penance and admit the Penitent and not to the inferiour Presbyters but as they had authority by and under him Which lest I may be thought to affirm at random let us behold the manner of this Reconciliation as layed down by Sozomen Sozomen Eccl. hist l. 7. c. 16. not as relating to his own times but to the times whereof we speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. They stand saith he in an appointed place sorrowful and lamented and when the Eucharist is ended whereof they are not suffered to be partakers they cast themselves with grief and lamentation flat upon the ground 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Bishop then approaching towards him kneeleth also by him on the ground and all the multitude also do the like with great grief and ejulation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This done the Bishop riseth first and gently raiseth up the prostrate Penitent and having prayed for those that are thus in the state of Penance as much as he thinks fit and requisite they are dismissed for the present And being thus dismissed every man privately at home doth afflict himself either by fasting or by abstinence from Meats and Bathes for a certain time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as long as by the Bishop is enjoyned him Which time appointed being come and his Penance in this sort performed he is absolved from his sins sins 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and joyned again unto the residue of the Congregation And this saith he hath been the custom of the Western Church and especially of the Church of Rome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the very first beginning to this present time So that both in the City of Rome in which Tertullian sometimes lived and in the Western Church whereof he was a member being a Presbyter of Carthage and in the times in which he flourished for thus it was from the beginning the Bishop regularly had the power both of enjoyning Penance and reconciling of the Penitent as it still continueth Nor doth that passage in Tertullian any way cross the point delivered where speaking of the several acts of humiliation which were to be performed by the Penitent before he could be reconciled to the Church of God Tertul. lib. de Poenitent c. 9. he reckoneth these amongst the rest Presbyteris advolvi aris or caris Dei adgeniculari for whether of the two it is adbuc sub Judice omnibus fratribus legationes deprecationis suae injungere to cast themselves before the Presbyters to kneel before the Altars or the Saints of God to entreat the Prayers
since been ordained reverend for their Age for their Faith sincere tried in Affliction and proscribed in time of persecution Nor doth he speak this of his own time only which was somewhat after but as a matter of some standing cum jam pridem per omnes provincias that so it had been long ago and therefore must needs be so doubtless in this present Age being not long before his own And this extent of Christianity I do observe the rather in this place and time because that in the Age which followeth the multitudes of Christians being so increased we may perhaps behold a new face of things the times becoming quicker and more full of action Parishes or Parochial Churches set out in Country-Villages and Towns and several Presbyters allotted to them with an addition also both of trust and power unto the Presbyters themselves in the Cure of Souls committed to them by their Bishops with many other things which concern this business And therefore here we will conclude this present Century proceeding forward to the next in the name of God CHAP. IV. Of the authority in the government of the Church of Carthage enjoyed and exercised by Saint Cyprian and other Bishops of the same 1. Of the foundation and preheminences of the Church of Carthage 2. Of Agrippinus and Donatus two of St. Cyprian's Predecessors 3. The troublesom condition of that Church at Cyprian's first being Bishop there 4. Necessitated him to permit some things to the discretion of his Presbyters and consent of the People 5. Of the authority ascribed by Cyprian to the People in the Election of their Bishop 6. What Power the people had de facto in the said Elections 7. How far the testimony of the People was required in the Ordination of their Presbyters 8. The power of Excommunication reserved by St. Cyprian to the Bishop only 9. No reconciliation of a Penitent allowed by Cyprian without the Bishops leave and licence 10. The Bishop's power as well in the encouragement as in the punishment and censure of his Clergy 11. The memorable case of Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of Carthage 12. The Bishop's Power in regulating and declaring Martyrs 13. The Divine Right and eminent authority of Bishops fully asserted by St. Cyprian SAint Hierom tells us of S. Cyprian Hieron de Scriâ—tor Eccl. in Tertulâ—d that he esteemed so highly of Tertulian's writings that he never suffered any day to pass over his head without reading somewhat in the same and that he did oft use to say when he demanded for his works Da mihi magistrum reach me my Tutor or Praeceptor So that considering the good opinion which S. Cyprian had harboured of the man for his Wit and Learrning and the nearness of the time in which they lived being both also members of the same Church the one a Presbyter the other Bishop of the Church of Carthage We will pass on unto S. Cyprian and to those monuments of Piety and Learning which he left behind him And this we shall the rather do because there is no Author of the Primitive times out of whose works we have such ample treasures of Ecclesiastical Antiquities as we have in his none who can give us better light for the discovery of the truth in the present search than that blessed Martyr But first before we come to the man himself we will a little look upon his charge on the Church of Carthage as well before as at his coming to be Bishop of it the knowledge of the which will give special light to our following business And first for the foundation of the Church of Carthage Cited by Baronius in Annal Eccl. Anno 51. if Metaphrastes may be credited it was the action of Saint Peter who leaving Rome at such time as the Jews were banished thence by the Decree of Claudius Caesar in Africam navigasse Carthaginensem erexisse Ecclesiam is by him said to sail to Africa and there to found the Church of Carthage leaving behind him Crescens one of his Disciples to be the Bishop of the same But whether this be so or not it is out of question that the Church of Carthage was not only of great Antiquity but that it also was of great power and credit as being the Metropolitan Church of Africk the Bishop of the same being the Primate of all Africa properly so called together with Numidia and both the Mauritanias as well Caesariensis as Sitisensis So witnesseth S. Cyprian himself Latius fusa est nostra Provincia Cypri Ep. 45. habet enim Numidiam Mauritanias duas sibi cohaerentes as his own words are And this appeareth also by the subscription of the Bishops to the Council of Carthage convented ex Provincia Africa Concil Tom. 1. p. 149. Edit Binil Numidia Mauritania as is most clear on the record For whereas antiently the Roman Empire was divided into fourteen Diocesses reckoning the Prefecture of the City of Rome for one every Diocess being subdivided into several Provinces as was said before the Diocess of Africa was not of the meanest containing in it six large Provinces Notitia Provinciarum and reaching from the greater Syrtis Eastward where it confined upon the Patriarchat of Alexandria to Mauritania Tingitana on the West which did belong unto the Diocess of Spain Now Carthage standing in that Province which was called Zeugitana or Proconsularis and being the Seat or Residence of the Vicarius or Lieutenant General of the Roman Empire for that Diocess The Bishop of it was not only the Metropolitan of his own Province but the Primate also in regard of the other sive which were Tripolitana Byzacena Numidia and the two Mauritanias before remembred Nor was he only the supream Bishop in regard of them but also absolute and independent in regard of others as being neither subject or subordinate to the Patriarchs of Alexandria though the prime City of all Africa nor to the Popes of Rome the Queen and Empress of the world Concil Carthaginiens 6. against whose machinations and attempts the Church of Carthage for a long time did maintain her liberty Such being the Authority and power of the Church of Carthage we must next look upon the Bishops of the same who though they had not got the name of Patriarchs as those of Antioch Rome and Alexandria now had and they of Constantinople and Hierusalem shall be found to have in the times succeeding yet had they all manner of Patriarchal jurisdiction Of these the first I meet withal was Agrippinus who flourished in the beginning of this Century bonae memoriae vir a man of blessed memory as S. Cyprian Cyprian Epist 71. Vincent Lerinen adv haeres cap. 9. Aug. de Bap. lib. 2. cap. 7 8. Cypr. Epi. 71. Venerabilis memoriae of venerable memory as Vincentius Lerinensis calls him S. Austin also mentioneth him in one of his discourses against the Donatists as a Predecessor of S. Cyprians
and all of them agree in this that he held those which were Baptized by Hereticks were to be Re-baptized by the Catholick Ministers for agitation of which business he caused a Council to be called of all the Bishops Qui illo tempore in Provincia Africae Numidiae Ecclesiam Dei gubernabant which at that time did govern the Church of God in the Provinces of Africk and Numidia in which Re-baptization of men so Baptized was decreed as necessary Which howsoever it doth shew that Agrippinus as a man had his personal errors yet shews it also that as a Bishop of Carthage he had a power and jurisdiction over all the other Bishops of the Diocess of Africk and all the Provinces thereof who on his summons met in Council as by those words of Cyprian plainly doth appear So that we find the holy Hierarchy so setled from the first beginners that as the Presbyters were subordinate unto their Bishops so it was there a subordination amongst the Bishops themselves according as it still continueth in those parts of Christendom in which Episcopal Government doth remain in force But Agrippinus being dead his error or opinion died also with him though it revived again not long after and his Successor by name Donatus looking more carefully unto his charge endeavoured what he could to free the same from erroneous doctrines And to that purpose called a Council of 90 Bishops in Labesitum a Colony in Africa in which Privatus an old Heretick was by their joynt consent condemned nonaginta Episcoporum sententiâ condemnatus Cypr. Epi. 55. as Cyprian hath it By which we may conjecture at the great spreading of Episcopacy over all this Province I mean that of Africa So great Baron in Annal that at this time being An. 242. as Baronius calculateth it there could assemble 90 Bishops at the command or summons of their Metropolitan especially if we consider that these were but a part of a greater number Augustin Epist 48. S. Austin telling us of a Council held in Carthage by the Donatists placed by Baronius Anno 308. in which there met together no fewer than 270 Bishops of that one faction But lest it may be said as perhaps it was that the Donatists increased the number of Bishops the better to support their party if ever the business should come to be examined in a Synodical meeting we find a Council held in Carthage under Aurelius who was Bishop there in S. Austins time Concil Tom. 1. Edit Bin. p. 587. Anno 398. in which Assembled to the number of 214 Bishops all of them Orthodox Professors With such a strange increase did God bless this calling For certainly the Church had never brought forth such a large encrease if God even our own God had not given his blessing Donatus being dead Anno 250. Cecilius Cyprianus a right godly man being then one of the Presbyters of the Church is chosen Bishop of the same and that not only by the joynt consent of the Clergy there Cypr. Ep. 55. sed populi universi suffragio but by the general suffrage of the people according to the general custom of that Church and time And being so chosen and ordained did for four years enjoy himself in peace and quiet But a fierce persecution being raised against the Church by the command of Decius then the Roman Emperor being proscribed and threatned death he retired himself expecting a return of better times Idem Epi. 10. wherein he might do service to the Lord his God Professing that in this retreat he followed the direction of the Lord qui ut secederet jussit who had commanded him so to do In this recess of his some of his Adversaries as who liveth without them which had opposed him in the time of his Election taking an opportunity to ensnare the people and draw them into factions against their Bishops had made a very strong party on their side calumniating his recess as a deserting of the Flock of Christ committed to him which more afflicted the good Father than the proscription of his goods or any trial of his patience which had been laid upon him by the Persecuters Of this conspiracy he certifieth the people of Carthage by way of Letter wherein he giveth them to understand how the matter stood Quorundam Presbyterorum malignitas perfidia perficit Idem Epi. 40. c. That I could not come to you before Easter the malice and perfidiousness of some of the Presbyters hath brought to pass whilst mindful of their own conspiracy and retaining their former rancor against my being Bishop or indeed rather against your suffrages in my Election and against the judgment of God approving the same they begin again to set on foot their former opposition renewing their sacrilegious machinations and lying treacherously in wait for my destruction And after in the same Epistle Non suffecerat exilium jam biennii à vultibus oculis vestris lugubris separatio c. It doth not seem sufficient to them that I have been now two years banished from your presence and to my great affliction separated from your sight that I am overwhelm'd with grief and sorrow vexing my self with my continual complaints and day and night washing my cheeks with tears because it hath not been as yet my good fortune to embrace or salute you whom you had chosen for your Bishop with such expressions of your love and zeal Accessit huic tabescenti animo nostro major dolor And yet a greater grief afflicteth my fainting soul that in so great distress and need I cannot come my self unto you fearing lest at my coming if I should so do some greater tumult should arise through the threats and secret practices of perfidious persons And that considering as a Bishop I am to take care for the peace and quiet of the Church ipse materiam seditioni dedisse I might seem to be or give occasion of some sedition likely to be raised and so renew the persecution which is now well slaked Nay as it seemeth some of the Presbyters of his Church which were not otherwise engaged in the faction or carried any ill affections towards him out of an inclination natural to man to enlarge their power and get as much authority into their hands as the times would give to the advantage of his absence also and began sensibly to encroach upon his Office and undertake such things as appertained to his jurisdiction Thus he complains of his Clergy that such as yet stood fair in their respects and firm in their obedience to him might be confirmed in the same and that the rest being made acquainted with their Errour might in fine desist Tacere ultra non oportet c. It is no time saith he to be longer silent Idem Ep. 10. when as the danger is so imminent both on my self and on my people For what extremity of danger may we not justly fear from Gods
fratres charissimi Cypr. Ep. 33. vii l. 2. Ep. 5. solemus vos ante consulere mores merita singulorum communi consilio ponderare which is full and large Whatever he saith elsewhere to the same effect is in effect no more than what here is said and therefore we shall save the labour of a further search Nor was this Cyprians custom only It had prevailed as it seems in most parts of Christendom and was so universally received that even the Roman Emperours took notice of it For Alexander Severus one of the hopefullest young Princes in the declining times of the Roman Empire noting this custom of the Christians Lamprid. in vita Alex. Siveri was wont when he promoted any unto the Government of Provinces to post up as it were the names of the persons inviting the People to come in against them if they could charge them on just proof with any crimes And used to say it were a shame not to observe that care in chusing of the Rulers of Provinces to whom mens lives and fortunes were to be committed cum id Christiani Judaei facerent in praedicandis sacerdotibus qui sunt ordinandi when as the Jews and Christians did it in publishing the merit of those Priests which were to be ordained by them Which kind of publication of the life and merits of the party that was to be Ordained may possibly relate as well unto the popular manner of Electing Bishops at that time in use But as there is no general observation but doth and must give way unto particular occasions so neither was this Rule so generally observed but that sometimes it was neglected Even Cyprian himself how much soever it concerned him to continue in the Peoples favour would many times make use of his own authority in chusing and ordaining men to Functions and Employments in the Church without consulting with the People or making them acquainted with his mind therein Cypr. Ep. 33. For minding to advance Aurelius unto the Office of a Reader an Office but no Order in the Church of God he tarried not the Peoples liking and consent but did it first and after gave them notice of it not doubting of their taking it in good part quod vos scio libenter amplecti and so commends him to their Prayers Id. Epi. 34. The like we find of Celerinus a man highly prized admitted first into the Clergy by him and his Colleagues then present with him in his exile and then acquainteth the People that he had so done non humana suffragatione sed divina dignatione not being guided in it by any humane suffrage but by Gods appointment And although Celerinus and Aurelius being known unto the People by their former merits the matter might be taken with the less resentment yet this no way can be affirmed of Numidicus who being before a Presbyter in some other Church Baron in Annal Anno 253. n. 94. Cypr. Ep. 35. as Baronius very well observeth and in all likelihood utterly unknown de facie to those of Carthage was by Saint Cyprian of his sole authority without consulting either with Presbyters or People for ought which doth appear taken into the number of the Presbyters of that Church ut nobiscum sedeat in Clero and so to have a place together with the Bishop himself amongst the Clergy of the same and that we do not find as yet in Saint Cyprians Writings that the People had any special power either in the Election or Ordination of their Presbyters more than to give testimony of their well deservings or to object against them if they were delinquent And more than that is still remaining to them in the Church of England in which the People are required at all Ordinations Book of Ordination that if they know any notable crime in any of them which are to be Ordained for which he ought not to be received into the Ministery to declare the same and on the declaration of the same the Bishop must desist from proceeding further This is as much as was permitted to them in the Primitive times for ought I perceive and yet the Church of England gives them more than this the Presbyter who is to serve the Cure in particular Churches being elected by the Patrons of them for and in the name of the rest of the People As for the power of Excommunication I do not find but that St. Cyprian reckoned of it as his own prerogative a point peculiar to the Bishop in which he neither did advise either with the Presbyters or People When as the wickedness of Felicissimus the leader of the Faction raised against him was grown unto the height the Father of his own authority denounced him Excommunicant abstentum se à nobis sciat Cypr. Ep. 38. vel l. 5. Ep. 1. as the phrase then was as he did also on Augendus and divers others of that desperate party committing the execution of his sentence to Herculanus and Caldonius two of his Suffragan Bishops and to Rogatianus and Numidicus two of the Presbyters of his charge whom as for other matters so for that he had made his Substitutes or Commissaries if you will Cum ego vos pro me Vicarios miserim as the words are And they accordingly being thus authorized proceed in execution of the same and that in a formality of words which being they present unto us the ancient form of the Letters of Excommunication used of old Apud Cypr. Epist 39. I will here lay down Abstinuimus communicatione Felicissimum Augendum item Repostum de extorribus Irenem Rutilorum Paulam Sarcinatricem quod ex annotatione mea scire debuistis In which we may observe that this Excommunication was so published that all the residue of the Clergy to whom the publication of it was committed might take notice of it quod ex Annotatione mea or nostra rather as Pamelius very probably conjectureth scire debuistis So that the process of the whole is this that those Incendiaries were denounced excommunicate by St. Cyprian himself the execution of it left to those above remembred whom he had authorized in that behalf and they accordingly proceeding made certificate of it unto the Clergy of Carthage that publication might be made thereof unto the People Which differs very little in effect from what is now in use amongst us Nor did St. Cyprian do thus only of himself de facto but he adviseth Rogatianus one of his neighbouring Bishops to exercise the like authority as properly belonging to his place de jure Rogatianus had complained as it seems Cyp. Ep. 65. of some indignities and affronts which had been offered to him by his Deacon which his respect in making his complaint unto him as Cyprian took exceeding kindly so he informeth him withal that he had the Law in his own hands and that pro Episcopatus vigore Cathedrae authoritate haberet potestatem qua
to a publick tryal for their misdemeanours before himself and all the People 'T is true indeed that in the outward action and formality of this great work of Reconciliation the Clergy did impose hands with the Bishop upon the head of him that was reconciled Epist 10.11 c. for we find often in St. Cyprian Manus ab Episcopo clero imposita but this was only as I said before in the outward action the power of admitting him unto that estate and giving way to his desires in making of him capable of so great a favour belonging only to the Bishop as before appears Thus have we seen how and in what particulars as also upon what considerations Saint Cyprian communicated some part of his Episcopal Authority either unto the Presbyters or to the People or to both together We will next look on those particulars which he reserved wholly and solely to himself and they concern his Clergy chiefly in his behaviour towards whom in matters of reward and punishment he was as absolute and supream as ever any Bishop since his time And first in matter of reward the greatest honour whereof the Clergy in his time were capable was their place of sitting distinct and separate from the People A place by Sozomon Sozom. l. 5. c. 14. Concil Laodi Can. 55. Canon Sacerdot distinct 2. Cypr. Ep. 35. called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it were the Sacrarie by the Council of Laodicea entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by reason it was higher than the rest that all the people might behold it by others Presbyterium the place for Presbyters but by what names soever called a place it was appointed for the Bishop and his Clergy only Into this place St. Cyprian admits Numidicus a stranger to the Church of Carthage as before was noted from Baronius but by him added to the number of the Presbyters there adscriptus Presbyterorum Carthaginiensium numero as his own phrase is that so he might enjoy the honour of that place with the less distast And so for point of maintenance which was another part of the Reward that did belong to the Laborious and painful Presbyter the distribution of the same was wholly in the Bishops power So wholly in his power that howsoever it belonged unto none of right but unto the Presbyters yet he having bestowed on Celerinus and Aurelius the place of Readers in the Church did also give unto them or assign the same full maintenance Id. Epi. 34. which was allowed to any of the Presbyters Presbyterii honorem designasse nos illis jam Sciatis ut sportulis iisdem cum Presbyteris honorentur divisiones menstruas aequatis portionibus partiantur Know you saith he in an Epistle to the whole Church of Carthage that we have assigned them to the full honour of Presbyters appointing that they should receive the same proportion of allowance and have as great a share in the monthly dividends as any of the Presbyters had Where by the way this portion or allowance had the name of Sportula from the reward or fees which anciently were allowed to Judges and by that name are mentioned in the Civil Laws which being assigned to the Presbyters pro singulorum meritis according to the merits of the persons to some more some less at the discretion of the Bishop gave them the name of Fratres sportulantes whereof we read in Cyprian Ep. 66. And they were called divisiones mensurnae the monthly Dividends because that as the contributions of the people were made once every month menstrua quaque die as Tertullian a Presbyter of this Church hath told us so as it seems Tertul. in Apolog c. 36. the Dividend was made accordingly as soon as the mony had been brought to the Bishops hands So also in the way of punishment when any of the Clergy had offended the Bishop had Authority to withdraw his maintenance and with-hold his stipend For when complaint was made to Cyprian of Philumenus and Fortunatus two of his Sub-deacons Cypr. Ep. 28. and of Favorinus an Acolythite qui medio tempore recesserunt who formerly had forsook their calling and now desired to be restored again unto it although he neither would nor could determine in it before he had consulted with his Colleagues and the whole body of his People the matter being great and weighty yet in the mean time he suspends them from their monthly pay interim se à divisione mensurna tantum contineant as he there resolves it leaving the cause to be determined of at better leasure This was a plain suspension à Beneficio and could he not suspend ab Officio also Assuredly he both could and did as appears evidently by his proceeding with these Presbyters who had entrenched upon his jurisdiction as before was said Whose great offence though he reserved unto the hearing both of the Confessors themselves and the whole body of the People for a final end yet in the mean time prohibeantur interim offerre Idem Ep. 10. it was his pleasure to suspend them for the Ministery from their attendance at the Altar Suspend them then he might there 's no doubt of that but might he not if he saw cause deprive them also He might assuredly or otherwise he had never given that counsel to Rogatianus that if the Deacon formerly remembred did not repent him of his faults eum vel deponat vel abstineat Idem Ep. 65. he either might deprive or excommunicate him which he would himself He were a very greedy Bishop who would not be content with that allowance of Authority which S. Cyprian had The like authority he used towards the People also not suffering them to be remembred in the Churches Prayers if they had broken or infringed the Churches Canons And this appeareth by the so celebrated case of Geminius Victor who at his death had made Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of Carthage tutorem testamento suo Idem Ep. 66. the Executor of his last Will and Testament which being like to be a means whereby Faustinus might be taken off from his employment in the Ministery the displeased Bishop doth declare ne deprecatio aliqua nomine ejus in Ecclesia frequentetur that he should neither be remembred in the Offertory nor any Prayer be made in his name in the Church And this he did upon this reason ne quis Sacerdotes Ministros Dei Altari ejus Ecclesiae vacantes ad seculares molestias devocet that none hereafter should presume to withdraw the Priest and Ministers of God from their attendance at the Altar in the Churches service unto the cares and troubles of the world Which passage as it shews expresly the great tye which the Bishops of those times had upon the Conscience of the People whom they could punish thus after death it self So is it frequently alledged Smectym p. 46. to shew that neither Presbyters nor Bishops were to be molested
with handling of worldly affairs And so far I agree with them that Presbyters and Bishops are to be restrained from these worldly matters so far forth as they are a molestation to them whereby they are disabled from the executing of their holy function as this Faustinus seems to be ab Altari avocatus Cypr. Ep. 66. quite taken off from the attendance of his place so far forth as the ancient Canons on the which Cyprian grounds himself they are and ought to be restrained V. par 2. c. 1. But we have shewn before that many secular affairs were not inconsistent with the true meaning of those Canons as neither possibly might this of Faustinus had it hapned at some other time been reputed by him But at this time partly by reason of the persecution and partly on occasion of the factious the Church was almost destitute and unprovided This as he intimates in his 35 Epistle Desolata Presbyterii nostri copia ep 35. Cypr. Ep. 24. touching the admission of Numidicus into the number of their Presbyters so he affirms the same at large in another place where he declareth plurimos nostros absentes esse paucos vero qui illic sunt vix ad ministerium quotidiani operis sufficere that many of the Presbyters did absent themselves and that those which did remain upon their Charge could not suffice for the performance of the daily offices So that the Church being in that necessity and such a manifest need or want of Presbyters as then appearing in the Church Faustinus could the less be spared from the attendance on the Ministry and consequently Geminius Victor the more unadvised in putting him on such a business by which he was ab administratione Divina avocatus Cypr. Ep. 66. quite taken off from the employment of his calling in Gods holy Service And this I rather take to be the true condition of the business and that which gave S. Cyprian so great cause of Anger than with Saravia De honore Praesul debito c. 16. to affirm that the Decree or Canon whereof Cyprian speaketh was but particular and provincial illi tempori loco serviens calculated for the Meridian only of the Church of Carthage and fitted to the present time the Canon being ancient and universal as before was shewn Another point in which S. Cyprian exercised the height of his Episcopal Authority and an high point it was indeed as the times then were was in restraining of those Indulgences which usually the Martyrs or such as were prepared for Martyrdom did too promiscuously bestow on collapsed Christians For in the Primitive times the Discipline of the Church being very rigid and severe such as in time of Persecution had denied the Faith either by offering unto Idols or by some formal abnegation under their hand-writing Albaspin de Eccl. ritibus whom they called Libellatici were doomed unto perpetual penance no restitution being to be hoped for to the Churches favour and to the benefits and comforts of it until the very moment of their last departure Yet such was the regard which was born to those who did already suffer duresse and imprisonment and were resolved to suffer death for the sake of Christ that such to whom they gave their Letters of recommendation Cypr. Ep. 11.13 14 15. were by the Bishops readmitted into the bosom of Church And this at first was done without any sensible inconvenience following thereupon the Martyrs or Confessors rather being very wary on whom they did bestow those favours and very sparing of them also But when that it was grown so general that either they did pacem lapsis dare receive such men into their favours and the Churches peace promiscuously without care and difference Id. Ep. 17.19 20 21 22. or that the Presbyters taking their warrant for sufficient without the leave and liking of their Bishop admitted them to the Communion then did the Father manifest his dislike thereof whereof consult Ep. 11.13 14 15. For when it once was come to this he first addressed himself unto the Confessors or Martyrs to be more sparing of the like Indulgences and after to the Presbyters and People severally for the repressing of this foul disorder And when that would not serve the turn he resolved at last that for the time to come Cypr. Ep. 15. Quamvis libello à Martyribus accepto such Bills or Letters notwithstanding as they had received from those Martyrs they should stay his leisure and the whole business concerning them be respited until his return Which check thus given and certain of the Presbyters rebuked and threatned by him for their officiousness in this kind as before we saw it came to pass that in a very little time as well the Discipline of the Church as the Authority of the Bishops reverted to its former rigor especially after that on the sight of this inconvenience the Lapsi or Collapsed Christians were by the general consent of holy Church admitted unto penance like to other Sinners which as it hapned chiefly by S. Cyprians means so was it brought to pass in S. Cyprians time But here take notice by the way that though these Indulgences had been granted by these Confessors whilst they were Martyrs but in voto they were not yet to take effect Albaspinae de rit Eccl. li. 1. obseru 2. as the late Learned Bishop of Orleans very well observed till that they had received the crown of Martyrdom which he proves very evidently out of certain places of S. Cyprian compared together for which I leave you to that Author It is enough that the first check that had been given to that promiscuous liberty which the Martyrs took of doing what they pleased with the Churches Keys was given by Cyprian Whose foot-steps one of his Successors following after brought to pass Baro. in Annal. Eccl. Anno. 302. n. 126. that none should have the honour of being counted Martyrs after their decease but such whose life and sufferings and the occasion of those sufferings were first reported by the Bishop of the place in which he lived to his Metropolitan or Primate and by the Metropolitan to the chief Primate who was he of Carthage who on deliberation was to decree Cuinam Martyris cultus deberet impendi who ought to have the honour and repute of Martyrs as Baronius noteth And this he proveth out of a passage in S. Austin Brev. Coll. die 3. c. 5. wherein Mensurius Bishop of Carthage writing unto Secundus Primate of Numidia for all the Metropolitans of Africa were called Primates is said to have disliked of those which without cause or questioning exposed themselves to open danger Et ab iis honorandis prohibuisse Christianos and that he did prohibit the Christian People to give them that regard and honour which was due to Martyrs And indeed Optatus speaks of one who was reputed for a Martyr Opta◠de Schism lib. 1.
Sed nondum vindicatus but not asserted to that honour not established in it So great was the Authority of Bishops over that of Martyrs whether dead or living But to return unto S. Cyprian whom we have found so stout a Champion in the defence of his Episcopal Authority that though there was a kind of necessity of complying as the world went with him both with his Presbyters and People yet notwithstanding he knew how to resume his power and neither take their counsel nor consent but on some occasions Had he done otherwise he had indeed betrayed the honour of his calling which in the point of practice which he so often doth extol both for Divinity of Institution and excellency of Jurisdiction in the way of Theory For if we look into his writings we shall soon find what his opinion was touching the institution of Episcopacy which he maintaineth in several places to be Jure Divino no Ecclesiastical device no humane Ordinance For grounding the Authority of his calling on those words of Christ Tibi dabo Claves Cypr. Ep. 27. he sheweth that ever since that time the Church hath been constituted upon Bishops and every Act thereof by them administred Then adds Cum hoc itaque Divina lege fundatum sit that since it is so ordered by the Law of God or by Divine Law which you will he marveleth much that any one should write such Letters to him as he had formerly received from some of the collapsed Christians In his Epistle to Cornelius Id. Ep. 55. he calleth the Office of a Bishop in governing the Church of God Sublimem Divinam potestatem an high and Divine Authority and tells us of the same de Divina dignatione firmatur that it is founded and confirmed by Divine Providence or favour In that unto Rogatianus Idem Ep. 65. Apostolos i. e. Episcopos Praepositos Dominus elegit the Lord saith he did choose Apostles that is the Bishops and Governors of the Church Therefore if we that are the Bishops ought to do nothing against God qui Episcopos facit who made us Bishops so neither ought the Deacons to do any thing in despite of us who made them Deacons Finally in that unto Florentius Pupianus Idem Ep. 69. who had charged him as it seems with some filthy crimes he affirmeth often that the Bishop is appointed by God himself Sacerdotes per Deum in Ecclesia constitui that they are placed in the Church by God Deum Sacerdotes facere that God makes Bishops and in a word Apostolis Vicaria ordinatione succedere they that succeeded the Apostles as their proper Substitutes As for the excellency of the Episcopal power take this once for all where he affirmeth to Cornelius non aliunde haereses abortas esse Idem Ep. 55. that Schisms and Heresies do proceed from no other fountain than this That there is no obedience yielded to the Bishop or Priest of God for in the ancient stile of many of the Fathers Sacerdos and Bishop is the same Vel unus in Ecclesia ad tempus Sacerdos ad tempus Judex vice Christi cogitatur and that men do not think that there is one Bishop only for the time in a Christian Church one for the time that judgeth in the place of Christ Pamel Annot. in Cypr. Ep. 55. Which words since many of the Advocates for the Popes Supremacy have drawn against all right and reason from their proper purpose to the advancement of the dignity of the See of Rome S. Cyprian writing this unto Cornelius then the Bishop there we may hear him speaking the same words almost in his own behalf Inde enim Schismata c. From hence saith he do Schisms and Heresies arise Cypr. Ep. 69. whilst the Bishop being but one in every Church is slighted by the proud presumption of some men and he by man is judged unworthy whom God makes worthy of his favours And because possibly it may be thought that Cyprian might be partial in the heightning of his own Authority I shall crave leave to back him with Saint Hierom's words Hieron adv Luciferian none of the greatest fautors of Episcopacy who affirms as much who tells us plainly that the safety of the Church depends on the chief Priest or Bishop Cui si non exors ab omnibus eminens detur potestas to whom in case there be not given an eminent and transcendent power there will be shortly as many Schisms in the Church as Priests But it is time to leave S. Cyprian who went unto the Lord his God through the door of Martyrdom Anno 261. proceeding from the Church of Carthage to that of Alexandria the next neighbour to it CHAP. V. Of the condition and affairs of the two Patriarchal Churches of Alexandria and Antiochia 1. Of the foundation and first Professors of the Divinity-School in Alexandria 2. What is affirmed by Clemens one of those Professors concerning Bishops 3. Origen the Divinity-Reader there permitted to expound the Scriptures in the presence of the Bishop of Caesarea 4. Contrary to the custom of the Alexandrian and Western Churches 5. Origen ordained Presbyter by the Bishops of Hierusalem ad Caesarea and excommunicated by the Bishop of Alexandria 6. What doth occur touching the superiority and power of Bishops in the works of Origen 7. The custom of the Church of Alexandria altered in the election of their Bishops 8. Of Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria and his great care and travails for the Churches peace 9. The Government of the Church in the former times by letters of intercourse and correspondence amongst the Bishops of the same 10. The same continued also in the present Century 11. The speedy course taken by the Prelats of the Church for the suppressing of the Heresies of Samosatenus 12. The Civil Jurisdiction train and thrones of Bishops things not unusual in this Age. 13. The Bishops of Italy and Rome made Judges in a point of title and possession by the Roman Emperor 14. The Bishops of Italy and Rome why reckoned as distinct in that Delegation AND being come to Alexandria the first thing presents it self to our observation is the Divinity-School there being which we must first take notice of before we look into the Church which in this Age was furnished hence both with Religious Bishops and Learned Presbyters Eus hist Eccl. lib. 5. c. 10. A School as it appeareth by Eusebius of no small Antiquity who speaking of the times of Commodus saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of an antient custom there had been a School for teaching of Divinity and other parts of Literature which had been very much frequented in the former times and so continued till his days According to which plat-form first Schools and after Universities had their consideration in the Church from whence as from a fruitful Seminary she hath been stored ever since with the choicest wits for the advancement of her publique service
Catechist in the Church Hieron de Script Eccl. in Origine and afterward a publick Reader in the Schools of Alexandria a man in whom there was nothing ordinary either good or ill for when he did well none could do it better and when he erred or did amiss none could do it worse The course and method of his studies the many Martyrs which he trained up in the School of Piety the several Countreys which he travelled either for informing of himself or others belong not unto this Discourse Suffice it that his eminence in all parts of Learning and his great pains in his profession Euseb bist Eccl. l. 6. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. ib. c. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made him most grateful for a time unto Demetrius the Patriarch of Alexandria though after upon envy at the mans renown he did endeavour to diminish his reputation For on occasion of the Wars in Egypt seeing he could not stay in safety there he went unto Caesarea the Metropolitan See of Palestine where though not yet in holy Orders he was requested by the Bishop not only to dispute in publick as his custom was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but also to expound the Scriptures and that too 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the open Church Which when it came unto the knowledg of Demetrius he forthwith signified by Letters his dislike thereof affirming it to be an unaccustomed and unheard of thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that any Lay-man should presume to Preach or Expound Scripture in the Bishops presence But hereunto it was replyed by Theoctistus Bishop of Caesarea and Alexander Bishop of Hierusalem who was also there that he had quite mistook the matter it being lawful for such men as were fit and eminent to speak a word of exhortation to the People or to preach unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they were thereunto required by the Bishop instancing in Euelpis Paulinus and Theodorus godly brethren all who on the like authority had so done before and they for their parts being of opinion that others besides them had done so too In agitation of which business there are these two things presented to us first the regard and reverence which was had in those Pious times unto the person of a Bishop and then the power and authority that was vested in them For first it seems that men of whatsoever parts though of great spirit and abilities did notwithstanding think it an unfitting thing to meddle with expounding Scripture or edifying of the People in case the Bishop was in place And yet as strange and uncouth as it was or was thought to be the Licence of the Bishop made it lawful But then withal we must conceive of Preaching in this place and story not as a Ministerial Office but only as an Academical or Scholastical exercise according as it is still used in our Universities where many not in holy Orders preach their turns and courses And yet indeed Demetrius was not so much out as they thought he was but had good ground to go upon though possibly there was some intermixture of envy in it For whatsoever had been done in the Eastern Churches the use was otherwise in Alexandria and in the Churches of the West in which it was so far unusual for Lay-men to expound or preach in the Bishops presence that it was not lawful for the Presbyters For in the neighbour Church of Carthage it was thus of old in these times at least For when Valerius Bishop of Hippo a Diocese within that Province being by birth a Grecian and not so well instructed in the pronunciation of the Latin Tongue perceived his Preaching not to be so profitable to the common People for remedy thereof having then lately ordained Augustin Presbyter eidem potestatem dedit coram se in Ecclesia Evangelium praedicandi Possidon in vit Aug. c. 5. he gave him leave to preach the Gospel in the Church though himself were present And this saith Possidonius who relates the story was contra usum consuetudinem Ecclesiarum Africanarum against the use and custom of the African Churches and many Bishops thereabouts did object as much But the old man bearing himself upon the custom of the Eastern Church where it was permitted would not change his course By means whereof it came to pass that by this example some Presbyters in other places acceptâ ab Episcopis potestate being thereto licenced by the Bishop did preach before them in the Church without controul For Austin being afterwards Bishop of Hippo in the place of Valerius applauds Aurelius the Metropolitan of Carthage Aug. Ep. 77. for giving way unto the same commending him for the great care he took in his Ordinations but specially de sermone Presbyterorum qui te praesente populo infunditur for the good Sermons preached by the Presbyters unto the People in his presence But this permission or allowance was only in some places in some Churches only perhaps in none but those of Africk For Hierom writing to Nepotian being himself a Presbyter in the Church of Rome complains thereof ut turpissimae consuetudinis Hieron ad Nepotianum as of a very evil custom that in some Churches the Presbyters were not to preach if the Bishop were by And though he was a man of great authority with Damasus and others his Successours Popes of Rome yet got he little by complaining the custom still continuing as before it was And this is clear by the Epistle of Pope Leo in which as it is declared unlawful to perform divers other Sacred Offices in the Bishops presence Leon. Ep. 88. without his special Precept and Command so also is there a non licet in this point of Preaching which was not to be done nec populum docere ncc plebem exhortari if the Bishop were then present in the Congregation So that this being then an ancient and received custom must needs be now in force when Demetrius lived and as it seems by his expostulation in the case of Origen had been no less observed in Alexandria than in Rome or Africk There was indeed a time and that shortly after in which the Presbyters of Alexandria might not preach at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in Socrates Socrat. hist Eccl. l. 5. c. 21. Which general restraint as it was occasioned by reason of the factions raised by Arius or other troubles of that Church in the beginning of the Age next following so it continued till the times of Socrates and Sozomen Sozom. hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 19. who lived about the middle of the sixth Century and take notice of it So that as it appeared before in the case of Austin that the Bishops have a power to Licence so it appears by that of Arius that they also have a power to silence But to return again to Origen the Bishops of Caesarea and Hierusalem finding how profitable a Servant
he might prove in the Church of God did at another time as he passed through Palestine to go towards Greece ordain him Presbyter And this was done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Eusebius by the Bishops there Euseb hist Eccl. l. 6. c. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 7. by the two Bishops formerly remembred no Presbyter concurring in it for ought there we find Yet when Demetrius moved with his wonted envy did not only what he could to disgrace the man but also sought to frame an accusation against those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. l. 6. c. 7. n. which had advanced him to the order of a Presbyter We do not find that he objected any thing against them as to the Act of Ordination but only as unto the irregularity of the person by reason of a corporal defect of his own procuring And on the other side when as Demetrius saw his time and found that some few passages in his many writings either by him or in his name at least set forth and published had made him liable unto danger obnoxious to the censures of the Church he did not only excommunicate him which had been enough either to right the Church or revenge himself but he prevailed with many other Churches also Hier. in Apo. l cont Ruffinum to confirm the sentence Ab eodem Demetrio Episcopo Alexandrino fuisse excommunicatione damnatum prolatamque in eum sententiam à caeteris quoque Ecclesiis ratam habitam as S. Hierom hath it Whereas before we had his Ordination performed only by the two Bishops of Caesarea and Hierusalem without the hands of any of the Presbyters and yet the Ordination good and valid the whole Church after reckoning him for a Presbyter without doubt or scruple so here we find him Excommunicated by one Bishop only without the votes or suffrages of the Presbyters or any shew or colour of it and yet the Church concurring with that Bishop though his ancient Enemy in confirmation of that censure So fully was the Church persuaded in the former times that these were parts of the Episcopal jurisdiction and authority that there was no objection made against this last though Origen had many friends and those great ones too nor nullity or invalidity in the first although Demetrius who by reason of his great place and power had made him many Enemies did except against it From that which doth occur concerning Origen in the Books and Works of other Writers proceed we unto that which doth occur concerning Bishops in the works of Origen And there we find in the first place the several Orders of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons For speaking of those words of the Apostle He that desireth the Office of a Bishop desireth a good work he tells us this Origen in Mat. cap. 15. Talis igitur Episcopus non desiderat bonum opus that such a Bishop desireth not a good work who desireth the Office either to get glory amongst men or be flattered and courted by them or for the hope of gain from those which believe the Gospel and give large gifts in testimony of their Piety Then adds Idem vero de Presbyteris de Diaconis dices that the same is to be said of Presbyters and Deacons also Nor doth he only shew us though that were sufficient the several ranks and orders in the Hierarchy but also the ascent or degrees from the one to the other In Ecclesia Christi inveniuntur In the Church of Christ Orig. tract 24. in Mat. c. 23. saith he there are some men who do not only follow Feasts and them that make them but also love the chiefest places and labour much primùm ut Diaconi fiant first to be made Deacons not such as the Scripture describeth but such as under pretence of long Prayers devour Widdows houses And having thus been made Deacons cathedras eorum qui vocantur Presbyteri praeripere ambiunt they very greedily aspire to the chairs of those who are called Presbyters and some not therewithal content practise many ways ut Episcopi vocentur ab hominibus to have the place or name of Bishops which is as much to say as Rabbi And shortly after having endeavoured to depress this ambitious humour he gives this caveat that he who exalts himself shall be humbled which he desireth all men to take notice of but specially the Deacons Presbyters and Bishops which do not think those words to be spoken of them Here have we three degrees of Ministers in the Church of God one being a step unto the other whereof the Bishop is Supream in the highest place And not in place only but in power also and authority as being the men unto whose hands the keys were trusted by our Saviour Id. Tract 1. in Matth. For in another place he discourseth thus Quoniam ii qui Episcoporum locum sibi vendicant c. When they which challenge to themselves the place of Bishops do make the same confession that Peter did and have received from our Saviour the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven teaching that what they bind on Earth is bound in Heaven and what they loose in Earth is loosed in Heaven we must acknowledge that what they said is true if withal they have those things for which it was so said to Peter For if he be bound with the Chains of his own sins frustra vel ligat vel solvit in vain he takes upon him to bind or loose In the which words not taking notice of his errour seeming to make the efficacy of the Ministery to depend upon the merit of the Minister we find that in the time of Origen the dispensation of the Keys was the Bishops office This if it should not be sufficient to declare their power we may hear him in another place calling them Principes populi Christiani Id. in Mat. 19. Tractat. 12. the Princes of the Christian people blaming them such especially as lived in the greatest Cities in which he secretly upbraids the proud behaviour of Demetrius towards him for want of affability and due respect to their Inferiors And writing on these words of our Saviour Christ Who is that faithful and wise Servant Id. in Mat. 24. Tractat. 31. c. he applies them thus Peccat in Deum quicunque Episcopus qui non quasi conservis servus ministrat sed quasi Dominus That Bishop whosoever he be doth offend against God which doth not minister as a Servant to his Fellow-Servants but rather as a Lord amongst them yea and too often as a sharp and bitter Master domineering over them by violence remember how Demetrius used him like the Task-masters in the Land of Egypt afflicting the poor Israelites by force Finally as he doth acquaint us with their power and eminency so doth he tell us also of their care and service Id. Homil. 6. in Esaiam assuring us that he who is called unto the Office of a Bishop non
To Dionysius Bishop of Rome besides that before remembred from Eusebius a second extant in the works of Athanasius And one to Paulus Samosatenus Athanas opera graec lat Tom. 1. p. 558. Euse l. 7. c. 24. Nicephorus Ecc. hist l. 6. c. 27. Biblio Patr. T. 3. edit Col. Bar. An. 265. Euseb bist l. 6. cap. ult the wretched Patriarch of Antiochia of which though there is no mention in Eusebius who tells us that he would not vouchsafe to write unto him yet is it intimated in Nicephorus who affirmes the contrray and extant in the Bibliotheca Patrum and in the Annals of Baronius It were an infinite and endless labour to recite all those which besides these inscribed unto the Bishops of the greater Churches he writ and sent to others of less note and quality as viz. to Conon Bishop of Hierapolis the Churches of Laodicea and Armenia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to whom not almost either Priest or Bishop that was of any merit and consideration in the Church of Christ If you demand to what end serves this general muster of the Epistles of this Prelate why I have brought them thus into the field in their ranks and files I answer that it was to let you see what was the ancient form of government in the Church of Christ before they had the happiness to live under Christian Princes and thereby opportunity of meeting in their General Councils For all the Apostles being furnished by our Lord and Saviour with an equality of power and honour pari consortio praediti potestatis honoris as S. Cyprian hath it Cyprian de Ecclesiae unitate by consequence all Bishops also were founded in the like equality So that the government of the Church as to the outward form and polity thereof was Aristocratical And being so there was in manner a necessity imposed upon the Prelates of the Church to maintain mutual entercourse and correspondence betwixt one another by Letters Messages and Agents for the communicating of their Councils and imparting their advice as occasion was in all omergent dangers of the Church For howsoever that the Church had followed in some things the pattern of the Roman Empire and in each Diocess thereof taking the Word according to the civil sense had instituted and ordained a Primate to whom the final resolution of all businesses did appertain that fell within the compass of that Diocess Yet all these Primates being of equal power and authority each of them absolute and independent with the bounds and limits of his own jurisdiction there was no other way to compose such differences as were either indeterminable at home or otherwise concerned the publick but this of mutual entercourse and correspondence And this what ever is opined unto the contrary both by the Masters and the Scholars in the Church of Rome who have advanced the Pope into the Soveraign or Supream direction in all points of doubt will prove to be the practice of the Christian Church in all times and Ages till the Authority of all other Churches in the worst and darkest times of Christianity came to be swallowed up in the gulph of Rome For presently upon the death of the Apostles who questionless had the frequent resort the final ending of all businesses which concerned the Church a full and plenary authority to direct the same Ruseb hist Ec. l. 3. c. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. c. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we find that Clemens one of their Disciples sends his Epistle to the Church of Corinth for the composing of some Schisms which were raised amongst them and that Ignatius Bishop of Antioch another of their Scholars sends the like to Rome for their confirming in the faith Besides which as he travelled towards Rome or rather was haled thither to his Execution he dispatched others of his Epistles unto other Churches and one amongst the rest unto Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna commending unto him the good estate of the Church of Antioch Id. l. 4. c. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The like we find of Dionysius Bishop of Corinth a right godly man of whose Epistles to the Lacedemonians Athenians Nicomedians and those of Crete as also to the Churches in Pontus nay to that of Rome conducing either to the beating down of Heresies or to the preservation of peace and unity or to the confirmation of the faith or rectifying of what was amiss in the Churches discipline there is full mention in Eusebius Thus when Pope Victor by his rash perversness had almost plunged the Church in an endless broil Id. l. 5. c. 23.24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishops of these times bestirred themselves by publique writings to compose the quarrel particularly Irenaeus and Polyerates the one the Metropolitan of the Gallick the other of the Asian Churches And when that many of the Bishops severally had convocated Councils and Synodical meetings to make up this breach upon the rising of the same they sent out their Letters Ib. c. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying what they had Decreed advising what they would have done by all Christian people Ib. c. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For though Eusebius instanceth in none but the Bishops of Caesarea and Hierusalem in the records of which in two Churches he had been most versed which sent out these Synodical Epistles yet being so many other Metropolitans had called Synods also to the same intent I doubt not but they took the same course as the others did in manifesting their Decrees and Counsels Nay so exact and punctual they were in the continuance of this mutual amity and correspondence that there was almost no occurrence of any moment o◠consideration Id. l. 6. c. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. l. 6. c. 10.16 Cyprian Epist 42. not so much as the death of some eminent Prelate and the succession of a new but they gave notice of it unto one another ending their Letters of congratulation unto the party so advanced Examples of the which in Ecclesiastical Histories are both infinite and obvious By means of which continual intercourse there was mainteined not only an Association of the several Churches for their greater strength nor a Communication only of their Councils for the publick safety but a Communion also with each other Optat. de Schi Donat. l. 2. as Members of the Mystical Body of our Saviour Christ And this is that Optatus speaks of when having made a Catalogue of the Bishops of Rome from S. Peter down unto Siricius who then held that place or as his words there are Qui noster est Socius who was his Partner or Associate in the common Government of the Church He adds Cum quo nobis totus orbis commercio formatarum in una communionis societate concordant with whom the whole world doth agree with us in one communion or society by Letters of intercourse and correspondence For Literae
the great Cardinal Baronius in his Application of the place are fain to falsifie their Author For whereas in the Text we have that he of the Petenders was to have possession 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom the Bishops of Italy Euseb hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Baron in Annal An. 272. n. 18. and the City of Rome should adjudge the same Christopherson translates it thus Quibus Christiani Italiae Vrbis Romae Episcopi tribuenda praescriberent Baronius with less ambiguity Cui Italiae Christiani Vrbis Romanae Episcopi dandam praescriberent to whom the Christians of Italy and the Bishops of the City of Rome should think fit to give it And for a further testimony of this equality betwixt Rome and Millain we may note also on the by that each Church had its proper and peculiar customs Rome neither giving Law to Millain nor she to Rome Witness that signal difference betwixt them in the Saturdays fast which in those times was kept at Rome but not at Millain according to that memorable saying of Saint Ambrose quando Romae sum jejuno Sabbato quando hic sum non jejuno Sabbato In Aug. Ep. 86. in fine Indeed the Church of Millain might well stand on her own Prerogatives as being little inferiour unto that of Rome either in the condition of her founder or the Antiquity of her foundation S. Barnabas the Apostle being generally reported for the first Bishop here to whom Anathalon succeeded Gaius after him Baron Annet in Martyr Rom. Junii 11. Martyr Rom. Sept. 25.27 and so successively Bishop after Bishop till these very times Thus having prosecuted the affairs of this second Century from the Church of Carthage unto that of Alexandria from thence to Antioch and on occasion of Samosatenus Bishop of this last being forced to take a journey over unto Rome and Italy we will next look on the condition of these Western Churches and the estate wherein Episcopacy stood amongst them for this present Age. CHAP. VI. Of the state wherein Episcopacy stood in the Western Churches during the whole third Century 1. Of Zephyrinus Pope of Rome and the decrees ascribed unto him concerning Bishops 2. Of the condition of that Church when Cornelius was chosen Bishop thereof 3. The Schism raised in Rome by Novatianus with the proceedings of the Church therein 4. Considerable observations on the former story 5. Parishes set forth in Country Villages by Pope Dionysius 6. What the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do fignifie most properly in Ancient Writers 7. The great Authority which did accrue unto the Presbyters by the setting forth of Parishes 8. The rite of Confirmation reserved by Bishops to themselves as their own Prerogative 9. Touching the ancient Chorepiscopi and the authority to them entrusted 10. The rising of the Manichean Heresie with the great care taken by the Bishops for the crushing of it 11. The lapse of Marcellinus Pope of Rome with the proceedings of the Church in his Condemnation 12. The Council of Eliberis in Spain what it decreed in honour of Episcopacy 13. Constantine comes unto the Empire with a brief prospect of the great honours done to Bishops in the following Age. 14. A brief Chronologie of the state of holy Church in these two last Centuries BEing thus returned at last to the Western Churches the first we meet withal is Victor Bishop of the Church of Rome who lived in the conclusion of the second Century and the beginning of the third to whom succeeded Zephyrinus Optat. de Schism Donat. l. 2. Platina in vita Zephyrini who by Optatus is entituled Vrbicus or the City-Bishop the stile of Oecumenicaal or Vniversal being then unknown Of him it is affirmed by Platina Mandasse ne Episcopus vel à Patriarcha vel Primate vel à Metropolitano suo in judicium vocatus sine authoritate Apostolica damnaretur how he decreed that no Bishop being called in question either by Patriarch Primate or Metropolitan should be condemned without the leave and liking of the See Apostolick that is to say the Bishop of Rome as the Author means it A matter fit enough indeed for an Oecumenical but of too high a nature for a City-Bishop to attempt or think of And therefore I desire to be excused of Platina if I believe neither his report nor the Epistles Decretal ascribed unto Zephyrinus on which the said report was founded Sure I am Damasus in the Pontifical tells us no such matter Concil Tom. 1. à Binio edit Apud Binium in Concil Tom. 1. Sozom. Eccl. hist l. 8. c. 6. And no less sure I am that the practice of the Church was contrary for a long time after Saint Chrysostom being then Patriarch of Constantinople deposing thirteen Bishops in one Visitation whom he had found unworthy of so high a calling without consulting with the Church of Rome or fearing that his acts might have been repealed by the Popes thereof Nor can that strange report of Platina consist if looked on with indifferent eyes either with the condition of the times of which he writeth in which the Popes had hardly meditated on their future greatness or with the Constitutions of the Church by which the Primate in each Diocess had the dernier resort as the Lawyers phrase it there being regularly no Appeal from him but only to a general Council Which Constitution of the Church as it was afterwards confirmed by the great Council of Chalcedon Con. Calcedon Can. 9. so was it finally established by the Laws Imperial whereof consult Novel Constitut 123. c. 22. More likely is that other Ordinance or Decree ascribed to Zepherinus by this Author Platina in Zepherino ut astantibus Clericis Laicis fidelibus levita sacerdos ordinaretur that Priests and Deacons should be ordained in the presence of the Clergy and other of Gods faithful people in which as he is backed by Damasus who affirms the same So is the truth or probability thereof at least confirmed by the following practice Where note that in the Ordination of these Priests and Deacons there is not any thing required but the peoples presence adstantibus Laicis as that Author hath it the Church being never so obliged unto the votes and suffrages of the people but that the Bishop might ordain fit Ministers without requiring their consent though on the reasons formerly delivered it was thought fit that Ordinations should be made in publick as well the People as the Clergy being present at them The seventh from Zepherinus was Cornelius by birth a Roman elected to that place and ministery Cypr. Epist 52. Coepiscoporum testimonio by the consent and suffrage of his Com Provincials as also by the voices of the Clergy Plebis quae tunc adfuit suffragio and with the liking of the people or as many of them as did attend at the Election the number of the
the Rectors as we call them of particular Churches Concil Tole Can. IV. Can. 25 26. and in the fourth Council of Toledo where we read of Presbyters ordained in paroeciis per paroecias for the use and service of particular Parishes And in this sense but specially indeed for a Countrey Parish the word is taken in an Epistle of Pope Innocentius Innocent lib. ad Decentium c. 5. in which Ecclesiae intra Civitatem constitutae the Churches situated in the City are distinguished plainly from Paroecias the Churches scattered in the Countrey Other Examples of this nature in the later Ages being almost infinite and obvious to the eye of every Reader I forbear to add So for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we English Diocess it signified at first that part or portion of the Roman Empire there being thirteen of them in all besides the Prefecture of the City of Rome as before was noted which was immediately under the command of the Vicarius or Lieutenant General of those parts And was so called of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to Govern or Administer Isocrat ad Nicoclen as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Isocrates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Demosthenes a Diocess being that part or portion of the Empire which was committed to the Government and Administration of some principal Officer In which regard the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or dioecesis when it was first borrowed by the Church from the civil State was used to signifie that part or portion of the Church which was within the jurisdiction of a Primate containing all the circuit of the civil Diocess as was shewed before the Primate being stiled ordinarily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in the Council of Chalcedon Concil Chalcedon Car. 9.17 Novel const 123. c. 22. the Patriarch of the Diocess in the Laws Imperial But after as the former 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 began to lose its former latitude in which it signified the whole command or Jurisdiction of a Bishop which we call a Diocess and grew to be restrained to so narrow a compass as the poor limits of a Parish so did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grow less also than at first it was and from a Patriarchal Diocess Horat. de Arte. fell by degrees custom and use prevailing in it quem penes arbitrium est ju norma loquendi as the Poet hath it to signifie no more than what Paroecia had done formerly a Diocess as now we call it whereof see Concil Antioch cap. 9. Con. Sardicens cap. 18. Constantinop ca. 2. Chalcedon ca. 17. Carthag III. can 20. IV. can 36. So then the just result of all is this that the Bishops of the Primitive times were Diocesan Bishops though they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by some ancient Writers and that in the succeeding Ages as the Church increased and the Gospel of our Saviour did inlarge its borders so did the Countrey Villages obtain the name of Parishes or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having to each of them a Presbyter for the administration of the Sacraments for their instruction both in Faith and Piety whom at this day we call the Rector of the Church or Parish And with this Presbyter or Rector call him as you will must we now proceed who by this Institution I mean the setting out of Parishes in the Countrey Villages did grow exceedingly both in authority and reputation For whereas upon the setting out of Parishes Concil Neo-Caesar ca. 13. the Presbyters became divided into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the City and the Countrey Presbyters each of them had their several priviledges the City Presbyters continuing as before the great Council of Estate unto the Bishop Concil Neo. ca. 13. and doing many things which were not suffered to be done by the Countrey Presbyters and on the other side the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Country Presbyters being more remote did many Ministerial Acts of their own authority which in the presence of their Bishop it was not lawful for them to have done And therefore I conceive the resolution of Bishop Downham in this case Defence of the Sermon l. 1. cap. 2. to be sound and good who telleth us That since the first distinguishing of Parisher and allotting of several Presbyters to them there hath been ever granted to them both potestas Ordinis the power of Orders as they are Ministers Et potestas jurisdictionis spiritualis seu internae a power of spiritual and inward jurisdiction to rule their flock after a private manner as it were in foro Conscientiae in the Court of Conscience as they are Pastors of that flock But because this allowance of a Jurisdiction in foro Conscientiae in the Court of Conscience seems not sufficient unto some who reckon the distinction of a Jurisdiction in foro externo Vindication of the Answ §. 9. in foro interno to be like that of Reflexius and Archipodialiter they do in this not only put the School-men unto School again in whom the like distinctions frequently occur but cross the best Divines in the Church of England who do adhere unto and approve the said distinctions And because many of both sorts may be found in one and that one publick's declared to be both Orthodox in doctrine and consonant in discipline to the Church of England by great Authority I will use his words Holy Table Ch. 3. A single Priest qua talis in that formality and capacity only as he is a Priest hath no Key given him by God or man to open the doors of any external Jurisdiction He hath a Consistory within in foro poenitentiae in the conscience of his Parishioners and a Key given him upon his institution to enter into it But he hath no Consistory without in foro causae in medling with Ecclesiastical causes unless he borrow a Key from his Ordinary For although they be the same Keys yet one of them will not open all these wards the Consistory of outward Jurisdiction not being to be opened by a Key alone but as you may observe in some great mens gates by a Key and a Staff which they usually call a Crosier This saith he I have ever conceived to be the ancient doctrine in this kind opposed by none but professed Puritans affirming further that all learned men in the Church of England do adhere unto it allowing the School-mens double power that of Order and that of Jurisdiction and the subdivision of this Jurisdiction into the internal and external appropriating this last to the Bishop only So he judiciously indeed and for the Authors by him cited both Protestant and School-Divines I refer you to him So then upon this setting out of Parishes the Presbyters which attended in the same had potestatem jurisdictionis a power of Jurisdiction granted to them in the Court of Conscience which needed not to have been granted before
this time when as Gods people which were scattered up and down the Countrey did either come unto the Cities there to be made partakers of the Word and Sacraments in which the Bishop was at hand to attend all businesses or that the Presbyters were by the Bishop sent into the Countrey with more or less authority intrusted to them as the business was And for the other power the power of Order although it was no other than before it was as to the power and faculty conferred upon the Presbyters in their Ordination yet did they find a great enlargement and extension of it in the free execution of the same For whereas formerly as was observed both from Ignatius and Tertullian and some other Ancients Vide Chap. 1. Chap. 3. of this 2d part the Presbyter could not baptize nor celebrate the blessed Eucharist sine Episcopi authoritate without the leave and liking of the Bishop who then was near at hand to be asked the question after this time the Presbyters became more absolute in their ministration baptizing celebrating preaching and indeed what not which potestate ordinis did belong unto him only by vertue of that general faculty which had been granted by the Bishop at his Institution I mean his special designation to that place or Cure And yet the Bishops did not so absolutely invest the Presbyters with a power of Order in the administration of the Sacraments as not to keep unto themselves a superiour Power whereby the execution of that Power of Order together with a confirmation of such acts as had been done by vertue of the same might generally be observed to proceed from them And of this kind especially was that rite or ceremony which now we call by the particular name of Confirmation being called anciently impositio manuum the laying on of hands For howsoever the original institution of it be far more ancient and Apostolical as most think yet I conceive it neither was so frequent nor so necessary in the former times as in those that followed For when the Sacrament of Baptism either was administred to men grown in years or by the Bishop himself in person or in his presence at the least he giving his Fatherly and Episcopal blessing to the work in hand the subsequent laying on of hands which we call Confirmation might not seem so necessary Or if it did yet commonly it was administred with Baptism as a Concomitant thereof Hooker Eccl. Pol. l. 5. n. 66. Tertul. de Baptismo c. 7. to confirm and perfect that which the Grace of the Spirit had already begun in Baptism And so we are to understand Tertullian where having spoken before of Baptism he addeth next Dehinc manus imponitur per benediciionem advocans invitans Spiritum sanctum c. Then saith he followeth imposition of hands with invocation and invitation of the holy Ghost which willingly cometh down from the Father to rest upon the purified and blessed bodies acknowledging as it were the Waters of Baptism for a fit seat And so long as they went together and were both commonly performed by the same Minister that is the Bishop there was the less notice taken of it and possibly the less efficacy ascribed unto it But when they came once to be severed as in the necessary absence of the Bishop they had been before and on this setting out of Parishes were likely for the most part to be after the Bishops out of their abundant care of the Churches welfare permitted that which was most necessary to the common Presbyter reserving that which was more honorary to themselves alone Thus was it in the first case in St. Cyprians time who lived as was before observed Vid. Ch. 4. of this 2d part in a kind of voluntary exile as did also divers other Bishops in the heat and violence of persecutions during whose absence from their Cities and their much distance from the Countrey there is no question to be made but that the Presbyters performed their Office in administration of that Sacrament and after which there is little question but that the Children so baptized were at some time or other brought for Confirmation Certain I am that to him they were brought to be confirmed and that he grounds the Institution of that Right on the example of Peter and John Cypr. Epist 73. in the Eighth Chap. of the Acts. Illi qui in Samaria crediderant c. The faithful in Samaria saith he had already received Baptism Only that which was wanting Peter and John supplyed by Prayer and imposition of hands to the end the holy Ghost might be poured on them Then adds Quod nunc quoque apud nos geritur which also is done amongst our selves when they which be already baptized are brought unto the Prelates of the Church Praepositis â—cclesiae offeruntur that by our Prayer and Imposition of our hands they may receive the holy Ghost and be strengthened by the seal of the Lord. And in the second case Hier. advers Luciferianos it is whereof Hierom speaketh where he observeth it to be the custom of the Church ut ad eos qui longè in minoribus urbibus per Presbyteros Diaconos baptizati sunt Episcopus ad invocationem Spiritus Sancti manum impositurus excurrat that the Bishop should go abroad as in Visitation and imposing hands pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost on them who far off in the lesser Cities as also in Viculis Castellis in small Towns and Villages had by the Presbyters and Deacons been baptized But note withal that Hierom tells us that this imposition of hands was reserved only to the Bishop ad honorem potius sacerdotii quam ad legis necessitatem not that the Sacrament of Baptism was not perfect and compleat without it but rather out of a certain congruity and fitness to honour Prelacy with such preheminencies the safety of the Church depending upon the dignity of the chief Priest or Bishop By which it doth appear to be St. Hieroms opinion Hooker Eccl. Pol. l. 5. n. 66. as Hooker excellently collects That the Holy Ghost is received in Baptism that Confirmation is only a Sacramental complement that the reason why Bishops alone did ordinarily confirm was not because the benefit grace and dignity thereof was greater than of Baptism but rather for that by the Sacrament of Baptism men being admitted into Gods Church it was both reasonable and convenient that if he baptize them not unto whom the chiefest authority and charge of their souls belongeth yet for Honours sake and in token of his spiritual superiority over them because to bless is an act of Authority the performance of this annexed Ceremony should be sought for at his hands What other reasons there are for it in reference to the parties that receive the same I forbear to specifie as not conducing to the History of Episcopacy which I have in hand to which estate
the honour of giving Confirmation hath always been reserved to this very day Another thing which followed upon this setting forth of Parishes by Dionysius was the institution of a new Order in the Church betwixt the Bishop and the Presbyter being neither of the two but both Those they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Rural Bishops Of which being that there were two sorts according to the times and Ages when they were imployed we must distinguish them accordingly Now of these Chorepiscopi or Countrey Bishops some in the point and power of Order were no more than Presbyters having received no higher Ordination than to that function in the Ministery but were inabled by the Bishop under whom they served to exercise some parts of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction as much as was thought fit to commit unto them for the better reiglement of the Church And these I take it were more ancient than the present times appointed as the Bishops Visitors to go abroad into the Countrey to parts more remote to oversee such Presbyters as had been sent forth for the instruction of the people in small Towns and Villages and to perform such further Offices which the ordinary Presbyter for want of the like latitude of Jurisdiction was defective in Con. Neo-Caesaviens Can. 13. These I conceive to be of the same nature with our Rural Deans in some parts of England And these are they which in the Council of Neo-Caesarea are said to be ordained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the manner of the Seventy and if no more than so then but simply Presbyters in the power of Order though ranked above them in regard of their Jurisdiction To which Pope Damasus agreeth also affirming quod ipsi iidem sunt qui Presbyteri Damas Ep. 5. ap Bin. Concil T. 1. Bellarm. de Clericis l. 1. c. 17. that they are the very same with Presbyters being first ordained ad exemplum Septuaginta after the example of the Seventy Others there were whom we find furnished with a further power qui verè Episcopalem consecrationem acceperant which really and truly had received Episcopal Consecration and yet were called Chorepiscopi because they had no Church nor Diocess of their own sed in aliena Ecclesia ministrabant but executed their authority in anothers charge And these saith Bellarmine are such as we now call Titular or Suffragan Bishops such as those heretofore admitted in the Church of England whereof consult the Act of Parliament 26 H. 8. cap. 14. Now that they had Episcopal consecration appeareth evidently by the Council of Antioch where it is said expresly of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they had received the Ordination of Bishops Conc. Anti. cap. 10. and so by vertue of their Ordination might execute all manner of Episcopal Acts which the Bishop of the City might perform And to this Power they were admitted on two special reasons whereof the first was to supply the absence of the Bishop who being intent upon the business of the City where his charge was greatest could not so well attend the business of the Countrey or see how well the Presbyters behaved themselves in their several Parishes to which upon the late division they were sent abroad And this is called in the said Council of Antioch Id. Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the looking to the Administration of the Churches under their authority The other was to content such of the Novatian Bishops who rather would continue in their schism and faction than return unto the Catholick Church with the loss of the honour and calling which they had before whom they thought fit if they were willing to return to the Church again to suffer in the state of a Chorepiscopus And this is that which was so prudently resolved on in the Council of Nice in which fifteen of those which assembled there were of this Order or Estate viz. Conc. Nicen. can 8. That if any of them did return to the Catholick Church either in City or Village wherein there was a Bishop or a Presbyter before provided 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he should enjoy the place and honour of a Presbyter but if that pleased him not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he should be fitted with the Office of a Chorepiscopus Which being the true condition of those Chorepiscopi it seems to me a plain and evident mistake that the Chorepiscopus who was but a Presbyter Smectymn pag. 36. should be affirmed to have power to impose hands and to ordain within his Precincts with the Bishops licence For certainly it is apparent by the Council of Antioch that the Chorepiscopi which had power of conferring Orders had to that end received Episcopal consecration and consequently could not but be more than Presbyters though at the first indeed they medled not therewith without the leave and licence of the Bishop whose Suffragans and Substitutes they were But when they had forgot their ancient modesty and did not keep themselves within the bounds and limits appointed to them which was to make two Bishops in one Diocess contrary to the ancient Canons the Church thought fitting to reduce them to their first condition And thereupon it was decreed in the Council of Ancyra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conc. Ancyran can 13. that it should no more be lawful for them to ordain either Presbyters or Deacons that is to say as it was afterwards explained in the Council of Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conc. Antio can 10. without the liking of the Bishop under whom he served Howsoever that they might have somewhat of the Bishop in them they were permitted by that Canon to ordain Sub-Deacons Exorcists and Readers with which they were required to rest contented as also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to send abroad their Letters unto other Bishops Ibid. can 8. which they called Literas Formatas Communicatorias as before was noted as those that had the full authority and power of Bishops did use of old to do at their Ordinations A point of honour denied unto the ordinary Presbyters in that very Canon Now to proceed The next Successor unto Dionysius in the See of Rome Ibid. Sept. 18. is called Felix but no more happy in some things than his Predecessour the Heresie of Paulus Samosatenus taking beginning in the time or Government in the one that of the Manichees commencing almost with the other Hujus tempore Manes quidam gente Persa vita moribus barbarus c. During his time saith Platina arose one Manes Platina in vita Felicis by birth a Persian in life and manners a Barbarian who took upon him to be Christ gathering unto him Twelve Disciples for the dispersing of his frenzies In this he differed amongst many things from Samosatenus he making Christ to be no better than a man and Manes making a vile sinful man to be the Christ I know Baronius doth place the rising of this Manicbean Heresie
Antioch Onesimus B. of Ephesus mentioned in the former Century is made a Martyr 118. Papias B. of Hierapolis in Phrygia at this time flourisheth 128. Quadratus B. of Athens publisheth an Apologie in behalf of Christians 138. Marcus made B. of Hierusalem the first that ever had that place of the Vncircumcision 150. Justin Martyr writeth his Apologie 160. Hegesippus beginneth his travels towards Rome conferring with the Bishops as he past along 169. Polycarpus the famous B. of Smyrna Martyred 172. Melito B. of Sardis publisheth an Apologie 175. Dionysius B. of Corinth flourished and writeth many of his Epistles Theophilus B. of Antioch writes in defence of Christianity 177. Eleutherius succeedeth Soter in the Church of Rome Lucius a British King sendeth an Ambassage unto Eleutherius desiring to be made a Christian 178. Several Episcopal Sees erected in the Isle of Britain 180. The holy Father Irenaeus made B. of Lyons 190. Demetrius succeedeth Julianus in the See of Alexandria being the twelfth Bishop of that Church 191. Serapion succeedeth Maximinus in the Church of Antioch the ninth Bishop of that See 198. Victor the Successor of Eleutherius excommunicates the Asian Churches about their observation of the Feast of Easter Irenaeus B of Lyons and Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus write against him for it Several Councils called about it by the Metropolitans and other Bishops of this time 199. Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea at this time flourished as did Narcissus also the thirtieth Bishop of Hierusalem 200. Tertullian Who began to be in estimation Anno 196. doth this year publish his Apologie 203. Zepherinus succeedeth Victor in the Church of Rome 204. Clemens of Alexandria flourisheth in the publick Schools of that famous City 205. Origen one of his Disciples beginneth at this time to be of Credit Irenaeus B. of Lyons crowned with Martyrdom 217. Agrippinus Bishop of Carthage lived about this time Origen preacheth in Caesarea Demetrius Bishop of Alexandria and Theoctistus of Caesarea disagree about it 230. Origen made a Presbyter by Theoctistus B. of Caesarea and Alexander B. of Hierusalem 232. Origen Excommunicated by Demetrius 233. Heraclas Origen's Successor in the Schools of Alexandria is made the Bishop of that City 240. Donatus Successor of Agrippinus in the See of Carthage 248. Dionysius who before succeeded Heraclas in the Professorship of Alexandria doth now succeed him in his See 250. Cyprian a right godly man succeeds Donatus in the Church of Carthage 253. Cyprian by reason of the Persecution retires awhile Fabius succeedeth Babilas in the See of Antioch 254. A faction raised against Saint Cyprian by Felicissimus and his Associates Cornelius chosen Pope of Rome in the place of Fabian Novatianus makes a Schism in the Church of Rome causing himself to be ordained B. of the same Cyprian returns again to Carthage 255. Several Councils held against the Schism and Heresie of the Novatians 256. The death of Origen 257. The memorable case of Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of the Church of Carthage 261. Cyprian and divers other Bishops Martyred Lucian succeeding Cyprian in the See of Carthage Dyonisius chosen Pope of Rome who caused Parishes to be set forth in Country Villages 266. The first Council of Antioch against Samosatenus 272. Paulus Samosatenus the sixteenth Bishop of Antioch deposed for his Heresie by the Council there and Doninus chosen in his place Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria dieth and Maximus succeedeth in that See The Bishops of Italy and Rome made Judges in the case of Paulus by the Emperor Aurelianus 277. The Manichean Heresie now first made known and the impiety thereof confuted by several Bishops Felix succeedeth Dionysius in the See of Rome Doninus Bishop of Antioch dieth and Timaeus succeedeth in that charge 283. Cyrillus Successor unto Timaeus 285. Theonus succeedeth Maximus in the Church of Alexandria 296. Zamdas succeedeth Hymenaeus in Hierusalem Marcellinus the third from Felix succeeds Eutychianus in the See of Rome 298. Tyrannus succeedeth Cyril in the Church of Antioch being the twentieth Bishop of this See and the last of this Age. 299. Hermon succeedeth Zamdas in the Church of Hierusalem the thirty-ninth Bishop of the same and the last of this Century 300. Petrus succeeds Theonus in the See of Alexandria the seventeenth Bishop of that Church 302. the Persecution raised by Dioclesian growes unto the height The grievous lapse of Marcellinus Pope of Rome 303. The Council held at Sinuessa by the Western Bishops for the condemnation of Marcellinus Mensurius Bishop of Carthage the Successor of Lucianus at this time flourisheth 304. Marcellinus honoured with the crown of Martyrdom leaveth Marcellus his Successor who was the twenty-ninth Bishop of this Church reckoning from S. Peter 305. The Council of Eliberis assembled by the Spanish Prelates 306. Constantine most worthily surnamed the Great attaineth the Empire setleth the Church of Christ in peace safety and honour on the Clergie The end of the Second Part. FINIS THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH IN TWO BOOKS By PETER HEYLYN D. D. DEUT. xxxii 7. Remember the days of old consider the years of many Generations ask thy Father and he will shew thee thy Elders and they will tell thee LONDON Printed by M. Clark to be sold by C. Harper 1681. TO THE MOST HIGH and MIGHTY Prince Charles By the Grace of God KING of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. Most Dread Soveraign YOVR Majesties most Christian care to suppress those rigours which some in maintenance of their Sabbath-Doctrines had pressed upon this Church in these latter days justly deserves to be recorded amongst the principal Monuments of your Zeal and Piety Of the two great and publick Enemies of Gods holy Worship although Prophaneness in it self be the more offensive yet Superstition is more spreading and more quick of growth In such a Church as this so setled in a constant practice of Religious Offices and so confirmed by godly Canons for the performance of the same there was no fear that ever the Lords Day the day appointed by Gods Church for his publick Service would have been over-run by the Prophane neglect of any pious duties on that day required Rather the danger was lest by the violent torrent of some mens affections it might have been o're-flown by those Superstitions wherewith in imitation of the Jews they began to charge it and thereby made it far more burdensome to their Christian Brethren than was the Sabbath to the Israelites by the Law of MOSES Nor know we where they would have staid had not your Majesty been pleased out of a tender care of the Churches safety to give a check to their proceedings in Licencing on that day those Lawful Pastimes which some without Authority from Gods Word or from the practice of Gods Church had of late restrained Yet so it is your Majesties most Pious and most Christian purpose hath not found answerable entertainment especially amongst those men who have so long dreamt of a Sabbath
day that now they will not be persuaded that it is a Dream For the awakening of the which and their reduction to more sound and sensible Counsels next to my duty to Gods Church and your Sacred Majesty have I applied my self to compose this Story wherein I doubt not but to shew them how much they have deceived both themselves and others in making the old Jewish Sabbath of equal age and observation with the Law of Nature and preaching their new Sabbath-Doctrines in the Church of Christ with which the Church hath no acquaintance wherein I doubt not but to shew them that by their obstinate resolution not to make Publication of your Majesties pleasure they tacitely condemn not only all the Fathers of the Primitive times the Learned Writers of all Ages many most godly Kings and Princes of the former days and not few Councils of chief note and of faith unquestionable but even all states of Men Nations and Churches at this present whom they most esteem This makes your Majesties interest so particular in this present History that were I not obliged unto your Majesty in any nearer bond than that of every common Subject it could not be devoted unto any other with so just propriety But being it is the work of your Majesties Servant and in part fashioned at those times which by your Majesties leave were borrowed from Attendance on your Sacred Person your Majesty hath also all the rights unto it of a Lord and Master Institut l. 1. tit 8. §. 1. So that according to that Maxim of the Civil Laws Quodcunque per servum acquiritur id domino acquirit suo your Majesty hath as absolute power to dispose thereof as of the Author who is Dread Soveraign Your Majesties most Obedient Subject and most faithful Servant PET. HEYLYN A PREFACE To them who being themselves mistaken have misguided others in these new Doctrines of the Sabbath NOT out of any humour or desire of being in action or that I love to have my hands in any of those publick quarrels wherewith our peace hath been disturbed but that Posterity might not say we have been wanting for our parts to your information and the direction of Gods People in the ways of truth have I adventured on this Story A Story which shall represent unto you the constant practice of Gods Church in the present business from the Creation to these days that so you may the better see how you are gone astray from the paths of Truth and tendries of Antiquity and from the present judgment of all Men and Churches The Arguments whereto you trust and upon seeming strength whereof you have been emboldned to press these Sabbatarian Doctrins upon the Consciences of poor people I purpose not to meddle with in this Discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They have been elsewhere throughly canvassed and all those seeming strengths beat down by which you were your selves misguided and by the which you have since wrought on the affections of unlearned men or such at least that judged not of them by their weight but by their numbers But where you give it out as in matter of fact how that the Sabbath was ordained by God in Paradise and kept accordingly by all the Patriarchs before Moses time or otherwise ingraft by Nature in the soul of man and so in use also amongst the Gentiles In that I have adventured to let men see that you are very much mistaken and tell us things directly contrary unto truth of Story Next where it is the ground-work of all your building that the Commandment of the Sabbath is Moral Natural and Perpetual as punctually to be observed as any other of the first or second Table I doubt not but it will appear by this following History that it was never so esteemed of by the Jews themselves no not when as the observation of the same was most severely pressed upon them by the Law and Prophets nor when the day was made most burdensome unto them by the Scribes and Pharisees Lastly whereas you make the Lords day to be an institution of our Saviour Christ confirmed by the continual usage of the holy Apostles and both by him and them imposed as a perpetual Ordinance on the Christian Church making your selves believe that so it was observed in the times before as you have taught us to observe it in these latter days I have made manifest to the world that there is no such matter to be found at all either in any writings of the Apostles or monument of true Antiquity or in the practice of the middle or the present Churches What said I of the present Churches So I said indeed and doubt not but it will appear so in this following Story The present Churches all of them both Greek and Latin together with the Protestants of what name soever being far different both in their Doctrine and their practice from these new conceptions And here I cannot chuse but note that whereas those who first did set on foot these Doctrines in all their other practices to subvert this Church did bear themselves continually on the Authority of Calvin and the example of those Churches which came most near unto the Plat-form of Geneva In these their Sabbath-speculations they had not only none to follow but they found Calvin and Geneva and those other Churches directly contrary unto them However in all other matters they cryed up Calvin and his Writings Hooker in his Preface making his Books the very Canon to which both Discipline and Doctrine was to be confirmed yet hic magister non tenetur here by his leave they would forsake him and leave him fairly to himself that they themselves might have the glory of a new invention For you my Brethren and beloved in our Lord and Saviour as I do willingly believe that you have entertain'd these Tenets upon mis-persuasion not out of any ill intentions to the Church your Mother and that it is an errour in your judgments only not of your affections So upon that belief have I spared no pains as much as in me is to remove that errour and rectifie what is amiss in your opinion I hope you are not of those men Quos non persuadebis etiamsi persuaseris who either hate to be reformed or have so far espoused a quarrel that neither truth nor reason can divorce them from it Nor would I gladly you should be of their resolutions Qui volunt id verum esse quod credunt nolunt id credere quod verum est who are more apt to think all true which themselves believe than be persuaded to believe such things as are true indeed In confidence whereof as I was first induced to compose this History so in continuance of those hopes I have presumed to address it to you to tender it to your perusal and to submit it to your censure That if you are not better furnished you may learn from hence that you have trusted
sake of Jesus Christ to lay aside all prejudice which possibly you may be possessed withal either in reference to the Argument or unto the Author and to peruse this following Story with as much singleness of heart and desire of truth and invocation of Gods Spirit to find out the same as was by me used in the writing of it It is your welfare which I aim at as before was said your restitution to your functions and reconciliation to the Church from which you are at point of falling that we with you and you with us laying aside those jealousies and distrusts which commonly attend on divided minds may joyn our hearts and hands together for the advancement of Gods honour and the Churches peace And God even our own God shall give us his blessing For others which shall read this Story whether by you misguided or yet left emire I do desire them to take notice that there is none so much a stranger to good Arts and Learning whom in this case and kind of writing I dare not trust with the full cognizance of the cause herein related In points of Law when as the matter seems to be above the wit of common persons or otherwise is so involved and intricate that there hath been no Precedent thereof in former times it is put off to a demurrer and argued by my Lords the Judges with their best maturity of deliberation But in a matter of fact we put our selves upon an ordinary Jury not doubting if the evidence prove fair the Witnesses of faith unquestioned and the Records without suspition of imposture but they will do their Conscience and find for Plaintiff or Defendant as the cause appears So in the business now in hand that part thereof which consists most of Argument and strength of Disputation in the examining of those reasons which Pro or Con have been alledged are by me left to be discussed and weighed by them who either by their place are called or by their Learning are inabled to so great a business But for the point of practice which is matter of fact how long it was before the Sabbath was commanded and how it was observed being once commanded how the Lords day hath stood in the Christian Church by what Authority first instituted in what kind regarded these things are offered to the judgment and consideration of the meanest Reader No man that is to be returned on the present Jury but may be able to give up his Verdict touching the title now in question unless he come with passion and so will not hear or else with prejudice and so will not value the evidence which is produced for his information For my part I shall deal ingenuously as the cause requires as of sworn counsel to the truth not using any of the mysteries or arts of pleading but as the holy Fathers of the Church the learned Writers of all Ages the most renowned Divines of these latter times and finally as the publick Monuments and Records of most Nations christned have furnished me in this enquiry What these or any of them have herein either said or done or otherwise left upon the Register for our direction I shall lay down in order in their several times either the times in which they lived or whereof they writ that so we may the better see the whole succession both of the doctrine and the practice of Gods Church in the present business And this with all integrity and sincere proceeding not making use of any Author who hath been probably suspected of fraud or forgery nor dealing otherwise in this search than as becomes a man who aims at nothing more than Gods publick service and the conducting of Gods People in the ways of truth This is the sum of what I had to say in this present Preface beseeching God the God of truth yea the truth it self to give us a right understanding and a good will to do thereafter THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH BOOK I. From the Creation of the World to the destruction of the Temple CHAP. I. That the SABBATH was not instituted in the Beginning of the World 1. The entrance to the Work in hand 2. That those words Genes 2. And God blessed the seventh day c. are there delivered as by way of anticipation 3. Anticipations in the Scripture confessed by them who deny it here 4. Anticipations of the same nature not strange in Scripture 5. No Law imposed by God on Adam touching the keeping of the Sabbath 6. The Sabbath not ingraft by Nature in the soul of man 7. The greatest Advocates for the Sabbath deny it to be any part of the Law of Nature 8. Of the morality and perfection supposed to be in the number of seven by some learned men 9. That other numbers in the confession of the same learned men particularly the first third and fourth are both as moral and as perfect as the seventh 10. The like is proved of the sixth eighth and tenth and of other numbers 11. The Scripture not more favourable to the number of seven than it is to others 12. Great caution to be used by those who love to recreate themselves in the mysteries of numbers I Purpose by the grace of God to write an History of the Sabbath and to make known what practically hath been done therein by the Church of God in all Ages past from the Creation till this present Primaque ab origine mundi ad mea perpetuum deducere tempora carmen One day as David tells us teacheth another Nor can we have a better Schoolmaster in the things of God than the continual and most constant practice of those famous men that have gone before us An undertaking of great difficulty but of greater profit In which I will crave leave to say as doth St. Austin in the entrance to his Books de Civitate Lib. 1. c. â— Magnum opus arduum sed Deus est adjutor noster Therefore most humbly begging the assistance of Gods holy Spirit to guide me in the way of truth I shall apply my self to so great a work beginning with the first Beginnings and so continuing my Discourse successively unto these times wherein we live In which no accident of note as far as I can discern shall pass unobserved which may conduce to the discovery of the truth and seâ—ling of the minds of men in a point so controverted On therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the present business Gen. 2. In the beginning saith the Text God created the Heaven and the Earth Which being finished and all the hosts of them made perfect on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made And then it followeth And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made Unto this passage of the Text and this
of Abraham and his Posterity Which is no more than what we shall see shortly out of Eusebius Hospinian next De festis 1. cap. 3. who though he fain would have the sanctifying of the Sabbath to be as old as the beginning of the world yet he confesseth at the last Patres idcirco Sabbatum observasse ante legem that for all that it cannot be made good by the Word of God that any of the Fathers did observe it before the Law These two I have the rather cited because they have been often vouched in the publick controversie as men that wished well to the cause and say somewhat in it We are now come unto particulars And first we must begin with the first man Adam The time of his Creation as the Scriptures tell us the sixth day of the week being as Scaliger conjectured in the first Edition of his work Emend temp l. 5. the three and twentieth day of April and so the first Sabbath Sabbatum primum so he calls it was the four and twentieth Doctrina temp l. 4. c. 6. Petavius by his computation makes the first Sabbath to be the first day of November and Scaliger in his last Edition the five and twentieth of October more near to one another than before they were Yet saith not Scaliger that that primum Sabbatum had any reference to Adam though first he left it so at large that probably some might so conceive it for in his later thoughts he declares his meaning to be this Sabbatum primum in quo Deus requievit ab opere Hexaemeri Indeed the Chaldee paraphrase seems to affirm of Adam that he kept the Sabbath For where the 92 Psalm doth bear this title A Song or Psalm for the Sabbath day the Authors of that Paraphrase do expound it thus Laus Canticum quod dixit homo primus pro die Sabbati the Song or Psalm which Adam said for the Sabbath day Somewhat more wary in this point was Rabbi Kimchi who tells us how that Adam was created upon Friday about three of the Clock fell at eleven was censured and driven out of Paradise at twelve that all the residue of that day and the following night he bemoaned his miseries was taken into grace next morning being Sabbath day and taking then into consideration all the works of God brake out into such words as those although not the same A tale that hath as much foundation as that narration of Zanchy before remembred Who though he seem to put the matter out of doubt with his three non dubito's that Christ himself did sanctifie the first Sabbath with our Father Adam and did command him ever after to observe that day yet in another place he makes it only a matter of probability In 4. Mandatum that the commandment of the Sabbath was given at all to our first Parents Quomodo autem sanctificavit Non solum decreto voluntate sed reipsa quia illum diem ut non pauci volunt probabile est mandavit primis parentibus sanctificandum So easily doth he overthrow his former structure But to return unto the Rabbins and this dream of theirs besides the strangeness of the thing that Adam should continue not above eight hours in Paradise and yet give names to all the â—â—atures fall into such an heavy sleep and have the Woman taken out of him that the must be instructed tempted and that both must sin and both must suffer in so short a time Besides all this the Christian Fathers are express that Adam never kept the Sabbath Justin the Martyr in his Dialogue with Trypho a learned Jew makes Adam one of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which being neither circumcised nor keeping any Sabbath Adv. Judaeos were yet accepted by the Lord. And so Tertullian in a Treatise written against the Jews affirms of Adam quod nec circumcisum nec sabbatizantem Deus eum instituerit Nay which is more he makes a challenge to the Jews to prove unto him if they could that Adam ever kept the Sabbath Doceant Adamum sabbatizasse as he there hath it Which doubtless neither of them would have done considering with whom the one disputed and against whom the other wrote had they not been very well assured of what they said The like may be affirmed both of Eusebius and Epiphanius De Praepar Evang l. 7. c. 8. and most learned Fathers Whereof the first maintaining positively that the Sabbath was first given by Moses makes Adam one of those which neither troubled himself with Circumcision 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor any of the Law of Moses Adv. haereses l. 1. n. 5. The other reckoneth him amongst those also who lived according to that faith which when he wrote was generally received in the Christian Church Therefore no Sabbath kept by our Father Adam But whatsoever Adam did Abel I hope was more observant of this duty Thus some have said indeed but on no authority It is true the Scriptures tell us that he offered Sacrifice but yet the Scriptures do not tell us that in his Sacrifices he had more regard unto the seventh day than to any other To offer Sacrifice he might learn of Adam or of natural reason which doth sufficiently instruct us that we ought all to make some publick testimony of our subjection to the Lord. But neither Adam did observe the Sabbath nor could Nature teach it as before is shewn And howsoever some Modern Writers have conjectured and conjectured only that Abel in his Sacrifices might have respect unto the Sabbath yet those whom we may better trust have affirm'd the contrary For Justin Martyr disputing against Trypho brings Abel in for an example that neither Circumcision nor the Sabbath the two great glories of the Jews were to be counted necessary For if they were saith he God had not had so much regard to Abels Sacrifice being as he was uncircumcised and then he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that though he was no Sabbath-keeper yet was he acceptable unto God Adv. Judaeos And so Tertullian that God accepted of his Sacrifice though he were neither circumcised nor kept the Sabbath Abelem offerentem sacrificia incircumcisum neque sabbatizantem laudavit Deus accepta ferens quae in simplicitate cordis offerebat Yea and he brings him also into his challenge Doceant Abel hostiam Deo sanctam offerentem Sabbati religionem placuisse which is directly contrary to that which is conjectured by some Modern Writers Adv. haeres l. 1. n. 5. So Epiphanius also makes him one of those who lived according to the tendries of the Christian Faith The like he also saith of Seth whom God raised up instead of Abel to our Father Adam Therefore no Sabbath kept by either It is conceived of Abel that he was killed in the one hundred and thirtieth year of the Worlds Creation
and to make ready for the Sabbath That done they take no work in hand Only the Women when the Sun is near its setting light up their Sabbath-lamps in their dining rooms and stretching out their hands towards them give them their Blessing and depart To morrow they begin their Sabbath very early and for entrance thereunto array themselves in their best Cloaths and their richest Jewels it being the conceit of Rabby Solomon that the Memento in the front of the fourth Commandment was placed there especially to put the Jews in mind of their Holiday Garments Nay so precise they are in these Preparations and the following Rest that if a Jew go forth on Friday and on the night falls short of home more than is lawful to be travelled on the Sabbath day there must he set him down and there keep his Sabbath though in a Wood or in the Field or the High-way side without all fear of wind or weather of Thieves or Robbers without all care also of Meat and Drink Periculo latronum praedonumque omui penuria item omni cibi potusque neglectis as that Authour hath it For their behaviour on the Sabbath and the strange niceties wherewith they abuse themselves he describes it thus Equus aut asinus Domini ipsius stabulo exiens Id. cap. 11. froenum aut capistrum non aliud quicquam portabit c. An Horse may have a Bridle or an Halter to lead not a Saddle to load him and he that leadeth him must not let it hang so loose that it may seem he rather carrieth the Bridle than leads the Horse An Hen must not wear her Hose sowed about her Leg They may not milk their Kine nor eat any of the milk though they have procured some Christian to do that work unless they buy it A Taylor may not wear his Needle sticking on his sleeve The lame may use a staff but the blind may not They may not burthen themselves with Cloggs or Pattens to keep their feet out of the dirt nor rub their Shoos if foul against the ground but against a wall nor wipe their dirty Hands with a Cloth or Towel but with a Cows or Horses tail they may do it lawfully A wounded Man may wear a Plaster on his sore that formerly was applyed unto it but if it fall off he may not lay it on anew or bind up any wound that day nor carry money in their Purses or about their Clothes They may not carry a Fan or flap to drive away the Flies If a Flea bite they may remove it but not kill it but a Lowse they may yet Rabbi Eliezer thinks one may as lawfully kill a Camel They must not fling more Corn unto their Poultry than will serve that day lest it may grow by lying still and they be said to sow their Corn upon the Sabbath To whistle a tune with ones Mouth or play it on an Instrument is unlawful utterly as also to knock with the ring or hammer of a Door or knock ones hand upon a Table though it be only to still a Child So likewise to draw Letters either in dust or ashes or on a wet Board is prohibited but not to fancy them in the Air. With many other infinite absurdities of the like poor nature wherewith the Rabbins have been pleased to afflict their Brethren and make good sport to all the World which are not either Jews or Jewishly affected Nay to despite our Saviour as Buxdorfius tells us they have determined since that it is unlawful to life the Ox or Ass out of the Ditch which in the strictest time of the Pharisaical rigours was accounted lawful Indeed the marvel is the less that they are so uncharitable to poor Brute creatures when as they take such little pitty upon themselves Crantzius reports a story of a Jew of Magdeburg who falling on a Saturday into a Privy would not be taken out because it was the Sabbath day and that the Bishop gave command that there he should continue on the Sunday also so that between both the poor Jew was poisoned with the very stink The like our Annals do relate of a Jew of Tewkesbury whose story being cast into three riming Verses according to the Poetry of those times I have here presented and translated Dialogue-wise as they first made it Tende manus Solomon ut te de stercore tollam Sabbata nostra colo de stercore surgere nolo Sabbata nostra quidem Solomon celebrabis ibidem Friend Solomon thy Hands up-rear And from the Jakes I will thee bear Our Sabbath I so highly prize That from the place I will not rise Then Solomon without more adoe Our Sabbath thou shalt keep there too For the continuance of their Sabbath as they begin it early on the day before so they prolong it on the day till late at night And this they do in pity to the souls in Hell who all the while the Sabbath lasteth have free leave to play For as they tell us silly wretches upon the Eve before the Sabbath it is proclaimed in the Hall that every one may go his way and take his pleasure and when the Sabbath is concluded they are recalled again to the house of Torments I am ashamed to meddle longer in these trifles these Dreams and dotages of infatuated men given over to a reprobate sense Nor had I stood so long upon them but that in this Anatomy of the Jewish follies I might let some amongst us see into what dangers they are falling For there are some indeed too many who taking his for granted which they cannot prove that the Lords Day succeeds into the place and rights of the Jewish sabbath and is to be observed by vertue of the fourth Commandment have trenched too near upon the Rabbins in binding men to nice and scrupulous observances which neither we nor our Fore-fathers were ever able to endure But with what warrant they have made a sabbath day in the Christian Church where there was never any known in all times before or upon what Authority they have presumed to lay heavy Burthens upon the Consciences of poor men which are free in Christ we shall the better see by tracing down the story from our Saviours time unto the times in which we live But I will here sit down and rest beseeching God who enabled me thus far to guide me onwards to the end Tu qui principio medium medio adjice finem THE HISTORY OF THE SABBATH The Second BOOK From the first preaching of the Gospel to these present Times By PETER HEYLYN D.D. COLOSS. ii 16 17. Let no man judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moon or of the SABBATH Days which are a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ LONDON Printed by M. Clark to be sold by C. Harper 1681. To the Christian Reader AND such I hope to meet with in this Part especially which treating
on another Sabbath that in the Synagogue he beheld a man with a withered hand and called him forth and made him come into the midst and stretch out his hand and then restored it Hereupon Athanasius notes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Christ reserved his greatest miracles for the Sabbath day and that he bade the man stand forth in defiance as it were of all their malice and informing humour His healing of the Woman which had been crooked 18. years and of the man that had the Dropsie one in the Synagogue the other in the house of a principal Pharisee Joh. 9. are proof sufficient that he feared not their accufations But that great cure he wrought on him that was born blind is most remarkable to this purpose First in relation to our Saviour who had before healed others with his Word alone but here he spit upon the ground and made clay thereof and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay L. 1. Haeres 30. n. 32. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to mould clay and make a Plaister was questionless a work so saith Epiphanius Next in relation to the Patient whom he commanded to go into the Pool of Siloam and then wash himself which certainly could not be done without bodily labour These words and actions of our Saviour at before we said gave the first hint to his Disciples for the abolishing of the Sabbath amongst other Ceremonies which were to have an end with our Saviours sufferings to be nailed with him to his Cross and buried with him in his Grave for ever Now where it was objected in S. Austins time why Christians did not keep the Sabbath since Christ affirms it of himself that he came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it Cont. Faust l. 19. c. 9. the Father thereto makes reply that therefore they observed it not Quia quod ea figura profitebatur jam Christus implevit because our Saviour had fulfilled whatever was intended in that Law by calling us to a spiritual rest in his own great mercy For as it is most truly said by Epiphanius Lib. 1 haer 30. n. 32. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He was the great and everlasting Sabbath whereof the less and temporal Sabbath was a type and figure which had continued till his coming by him commanded in the Law in him destroyed and yet by him fulfilled in the holy Gospel So Epiphanius Neither did he or his Disciples ordain another Sabbath in the place of this as if they had intended only to shift the day and to transfer this honour to some other time Their doctrine and their practice are directly contrary to so new a fancy It 's true that in some tract of time the Church in honour of his Resurrection did set apart that day on the which he rose to holy exercises but this upon their own authority and without warrant from above that we can hear of more than the general warrant which God gave his Church that all things in it be done decently and in comely order This is that which is told us by Athanasius Hom. de Semente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we honour the Lords day for the Resurrection So Maximus Taurinensis Dominicum diem ideo solennem esse Hom. 3. de Pentecost quia in eo salvatur velut sol oriens discussis infernorum tenebris luce resurrectionis emicuerit That the Lords day is therefore solemnly observed because thereon our Saviour like the rising Sun dispelled the clouds of hellish darkness by the light of his most glorious Resurrection The like S. Austin Dies Dominicus Christianis resurrectione Domini declaratus est â—p 119. ex illo cepit habere fostivitatem suam The Lords day was made known saith he unto us Christians by the Resurrection and from that began to be accounted holy See the like lib. 22. de Civit. Dei c. 30. serm 15. de Verbis Apostoli But then it is withal to be observed that this was only done on the authority of the Church and not by any precept of our Lord and Saviour or any one of his Apostles And first besides that there is no such precept extant at all in holy Scripture Socrates hath affirmed it in the general 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Li. 5. c. 22. c. that the designs of the Apostles were not to busie themselves in prescribing Festival days but to instruct the People in the ways of godliness Now lest it should be said that Socrates being a Novatian was a profest Enemy to all the orders of the Church we have the same almost verbatim in Nicephorus li. 12. cap. 32. of his Ecclesiastical History De Sabb. Circumcis S. Athanasius saith as much for the particular of the Lords day that it was taken up by a voluntary usage in the Church of God without any commandment from above 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. As saith the Father it was commanded at the first that the Sabbath day should be observed in memory of the accomplishment of the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so do we celebrate the Lords day as a memorial of the beginning of a new Creation Where note the difference here delivered by that Reverend Prelate Of the Jews Sabbath it is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it was commanded to be kept but of the Lords day there is no Commandment only a positive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an honour voluntarily afforded it by consent of men Therefore whereas we find it in the Homily entituled De Semente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Christ transferred the Sabbath to the Lords day this must be understood not as if done by his commandment but on his occasion the Resurrection of our Lord upon that day being the principal motive which did induce his Church to make choice thereof for the assemblies of the People For otherwise it would plainly cross what formerly had been said by Athanasius in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not him only but the whole cloud of Witnesses all the Catholick Fathers in whom there is not any word which reflects that way but much in affirmation of the contrary For besides what is said before and elsewhere shall be said in its proper place The Council held at Paris An. 829. ascribes the keeping of the Lords Day at most to Apostolical tradition confirmed by the authority of the Church For so the Council Cap. 50. Christianorum religiosae devotionis quae ut creditur Apostolorum traditione immo Ecclesiae autoritate descendit mos inolevit ut Dominicum diem ob Dominicae resurrectionis memoriam honorabiliter colat And last of all Tostatus puts this difference between the Festivals that were to be observed in the Jewish Church in novo nulla festivitas à Christo legislatore determinata est sed in Ecclesia Praelati ista statuunt but in the new there were no Festivals at all prescribed by Christ as
met together for religious exercises Which their religious exercises when they were performed or if the times were such that their Assemblies were prohibited and so none were performed at all it was not held unlawful to apply themselves unto their ordinary labours as we shall see anon in the following Ages For whereas some have gathered from this Text of the Revelation from S. John's being in the spirit on the Lords day as the phrase there is that the Lords day is wholly to be spent in spiritual exercises that their conceit might probably have had some shew of likelihood had it been said by the Apostle that he had been in the spirit every Lords day But being as it is a particular case it can make no rule unless it be that every man on the Lords day should have Dreams and Visions and be inspired that day with the spirit of Prophecy no more than if it had been told us upon what day Saint Paul had been rapt up into the third Heaven every man should upon that day expect the like Celestial raptures Add here how it is thought by some â—â—omarus de â— abbat c. 6. that the Lords day here mentioned is not to be interpreted of the first day of the week as we use to take it but of the day of his last coming of the day of judgment wherein all flesh shall come together to receive their sentence which being called the Lords day too in holy Scripture that so the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord 1 Cor. 5.5 S. John might see it being rapt in spirit as if come already But touching this we will not meddle let them that own it look unto it the rather since S. John hath generally been expounded in the other sence by Aretas and Andreas Caesariensis upon the place by Bede de rat temp c. 6. and by the suffrage of the Church the best expositor of Gods Word wherein this day hath constantly since the time of that Apostle been honoured with that name above other days Which day how it was afterwards observed and how far different it was thought from a Sabbath day the prosecution of this story will make clear and evident CHAP. II. In what estate the Lords day stood from the death of the Apostles to the reign of Constantine 1. Touching the orders setled by the Apostles for the Congregation 2. The Lords day and the Saturday both Festivals and both alike observed in the East in Ignatius time 3. The Saturday not without great difficulty made a Fasting day 4. The Controversie about keeping Easter and how much it conduceth to the present business 5. The Feast of Easter not affixed to the Lords day without much opposition of the Eastern Churches 6. What Justin Martyr and Dionysius of Corinth have left us of the Lords day Clements of Alexandria his dislike thereof 7. Vpon what grounds the Christians of the former times used to pray standing on the Lords day and the time of Penteco st 8. What is recorded by Tertullian of the Lords day and the Assemblies of the Church 9. Origen as his Master Clemens had done before dislikes set days for the Assembly 10. S. Cyprian what he tells us of the Lords day and of the reading of the Scriptures in S. Cyprians time 11. Of other holy days established in these three first Ages and that they were observed as solemnly as the Lords day was 12. The name of Sunday often used for the Lords day by the primitive Christians but the Sabbath never WE she wed you in the former Chapter whatever doth occur in the Acts and Monuments of the Apostles touching the Lords day and the Sabbath how that the one of them was abrogated as a part of the Law of Moses the other rising by degrees from the ruins of it not by Authority divine for ought appears but by Authority of the Church As for the duties of that day they were most likely such as formerly had been used in the Jewish Synagogues reading the Law and Prophets openly to the Congregation and afterwards expounding part thereof as occasion was calling upon the Lord their God for the continuance of his mercies and singing Psalms and Hymns unto him as by way of thankfulness These the Apostles found in the Jewish Church and well approving of the same as they could not otherwise commended them unto the care of the Disciples by them to be observed as often as they met together on what day soever First for the reading of the Law In Jos hom 15. Origen saith expresly that it was ordered so by the Apostles Judaicarum historiarum libri traditi sunt ab Apostolis legendi in Ecclesiis as he there informs us To this was joyned in tract of time the reading of the holy Gospel and other Evangelical writings it being ordered by S. Peter that S. Marks Gospel should be read in the Congregation HIst l. 2.15 1 Thes ca. ult v. 17. as Eusebius tells us and by S. Paul that his Epistle to the Thessalonians should be read unto all the holy Brethren and also that to the Colossians to be read in the Church of the Laodiceans as that from Laodicea in the Church of the Colossians By which example Ca. ult v. 16. not only all the writings of the Apostles but many of the writings of Apostolical men were publickly read unto the People and for that purpose one appointed to exercise the ministry of a Reader in the Congregation So antient is the reading of the Scriptures in the Church of God To this by way of comment or application was added as we find by S. Paul's directions the use of Prophesie or Preaching 1 Cor. 14. v. 3. interpretation of the Scriptures to edifying and to exhortation and to comfort This exercise to be performed with the head uncovered as well the Preacher as the hearer 1 Cor. 11.4 Every man Praying or Prophesying with his head covered dishonoureth his head as the Apostle hath informed us Where we have publick Prayers also for the Congregation the Priest to offer to the Lord the prayers and supplications of the People and they to say Amen unto those prayers which the Priest made for them These to contein in them all things necessary for the Church of God which are the subject of all supplications prayers intercessions 1 Tim. 2. and giving of thanks and to extend to all men also especially unto Kings and such as be in Authority that under them we may be godly and quietly governed leading a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty For the performance of which last duties with the greater comfort it was disposed that Psalms and Hymns should be intermingled with the rest of the publick service which comprehending whatsoever is most excellent in the Book of God and being so many notable forms of praise and prayer were chearfully and unanimously to be sung amongst them 1 Cor. 14.26 And thereupon S. Paul reprehended
the Scriptures only were in those times read publickly in the Congregation but the Epistles and discourses of such Learned men as had been eminent for place and piety as in the after-times on defect of Sermons it was the custom of the Church to read the Homilies of the Fathers for their edification Conciliorum Tom. 2. Concerning which it was ordained in a Council at Vaux Anno 444. that if the Priest were sick or otherwise infirm so that he could not preach himself the Deacons should rehearse some Homily of the holy Fathers Si presbyter aliqua infirmitate prohibente per seipsum non potuerit praedicare sanctorum Patrum homiliae à Diaconibus recitentur so the Council ordered it The third and last Writer of this Century which gives us any thing of the Lords day Strom. l. 7. is Clemens Alexandrinus he flourished in the year 190. who though he fetch the pedegree of the Lords day even as far as Plato which before we noted yet he seems well enough contented that the Lords day should not be observed at all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We ought saith he to honour and to reverence him whom we are verily persuaded to be the Word our Saviour and our Captain and in him the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not in selected times as some do amongst us but always during our whole lives and on all occasions The Royal Prophet tells us that he preaised God seven times a day Whence he that understands himself stands not upon determinate places or appointed Temples 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 much less on any Festivals or days assigned but in all places honours God though he be alone And a little after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. making our whole lives a continual Festival and knowing God to be every where we praise him sometimes in the fields and sometimes sailing on the Seas and finally in all the times of our life whatever So in another place of the self-same Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He that doth lead his life according to the Ordinances of the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then keeps the Lords day when he casts away every evil thought and doing things with knowledge and understanding doth glorifie the Lord in his Resurrection By which it seems that whatsoever estimation the Lords day had attained unto at Rome and Corinth yet either it was not so much esteemed at Alexandria or else this Clemens did not think so rightly of it as he should have done Now in the place of Justin Martyr before remembred there is one special circumstance to be considered in reference to our present search for I say nothing here of mingling water with the Wine in the holy Sacrament as not conducing to the business which we have in hand This is that in their Sundays service they did use to stand during the time they made their Prayers unto the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as his words there are Such was the custom of this time and a long time after that though they kneeled on other days yet on the Lords day they prayed always standing Yet not upon the Lords day only but every day from Easter unto Pentecost The reason is thus given by him who made the Responsions ascribed to Justin That so saith he we might take notice as of our fall by sin so of our restitution by the grace of Christ Resp ad qu. 105. Six days we pray upon our knees and that 's in token of our fall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But on the Lords day we bow not the knee in token of the Resurrection by which according to the Grace of Christ we are set free from sin and the powers of death The like saith he is to be said of the days of Pentecost which custom as he tells us and cites Irenaeus for his Author did take beginning even in the times of the Apostles Rather we may conceive that they used this Ceremony to testifie their faith in the Refurrection of our Lord and Saviour which many Hereticks of those times did publickly gain-say as before we noted and shall speak more thereof hereafter But whatsoever was the reason it continued long and was confirm'd particularly by the great Synod of Nice what time some People had begun to neglect this custom The Synod therefore thus determined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that forasmuch as some did use to kneel on the Lords day Can. 20. and the time of Pentecost that all things in all places might be done with an uniformity it pleased the holy Synod to decree it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that men should stand at those times when they made their prayers For Fathers which avow this custom consult Tertullian lib. de corona mil. S. Basil l. de Sp. S. c. 27. S. Hierom. adv Luciferian S. Austin Epist 118. S. Hilaries Praefat. in Psalm Ambros Serm. 62. and divers others What time this custom was laid by I can hardly say but sure I am it was not laid aside in a long time after not till the time of Pope Alexander the third who lived about the year 1160. Decret l. 2. tit 9. c. 2. For in a Decretal of his confirmatory of the former custom it was prohibited to kneel on the times remembred Nisi aliquis ex devotioned id velit facere in secreto unless some out of pure devotion did it secretly Which dispensation probably occasioned the neglect thereof in the times succeeding the rather since those Hereticks who formerly had denied the resurrection were now quite exterminated This circumstance we have considered the more at large as being the most especial difference whereby the Sundays service was distinguished from the week-days worship in these present times whereof we write And yet the difference was not such that it was proper to the Lords day only but if it were a badge of honour communicated unto more than forty other days Of which more anon But being it was an Ecclesiastical and occasional custom the Church which first ordained it let it fall again by the same Authority In the third Century the first we meet with is Tertullian who flourished in the very first beginnings of it by whom this day is called by three several names For first he calls it Dies solis Sunday as commonly we now call it and saith that they did dedicate the same unto mirth and gladness not to devotion altogether Diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Cap. 16. in his Apologetick The same name is used by Justin Martyr in the passages before remembred partly because being to write to an Heathen Magistrate it had not been so proper to call it by the name of the Lords day which name they knew not and partly that delivering the form and substance of their service done upon that day they might the better quit themselves from being worshippers of the Sun as the Gentiles thought For by their meetings on this
And then the reason of this follows Ne occasione momenti pereat commoditas coelesti provisione concessa This Edict did bear date in the Nones of March Anno 321 being the 11. year of that Princes Empire and long it did not stand till he himself was fain to explain his meaning in the first part of it Fr whereas he intended only to restrain Lawsuits and contentious pleadings as being unfit for such a day his Judges and like Officers finding a general restraint in the Law or Edict durst not ingage themselves in the cognizance of any civil Cause whatever no not so much as in the Manumission of a Bondslave This coming to the Emperours notice who was a friend of Liberty and could not but well understand how acceptable a thing it was to God that works of charity and mercy should not be restrained on any days it pleased him to send out a second Edict in the July following directed to Elpidius who was then Praefectus Praetorio as I take it wherein he authorized his Ministers to perform that Office any thing in the former Law unto the contrary notwithstanding For so it runs Ibid. Sicut indignissimum videbatur diem Solis venerationis suae celebrem altercantibus jurgiis noxis partium contentionibus occupari ita gratum est jucundum eo die quae sunt maxime votiva compleri Atque ideo emancipandi manumittendi die festo cuncti licentiam habeant super his rebus Acta non prohibeantur So that not only Husbandry was permitted in small Towns and Villages but Manumission being a meer civil Act and of no small Ceremony was by him suffered and allowed in the greater Cities The first great work done by the first great Christian Prince was to declare his royal pleasure about this Day what things he thought most proper to permit and what to disallow upon it teaching all other Kings and Princes which have since succeeded what they should also do on the same occasion Nor did this pious Prince confirm and regulate the Lords day only but unto him we are indebted for many of these other Festivals which have been since observed in the Church of God It had been formerly a custom in the Christian Church carefully to observe the times and days of their departure who had preferred the Gospel before their lives and suffered many Torments and at last Death it self for the faith of Christ Euseb hist l. 4. c. 14. The Church of Smyrna and that 's the highest we need go testifieth in an Epistle writ ad Philomelienses that they did celebrate the day wherein their Reverend Bishop Polycarp did suffer Martyrdom with joy and gladness and an holy Convocation This was in Anno 170 or thereabouts And in the following Age Saint Cyprian taking notice of such men as were imprisoned for the testimony of a good Conscience appointed that the days of their decease should be precisely noted that so their memories might be celebrated with the holy Martyrs Ep. 8. l. 3. Denique dies corum quibus excedunt annotate ut commemorationes corum inter memorias martyrum celebrare possimus as there he hath it But hitherto they were only bare memorials for more they durst not do in those times of trouble their sufferings only signified to the Congregation and that they did unto this end that by exhibiting to the people their infinite indurances for the truth and testimony of Religion they also might be nourished in an equal constancy After when as the Church was in perfect peace it pleased the Emperour Constantine to signifie to all his Deputies and Lieutenants in the Roman Empire Euseb l. 4. cap. 23. that they should have a care to see those the memorials of the Martyrs duly honoured and solemnize Times or Festivals to be appointed in the Churches to that end and purpose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And though these Festivals and Saints days became not forthwith common over all the World but were observed in those parts chiefly wherein the memory of the Saint or Martyr was in most esteem in which respect Saint Hierom calls them In Gal. 4. tempora in honore Martyrum pro diversa regionum varietate constituta yet in a little Tract of time such of them as had been most eminent as the Apostles and Evangelists were universally received and celebrated even as now they are as they are now observed in the Church of England De Martyr l. 8. and this I say upon the credit and authority of Theodoret. Who though he gives another reason and original of these Institutions informs us of these Festivals that they were modestae castae temperantia plenae performed with modesty chastity and sobriety not as the Festivals of the Gentiles were in excess and riot And not so only but he affirms this of them divinis canticis personandis sacrisque sermonibus audiendis intentae that they were solemnized with spiritual Hymns and religious Sermons and that the people used to empty out their souls to God in fervent and affectionate Prayers non sine lacrymis suspiriis even with sighs and tears As for Theodores he lived and flourished in the year 420. and speaks of these Festivals St. Peter and St. Thomas and St. Paul with others which he names particularly as things which had been setled and established a long time before and therefore could not be much after the time of Constantine who died not till the year 341 or thereabouts As for the eighth Book de Martyrib Where this passage is it is the 12. of those entituled de curandis Graec. affect And howsoever some exception hath been made against them as that they were not his whose names they carry yet find I no just proof thereof amongst our Criticks Now as the Emperour Constantine did add the Annual Festivals of the Saints unto those other Anniversary Feasts which formerly had been observed in the Christian Church so by his Royal Edict did he settle and confirm those publick meetings which had been formerly observed on each Friday weekly the Wednesday standing on the same Basis as before it did which was the custom of the Church De vit Const l. 4. c. 18. Eusebius having told us of this Emperours Edict about the honouring of the Sunday adds that he also made the like about the Friday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that Author hath it Sozomen adds that he enjoyned also the like Rest upon it the like cessation both from Judicature and all other Businesses and after gives this reason of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hist l. 1. c. 8. He honoured the one saith he as being the day of our Redeemers Resurrection the other as the day of our Saviours Passion So for the practice of the Church in the following times that they used other days besides the Sundays is evident by many passages of Cyril of Hierusalem where he makes mention of the Sermon preached the day before
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his own Language Catech. orat 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the morrow after the Lords day Cat. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Catech. Mystag 2. The like is very frequent in Saint Ambrose also Hesterno die de fonte disputavimus De Sacram lib. 3. cap. 1. Hesternus noster sermo ad sancti altaris sacramentum deductus est lib. 5. cap. 1. and in other places The like in Chrysostom as in many other places too many to be pointed at in this place and time so in his 18. Hom. on the 3d of Gen. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But this perhaps was only in respect of Lectures or Expositions of the Scriptures such as were often used in the greater Cities where there was much people and but little business for I conceive not that they met every day in these times to receive the Sacraments Epl. 289. Of Wednesday and of Friday it is plain they did not to say any thing of the Saturday till the next Section Saint Basil names them all together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is saith he a profitable and pious thing every day to communicate and to participate of the blessed Body and Blood of Christ our Saviour he having told us in plain terms that Whosoever eateth his flesh and drinketh his blood hath eternal life We notwithstanding do communicate but four times weekly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. on the Lords day the Wednesday the Friday and the Saturday unless on any other days the memory of some Martyr be perhaps observed Expos fid Cath. 21.22 Epiphanius goeth a little farther andn he deriveth the Wednesdays and the Fridays Service even from the Apostles ranking them in the same Antiquity and grounding them upon the same Authority that he doth the Sunday 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only it seems the difference was that whereas formerly it had been the custom not to administer the Sacrament on these two days being both of them fasting-days and so accounted long before until towards Evening It had been changed of late and they did celebrate in the Mornings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as on the Lords day was accustomed Whether the meeting on these days were of such Antiquity as Epiphanius saith they were I will not meddle Certain it is that they were very antient in the Church of God as may appear by that of Origen and Tertullian before remembred So that if we consider either the preaching of the Word the ministration of the Sacraments or the publick Prayers the Sunday in the Eastern Churches had no great prerogative above other days especially above the Wednesday and Friday save that the meetings were more solemn and the concourse of people greater than at other times as it is most likely The footsteps of this ancient custom are yet to be observed in this Church of England by which it is appointed that on Wednesdays and Fridays weekly Can. 15. though they be not holy days the Minister at the accustomed hours of Service shall resort to Church and say the Letany prescribed in the Book of Common-prayer As for the Saturday that retained its wonted credit in the Eastern Church little inferiour to the Lords day if not plainly equal not as a Sabbath think not so but as a day designed unto sacred meetings The Constitutions of the Apostles said to be writ by Clemens one of Saint Peters first successours in the Church of Rome appoint both days to be observed as solemn Festivals both of them to be days of rest that so the servant might have time to repair unto the Church Lib. 8. c. 33. for this Edification 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Constitution Not that they should devote them wholly unto rest from labour but only those set times of both which were appointed for the meetings of the Congregation Yet this had an exception too the Saturday before Easter day Lib. 1. cap. 19. whereupon Christ rested in the Grave being exempt from these Assemblies and destinated only unto grief and fasting And though these Constitutions in all likelihood were not writ by Clemens there being many things therein which could not be in use of a long time after yet ancient sure they were as being mentioned in Epiphanius De Scrip. Ecc. in Clemente and as the Cardinal confesseth à Graecis veteribus magni factos much made of by the ancient Grecians though not of such authority in the Church of Rome How their authority in this point is countenanced by Ignatius we have seen already and we shall see the same more fully throughout all this Age. Can. 16. And first beginning with the Synod held in Laodicea a Town of Phrygia Anno 314. there passed a Canon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 touching the reading of the Gospels with the other Scriptures upon the Saturday or Sabbath Canon 49. that in the time of Lent there should be no oblation made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but on the Saturday and the Lords day only neither that any Festival should be then observed in memory of any Martyrs Canon 51. but that their names only should be commemorated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon the Lords day and the Sabbaths Nor was this only the particular will of those two and thirty Prelates that there assembled it was the practice too of the Alexandrians S. Athanasius Patriarch there affirms that they assembled on the Sabbath days not that they were infected any whit with Judaism which was far from them Homil de Semente but that they came together on the Sabbath day to worship Jesus Christ the Lord of the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Father hath it So for the Church of Millain which as before I said in some certain things followed the Churches of the East it seems the Saturday was held in a fair esteem and joyned together with the Sunday Crastino die Sabbato De Sacrament Lib. 4. cap. 6. dominice de orationis ordine dicemus as S. Ambrose hath it And probably his often mention of hesternus dies remembred in the former Section may have relation to the joynt observance of these two days and so may that which is reported then out of S. Chrysostom and S. Cyril Eastern Doctors both Hist Eccles Lib. 6. cap. 8. Sure I am Socrates counts both days for weekly Festivals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that on them both the Congregation used to be assembled and the whole Liturgy performed Which plainly shews that in the practice of those Churches they were both regarded both alike observed Gregory Nyssen speaks more home and unto the purpose Some of the People had neglected to come unto the Church upon the Saturday and on the Sunday he thus chides and rebukes them for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. With what face saith the Father wilt thou look upon the lords day De Castigatione which hast dishonoured the
Musick used in the Congregation it grew more exquisite in these times than it had been formerly that which before was only a melodious kind of pronunciation being now ordered into a more exact and artificial Harmony This change was principally occasioned by a Canon of the Council of Laodicea in the first entrance of this Age. For where before it was permitted unto all promiscuously to sing in the Church it was observed that in such dissonancy of Voices and most of them unskilful in the notes of Musick there was no small jarring and unpleasant sounds This Council thereupon ordained Conc. Laodic Can. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that none should sing hereafter in the Congregation but such as were Canonically appointed to it and skilful in it By means whereof before the shutting up of this fourth Century the Musick of the Church became very perfect and harmonious suavi artificiosa voce cantata Confess l. 10. cap. 33. as St. Austin tells us So perfect and harmonious that it did work exceedingly on the affections of the Hearers and did movere animos ardentius in flammam pietatis inflame their minds with a more lively flame of Piety taking them Prisoners by the ears and so conducting them unto the glories of Gods Kingdom Ibid. Saint Austin attributes a great cause of Conversion to the power thereof calling to mind those frequent tears quas fudi ad cantus Ecclesiae tuae which had been drawn from him by this sacred Musick by which his soul was humbled and his affections raised to an height of godliness The like he also tells us in his ninth Book of Confessions and sixth Chapter Nor doubt we but it did produce the same effect on divers others who coming to the Churches as he then did to be partakers of the Musick return'd prepared in mind and well disposed in their intentions to be converted unto God Now that the Church might be frequented at the times appointed and so all secret Conventicles stopped in these divided times wherein so many Heresies did domineer and that the itching ears of men might not persuade them to such Churches where God had not placed them so to discourage their own proper Minister it pleased the Fathers in the Council of Saragossa Anno 368. â—an 2. or thereabouts to decree it thus First Ne latibulis cubiculorum montium habitent qui in suspicionibus perseverent that none who were suspected of Priscillianism which was the humour that then reigned should lurk in secret corners either in Houses or in Hills but follow the example and direction of the Priests of God And secondly ad alienas villas agendorum conventuum causa non conveniant that none should go to other places under pretence of joyning there to the Assembly but keep themselves unto their own Which prudent Constitutions upon the self-same pious grounds are still preserved amongst us in the Church of England Thus do we see upon what grounds the Lords day stands on custom first and voluntary consecration of it to religious Meetings that custom countenanced by the Authority of the Church of God which tacitely approved the same and finally confirmed and ratified by Christian Princes throughout their Empires And as the day so rest from Labours and restraint from Business upon that day received its greatest strength from the supream Magistrate as long as he reteined that Power which to him belonged as after from the Canons and decrees of Councils the Decretals of Popes and Orders of particular Prelates when the sole managing of Ecclesiastical affairs was committed to them I hope it was not so with the former Sabbath which neither took original from custom that people being not so forward to give God a day nor required any countenance or authority from the Kings of Israel to confirm and ratifie it The Lord had spoken the word that he would have one day in seven precisely the seventh day from the Worlds Creation to be a day of rest unto all his people which said there was no more to do but gladly to submit and obey his pleasure nec quicquam reliquum erat praeter obsequii gloriam in the greatest Prince And this done all at once not by degrees by little and little as he could see the people affected to it or as he found it fittest for them like a probation Law made to continue till the next Session and then on further liking to hold good for ever but by a plain and peremptory Order that it should be so without further trial But thus it was not done in our present Business The Lords day had no such command that it should be sanctified but was left plainly to Gods people to pitch on this or any other for the publick use And being taken up amongst them and made a day of meeting in the Congregation for religious Exercises yet for 300 years there was neither Law to bind them to it nor any rest from labour or from worldly businesses required upon it And when it seemed good unto Christian Princes the nursing Fathers of Gods Church to lay restraints upon their people yet at the first they were not general but only thus that certain men in cetrain places should lay aside their ordinary and daily works to attend Gods service in the Church those whose employments were most toilsome and most repugnant to the true nature of a Sabbath being allowed to follow and pursue their labours because most necessary to the Common-wealth And in following times when as the Prince and Prelate in their several places indeavoured to restrain them from that also which formerly they had permitted and interdicted almost all kind of bodily labour upon that day it was not brought about without much strugling and on opposition of the People more than a thousand years being past after Christs Ascension before the Lords day had attained that state in which now it standeth as will appear at full in the following story And being brought unto that state wherein now it stands it doth not stand so firmly and on such sure grounds but that those powers which raised it up may take it lower if they please yea take it quite away as unto the time and settle it on any other day as to them seems best which is the doctrine of some School-men and divers Protestant Writers of great name and credit in the world A power which no man will presume to say was ever challenged by the Jews over the Sabbath Besides all things are plainly contrary in these two days as to the purpose and intent of the Institution For in the Sabbath that which was principally aimed at was rest from labour that neither they nor any that belonged unto them should do any manner of work upon that day but sit still and rest themselves Their meditating on Gods Word or on his goodness manifested in the worlds Creation was to that an accessory and as for reading of
clearly that the observation of the former Sabbath had been translated very fitly to the Lords day by the custom and consent of Christian people For speaking how the Sabbath was accounted holy in the former times and that the Jews resting thereon from all manner of work did only give themselves to meditation and to fasting Homil. 18. post Penta he adds cujus observationem mos Christianus ad diem dominicum competentius transtulit Where plainly mos Christianus doth imply no precept no order or command from the Apostles that it should be so and much less any precept in the Old Testament which should still oblige And sure I am Rabanus Maurus speaks only as by way of exhortation and not armed with any warrant from the Apostles or other argument from Scripture Homil. in aiâ—b dom Where he adviseth us à vespera diei Sabbati usque ad vesperam diei dominici sequestrati à rurali opere omni negotio solo divino cultui vacemus Where no man will presume to say that either rest from Husbandry and such other business or the beginning of the Lords day on the Eve before were introduced by any precept of the Apostles considering how long it was before either of them had been used in the Christian Church And so Hesychius Bishop of Hierusalem who flourished at the self same time with Isidore speaks of it only as a custom or a matter of fact In Levit. lib. 2. cap. 5. descending by tradition from the Apostles Apostolorum sequentes traditionem diem dominicum conventibus divinis sequestramus which was the most that he could say for the original thereof indeed who could more And as for Isidore himself whom the others followed Etymolog l. 6. c. 18. it 's clear that they esteemed the Lords day for no other than a common Holiday by far inferior unto Ester Pascha festivitatum omnium prima est Then followeth Pentecost Epiphany Palm-sunday Maunday-thursday and in the last place Dies dominicus the Lords day Which questionless he had not placed in so low a room had he conceived it instituted by any precept or injunction of those blessed Spirits So in a Council held at Paris Anno 829. it was determined positively that keeping of the Lords day had no other ground than custom only and that this custom did descend ex Apostolorum traditione immo ecclesiae autoritate at most from Apostolical tradition but indeed rather from the Authority of holy Church And whereas Courts of Law or Law days had formerly been prohibited on this day that so men might in peace and concord go to Church together the several Councils that of Friburg Anno 895. and that of Erpford Anno 932. though then the times were at the darkest ascribe it not to any Law or Text of Scripture but only to the anient Canons Secundùm sanctorum statuta patrum saith the first Can. 26. Secundùm Canonicam institutionem saith the second Cap. 2. And howsoever some have said that Alexander Pope of Rome of that name the third refers the keeping of the Lords day to divine commandment yet they that look upon him well can find no such matter He saith indeed that both the Old and New Testament depute the seventh day unto rest but for the keeping of it holy both that and other days appointed for Gods publick service ecclesia decreverit observanda that he ascribes alone to the Churches order Decret l. 2. tit 9. de feriis cap. 3. The like may be affirmed also of restraint from labout that it is grounded only on the Authority of the Church and Christian Princes however in some regal and imperial Edicts there be some shew or colour added from the Law of God I say some shew or colour added from the Law of God For as before I said it is not utterly impossible but that those Princes might make use of some pretence or shew of Scripture the better to incline the People to yield obedience unto those restraints which were laid upon them The Synod held at Mascon and that in Auxerre both before remembred expresly had prohibited all works of Husbandry on this day the former having added for inforcing of it not only Ecclesiastical censures but corporal and civil punishments But yet this was not found enough to wean the people from their works their ordinary labours used before upon that day and it is no marvel The Jews were hardly brought unto it though they had heard God thundring from the holy mountain that they should do no manner of work upon their Sabbath It being added thereunto that whosoever should offend therein the should die the death And certainly it was very long before either Prince or Prelate or both joyned together with all their power and policy could prevail upon them either to lay aside their labours or forbear their Law days as may appear by many several Edicts of Emperours decrees of Popes Can. 18. and Canons of particular Councils which have successively been made in restraint thereof The Synod of Chalons Anno 662. wherein were 44. Bishops and amongst them S. Owen Arch-Bishop of Roman concluded as had been before non nova condentes sed vetera renovantes that on the Lords day no man should presume to Sow or Plough or Reap vel quicquid ad ruris culturam pertinet or deal in any thing that belonged to Husbandry and this on pain of Ecclesiastical censure and correction But when this did no good Clothaire the third of France for he I think it was who set out that Law beginning with the Word of God and ending with a threat of severe chastisement doth command the same Die dominico nemo servilia opera praesumat facere Ltg. Aleman tit 39. ap Brisson quia hoc lex prohibet sacra Scriptura in omnibus contradicit as before was said If any do offend herein in case he be a Bond-man let him be soundly hastinadoed in case a Freeman let him be thrice admonished of it if he offend again the third part of his patrimony was to be confiscated and finally if that prevailed not he was to be convented before the Governour and made a Bondslave So for the Realm of Germany a Council held at Dingulofinum in the lower Bavaria Anno 772. did determine thus Festo die Solis ocio divino intentus prophanis negotiis abstineto Upon the Sunday so they call it let every man abstain from prophane employments and be intent upon Gods worship If any man shall work his Cart this day or busie himself in any such like work jumenta ejus publica sunto his Teem shall presently be forseited to the publick use And if stubbornly they persist to provoke Gods anger be they sold for Bond-men Hist l. 3. Ap. Brisson ut supra So Aventine reports the Canon And somewhat like to this was ordered by Theodorius King of the Bavarians viz. Si quis die dominico c. If any man
Aquif granens Statuimus secundum quod in lege dominus praecepit c. We do ordain according as it is commanded in the Law of God that no man do any servile work on the Lords day This in the general had been before commanded by his Father Pepin in the Council holden in Friuli but he now explicates himself in these particulars That is to say that neither men imploy themselves in works of Husbandry in dressing of their Vines ploughing their Lands making their Hay fencing their grounds grubbing of felling Treâ—â— working in Mines building of Houses planting their Gardens nor that they plead that day or go forth on hunting and that it be not lawful for the Women to weave or dress cloth to make Garments or Needle work to card their Wool beat Hemp wash Cloaths in publick or sheer Sheep but that they come unto the Church to divine service and magnifie the Lord their God for those good things which on that day he hath done for them After considering with himself that Fairs and Markets on this day were an especial means to keep men from Church he set out his Imperial Edict de nundinis non concedendis as my Author tells me Nor did he trust so far to his own Edict as not to strengthen it as the times then were by the Authority of the Church and therefore caused those five Councils before remembred to be Assembled at one time in four of which it was determined against all servile works and Law days as also ut mercatus in iis minime sit Concil Mogunt Can. 37. ne mercata excerceant Remens can 35. and so in those of Tours 40. and Arles 16. That of Chalons which was the fifth did only intimate that whereas the Lords day had been much neglected the better keeping of the same was to be established authentica constitutione Can. 50. by some Authentical constitution of the Emperour himself But whatsoever care this Emperour took to see his will performed and the Lords day sanctified it seems his Successour Ludovicus was remiss enough which being found as found it was the People fell again to their former labours Ploughing and Marketting and Law-days as before they did The Council held at Paris Concil Parisiens l. 1. c. 50. Anno 829. which was but sixteen years after the holding of the aforesaid Synods much complains thereof and withal adds that many of the Prelates assembled there knew both by same and by their own proper knowledge quosdam in hoc dit ruralia opera eâ—cercentes fulmine interemptos that certain men following their Husbandry on that day had been killed with lightning and others with a strange convulsion of their joints had miserably perished whereby say they it is apparent that God was very much offended with their so great neglect of that Holy day Rather with their so great neglect of their Superiours in that nor declaration of their King nor constitution of the Church could work so far upon them as to gain obedience in things conducing to Gods service Had working on that day been so much offensive in the sight of God likely it is we might have heard of some such judgments in the times before but being not prohibited it was not unlawful Now being made unlawful because prohibited God smote them for their frequent workings at times which were designed to another use not in relation to the day but their disobedience Therefore the Council did advise that first of all the Priests and Prelates then that Kings Princes and all faithful people would do their best endeavour for the restoring of that day to its ancient lustre which had so foully been neglected Next they addressed themselves particularly to Lodowick and Lotharius then the Roman Emperours ut cunctis metum incutiant that by some sharp injunction they would strike a terrour into all their Subjects that for the times to come none should presume to Plough or hold Law-days or Market as of late was used This probably occasioned the said two Emperours 852. to call a Synod at Rome under Leo the fourth Syn. Rom. Can. 30. where it was ordered more precisely than in former times ut die dominico nullus audeat mercationes nec in cibariis rebus aut quaelibet opera rustica facere that no man should from thenceforth dare to make any Markets on the Lords day no not for things that were to eat neither to do any kind of work that belonged to Husbandry Which Canon being made at Rome confirmed at Compeigne and afterwards incorporated as it was into the body of the Canon Law whereof see Decretal l. 2. tit 9. de feriis cap. 2. became to be admitted without further question in most parts of Christendom especially when the Popes had attained their height and brought all Christian Princes to be at their devotion For then the people who before had most opposed it might have justly said Behold two Kings stood not before him how then shall we stand 2 Kings 10. Out of which consternation all men pre sently obeyed Tradesmen of all sorts being brought to lay by their Labours and amongst those the Miller though his work was easiest and least of all required his presence Nec aliquis à vespera diei Sabbati usque ad vesperam diei dominicae ad molendina aquarum vel ad aliqua alia molere audeat So was it ordered in the Council of Angeirs of which see Bochellus Anno 1282 wherein the Barber also was forbidden to use his Trade Yet were not those restraints so strict as that there was no liberty to be allowed of either for business or pleasure A time there was for both and that time made use of there being in the Imperial Edicts and Constitutions of the Church yea and the decretals of the Popes many reservations whereby the people might have liberty to enjoy themselves They had been else in worse condition than the Jews before In the Edict of Charles the Great before remembred though otherwise precise enough there were three several kinds of carriages allowed and licensed o the Lords day i.e. Hortalia carra vel victualia vel si forte necesse erit corpus cujuslibet ducere ad sepulchrum that is to say carriage of gardening Ware and carts of Victuals and such as are to carry a dead corps to burial So Theodulphus Aurelianensis who lived about the year 836. having first ut it down for a positive Rule that the Lords day ought with such care to be observed ut praeter orationes missarum solennia Epl. ap Bibl. Patr. ea quae ad vescendum pertinent nil aliud fiat that besides Prayer and hearing Mass and such things as belong to Food there is directly nothing that may be done admits of an exception or a reservation Nam si necessitaâ— fuerit navigandi vel itinerandi licentia datur For if saith he there be a necessary occasion either of setting Sail or
as Sundays whereby we see the Church had no less care of one than of the other And so indeed it had not in this alone but in all things else the Holy days as we now distinguish them being in most points equal to the Sunday and in some superiour Leo the Emperiour by his Edict shut up the Theater and the Cirque or shew-place on the Lords day The like is willed expresly in the sixth general Council holden at Constantinople Can. 66. Anno 692. for the whole Easter week Nequaquam ergo his diebus equorum cursus vel aliquod publicum fiat spectacum so the Canon hath it The Emperour Charles restrained the Husbandman and the Tradesman from following their usual work on the Lords day The Council of Melun doth the same for the said Easter week and in more particulars it being ordered by that Synod that men forbear Can. 77. during the time above remembred ab omni opere rurali fabrili carpentario gynaecaeo caementario pictorio venatorio forensi mercatorio audientiali ac sacramentis exigendis from Husbandry the craft of Smiths and Carpenters from Needle-work Cementing Painting Hunting Pleadings Merchandize casting of Accounts and from taking Oaths That Benedictines had but three mess of Pottage upon other days die vero dominico in praecipuis festivitatibus but on the Lords day and the principal Festivals a fourth was added as saith Theodomare the Abbot in an Epistle to Charles the Great Law-suits and Courts of Judgment were to be laid aside and quite shut up on the Lords day as many Emperours and Councils had determined severally The Council held at Friburg Anno 895. did resolve the samne of Holy days or Saints days and the time of Lent Nullusomnino secularis diebus dominicis vel Sanctorum in Festis Conc. Fribâ—riens Can. 26. seu Quadragesimae aut jejuniorum placitum habere sed nec populum illo praesumat coercere as the Canon goeth The very same with that of the Council of Erford Anno 932. cap. 2. But what need private and particular Synods be produced as witnesses herein when we have Emperours Popes and Patriarchs that affirm the same Ap. Balsam tit 7. cap. 1. To take them in the order in which they lived Photius the Patriarch of Constantinople Anno 858. thus reckoneth up the Festivals of especial note viz. Seven days before Easter and seven days after Christmas Epiphanie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Feasts of the Apostles and the Lords day And then he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that on those days they neither suffer publick shews nor Courts of Justice Emanuel Comnenus next Ap. Balsam Emperour of Constantinople Anno 1174. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. We do ordain saith he that these days following be exempt from labour viz. the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Holy-rood day and so he reckoneth all the rest in those parts observed together with all the Sundays in the year and that in them there be not any access to the seats of judgment Lib. 2 tit 〈◊〉 feriis cap. 5. The like Pope Gregory the ninth Anno 1228. determineth in the Decretal where numbring up the Holy-days he concludes at last that neither any process hold nor sentence be in force pronounced on any of those days though both parts mutually should consent upon it Consentientibus etiam partibus nec processus habitus teneat nec sententia quam contingit diebus hujusmodi promulgari So the Law resolves it Now lest the feast of Whitsontide might not have some respect as well as Easter it was determined in the Council held at Engelheim Anno 948. that Munday Tuesday Wednesday in the Whitsun-week Cap. 6. non minus quam dies dominicus solenniter honorentur should no less solemnly be observed than the Lords day was So when that Otho Bishop of Bamberg had planted the faith of Christ in Pomerania and was to give account thereof to the Pope then being Urspergens Chronic. he certifieth him by his Letters Anno 1124. that having Christned them and built them Churches he left them three injunctions for their Christian carriage First that they eat no flesh on Fridays Secondly that they rest the Lords day ab omni opere malo from every evil work repairing to the Church for religious duties And thirdly Sanctorum solennitates cum vigiliis omni diligentia observent that they keep carefully the Saints days with the Eves attendant So that in all these outward matters we find fair equality save that in one respect the principal Festivals had preheminence above the Sunday For whereas Fishermen were permitted by the Decretal of Pope Alexander the third as before was said diebus dominicis aliis festis on the Lords day and other Holy-days to fish for Herring in some cases there was a special exception of the greater Festivals praeterquam in majoribus anni solennitatibus as the other was But not to deal in generals only Isidore Arch-bishop of Sevil in the beginning of the seventh Century making a Catalogue of the principal Festivals begins his list with Easter and ends it with the Lords day as before we noted in the fifth Section of this Chapter Now lest it should be thought that in sacred matters and points of substance the other Holy-days wee not as much regarded as the Lords day was The Council held at Mentz Anno 813. did appoint it thus that it the Bishop were infirm or not at home Non desit tamen diebus dominicis festivitatibus qui verbum Dei praedicet juxta quod populus intelligat yet there should still be some to preach Gods Word unto the People according unto their capacities both on the Lords day and the other Festivals Indeed why should not both be observed alike the Saints days being dedicated unto God as the Lords day is and standing both of them on the same authority on the authority of the Church for the particular Institution on the authority of Gods Law for the general Warrant It was commanded by the Lord and written in the heart of man by the pen of nature that certain times should be appointed for Gods publick worship the choicing of the times was left to the Churches power and she designed the Saints days as she did the Lords both his and both allotted to his service only This made Saint Bernard ground them all the Lords day and the other Holy-days on the fourth Commandment the third in the Account of the Church of Rome Serm. 3. Super Salve reg Spirituale obsequium Deo praebetur in observantia sanctarum solennitatum unde tertium praeceptum contexitur Observa diem Sabbati i. e. in sacris feriis te exerce So S. Bernard in his third Sermon Super salve Regina The Lords days and the Holy-days or Saints days being of so near a kin we must next see what care was taken by the Church in these present ages for hallowing them unto the Lord. The
the offering of the Paschal Lamb his Death and Passion Sic Sabbatismus ille requiem annunciabat quae post hanc vitam posita â—â—t fanctis â—lectis so did the Sabbath signifie that eternal rest which after this life is provided for the Saints and elect of God And more than this Spiritualis homo non uno die hebdomadis sed omni tempore Sabbatizare satagit the true spiritual man keeps not his Subbath once a week but at all times whatever every hour and minute What then would he have no day set apart for Gods publick service no but not the Sabbath Because saith he we are not to rejoyce in this world that perisheth but in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection therefore we ought not rest the seventh day in sloth and idleness But we dispose our selves to prayers and hearing of the Word of God upon the first day of the week on the which Christ rose cum summa cura providentes ut tam illo quam caeteris diebus feriati semper simus à servili opere peccati Provided always that upon that and all days else we keep our selves free from the servile Acts of sin This was the Sabbath which they principally looked for in this present life never applying of that name to the Lords day in any of those monuments of Learning they have left behind them The first who ever used it to denote the Lords day the first that I have met with in all this search is one Petrus Alfonsus he lived about the times that Rupertus did who calls the Lords day by the name of the Christian Sabbath Dies domnica dies viz. resurrectionis quae suae salvationis causa extitit Christianorum sabbatum est But this no otherwise to be construed than by Analogy and resemblance no otherwise than the Feast of Easter is called the Christian Passeover As for the Saturday the old Sabbath day though it continued not a Sabbath yet it was still held in an high esteem in the Eastern Churches counted a festival day or at least no fast and honoured with the meetings of the Congregation In reference to the first we find how it was charged on the Church of Rome by the sixth Council in Constantinople Anno 692. that in the holy time of Lent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they used to fast the Saturday which was directly contrary to the Canons of the Apostles as they there alledge This also was objected by Photius Patriarch of Constantinople against Pope Nicolas of Rome Anno 867. and after that by Michael of Constantinople against Leo the ninth Anno 1053. which plainly shews that in the Eastern Churches they observed it otherwise And in relation to the other Curopalat we find that whereas in the principal Church of Constantinople the holy Sacrament was celebrated only on the greater feasts as also on the Saturdays and the Sundays Sabbatis dominicis and not on other days as at Rome it was Constantine surnamed Mononiachus Anno 1054 enriched it with revenue and bestowed much fair plate upon it that so they might be able every day to perform that office Which proves sufficiently that Saturday was always one in all publick duties and that it kept even pace with Sunday But it was otherwise of old in the Church of Rome where they did laborare jejunare as Humbertus saith in his defence of Leo the ninth against Nicetas And this with little opposition or interruption save that which had been made in the City of Rome in the beginning of the seventh Century and was soon crushed by Gregory then Bishop there as before we noted And howsoever Vrban of that name the second Hect. Boet. hist l. 22. did consecrate it to the weekly service of the blessEd Virgin and instituted in the Council held at Clermont Anno 1095. that our Ladies office Officium B. Mariae should be said upon it Eandemque Sabbato quoque die praecipua devotione populum Christianum colere debere and that upon that day all Christian folk should worship her with their best devotions yet it continued still as before it was a day of fasting and of working So that in all this time in 1200 years we have found no Sabbath nor do we think to meet with any in the times that follow either amongst the Schoolmen or amongst the Protestants which next shall come upon the Stage CHAP. VI. What is the judgment of the Schoolmen and of the Protestants and what the practice of those Churches in this Lords day business 1. That in the judgment of the Schoolmen the keeping of one day in seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment 2. As also that the Lords day is not founded on Divine Authority but the Authority of the Church 3. A Catalogue of the Holy-days drawn up in the Council of Lyons and the new Doctrine of the Schools touching the native sanctity of the Holy-days 4. In what estate the Lords day stood in matter of restraint from labour at the reformation 5. The Reformators find great fault both with the said new doctrine and restraints from labour 6. That in the judgment of the Protestant Divines the keeping of one day in seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment 7. As that the Lords day hath no other ground on which to stand than the Authority of the Church 8. And that the Church hath power to change the day and to transfer it to some other 9. What is the practice of all Churches the Roman Lutheran and Calvinian chiefly in matter of Devotion rest from labour and sufferance of lawful pleasures 10. Dancing cried down by Calvin and the French Churches not in relation to the Lords day but the sport it self 11. In what estate the Lords day stands in the Eastern Churches and that the Saturday is no less esteemed of by the Ethiopians than the said Lords day WE are now come unto an Age wherein the Learning of the world began to make a different shew from what it did to such a period of time in which was made the greatest alteration in the whole fabrick of the Church that ever any time could speak of The Schoolmen who sprung up in the beginning of the thirteenth Age contracted Learning which before was diffused and scattered into fine subtilties and distinctions the Protestants in the beginning of the sixteenth endeavouring to destroy those buildings which with such diligence and curiosity had been erected by the Schoolmen though they consented well enough in the present business so far as it concern'd the Institution either of the Lords day or the Sabbath Of these and what they taught and did in reference to the point in hand we are now to speak taking along with us such passages of especial note as hapned in the Christian world by which we may learn any thing that concerns our business And first beginning with the Schoolmen they tell us generally of the Sabbath that
Enemy be at hand though otherwise not to be done where no danger was These are the special points observed and published by Tostatus And these I have the rather exactly noted partly that we may see in what estate the Lords day and the other Holy days were in the Church of Rome what time the reformation of Religion was first set on foot but principally to let others see how near they come in their new fancies and devices unto the Niceties of those men whom they most abhor Thus stood it as before I said both for the Doctrine and the Practice till men began to look into the Errours and abuses in the Roman Church with a more serious eye than before they did and at first sight they found what little pleased them in this particular Their Doctrine pleased them not in making one day holier than another not only in relation to the use made of them but to a natural and inherent holiness wherewith they thought they were invested Nor did their practice please much more in that they had imposed so many burdens of restraint upon the consciences of Gods people and thereby made that day a punishment which was intended for the ease of the labouring man Against the doctrine of these men and the whole practice of that Church Calvin declares himself in his book of Institutions And therewith taxeth those of Rome L. 2. cap. 8. p. 34. qui Judaica opinione populum superioribus seculis imbuerunt who in the times before possessed the peoples minds with so much Judaism that they had changed the day indeed as in dishonour of the Jew but otherwise retained the former sanctity thereof which needs must be saith he if there remain with us as the Papists taught the same opinion of the mysteries and various significations of days and times which the Jews once had And certainly saith he we see what dangerous effects have followed on so false a Doctrine those which adhere to their instructions having exceedingly out gone the Jews crassa carnalique Sabbatismi superstitione in their gross and carnal superstitions about the Sabbath In Apocal. 1. v. 10. Beza his Scholar and Achates sings the self-same Song that howsoever the Assemblies of the Lords day were of Apostolical and divine Tradition sic tamen ut Judaica cessatio ab omni opere non observaretur quoniam hoc plane fuisset Judaismum non abolere sed tantum quod ad diem attinet immutare yet so that there was no cessation from work required as was observed among the Jews For that saith he had not so much abolished Judaism as put it off and changed it to another day And then he adds that this cessation was first brought in by Constantine and afterwards confirmed with more and more restraints by the following Emperours by means of which it came to pass that that which first was done for a good intent viz. that men being free from their worldly businesses might wholly give themselves to hearing of the Word of God in merum Judaismum degenerarit degnerated at the last into down-right Judaism So for the Lutheran Churches Chemnitius challengeth the Romanists of superstition quasi dominicae diei reliquis diebus festis per se peculiaris quaedam insit sanctitas because they taught the people that the Holy days considered only in themselves had a Native Sanctity And howsoever for his part he think it requisite that men should be restrained from all such works as may be any hinderance unto the sanctifying of the day yet he accounts it but a part of the Jewish leaven nimis scrupulose diebus festis prohibere operas externas quie vel quando non impediunt publicum ministerium so scrupulously to prohibit such external Actions which are at all no hindrance to Gods publick service and mans Sabbath Duties Bueer goes further yet and doth not only call it a superstition In Mat. 12. but an Apostacy from Christ to think that working on the Lords day in it self considered is a sinful thing Si existimetur operari in eo die per se esse peccatum superstitio gratiae Christi qui ab elementis mundi nos suo sanguine liberavit negatio est as his own words are Then adds that he did very well approve of the Lords day meetings si eximatur è cordibus hominum opinio necessitatis if men were once dispossessed of these opinions that the day was necessary to be kept that it was holier in it self than the other days and that to work upon that day in it self was sinful Lastly the Churches of the Switzers profess in their Confession that in the keeping of the Lords day they give not the least hint to any Jewish superstitions Neque enim alteram diem altera sanctiorem esse credimus nec otium Deo per se probari existimamus For neither Cap. 24. as they said do we conceive one day to be more holy than another or think that rest from labour in it self considered is any way pleasing unto God By which we plainly may perceive what is the judgment of the Protestant Churches in the present point Indeed It is not to be thought that they could otherwise resolve and determine of it considering what their Doctrine is of the day it self how different they make it from a Sabbath day which Doctrine that we may perceive with the greater ease we will consider it in three Propositions in which most agree 1. That the keeping holy one day of seven is not the Moral part of the fourth Commandment or to be reckoned as a part of the law of Nature 2. That the Lords day is not founded on Divine Commandment but only on the authority of the Church and 3. That the Church hath still authority to change the day and to transfer it to some other First for the first it seems that some of Rome considering the restraints before remembred and the new Doctrine thence arising about the Natural and inherent holiness which one day had above another had altered what was formerly delivered amongst the Schoolmen and made the keeping of one day in seven to be the Moral part of the fourth Commandment This Calvin chargeth them withal that they had taught the people in the former times Instit l. 1. Cap. 8.11 34. that whatsover was ceremonial in the fourth Commandment which was the keeping of the Jews seventh day had been long since abrogated remanere vero quod morale est nempe unius diei observationem in hebdomade but that the moral part thereof which was the keeping of one day in seven did continue still With what else is it as before was said than in dishonour of the Jews to change the day and to affix as great a sanctity thereunto as the Jews ever did And for his own part he professeth that howsoever he approved of the Lords day meetings Non tamen numerum septennarium ita se morari ut ejus servituti Ecclesias
astringeret yet stood not he so much for the number of seven as to confine the Church unto it If Calvin elsewhere be of another mind and speak of keeping holy one day in seven as a matter necessary which some say he doth either they must accuse him of much inconstancy and forgetfulness or else interpret him with Rivet as speaking of an Ecclesiastical custom not to be neglected In decalog non de necessitate legis divinae and not of any obligation layed upon us by the Law of God Neither is he the only one that hath so determined Simler hath said it more expresly Quod dies una cultui divino consecretur ex lege naturae est quod autem haec sit septima non octava nona aut decima juris est divini sed ceremonialis In Exod. 20. That one day should be set apart for Gods publick Worship is the law of Nature but that this day should be the seventh and not the eighth ninth or tenth was of Divine appointment but as ceremonial Aretius also in his common places Loc. 55. distinguished between the substance of the Sabbath and the time thereof the substance of it which was rest and the works of Piety being in all times to continue tempus autem ut septime die observetur hoc non fuit necessarium in Ecclesia Christi but for the time to keep it on the seventh day always that was not necessary in the Church of Christ So also Frankisc Gomarus that great undertaker against Arminius in a Book written purposely de origine institutione Sabbati affirms for certain that it can neither be made good by the law of Nature Cap. 5. n. 8. or Text of Scripture or any solid Argument drawn from thence unum è septem diebus ex vi praecepti quarti ad cultum Dei necessario observandum that by the fourth Commandment one day in seven is of necessity to be dedicated to Gods service In Exod. 20. p. 1â—0 And Ryvet as profest an Enemy of the Remonstrants though for the antiquity of the Sabbath he differeth from the said Gomarus yet he agreeth with him in this not only making the observance of one day in seven to be meerly positive as in our first part we observed but lays it down for the received opinion of most of the Reformed Divines unum ex septem diebus non esse necessario eligendum ex vi praecepti ad sacros conventus celebrandos the very same with what Gomarus affirmed before So lastly for the Lutheran Churches In Examin Conc. Trid. Chemnitius makes it part of our Christian liberty quod nec sint alligati nec debeant alligari ad certorum vel dierum vel temporum observationes opinione necessitatis in Novo Testamento c. That men are neither bound nor ought to be unto the observation of any days or times as matters necessary under the Gospel of our Saviour though otherwise he account it for a barbarous Folly not to observe that day with all due solemnity which hath for so long time been kept by the Church of God Therefore in his opinion also the keeping of one day in seven Medull Theel. l. 2.15 is neither any moral part of the fourth Commandment or parcel of the law of Nature As for the subtil shift of Amesius finding that keeping holy of one day in seven is positive indeed sed immutabilis plane institutionis but such a positive Law as is absolutely immutable and doth as much oblige as those which in themselves are plainly natural and moral it may then serve when there is nothing else to help us For that a positive Law should be immutable in its self and in its own nature be as universally binding as the Moral Law is such a piece of Learning and of contradiction as never was put up to shew in these latter times But he that learnt his lirry in England here and durst not broach it but by halves amongst the Hollanders For the next Thesis that the Lords day is not founded on divine Commandment but the authority of the Church it is a point so universally resolved on as no one thing more and first we will begin with Calvin who tells us how it was not without good reason that those of old appointed the Lords Day as we call it to supply the place of the Jewish Sabbath Institut l. 2. c. 8. l. 3. Non sine delectu dominicum quem vocamus diem veteres in locum sabbati subrogarunt as his words there are Where none I hope will think that he would give our Saviour Christ or his Apostles such a short come off as to include them in the name of Veteres only which makes it plain that he conceived it not to be their appointment In Matth. 12. Bucer resolves the point more clearly communi Christianorum consensu Dominicum diem publicis Ecclesiae conventibus ac quieti publicae dicatum esse ipso statim Apostolorum tempore and saith that in the Apostles times the Lords day by the common consent of Christian people was dedicated unto publick rest and the assemblies of the Church In Gen. 2. And Peter Martyr upon a question asked why the old seventh day was not kept in the Christian Church makes answer that upon that day and on all the rest we ought to rest from our own works the works of sin Sed quod is magis quam ille eligatur ad externum Dei cultum liberum fuit Ecclesiae per Christum ut id consuleret quod ex re magis judicaret nec illa pessime judicavit c. That this was rather chose than that for Gods publick service That saith he Christ left totally unto the liberty of the Church to do therein what should seem most expedient and that the Church did very well in that she did prefer the memory of the Resurrection before the memory of the Creation These two I have the rather thus joyned together as being sent for into England in King Edwards time and place by the Protector in our Universities the better to establish Reformation at that time begun and doubt we not but that they taught the self-same Doctrine if at the least they touched at all upon that point with that now extant in their writings In Apoc. 1. at the same time with them lived Bullinger and Gualter two great Learned men Of these the first informs us hunc diem loco sabbati in memoriam resurgentis Domini delegisse sibi Ecclesias that in memorial of our Saviours Resurrection the Churches set apart this day in the Sabbaths stead whereon to hold their solemn and religious meetings And after Sponte receperunt Ecclesiae illam diem non legimus eam ullibi praeceptam that of their own accord and by their own authority the Church made choice thereof for the use aforesaid it being no where to be found that it was commanded In Act. Ap.
Hom. 131. Gualter more generally that the Christians first assembled on the Sabbath day as being then most famous and so most in use but when the Churches were augmented preximus à sabbato dies rebus sacris destinatus the next day after the Sabbath was designed to those holy uses If not before then certainly not so commanded by our Saviour Christ and if designed only then not enjoyned by the Apostles Apoc. 1.10 Yea Beza though herein he differ from his Master Calvin and makes the Lords day meetings to be Apostolicae verae divinae traditionis to be indeed of Apostolical and divine Tradition yet being a Tradition only although Apostolical it is no Commandment And more than that he tells us in another place that from St. Pauls preaching at Troas and from the Text. In Act. 20. 1 Corinth 16.2 non inepte colligi it may be gathered not unfitly that then the Christians were accustomed to meet that day the ceremony of the Jewish Sabbath beginning by degrees to vanish But sure the custom of the people makes no divine Traditions and such conclusions as not unfitly may be gathered from the Text are not Text it self Others there be who attribute the changing of the day to the Apostles not to their precept but their practice So Mercer Apostoli in Dominicum converterunt In Gen. the Apostles changed the Sabbath to the Lords day in Gen. 2. Paraeus attributes the same Apostolicae Ecclesiae unto the Apostolical Church or Church in the Apostles time quomodo autem facta sit haec mutatio in sacris liberis expressum non habemus but how by what authority such a change was made is not delivered in the Scripture In Thesib p. 733. And John Cuchlinus though he call it consuetudinem Apostolicam an Apostolical custom yet he is peremptory that the Apostles gave no such Commandment Apostolos praeceptum reliquisse constanter negamus So Simler calls it only consuetudinem tempore Apostolorum receptam a custom taken up in the Apostles time And so Hospinian De sestis Chr. p. 24. although saith he it be apparent that the Lords day was celebrated in the place of the Jewish Sabbath even in the times of the Apostles non invenitur tamen vel Apostolos vel alios lege aliqua praecepto observationem ejus instituisse yet find we not that either they or any other did institute the keeping of the same by any law or precept but left it free In 4. praecept Thus Zanchius nullibi legimus Apostolos c. We do not read saith he that the Apostles commanded any to observe this day We only read what they and others did upon it liberum ergo reliquerunt which is an argument that they left it to the Churches power To those add Vrsin in his Exposition of the fourth Commandment liberum Ecclesiae reliquit alios dies eligere In Catech. Palat. and that the Church made choice of this in honour of our Saviours Resurrection Aretius in his Common-places Christiani in Dominicum transtulerunt Gomarus and Ryvet in the Tracts before remembred Both which have also there determined that in the chusing of this day the Church did exercise as well her Wisdom as her Freedom her freedom being not obliged unto any day by the Law of God her wisdom ne majori mutatione Judaeos offenderet that by so small an alteration she might the less offend the Jews who were then considerable As for the Lutheran Divines it is affirmed by Doctor bound that for the most part they ascribe too much unto the liberty of the Church in appointing days for the assembly of the people which is plain confession But for particulars Brentius as Doctor Prideaux tells us calls it civilem institutionem a civil institution and no commandment of the Gospel which is no more indeed than what is elsewhere said by Calvin when he accounts no otherwise thereof than ut remedium retinendo ordini necessarium as a fit way to retain order in the Church And sure I am Chemnitius tells us that the Apostles did not impose the keeping of this day as necessary upon the consciences of Gods people by any Law or Precept whatsoever sed libera fuit observatio ordinis gratia but that for orders sake it had been voluntarily used amongst them of their own accord Thus have we proved that by the Doctrine of the Protestants of what side soever and those of greatest credit in the several Churches eighteen by name and all the Lutherans in general of the same opinion that the Lords day is of no other institution than the authority of the Church Which proved the last of the three Theses that still the Church hath power to change the day and to transfer it to some other will follow of it self on the former grounds the Protestant Doctors before remembred in saying that the Church did institute the Lords day as we see they do confessing tacitely that still the Church hath power to change it Nor do they tacitely confess it as if they were affraid to speak it out but some of them in plain terms affirm it as a certain Truth Zuinglius the first Reformer of the Switzers hath resolved it so in his Discourse against one Valentine Gentilis a new Arian Heretick Audi mi Valentine quibus modis rationibus sabbatum ceremoniale reddatur Tom. 1. p. 254. ◠Harken now Valentine by what ways and means the Sabbath may be made a ceremony if either we observe that day which the Jews once did or think the Lords day so affixed unto any time ut nefas sit illum in aliud tempus transferre that we conceive it an impiety it should be changed unto another on which as well as upon that we may not rest from labour and harken to the Word of God if perhaps such necessity should be this would indeed make it become a ceremony Nothing can be more plain than this Yet Calvin is as plain when he professeth that he regardeth not so much the Number of seven ut ejus servituti Ecclesias astringeret as to enthral the Church unto it Sure I am Doctor Prideaux reckoneth him as one of them who teach us that the Church hath power to change the day and to transfer it to some other and that John Barclaie makes report In orat de Sab. how once he had a Consultation de transferenda Dominica in feriam quintam of altering the Lords day unto the Thursday Bucer affirms as much as touching the Authority and so doth Bullinger and Brentius Vrsine and Chemnitius as Doctor Prideaux hath observed Of Bullinger Bucer Brentius I have nought to say because the places are not cited but take it as I think I may upon his credit But for Chemnitius he saith often that it is libera observatio a voluntary observation that it is an especial part of our Christian liberty not to be tied to Days and Times in matters which
as well upon the Saturday as upon the Sunday it is now time we turned our course and set sail for England where we shall find as little of it as in other places until that forty years ago no more some men began to introduce a Sabbath thereunto in hope thereby to countenance and advance their other projects CHAP. VII In what estate the Lords day stood in this Isle of Brittain from the first Planting of Religion to the Reformation 1. What doth occur about the Lords day and the other Festivals amongst the Churches of the Brittains 2. Of the estate of the Lords day and the other Holy-days in the Saxon Heptarchy 3. The honours done unto the Sunday and the other Holy-days by the Saxon Monarchs 4. Of the publick actions Civil Ecclesiastical mixt and Military done on the Lords day under the first six Norman Kings 5. New Sabbath Doctrins broached in England in King Johns Reign and the miraculous original of the same 6. The prosecution of the former story and ill success therein of the undertakers 7. Restraint of worldly business on the Lords day and the other Holy-days admitted in those times in Scotland 8. Restraint of certain servile works on Sundays Holy-days and the Wakes concluded in the Council of Oxon under Henry III. 9. Husbandry and Legal process prohibited on the Lords day first in the Reign of Edward III. 10. Selling of Wools on the Lords day and the solemn Feasts forbidden first by the said King Edward as after Fairs and Markets generally by King Henry VI. 11. The Cordwainers of London restrained from selling their Wares on the Lords day and some other Festivals by King Edward IV. and the repealing of that Act by King Henry VIII 12. In what estate the Lords day stood both for the doctrine and the practice in the beginning of the Reign of the said King Henry AND now at last we are for England that we may see what hath been done amongst our selves in this particular and thereby be the better lessoned what we are to do For as before I noted the Canons of particular Churches and Edicts of particular Princes though they sufficiently declare both what their practice and opinion was in the present point yet are no general rule nor prescript to others which lived not in the compass of their Authority Nor can they further bind us as was then observed than as they have been since admitted into our Church or State either by adding them unto the body of our Canon or imitating them in the composition of our Acts and Statutes Only the Decretals of the Popes the body of their Canon Law is to be excepted which being made for the direction and reiglement of the Church in general were by degrees admitted and obeyed in these parts of Christendome and are by Act of Parliament so far still in force as they oppose not the Prerogative Royal or the municipal Laws and Statutes of this Realm of England Now that we may the better see how it hath been adjudged of here and what hath been decreed ordome touching the Lords day and the other Holy-days we will ascend as high as possibly we can even to the Church and Empire of the Brittains Of them indeed we find not much and that delivered in as little it being said of them by Beda Hist l. 1. c. 8. that in the time of Constantine they did dies festos celebrare observe those Holy-days which were then in use which as before we said were Easter Whitsontide the Feasts of Christs Nativity and his Incarnation every year together with the Lords day weekly And yet it may be thought that in those times the Lords day was not here of any great account in that they kept the Feast of Easter after the fashion of the Churches in the Eastern parts decima quarta luna on what day of the week soever which certainly they had not done had the Lords day obtained amongst them that esteem which generally it had found in the Western Churches And howsoever a late writer of Ecclesiastical History endeavour to acquit the Brittains of these first Ages from the erroneous observation of that Feast Brought hist l. 4. c. 13. and make them therein followers of the Church of Rome yet I conceive not that his proofs come home to make good his purpose For where it is his purpose to prove by computation that that erroneous observation came not in amongst the Brittains till 30 years before the entrance of S. Austin and his associates into this Island and for that end hath brought a passage out of Beda touching the continuance of that custom It 's plain that Beda speaks not of the Brittish but the Scottish Christians Permansit autem apud eos the Scottish-Irish Christians as himself confesseth hujusmodi observantia Paschalis tempore non pauco hoc est usque ad annum Domini 717. per annos 150. which was as he computes it somewhat near the point but 30 years before the entrance of that Austin Now for the Scots it is apparent that they received not the faith till the year of Christ 430 not to say any thing of the time wherein they first set footing in this Island which was not very long before and probably might about that time of which Beda speaks receive the custom of keeping Easter from the Brittains who were next neighbours to them and a long time lived mingled with them But for the Brittains it is most certain that they had longer been accustomed to that observation though for the time thereof whether it came in with the first plantation of the Gospel here we will not contend as not pertaining to the business which we have in hand Suffice it that the Brittains anciently were observant of those publick Festivals which had been generally entertained in the Church of God though for the time of celebrating the Feast of Easter they might adhere more unto one Church than unto another As for the Canon of the Council of Nice Anno 198. which is there alledged Baronius rightly hath observed out of Athanasius that notwithstaning both the Canon and the Emperours Edicts thereupon tamen etiam postea Syros Cilices Mesopotamios in eodem errore permansisse the Syrians Cilicians and Mesopotamians continued in their former errours And why not then the Brittains which lay farther off as well as those that dwelt so near the then Regal City Proceed we next unto the Saxons who as they first received the faith from the Church of Rome so did they therewithal receive such institutions as were at that time generally entertained in the Roman Church the celebration of the Lords day and the other Festivals which were allowed of and observed when Gregory the Great attained the Popedom And here to take things as they lie in order we must begin with a narration concerning Westminster which for the prettiness of the story I will here insert Sebert the first Christian King of the East Saxons
having built that Church unto the honour of God and memory of Saint Peter invited Mellitus Bishop of London Adredus de Gestis Edwardi on a day appointed unto the consecration of it The night before S. Peter coming to the further side crosseth the Ferry goes into the Church and with a great deal of celestial musick lights and company performs that office for the dispatch of which Mellitus had been invited This done and being wafted back to the further side he gives the Ferri-man for his fare a good draught of Fishes only commanding him to carry one of them which was the best for price and beauty for a present from him to Mellitus in testimony that the work was done to his hand already Then telling who he was he adds that he and his Posterity the whole race of Fisher-men should be long after stored with that kind of Fish tantum ne ultra piscari audeatis in die Dominica provided always that they fished no more upon the Sunday Aldredus so reports the story And though it might be true as unto the times wherein he lived which was in the declining of the twelfth Century that Fishing on the Lords day was restrained by Law yet sure he placed this story ill in giving this injunction from St. Peter in those early days when such restraints were hardly setled if in a Church new planted they had yet been spoken of Leaving this therefore as a fable let us next look on Beda what he hath left us of this day in reference to our Ancestors of the Saxons-Race and many things we find in him worth our observation Before we shewed you how the Sunday was esteemed a Festival that it was judged heretical to hold Fasts thereon Hist l. 3. c. 23. This Ordinance came in amongst us with the faith it self S. Chadd having a place designed him by King Oswald to erect a Monastery did presently retire unto it in the time of Lent In all which time Dominica excepta the Lords day excepted he fasted constantly till the Evening as the story tells us The like is told of Adamannus Hist l. 4. c. 25. one of the Monastery of Coldingham now in Scotland but then accounted part of the Kingdom of Northumberland that he did live in such a strict and abstemious manner ut nil unquam cibi vel potus excepta die Dominica quinta Sabbati perciperet that he did never eat nor drink but on the Sunday and Thursday only This Adamannus lived in Anno 690. Before we shewed you with what profit Musick had been brought into the Church of God and hither it was brought it seems 〈◊〉 hist l. 2. c. 20. with the first preaching of the Gospel Beda relates it of Paulinus that when he was made Bishop of Rochester which was in Anno 631. he left behind him in the North one James a Deacon cantandi in Ecclesia peritissimum a man exceeding perfect in Church Musick who taught them there that form of singing Divine Service which which he learnt in Canterbury And after in the year 668 what time Archbishop Theodorus made his Metropolitical visitationn Lib. 4. c. 2. the Art of singing Service which was then only used in Kent for in the North it had not been so setled but that it was again forgotten was generally taken up over all the Kingdom Sonos cantandi in Ecclesia quos eatenusin Cantica tantum noverant ab hoc tempore per omnes Anglorum Ecclesias dicere coeperunt as that Author hath it Before we shewed how Pope Vitalianus Anno 653. added the Organ to that vocal Musick which was before in use in the Church of Christ In less than 30 years after and namely in the year 679. were they introduced by Pope Agatho into the Churches of the English and have continued in the same well near 1000 years without interruption Before we shewed you how some of the greater Festivals were in esteem before the Sunday Bed Eccl. hist l. 4. c. 19. and that it was so even in the Primitive times And so it also was in the Primitive times of this Church of England it being told us of Qu. Etheldreda that after she had put her self into a Monastery she never went unto the Bathes praeter imminentibus soleniis majoribus but on the approach of the greater Festivals such as were Easter Pentecost and Christmas for so I think he means there by Epiphanie as also that unless it were on the greater Festivals she did not use to eat above once a day This plainly shews that Sunday was not reckoned for a greater Festival that other days were in the opinion and esteem above it and makes it evident withal that they conceived not that the keeping of the Lords day was to be accounted as a part of the law of Nature or introduced into the Church by divine Authority but by the same Authority that the others were Ap. Lambert Archaion For Laws in these times made we meet with none but those of Ina a West-Saxon King who entred on his Reign Anno 712. A Prince exceedingly devoted to the Church of Rome and therefore apt enough to imbrace any thing which was there concluded By him it was enacted in the form that followeth Servus si quid operis patrarit die Dominico ex praecepto Domini sui liber esto c. If a servant work on the Lords day by the appointment of his Master he was to be set free and his Master was to forfeit 30 shillings but of he worked without such order from his Master to be whipped or mulcted Liber si hoc die operetur injussu Domini sui c. So if a Freeman worked that day without direction from his Master he either was to be made a Bondman or pay 60 shillings As for the Doctrine of these times In Luc. 59. we may best judg of that by Beda First for the Sabbath that he tell us ad Mosis usque tempora caeterorum dierum similis erat was meerly like the other days until Moses time no difference at all between them therefore not institute and observed in the beginning of the World as some teach us now Next for the Lords day that he makes an Apostolical sanction only no Divine Commandment as before we noted and how far Apostolical sanctions bind we may clearly see by that which they determined in the Council of Hierusalem Of these two Specialties we have spoken already This is the most we find in the Saxon Heptarchie and little more than this we find in the Saxon Monarchie In this we meet with Alured first the first that brought this Realm in order Lambert Archaion who in his Laws cap. de diebus festis solennibus reckoneth up certain days in which it was permitted unto Freemen to enjoy their Festival liberty as the phrase there is servis autem iis qui sunt legitima officiorum servitute astricti non item but not
entertained in the Christian Church as also to have mercy on them for the neglect thereof in those Holy days which by the wisdom and authority of the Church had been set apart for Gods publick Service Besides this Prayer was then conceived when there was no suspition that any would make use thereof to introduce a Jewish Sabbath but when men rather were inclined to the contrary errour to take away those certain and appointed times Lords days and other Holy days which by the wisdom of the Church had been retained in the Reformation The Anabaptists were strongly bent that way as before we shewed and if we look into the Articles of our Church See Art 26.37 38 39. we shall then find what special care was taken to suppress their errours in other points which had taken footing as it seems in this Church and Kingdom Therefore the more likely it is that this Cluse was added to crush their furious fancies in this particular of not hallowing certain days and times to Gods publick Service Yet I conceive withal that had those Reverend Prelates foreseen how much their pious purpose would have been abused by wresting it to introduce a Sabbath which they never meant they would have cast their meaning in another mould Proceed we to the Reign of Queen Elizabeth that so much celebrated Princess and in the first place we shall meet with her Injunctions published the first year of her Empire in which the Sunday is not only counted with the other Holy days but labour at some times permitted and which is more enjoyn'd upon it For thus it pleased her to declare her will and pleasure Injunct 20. All the Queens faithful and loving Subjects shall from henceforth celebrate and keep their holy day according to Gods holy will and pleasure that is in hearing the Word of God read and taught in private and publick Prayers in knowledging their offences unto God and amendment of the same in reconciling of themselves charitably to their Neighbours where displeasure hath been in oftentimes receiving the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ in bistting the Poor and Sick using all soberness and godly conversation This seems to be severe enough but what followeth next Yet notwithstanding all Parsons Vicars and Curats shall teach and declare to their Parishioners that they may with a safe and quiet conscience after their Common Prayer in the time of Harvest labour upon the boly and Festival days and save that thing which God hath sent And if for any scrupulosity or grudg of Conscience men should superstitiously abstain from working on these days that then they should grievously offend and displease God This makes it evident that Qu. Elizabeth in her own particular took not the Lords day for a Sabbath or to be of a different nature from the other Holy days nor was it taken so by the whole Body of our Church and State in the first Parliament of her Reign 1 Eliz. c. 2. what time it was enacted That all and every person and persons inhabiting within this Realm and any other the Queens Dominious shall diligently and faithfully having no lawful or reasonable excuse to be absent endeavour themselves to resort to their Parish Church or Chappel accustomed or upon reasonable let thereof to some usual place where Common Prayer shall be used in such time of let upon every Sunday and other days ordained and used to be kept as Holy day and then and there to abide orderly and soverly During the time of Common Prayer Preaching or other Service of God upon pain of punishment c. This Law is still in force and still like to be and by this Law the Sundays and the Holy days are alike regarded Nor by the Law only but by the purpose and intent of holy Church who in her publick Liturgy is as full and large for every one of the Holy days as for the Sunday the Letany excepted only For otherwise by the rule and prescript thereof the same Religious Offices are designed for both the same devout attendance required for both and whatsoever else may make both equal And therefore by this Statute and the Common Prayer-Book we are to keep more Sabbaths than the Lords Day Sabbath or else none at all Next look we on the Homilies part of the publick Monuments of the Church of England set forth and authorized Anno 1562. being the fourth of that Queens Reign In that entituled Of the place and time of Prayer we shall find it thus As concerning the Time in which God hath appointed his people to assemble together solemnly it doth appear by the fourth Commandment c. And Albeit this Commandment of God doth noâ— hind Christian people so straitly to observe and keep the utter ceremonies of the Sabbath day as it did the Jews as touching the forbearing of work and labour in the time of great necessity and as thouching the precise keeping of the seventh Day after the manner of the Jews for we keep now the first day which is our Sunday and make that our Sabbath that is our day of rest in honour of our Saviour Christ who as upon that day he rose from death conquering the same most triumphantly Yet notwithstanding whatsoever is found in the Comandment appertaining to the Law of Nature as a thing most godly most just and needful for the setting forth of Gods glory ought to be retained and kept of all good Christian people And therefore by this Commandment we ought to have a time as one day in the week wherein we ought to rest yea from our lawful and needful words For like as it appeareth by this Commandment that no man in the six days ought to be slothful and idle but diligently to labour in that state wherein God hath set him even so God hath given express charge to all men that upon the Sabbath day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all weekly and work-day labour to the intent that like as God 〈◊〉 wrought six days and rested the seventh and blessed and sanctified it and consecrated it to quietness and rest from labour even so Gods obedient people should use the Sunday Holily and rest from their common and daily business and aisa give themselves wholly to Heavenly exercises of Gods true religion and service â—o that God doth not only command the observation of this holy day but also by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of the same c. Thus it may plainly appear that Gods will and Commandment was to have a solemn time and standing day in the week Wherein the people should come together and have in remembrance his wonderful benefits and to render him thank 's for them an appertaineth to loving kind and obedient people This example and Commandment of God the godly Christian people began to follow imâ—ediately after the Ascension of our Lord Christ and began to choose them a standing day of
prescribed by the Church of England shewed plainly their dislike of those Sabbath Doctrines which had been lately set on foot to the dithonour of the Church and diminution of her authority in destinating other days to the service of God than their new Saint-Sabbath Yet did not this the Churches care either so satisfie their desires or restrain the follies of those men who had embraced the New Sabbath Doctrines but that they still went forwards to advance that business which was now made a part of the common cause no book being published by that party either by way of Catechism or Comment on the Ten Commandments or moral Piety or systematical Divinity of all which these last times have produced too many wherein the Sabbath was not pressed upon the consciences of Gods people with as much violence as formerly with authority upon the Jews And hereunto they were encouraged a great deal the rather because in Ireland what time his Majesties Commissioners were employed about the setling of that Church Anno 1615. there passed an Article which much confirmed them in their Courses and hath been often since alledged to justifie both them and their proceedings Art 56. The Article is this The first day of the week which is the Lords day is wholly to be dedicated to the service of God and therefore we are bound therein to rest from our common and daily business and to bestow that leisure upon holy Exercises both private and publick What moved his Majesties Commissioners to this strict austcrity that I cannot say but sure I am that till that time the Lords day never had attained such credit as to be thought an Article of the Faith though of some mens fancies Nor was it like to be of long continuance it was so violently followed the whole Book being now called in and in the place thereof the Articles of the Church of England confirmed by Parliament in that Kingdom Anno 1634. Nor was this all the fruit neither of such dangerous Doctrines that the Lords day was grown into the reputation of the Jewish Sabbath but some that built on their foundations and ploughed with no other than their Heifers endeavoured to bring back again the Jewish Sabbath as that which is expresly mentioned in the fourth Commandment and abrogate the Lords day for altogether as having no foundation in it nor warrant by it Of these one Thraske declared himself for such in King James his time and therewithal took up another Jewish Doctrine about Meats and Drinks as in the time of our dread Soveraign now being Theophilus Braborne grounding himself on the so much applauded Doctrine of the morality of the Sabbath maintained that the Jewish Sabbath ought to be observed and wrote a large Book in defence thereof which came into the World 1632. For which their Jewish doctrines the first received his censure in the Star-Chamber and what became of him I know not the other had his doom in the High-Commission and hath since altered his opinion being misguided only by the principles of some noted men to which he thought he might have trusted Of these I have here spoken together because the ground of their opinions so far as it concerned the Sabbath were the very same they only make the conclusions which of necessity must follow from the former premisses just as the Brownists did befoe when they abominated on the Communion of the Church of England on the Puritan principles But to proceed This of it self had been sufficient to bring all to ruin but this was not all Not only Judaism did begin but Popery took great occasion of increase by the preciseness of some Magistrates and Ministers in several places of this Kingdom in bindring people from their Recreations on the Sunday the Papists in this Realm being thereby persuaded that no honest Mirth or Recreation was tolerable in our Religion Which being noted by King James in his progress through Lancashire King James's Declarat it pleased his Majesty to set out his Declaration May 24. Anno 1618. the Court being then at Greenwich to this effect that for his good peoples lawful Recreations his pleasure was that after the end of Divine Service they should not be disturbed letted or discouraged from any lawful Recreations such as Dancing either Men or Women Archery for Men Leaping Vaulting or any other such harmless Recreations nor from having of May-games Whitsun-Ales or Morrice-dances and setting up of May-poles or other sports therewith used so as the same be had in due and cenvenient time without impediment or let of Divine Service and that Women should have leave to carry Rushes to the Church for the decoring of it atcording to their old custom withal prohibiting all unlawful Games to be used on the Sundays only as Bear-baiting Bull-baiting Enterludes and at all times in the meaner sort of people by Law prohibited Bowling A Declaration which occasioned much noise and clamour and many scandals spread abroad as if these Counsels had been put into that Princes head by some great Prelates which were then of most power about him But in that point they might have satisfied themselves that this was no Court-doctrine no New-divinity which that learned Prince had been taught in England He had declared himself before when he was King of the Scots only to the self-same purpose as may appear in his Basilicon Doron published Anno 1598. This was the first Blow in effect which had been given in all his time to the new Lords day Sabbath then so much applauded For howsoever as I said those who had entertained these Sabbatarian Principles spared neither care nor pains to advance the business by being instant in season and out of season by publick Writings private Preachings and clandestine insinuations or whatsoever other means might tend to the promotion of this Catholick Cause yet find we none that did oppose it in a publick way though there were many that disliked it only one Mr. Loe of the Church of Exeter declared himself in his Effigiatio veri Sabbatismi Anno 1606. to be of different judgment from them and did lay down indeed the truest and most justifiable Doctrine of the Sabbath of any Writer in that time But being written in the Latin Tongue it came not to the peoples hands many of those which understood it never meaning to let the people know the Contents thereof And whereas in the year 1603 at the Commencement held in Cambridg this Thesis or Proposition Dies Dominicus nititur Verbo Dei was publickly maintained by a Doctor there and by the then Vice-Chancellour so determined neither the following Doctors there or any in the other University that I can hear of did ever put up any Antithesis in opposition thereunto At last some four years after his Majesties Declaration before remembred Anno 1622. Doctor Prideaux his Majesties Professour for the University of Oxon did in the publick Act declare his judgment in this point de Sabbato
which afterwards in the year 1625. he published to the World with his other Lectures Now in this Speech or Determination he did thus resolve it First that the Sabbath was not instituted in the first Creation of the World nor ever kept by any of the ancient Patriarchs who lived before the Law of Moses therefore no moral and perpetual Precept as the others are Sect. 2. Secondly That the sanctifying of one day in seven is ceremonial only and obliged the Jews not Moral to oblige us Christians to the like Observance Sect. 3. 4. Thirdly That the Lords day is founded only on the Authority of the Church guided therein by the practice of the Apostles not on the fourth Commandment which in the 7. Section he entituleth a seandalous Doctrine nor any other authority in holy Scripture Sect. 6. 7. Fourthly That the Church hath still authority to change the day though such authority be not fit to be put in practice Sect. 7. Fifthly That in the celebration of it there is no such cessation from the works of labour required of us as was exacted of the Jews but that we lawfully may dress Meat proportionable unto every mans estate and do such other things as be no hinderance to the publick Service appointed for the day Sect. 8. Sixthly That on the Lords day all Recreations whatsoever are to be allowed which honestly may refresh the spirits and encrease mutual love and Neighbourhood amongst us and that the Names whereby the Jews did use to call their Festival whereof the Sabbath was the chief were borrowed from an Hebrew word which signifies to Dance and to make merry or rejoyce And lastly that it appertains to the Christian Magistrate to order and appoint what Pastimes on the Lords day are to be permitted and what prohibited not unto every private person much less to every mans rash Zeal as his own words are who out of a schismatical Stoicism debarring men from lawful Pastimes doth incline to Judaisin Sect. 8. This was the sum and substance of his resolution then which as it gave content unto the sounder and the better part of the Assembly so it did infinitely stomack and displease the greater numbers such as were formerly possessed with the other Doctrines though they were wiser than to make it a publick Quarrel Only it pleased Mr. Bifeild of Surrey in his Reply in a Discourse of Mr. Brerewoods of Cresham Colledg Anno 1631. to tax the Doctor as a spreader of wicked Doctrine and much to marvel with himself how either he durst be so hold to say Page 161. or having said it could be suffered to put it forth viz. That to establish the Lords day on the fourth Commandment were to incline too much to Judaism This the said M. Bifeild thinks to be a foul aspertion on this famous Church But in so thinking I conceive that he consulted more his own opinion and his private interest than any publick maintenance of the Churches cause which was not injured by the Doctor but defended rather But to proceed or rather to go back a little About a year before the Doctor thus declared his judgment one Tho. Broad of Gloucestorshire had published something in this kind wherein to speak my mind thereof he rather shewed that he disliked those Sabbath Doctrines than durst disprove them And before either M. Brerewood whom before I named had writ a learned Treatise about the Sabbath on a particular occasion therein mentioned but published it was not till after both Anno 1629. Add here to joyn them altogether that in the Schools at Oxon Anno 1628. it was maintained by Dr. Robinson now Archdeacon of Gloucester viz. Ludos Recreationis gratia in die Dominico non esse prohibitos Divina Lege That Recreations on the Lords day were not at all prohibited by the Word of God As for our neighbour Church of Scotland as they proceeded not at first with that mature deliberation in the reforming of that Church which had been here observed with us so did they run upon a course of Reformation which after was thought fitting to be reformed The Queen was young and absent in the Court of France the Regent was a desolate Widow a Stranger to the Nation and not well obeyed So that the people there possessed by Cnoxe and other of their Teachers took the cause in hand and went that way which came most near unto Geneva where this Cnoxe had lived Among the first things wherewithal they were offended were the Holy days Proceedings at Perth These in their Book of Discipline Anno 1560. they condemned at once particularly the observation of Holy days entituled by the names of Saints the Feasts of Christmas Circumcision Epiphany the Purification and others of the Virgin Mary all which they ranked awongst the abominations of the Roman Religion as having neither Commandment nor assurance in the Word of God But having brought this Book to be subsigned by the Lords of secret Counsel it was first rejected some of them giving it the Title of Devote Imaginations Cnoxe Hist of Scotl. p. 523. whereof Cnoxe complains Yet notwithstanding on they went and at last prevailed for in the middle of the Tumults the Queen Regent died and did not only put down all the Holy days the Lords day excepted but when an uprore had been made in Edenburg about a Robin-hood or a Whitson-Lord they of the Consistory excommunicated the whole multitud Now Proceedings at Perth that the holy days were put down may appear by this That in the year 1566. when the Confession of the Helvetian Churches was proposed unto them they generally approved the same save that they liked not of those Holy days which were there retained But whatsoever they intended and howsoever they had utterly suppressed those days which were entituled by the Names of particular Saints yet they could never so prevail but that the people would retain some memory of the two great and principal Feasts of Christs Nativity and Resurrection For in the year 1575. Complaint was made unto the Regent how in Dunfreis they had conveyed the Reader to the Church with Taber and Whissel to read Prayers all the Holy days of Zule or Christmas Thereupon Anno 1577. it was ordained in an Assembly of the Church That the Visitors should admonish Ministers preaching or ministring the Communion at Pasche or Zule or other like superstitious times under pain of deprivation to desist therefrom Anno 1587. it was complained of to his Majesty That Pasche and Zule were superstitiously observed in Fife and about Dunfreis and in the year 1592. the Act of the Queen Regent granting licence to keep the said two Feasts was by them repealed Yet find we by the Bishop of Brechin in his Discourse of the Proceedings at the Synod of Perth that notwithstanding all the Acts Civil and Ecclesiastick made against the superstitious observation and prophane abuse of Zule day the people could never be induced to labour on
that day and wheresoever Divine service was done that day as in Towns which have always Morning and Evening Prayers they were perceived to resort in greater numbers on that day than on any other to the Church As for King James of happy memory he did not only keep the said great Festivals from his youth as there is said but wished them to be kept by all his Subjects yet without abuse and in his Basilicon Doron published Anno 1598. thus declares himself that without superstition Plays and unlawful Games may be used in May and good Cheer at Christmas Now on the other side as they had quite put down those days which had been dedicated by the Church to Religious Meetings so they appointed others of their own authority For in their Book of Discipline before remembred it was thus decreed viz. That in every notable Town a day besides the Sunday should be appointed weekly for Sermons that during the time of Sermon the day should be kept free from all exercise of labour as well by the Master as by the Servant as also that every day in the said great Towns there be either Sermon or Prayers with reading of the Scriptures So that it seemeth they only were afraid of the name of Holy days and were contented well enough with the thing it self As for the Lords day in that Kingdom I find not that it had attained unto the name or nature of a Sabbath day until that Doctrine had been set on foot amongst us in England For in the Book of Discipline set out as formerly was said in 560. they call it by no other name than Sunday ordaining that upon four Sundays in the year which are therein specified the Sacrament of the Lords Supper should be administred to the people and in the year 1592. an Act of King James the third about the Saturday and other Vigills to be kept holy from Evensong to Evensong was annulled and abrogated Which plainly shews that then they thought not of a Sabbath But when the Sabbath doctrine had been raised in England Anno 1595 as before was said it found a present entertainment with the Brethren there who had before professed in their publick Writings to our Puritans here Davison p. 20. that both their causes were most nearly linked together and thereupon they both took up the name of Sabbath and imposed the rigour yet so that they esteem it lawful to hold Fasts thereon quod saepissime in Ecclesia nostra Scoticana factum est and use it often in that Church which is quite contrary unto the nature of a Sabbath And on the other side they deny it to be the weekly Festival of the Resurrection Non sunt dies Dominici festa Resurrectionis as they have resolved it Altare Damasc p. 669. which shews as plainly that they build not the translation of their Sabbath on the same grounds as our men have done Id. 696. In brief by making up a mixture of a Lords day Sabbath they neither keep it as the Lords day nor as the Sabbath And in this state things stood until the year 1618. what time some of the Ancient holy days were revived again in the Assembly held at Perth in which moving some other Rites of the Church of England which were then admitted it was thus determined viz. As we abhor the superstitious observation of festival days by the Papists and detest all licentious and prophane abuse thereof by the common sort of Professors so we think that the inestimable benefits received from God by our Lord Jesus Christ his Birth Passion Resurrection Ascension and sending down of the Holy Ghost was commendably and godly remembred at certain particular days and times by the whole Church of the world and may be also now Therefore the Assembly ordains that every Minister shall upon these days have the Commemoration of the foresaid inestimable benefits and make choice of several and pertinent Texts of Scripture and frame their Doctrine and Exhortation thereunto and rebuke all superstitious observation and licentious prophanation thereof A thing which much displeased some men of contrary persuasion first out of fear that this was but a Preamble to make way for all the other Holy days observed in England And secondly because it seemed that these five days were in all points to be observed as the Lords day was both in the times of the Assembly and after the dissolving of the same But pleased or dispeased so it was decreed and so still it stands But to return again to England It pleased his Majesty now Reigning whom God long preserve upon information of many notable misdemeanors on this day committed 1 Carol. 1. in his first Parliament to Enact That from thence-forwards there should be no Meetings Assemblies or concourse of people out of their Parishes on the Lords day for any sports or pastimes whatsoever nor any Bear-baitings Bull-baitings common Plays Enterludes or any other unlawful Exercises or Pastimes used by any person or persons in their own Parishes every offence to be punished by the forfeiture of 3 s. 4 d. This being a Probation Law was to continue till the end of the first Session of the next Parliament And in the next Parliament it was continued till the end of the first Session of the next 3 Carol. 1. which was then to come So also was another Act made in the said last Session wherein it was enacted That no Carrier Waggoner Wain-man Carman or Drover travel thence-forwards on the Lords day on pain that every person and persons so offending shall lose and forfeit 20 s. for every such offence And that no Butcher either by himself or any other by his privity and consent do kill or sell any Victual on the said day upon the forfeiture and loss of 6 s. 8 d. Which Statutes being still in force by reason that there hath not been any Session of Parliament since they were enacted many both Magistrates and Ministers either not rightly understanding or wilfully mistaking the intent and meaning of the first brought Dancing and some other lawful Recreations under the compass of unlawful Pastimes in that Act prohibited and thereupon disturbed and punished many of the Kings obedient people only for using of such Sports as had been authorized by his Majesties Father of blessed memory Nay which is more it was so publickly avowed and printed by one who had no calling to interpret Laws except the provocation of his own ill spirit That Dancing on the Lords day was an unlawful Pastime punishable by the Statute 1. Carol. 1. which intended so he saith to suppress Dancing on the Lords day as well as Bear-baiting Bull-baiting Enterludes and common Plays which were not then so rife and common as Dancing when this Law was made Things being at this height King Charles Declarat it pleased his excellent Majesty Observing as he saith himself how much his people were debarred of Recreation and finding in some
in the Publick Government sufficient to retard a work of greater consequence is unknown to none But long looked for comes at last as the saying is though why it should come out at all may be made a question And I shall also give the Reader some account of that but in so doing must make use of somewhat which was said elsewhere It was more than half against my will and rather through the indiscretion of others than any forwardness of my own that I was drawn to shew my self in these present Controversies But being unseasonably brought upon the Stage by Dr. Bernard impertinently enough by Mr. Baxter and with more than ordinary Petulancy by the Man of Scorn the occasion was laid hold on by some very able and discerning men for pressing me to search into the History of these disputes so far forth as the Church of England was concerned in them and to make publick what I sound upon that inquiry To which request I made such answer at the present as the consideration of my many unfitnesses for an employment of that nature might suggest unto me But coming to me from so many hands that it could not fairly be denied I was prevailed with in the end to apply my self to the undertaking as soon as I had dispatched such other businesses as lay then upon me In the mean time I thought I might comply sufficiently with all expectations by fashioning some short Animadversions on the principal passages relating to the Doctrin of the Church of England which had been purloyned for the most part out of Mr. Prinns Book of Anti-arminianism by a late Compiler By which name the old Criticks and Grammarians used to call those men who pilfering their materials out of other mens writings did use to lay them close together as their own to avoid discovery Compilo i. c. Surripio quia quae fures auferunt ea pressim colligunt quod est compilare And so the word is took by Horace is his Compilasse Serm. 1. verse ult as is observed on that verse by the Learned Scoliasts So that a Compilator and a Plagiary are but two terms of one signification And he that would behold a Plagacy in his proper colours may find him painted to the lise in the Appendix to Mr. Pierce his Vindication of the Learned Grotius to which for further satisfaction I refer the Reader That preamble having led the way and may other businesses being ever I prepared my self unto that search to which I was so earnestly moved and so affectionately intreated My helps were few and weak which might sufficiently have deterred me from the undertaking But a good cause will help to carry on it self and truth will find the way to shine though darkned for a time with the clouds of Errour as the Sun breaking from an Eclips doth appear more glorious though a while obscured Delitere videtur sol non delitet as in the like case the Father hath it The five disputed points which in these last times are reproached by the name of Arminianism had more or less exercised the Church in all times and ages especially after the breaking out of the Pelagian Heresies where all the Niceties thereof were more thoroughly canvassed Neither the piety and sobriety of the Primitive times nor the authority of the Popes nor the commanding spirit of Luther nor the more powerful name of Calvin have prevailed so far but that the Church and every broken fragment of it hath sound some subdivision about these Debates So that it can be no great wonder if the Church of England be divided also on the same occasion or that a Deviation should be made from her publick rules as well as in all other Churches and all former times Which way the general vote had passed in the elder ages hath been abundantly set forth by John Gerrard Vossius in his Historia Pelagiana But be descended not so low as these latter times conceiving he had done enough in shewing to which of the contending parties the general current of the Fathers did most encline And if Tertullians rule be good that those opinions have most truth which have most antiquity id verum est quod primum as his own words are the truth must run most clearly in that part of the Controversie which hath least in it of the Zuinglian or Calvinian Doctrins And so far I shall follow his method or example rather in the pursuit of that design which I have before me For though it be my principal purpose to search into the Doctrine of the Church of England yet I shall preface my discourse by laying down the Judgment of the rest of the Western Churches before I come to that of our first Reformers By means whereof it may be seen what guides they followed or rather with what parties they concurred in judgment since in those times the Church was generally so distracted about these disputes that with the whole the aggregate body of believers there could be no agreement hoped for no compliance possible In the pursuance of this work I have exemplified so much of the Debates and Artifices in the Council of Trent as concerns these points and may be parallel'd with the like proceedings in the Synod of Dort I have consulted also the Confessions the Synodals and other publick Monuments and Records of the several parties and so many of the best and most approved Authors of this Church of England as either were within my power or could be advised with at a further distance One whole discourse I have transcribed about Free-will not obvious to the met withal in Shops or Libraries The like I have done also with one whole Homily though the book be easie to be found by those that seek it knowing full well how unwilling most Readers are to take more pains in turning over several books and examining all quotations which are brought before them than of necessity they must Nor have I purposely concealed or subducted any thing considerable which may seem to make for the advantage of the opposite party And have therefore brought in a discourse of the Martyrologist in favour of the Calvinian Doctrine I have also given a just account of the first breaking out of the Predestinarians in Queen Maries time and of the stirs in Cambridge in Queen Elizabeths not pretermitting such particulars as may be thought to make for them in the course of this Narrative even to the Articles of Ireland and the harsh expression of King James against Arminius And therefore I may say in the words of Curtius Plura equidem transcribo quam credo nec enim affirmare ausuge sum quae dubito nec subducere sustineo quae accepi I have related many things which I cannot approve though I have not let them pass without some censure that so I may impose nothing on the Readers belief without good grounds nor defraud him of any thing conducible to his information I was not to be
Ark of Gods Secret Counsels of which spirit I conceive this Frith to be not that I find him such in any of his Writings extant with the other two but that he is affirmed for such in a Letter of Tyndals directed to him under the borrowed name of Jacob For in the collection of his pieces neither the Index nor the Margent direct us unto any thing which concerns this Argument though to the Writtings of the others they give a clearer sense howsoever made then in favour of the Calvinian party than the Books themselves or possibly was ever meant by the men that made them Acts and Mon. fol. 987. Now Tyndals Letter is as followeth Dearly beloved Jacob my hearts desire in our Saviour Jesus is That you arm your self with patience and be hold sober wise and circumspect and that you keep you a low by the ground avoiding high questions that pass the common capacity but expound the Law truly and open the Rule of Moses to condemn all flesh and prove all men sinners and all deeds under the Law before mercy hath taken away the condemnation thereof to be sin and damnable And then as a faithful Minister set abroach the mercy of our Lord Jesus and let the wounded consciences drink of the water of life And then shall your preaching be with power not as the Doctrine of Hypocrites and the Spirit of God shall work with you and all consciences shall bear record unto you and feel that it is so And all Doctrine that casteth a mist on these two to shadow and hide them I mean the Law of God and mercy of Christ that resist you with all your power Of him it is or of such high Climers as he was â—roloe before the Epist unto the Rom. p. 48. who we find Tyndal speaking in another place But here saith he we must set a mark upon those unquiet busie and high-climing Wits how far they shall go which first of all bring hither their high Reasons and pregnant Wits and begin first from on high to search the bottomless secrets of Gods Predestination whether they be predestinated or no These must needs either cast themselves headlong down into Desperation or else commit themselves to free chance careless But follow thou the order of this Epistle and nuzzel thy self with Christ and learn to understand the Law and the Gospel-means and the office of both that thou mayst in the one know thy self and how thou hast of thy self no strength but to sin and in the other the grace of Christ and then see thou fight against sin and the flesh as the seven first Ghapters teach thee Of these high flyings Lambert another of our Martyrs was endicted also who as he would not plead Not guilty Acts and Mon. fol. 1008. so he stood not mute but bound to the Endictment in this manner following Vnto the Article saith he whether it be good or evil cometh of necessity that is as you construe it to wit whether a man hath Free-will so that he may deny joy or pain I say as I said at the beginning that unto the first part of your Riddle I neither can nor will give any desinitive answer for so much as it surmounteth any capacity trusting that God will send hereafter others that be of better cunning than I to incite it If there be any thing in this which may give any comfort to our rigid Calvinists much good do them with it and if they meet with any in the former passages let them look back upon the Answers before laid down and then consider with themselves what they have got by the adventure or whether Tyndal Barns and Frith conjunct or separate may be considered as a Rule to our first Reformers which having done I would have them finally observe the passage in the eighth of St. Mark where the blind man whom our Saviour at Bethsaida restored to his sight at the first opening of his eyes said he saw men as trees walking that is to say he saw men walking as trees quasi dicat homines quos ambulantes video non homines sed arbores mihi videntur as we read in Maldionale By which the blind man declared saith he se quidem videre aliquid imperfecte tamen videre cum inter homines c arbores distinguere non posset I discern somewhat said the poor man but so imperfectly that I am not able to distinguish between trees and men Such an imperfect sight as this might these Martyrs have in giving unto men no greater power of walking in the ways of Gods Commandments than as if they had been sensless Trees or liveless shadows And such an imperfect sight as his the Lord gave many times to those whom he recovered out of the Egyptian darkness of Popish Errours who not being able to discern all divine Truth at the first opening of the eyes of their understanding were not to be a Rule or President to those that followed and lived under a brighter beam of illumination Finally taking all for granted as to the judgment of these men in the points disputed which the Calvinians can desire and pretend unto and letting them enjoy the Title which Mr. Fox hath given them of being called the Ring-leaders of the Church of Englanp which Bilney Byfield Lambert Garet or any other of our ancient Martyrs may as well lay claim to yet as they suffered death before the publick undertaking of the Reformation under E. 6. so nothing was ascribed to their Authority by the first Reformers CHAP. VIII Of the Preparatives to the Reformation and the Doctrine of the Church in the present points 1. The danger of ascribing too much to our ancient Martyrs c. exemplified in the parity of Ministers and popular elections unto Benefices allowed by Mr. John Lambert 2. Nothing ascribed to Calvins judgment by our first Reformers but much to the Augustine Confession the writings of Melancthon 3. And to the Authority of Erasmus his Paraphrases being commanded to the use of the Church by King Edward VI. and the Reasons why 4. The Bishops Book in order to a Reformation called The Institution of a Christian man commanded by King Henry VIII 1537. corrected afterwards with the Kings own hand examined and allowed by Cranmer approved by Parliament and finally published by the name of Necessary doctrine c. An. 1543. 5. The Doctrine of the said two Books in the points disputed agreeable unto that which after was established by King Edward the Sixth 6. Of the two Liturgies made in the time of King Edward VI. and the manner of them the testimony given unto the first and the alterations in the second 7. The first Book of Homilies by whom made approved by Bucer and of the Argument that may be gathered from the method of it in the points disputed 8. The quality and condition of those men who principally concurred to the Book of Articles with the Harmony or consent in Judgment between
Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Ridley Bishop Hooper c. 9. The Doctrine delivered in the Book of Articles touching the five controverted points 10. An answer to the Objection against these Articles for the supposed want of Authority in the making of them 11. An Objection against King Edwards Catechism mistaken for an Objection against the Articles refelled as that Catechism by John Philpot Martyr and of the delegating of some powers by that Convocation to a choice Committee 12. The Articles not drawn up in comprehensive or ambiguous terms to please all parties but to be understood in the respective literal and Grammatical sense and the Reasons why I Have the longer stood upon the answering of this Objection to satisfie and prevent all others of the like condition in case it should be found on a further search that any of our godly Martyrs or learned Writers who either suffered death before the Reign of Edward VI. or had no hand in the carrying on of the Reformation embraced any opinions in Doctrine or Discipline contrary to the established Rules of the Church of England For otherwise as we must admit all Tyndals Heterodoxies and Friths high flying conceits of Predestination which before we touch'd at so must we also allow a Parity or an Identity rather in Priests and Bishops because John Lambert another of our Godly Martyrs did conceive so of it In the primitive Church saith he there were no more Officers in the Church of God than Bishops and Deacons that is to say Ministers as witnesseth beside Scripture S. Hierom in his Commentaries on the Epistles of S. Paul Whereas saith he that those whom we now call Priests were all one and no other but Bishops and the Bishops no other but Priests men ancient both in age and learning so near as could be chosen nor were they instituted and chosen as they be now a days the Bishop and his Officer only opposing them whether they can construe a Collect but they were chosen also with the consent of the people amongst whom they were to have their living as sheweth S. Cyprian But alack for pity such elections are banished and new fashions brought in By which opinion if it might have served or a Rule to the Reformation our Bishops must have been reduced to the rank of Priests and the right of Presentation put into the hands of the people to the Destruction of all the Patrons in the Kingdom If then the question should be asked as perhaps it may On whom or on whose judgment the hrst Reformers most relied in the weighty business I answer negatively First That they had no respect of Calvin no more than to the judgement of Wicklef Tyndal Barns or Frith whose offered assistance they refused when they went about it of which he sensibly complained unto some of his friends as appears by one of his Epistles I answer next affirmatively in the words of an Act of Parliament 2. 3. Edw. 6. where it is said That they had an eye in the first place to the more pure and sincere Christian Religion taught in the Scriptures and in the next place to the usages of the Primitive Church Being satisfied in both which ways they had thirdly a more particular respect to the Lutheran Plat-forms the English Confession or Book of Articles being taken in many places word for word out of that of Ausberg and a conformity maintained with the Lutheran Churches in Rites and Ceremonies as namely in kneeling at the Communion the Cross in Baptism the retaining of all the ancient Festivals the reading of the Epistles and Gospels on Sundays and Holy-days and generally in the whole Form of External Worship Fourthy in reference to the points disputed they ascribed much to the Authority of Melancthon not undeservedly called the Phoenix of Germany whose assistance they earnestly desired whose coming over they expected who was as graciously invited hither by King Edward the Sixth Regiis literis in Angliam vocari as himself affirms in an Epistle to Camerarius His coming laid aside upon the fall of the Duke of Sommerset and therefore since they could not have his company they made use of his writings for their direction in such points of Doctrine in which they though it necessary for the Church to declare her judgment I observe finally That as they attributed much to the particulars to the Authority of Melancthon so they ascribe no less therein unto that of Erasmus once Reader of the Greek Tongue in Cambridge and afterwards one of the Professors of Divinity there whose Paraphrases on the four Evangelists being translated into English were ordered to be kept in Churches for the use of the People and that they owned the Epistles to be studied by all such as had cure of souls Concerning which it was commanded by the injunctions of King Edward VI. published by the advice of the Lord Protector Somerset and the Privy Council Acts and Mon. fol. 1181. in the first year of the said Kings Reign 1. That they should see provided in some most convenient and open place of every Church one great Bible in English with the Paraphrase of Erasmus in English that the People might reverently without any let read and hear the same at such time as they listed and not to be inhibited therefrom by the Parson or Curate but rather to be the more encouraged and provoked thereunto And 2. That every Priest under the degree of a Batchellour of Divinity should have of his own one New Testament in English and Latine with the Paraphrases of Erasmus upon the same and should diligently read and study thereupon and should collect and keep in memory all such comfortable places of the Scripture as do set forth the Mercy Benefits and Goodness of Almighty God towards all penitent and believing persons that they might thereby comfort their flock in all danger of death despair or trouble of Conscience and that therefore every Bishop in their Institution should from time to time try and examine them how they have profited in their studies A course and care not likely to have entred into the thoughts of the Lord Protector or any of the Lords of the Council if it had not been advised by some of the Bishops who then began to have an eye on the Reformation which soon after followed and as unlikely to be counselled and advised by them had they intended to advance any other Doctrine than what was countenanced in the Writings of that Learned man Whereupon I conclude the Doctrine of the points disputed to be the true and genuine Doctrine of the Church of England which comes most near to the plain sense of holy Scripture the general current of the Fathers in the Primitive times the famous Augustane Confession the Writings of Melancthon and the Works of Erasmus To which Conclusion I shall stand till I find my self encountred by some stronger Argument to remove me from it The ground thus laid I shall proceed unto the Reformation
of those godly men which teach us to enquire no further after our Election than as it is to be found in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Of which Bishop Latimer in the first place thus viz. Lat. in Serm. on Septuages p. 3. fol. 214. If thou art desirous to know whether thou art chosen to everlasting life thou maist not begin with God for God is too high thou canst not comprehend him the judgments of God are unknown to man therefore thou must not begin there But begin with Christ and learn to know Christ and wherefore that he came namely That he came to save sinners and made himself a subject of the Law and fulfiller of the same to deliver us from the wrath and danger thereof and therefore was crucified for our sins c. Consider I say Christ and his coming and then begin to try thy self whether thou art in the Book of Life or not If thou findest thy self in Christ then thou art sure of everlasting life If thou be without him then thou art in an evil case for it is written nemo venit ad patrem nisi per me that is no man cometh to my Father but through me therefore if thou knowest Christ thou maist know further of thy Election And then in another place When we are troubled within our selves whether we be elected or no we must ever have this Maxim or principal rule before our eyes namely that God beareth a good will towards us God loveth us God beareth a Fatherly heart towards us But you will say How shall I know that or how shall I believe that We may know Gods good will towards us through Christ for so saith John the Evangelist Filius qui est in sinu patris ipse revelavit that is The Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath revealeed it Therefore we may perceive his good will and love towards us He hath sens the same Son into the World which hath suffered most painful death for us Shall I now think that God hateth me or shall I doubt of his love towards me And in another place Here you see how you shall avoid the scrupulous and most dangerous question of the Predestination of God for if thou wilt enquire into his Councils and search his Consistory thy wit will deceive thee for thou shalt not be able to search the Council of God But if thou begin with Christ and consider his coming into the World and dost believe that God hath sent him for thy sake to suffer for thee and to deliver thee from Sin Death the Devil and Hell Then when thou art so armed with the knowledge of Christ then I say this simple question cannot hurt thee for thou art in the Book of Life which is Christ himself For thus it is writ Sic Deus dilexit mundum that God so entirely loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son to the end that all that believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life whereby appeareth most plainly that Christ is the Book of Life and that all that believe in him are of the same Book and so are chosen to everlasting life for only those are ordained that believe Not stays that godly Bishop here but proceeds after some intervening passages towards this Conclusion Here is now taught you saith he how to try your Election namely in Christ For Christ is the Accompting Book and Register of God and even in the same Book that is Christ are written all the names of the Elect therefore we cannot find our Election in our selves neither yet the high Council of God for inscrutabilia sunt judicia Altissimi Where then shall I find my Election in the Compting Book of God which is Christ c. Agreeable whereunto we find Bishop Hooper speaking thus The cause of our Election is the mercy of God in Christ howbeit he that will be partaker of this Election must receive the promise in Christ by faith for therefore we be Elected because afterwards we are made the Members of Christ So we judge of Election by the event or success that hapneth in the life of man those only to be Elected that by faith apprehend the mercy promised in Christ To the same purpose also but not so clearly and perspicuously speaks the Book of Homilies Hom. of the misery of man fol. 11. where we find it thus viz. That of our selves as in our selves we find nothing whereby we may be delivered from this miserable captivity in which we were cast through the envy of the Devil by breaking Gods Commandment in our first Parent Adam It is the Lord with whom is plenteous Redemption he is the God which of his own mercy saveth us c. not for our own deserts merits or good deeds c. but of his meer mercy freely and for whose sake truly for Christ Jesus sake the pure and undesiled Lamb of God c. for whose sake God is fully pacified satisfied and set at one with man Such is the Doctrine of the Church in the matter of Predestination unto life according to the judgment of these learned men and godly Martyrs who were of such Authority in the Reformation Proceed we next to one of an inferiour Order the testimony of John Bradford Martyr a man in very high esteem with Martin Bucer made one of the Prebends of S. Pauls Church by Bishop Ridley and one who glorified God in the midst of the flames with as great courage as his Patron of whom we find a Letter extant in the Acts and Monuments Fox Acts and Mon. fol. 1505. directed to his friends N. S. and R. C. being at that time not thoroughly instructed in the Doctrine of Gods Election The words of which Letter are as followeth I wish to you my good Brethren the same grace of God in Christ which I wish and pray the Father of mercies to give me for his holy names sake Amen Your Letter though I have not read my self because I would not alienate my mind from conceived things to write to others yet I have heard the sum of it that it is of Gods Election wherein I wil briefly relate to you my faith and how for I think it good and meet for a Christian to wade in I believe that man made after the Image of God did fall from that blessed estate to the condemnation of him and all his posterity I believe that Christ for man being then fallen did oppose himself to the judgment of God as a Mediator paying the ransom and price of Redemption for Adam and his whole Posterity that refuse it not finally I believe that all that believe I speak of such as be of years of discretion are partakers of Christ and all his merits I believe that faith and belief in Christ is the work and gift of God given to no other than to those which be his Children that is to those whom God the Father before the
the Reformation of Religion in points of Doctrine 2. The Article of Freewil in all the powers and workings of it agreed on by the Prelates and Clergy of that Convocation agreeable to the present Doctrine of the Church of England 3. An Answer to the first Objection concerning the Popishness of the Bishops and Clergy in that Convocation 4. The Article of Freewil approved by King Henry the eighth and Archbishop Cranmer 5. An Answer to the last Objection concerning the Conformity of the Article to the present established Doctrine in the Church of Rome BUT First I am to take in my way another evidence which though it hath not so directly the forced of Law to bind us to consent unto it and perhaps may not be considered amongst the Monuments and Records of the Reformation yet it speaks plainly the full sense of our first Reformers I speak this of a pithy but short Discourse touching the nature of Freewil contained amongst some others in the Book published by the Authority of King Henry the cighth in the year 1543. entituled A necessary Doctrine and Erudition for all Christian men Concerning which as we have spoken at large already in Ch. 8. of this Work so now we must add something touching this particular of which there was no notice taken in the Bishops book For when the Bishops Book which had been printed in the year 1537. under the Title of An Institution for a Christian man had for some time continued without alteration it was brought under the review of the Bishops and Clergy assembled in their Convocation An. 1543. and having been reviewed in all the parts and members of it a particular Treatise touching the nature of Freewil which in those times had exercised the greatest wits Of which I find this Memorandum in the Acts of the Convocation that is to say Art of Confes 1543. Aprill ult That on Monday being the last of April Lecto publice exposito Articulo Liberi Arbitrii in vulgari c. The Article of Freewil being read and publickly expounded in the English Tongue the most Reverend Archbishops delivered it into the hands of the Prolocutor to the end that he should publish it before the Clerks of the lower House of Convocation as is accustomed in such cases Quo lecto per eos approbato which being read and approved by them it was returned with the residue to the upper House of Convocation with this Approbation Quod pro Catholicis Religiosis acceperunt necnon gratias ingentes patribus egerunt quod tantos labores sudores vigilias Religionis Reipublicae causa unitatis gratia subierant that is to say that they embraced them all for sound and Orthodox rendring unto the Fathers their most humble thanks for the great care and pains which they had undertaken for the good of the Church and Commonwealth and the preserving of peace and unity among the people Which passage I have at large laid down to shew by whose hands and by what Authority as well the Book it self which we have spoken of before as this particular Treatise in it was at first fashioned and set forth And that being said I shall first present the Treatise or Discourse it self and after Answer such Objections as either prejudice or partiality may devise against it Now the article followeth in haec verba The Article of Freewill The Commandments and threatnings of Almighty God in Scripture whereby man is called upon and put in remembrance what God would have him to do Rom. 12. 1 Tim. 4. 1 John 2. Matth. 19. most evidently do express and declare that man hath Freewil also now after the fall of our first Father Adam as plainly appeareth in these places following Be not overcome of evil neglect not the grace that is in thee Love not the World c. If thou wilt enter into life keep the Commandments Which undoubtedly should be said in vain unless there were some faculty or power left in man whereby he may by the help and grace of God if he will receive it when it is offered him understand his Commandments and freely consent unto and obey them which thing of the Catholick Fathers is called Freewill which if we will describe we may call it conveniently in all men A certain power of the Will joyned with Reason whereby a reasonable creature without constraint in things of Reason discerneth and willeth good and evil but it willeth not the good which is acceptable to God except it be holpen with Grace but that which is ill it willeth of it self And therefore other men define Freewill in this wise Freewill is a power and Reason of Will by which good is chosen by the assistance of Grace as evil is chosen without the assistance of the same Howbeit the state and condition of Freewill was otherwise in our first Parents before they sinned than it was either in them or their Posterity after they had sinned For our first Parents Adam and Eve until they wounded and overthrew themselves by sin had so in possession the said power of Freewill by the most liberal gift and grace of God their Maker that noe only they might eschew all manner of sin but also know God and love him and fulfil all things appertaining to their felicity and welfare For they were made righteous and to the image and similitude of God 1. 〈◊〉 16. having power of Freewill as Chrysostom saith to obey or disobey so that by obedience they might live and by disobedience they should worthily deserve to die A For the wise man affirmeth of them that the state of them was of this sort in the beginning saying thus God in the beginning did create man and left him in the hands of his own counsel he gave unto him his Precepts and Commandments saying If thou wilt keep these Commandments they shall preserve thee He hath set before thee fire and water put forth thy hands to whether thou wilt before man is life and death good and evil what him listeth that shall he have From this must happy estate our first Parents falling by disobedience most grievously hurted themselves and their posterity for besides many other evils that came by that transgression the high power of mans Reason and Freedom of will were wounded and corrupted and all men thereby brought into such blindness and infirmity that they cannot eschew sin except they be made free and illuminated by an especial grace that is to say by a supernatural help and working of the holy Ghost which although the goodness of God offers to all men yet they only enjoy it which by their Freewill do accept and embrace the same Nor they also that be holpen by the said grace can accomplish and perform things that be for their wealth but with much labour and endeavour So great is in our Nature the corruption of the first sin and the heavy burden hearing us down to evil For truly
Falling from the grace of God according to the Doctrine of the Church of England And hereunto I must needs say that I never met with any satisfactory and sufficient Answer how much soever some have slighted the authority of it or the strength rather of the Argument which is taken from it for Mr. Yetes of Ipswitch from whose Candle most of them that followed borrow all their light in his book intituled Ibis ad Caesarem written against Mountagues Appeal can find no better Answers to it or evasions from it than they four that follow viz. 1. That the Homily speaks of the visible Church and therefore it is not to be construed in the same sense of all whereas the Homily speaketh of Gods chosen people Ibid. ad Cas p. 2. c. 3. p. 139. his chosen Vineyard are the words and consequently not only of the mixed multitude in a visible Church He answers secondly That it speaks with limitation and distinction some beholding the face of Gods mercy aright other not as they ought to do the one of which may fall quite away the other being transformed can never be wholly deformed by Satan but this is such a pitiful shift as could not save the man from the scorn of laughter had he been deal with in his kind the Homily speaking largely of those men which having beheld Gods face of mercy in Jesus Christ as they ought to do do afterwards neglect the same prove unthankful to him and order not their lives according to his Example and Doctrine c. For which consult the place at large in the former Church He answers thirdly that the Homily speaks conditionally if they afterwards c. that is to say if afterwards they neglect the same prove unthankful to him and order not their lives according to his Example and Doctrine c. and so concludes nothing positively and determinately which is a sorrier shift than that which you had before for if such conditional Propositions conclude nothing positively what will become of all those Propositions in the Scriptures by which we are assured That if a sinner do repent him of his sins wickednesses he shall find mercy from the Lord Do they conclude nothing positively neither most miserable were the state of man if these conditional Propositions should conclude nothing to the comfort of a troubled conscience And finally he answereth thus that the Homily speaks of Gods dreadful countenance appearing in Plagues Sword Famine and such like temporal punishments wherewith the Elect may be chastened as well as others that they may not for ever be condemned with the wicked the first part of which Allegation I confess to be true Gods judgments falling promiscuously on all sorts of people but the addition is unknown and is not to be found in the words of the Homily And secondly the Homily speaks not only of Gods temporal judgments with which the Elect be chastened as well as others that they may not for ever be condemned with the wicked but positively and determinately of taking from them his Kingdom and holy Word as in the former so that they shall be no longer in his Kingdom governed no longer by his holy Spirit put from the Grace and benefit which they had c. But Master Yates intends not so to leave the matter we must first see that he is as good at raising an Objection as at the making of an Answer and he objecteth out of another of he Homilies that though the godly do fall yet they walk not on purposely in sin they stand not still to continue and tarry in sin they sit not down like careless men Hom. of certain places of Scripture fol. 150. without all fear of Gods just punishment for sin through Gods great grace and infinite mercy they rise again and fight against sin c. But first it may be hoped that Master Yates could not be ignorant how great a difference there is betwixt such passages as fall occasionally and on the by from the pen of a Writer discoursing on another Argument and those which do occur in such Discourses Sermons and other Tractates as purposely are made and fitted to the point in hand And secondly though it be affirmed in the said Homily that the godly man which shall add sin to sin by Gods great grace and infinite mercy may arise again and fight against sin Yet can it not be gathered thence that it is so at all times and in all such cases that is to say that neither the great grace nor his infinite mercy shall be wanting at any time unto such as are fallen from God or that man shall not be wanting to himself in making a right use of it to his rising again And then this passage in the Homily will affirm no more to this purpose than the Article doth Art 16. where it is said that after we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given and fall into sin and by the grace of God we may arise again and amend our lives Now to these testimonies from the Homilies the publick Liturgy and the writings of the Learned men and Godly Martyrs before remembred it will not be amiss to add one more that is to say Master Lancelot Ridley Arch-Deacon of Canterbury who by his name seems to have had relation to Doctor Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London and by his office to Doctor Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury the two chief Agents in the work of the Reformation This man had published some Expositions on Saint Pauls Epistles to the Ephesians and Philippians as he did afterwards on that to the Collossians also which last was printed by Richard Grafton 1548. At which time both the first Liturgy and the first book of Homilies were in force and practice and therefore was not like to contain any point of Doctrine repugnant unto either of them And if we look upon him in his Comment upon the Epistle we shall find him thus declare himself in the points disputed which I will lay all together according to the method formerly observed in setting down the Articles sor points themselves For first in reference to Election unto life eternal he telleth us That all fulness of the Father is said to dwell in Christ Ridley in Colâ—s cap. 1 6. that all men should know all the goodness they have to come of God by Christ to them and all that believe in Christ should not perish but be saved and should have life everlasting by Christ with the Fâ—ther Liâ—â— in cap. 2. P. 1. And afterwards speaking on those vertues which St. Paul commends in the Elect he tells us That those vertues do shew unto us who be elected of God and who not as far as man can judge of outward things and that those men may be concluded to be elected of God who hate all vice and sin that love vertue and godly living and in it do walk all their life-time by true faith and
absolute will and pleasure yet he is fain to have recourse to some certain condition telling us that though the mercy of God his Grace Election Vocation and other precedent Causes do justifie us yet this is upon condition of believing in Christ And finally it is to be observed also that after all his pains taken in defending such a personal and eternal Election as the Calvinians now contend for he adviseth us to wrap up our selves wholly both body and soul under Gods general promise and not to cumber our heads with any further speculations knowing that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish c. And so I take my leave of our Martyrologist the publishing of those discourse I look on as the first great battery which was made on the Bulwarks of this Church in point of doctrine by any member of her own after the setling of the Articles by the Queens Authority Ann. 1562. the brables raised by Crowley in his Book against Campneys though it came out after the said Articles were confirmed and published being but as hail-shot in comparison of this great piece of Ordnance Not that the Arguments were so strong as to make any great breach in the publick Doctrine had it been published in a time less capable of innovations or rather if the great esteem which many had of that man and the universal reception which his Book found with all sorts of People had not gained more authority unto his discourse than the merit or solidness of it could deserve The inconveniencies whereof as also the many marginal Notes and other passages visibly tending to faction and sedition in most parts of that Book were either not observed at first or winked at in regard of the great animosities which were ingendred by it in all sorts of People as well against the persons of the Papists as against the doctrine Insomuch that in the Convocation of the year 1571. there passed some Canons requiring that not only the Deans of all Cathedrals should take a special care that the said Book should be so conveniently placed in their several Churches that people of all conditions might resort unto it but also that all and every Arch-Bishop Bishops Deans Residentiaries and Arch-Deacons should choose the same to be placed in some convenient publick room of their several houses not only for the entertainment and instruction of their menial servants but of such strangers also as occasionally repaired unto them If it be hereupon inferred that Fox his doctrine was approved by that Convocation and therefore that it is agreeable to the true intent and meaning of the Articles of the Church of England besides what hath been said already by Anticipation it may as logically be inferred that the Convocation approved all his marginal Notes all the factious and seditious passages and more particularly the scorn which he puts upon the Episcopal habit and other Ceremonies of the Church Touching which last for the other are too many to be here recited let us behold how he describes the difference which hapned between Hooper Bishop of Glocester on the one side Cranmer and Ridley on the other about the ordinary habit and attire then used by the Bishops of this Church we shall find it thus viz. Acts and Mon. so 1366 1367. For notwithstanding the godly reformation of Religion that was begun in the Church of England besides other ceremonies that were more ambitious than profitable or tended to edification they used to wear such garments and apparel as the Romish Bishops were wont to do First a Chimere and under that a white Rocket then a Mathematical cap with four Angles dividing the whole world into four parts These trifles being more for superstition than otherwise as he could never abide so in no wise could he be persuaded to wear them But in conclusion this Theological contestation came to this end that the Bishops having the upper hand Mr. Hooper was fain to agree to this condition that sometimes he should in his Sermon shew himself apparalled as the Bishops were Wherefore appointed to preach before the King as a new Player in a strange apparel he cometh forth on the stage His upper garment was a long skarlet Chimere down to the foot and under that a white linnen Rocket that covered all his shoulders upon his head he had a Geometrical that is a square cap albeit that his head was round What case of shame the strangeness hereof was that day to the good Preacher every man may easily judge But this private contumely and reproach in respect of the publick profit of the Church which he only sought he bare and suffered patiently Here have we the Episcopal habit affirmed to be a contumely and reproach to that godly man slighted contemptuously by the name of trifles and condemned in the marginal Note for a Popish attire the other ceremonies of the Church being censured as more ambitious than profitable and tending more to superstition than to edification which as no man of sense or reason can believe to be approved and allowed of by that Convocation so neither is it to be believed that they allowed of his opinion in the present point For a counterballance whereunto there was another Canon passed in this Convocation by which all Preachers were enjoyned to take special care â—ne quid unquam doceant pro concione quod à populo religiose teneri credi velint nisi quod consentaneum sit doctrinae veteris aut novi testamenti quodque ex'illa ipsa doctrina Cathotici Patres veteres Episcopi Collegerint that is to say that they should maintain no other doctrine in their publicki Sermons to be believed of the People but that which was agreeable to the doctrine of the Old and New Testament and had from thence been gathered by the Catholick or Orthodox Fathers and ancient Bishops of the Church To which rule if they held themselves as they ought to do no countenance could be given to Calvines Doctrines or Fox his judgment in these points maintained by one of the Catholick Fathers and ancient Bishops of the Church but St. Augustine only who though he were a godly man and a learned Prelate yet was he but one Bishop not Bishops in the plural number but one father and not all the fathers and therefore his opinion not to be maintained against all the rest CHAP. XX. Of the great Innovation made by Perkins in the publick Doctrine the stirs arising thence in Cambridge and Mr. Barrets carriage in them 1. Of Mr. Perkins and his Doctrine of Predestination which his recital of the four opinions which were then maintained about the same 2. The sum and substance of his Doctrine according to the Supralapsarian or Supra-creatarian way 3. The several censures past upon it both by Papists and Protestants by none more sharply than by Dr. Rob. Abbots after Bishop of Sarum 4. Of Dr. Baroe the Lady Margarets Professor in the Vniversity and his Doctrine
himself that whatsoever had been done in the alteration suffragio meo comprobavi he had confirmed and approved as a thing well done Calvin in Eplstola ad Cardinal Sadolet and therefore thought himself to be no less obliged to defend the action than if it had been done at first bh his own command For doubtless that of Tully is exceeding true Nil refert utrum voluerim fieri vel gaudeam factum Cicero in Philip 2. between the doing of a soul and disloyal act and the approbation of it when it is done is but little difference But to proceed our Author being thus made a party in the cause and quarrel of Geeva thought himself bound not only to justifie unto others what himself approved but also to lay down such grounds whereby the Example might be followed and their disloyalty and rebellion the less observed because they did not go alone without company In which respect and 't is a thing to be observed althoughthat Book of Institutions hath been often printed and received many alterations and additions as before was noted yet this particular passage still remains unaltered and hath continued as it is from the first Edition which was in the year 1536. when the Rebellion of Geneva was yet fresh and talked of as an ill Example Nor was the man deceived in his expectation For as he grew into esteem and reputation in the World abroad so he attained at last to that power and Empire over the souls and consciences of his followers that his Errors were accounted Orthodox his defects Perfections and the revolt of the Genevians from their natural Prince must by no means be called Rebellion because projected and pursued by such popular Officers to whom it appertained of common course to regulate the Authority of Kings and Princes And though he doth not say expresly that there either are or ought to be such popular Officers in every Realm or common-wealth but brings it in upon the by with his ifs and ands yet ifs and ands are not allowed of in the Laws to excuse Rebellions Bacons History of King Henry the seventh and by the setting up of that dangerous Si quis si qui sintâ—populares Magistratus as his words there are he seems to make a Proclamation that where there were such Popular Officers it was their bounden duty to correct their Princes after the manner of Geneva where there were none the people were God help them in an ill condition unless some other means were thought of for their ease and remedy Upon which Principles of his his folowers raised such Positions and pursued such practices as have distracted and embroyled the most parts of Europe and made it of a Garden to become a Wilderness For finding that they could not easily create such popular Magistrates to lord it over Kings and Princes who had not been accustomed to the like Controlments they put that power of regulating the Supream Authority either upon the body of the people generally whereof you were told before from Buchannan or upon such to whom they should communicate or transser their Power as occasion served whereof you may hear further in that which followeth And that not only in the case of civil Liberty for which the Examples of the Ephori and the Roman Tribunes were at first found out and that of the Demarchi thrust upon the Readers for the like foul end but specially in such matters which concerned Religion wherein the extraordinary calling of some men in the holy Scriptures must serve for Precedents and Examples to confirm their practices From hence it was that Buchannan doth not only subject his King unto the Ordinary Judges and Courts of Justice as before was noted but fearing that Kings would be too potent to be so kept under adviseth this Buchann de jure Regni Eorum interfectoribus praemia decerni that Rewards should publickly be decreed for those who kill a Tyrant and Kings and Tyrants are the same as heretofore in the word and notion so now in the Opinion of the Presbyterian or Calvinian faction as usually are proposed to those who kill Wolves or Bears From hence it was that the inferiour or subordinate Magistrate is advanced so high as to be entituled to a Power adversus Superiorem Magistratum se Rempub. Ecclesiam etiam armis defendere Paraeus in Epistola ad Rom. cap. 13. of taking Arms against the King or Superiour Magistrate in defence of himself his Countrey and true Religion which though they are the words of Paraeus only yetthey contain the mind and meaning of all the rest of that faction as his son Philip doth demonstrate In Append. ad Cap. 13. Epist ad Rom. Cambden Annal Eliz. An. 1559. Hence was it that John Knox delivered for sound Orthodox doctrine Procerum esse propria autoritate Idololatriam tollere Principes intra legum rescripta per vim reducere that it belonged unto the Peers of each several Kingdom to reform matters of the Church by their own Authority and to confine their Kings and Princes within the bounds prescribed by Law even by force of Arms. Hence that Geselius one of the Lecturers of Roterdam preached unto his people Necessaria Respons Jean de Serres inventnire de Fr. History of the Netherlands Thuan. hist l. 114. Camden Annal An. 15 59. Laurea Austriaca Continuati Thuan. hist l. 8. that if the Magistrates and Clergy did neglect their duty in the reformation of Religion necesse est id facere plebeios that then it did belong to the common people who were bound to have a care thereof and proceed accordingly And as for points of Practice should we look that way what a confusion should we find in most parts of Europe occasioned by no other ground than the entertainment of these Principles and the scattering of these positions amongst the people Witness the Civil Wars of France the revolt of Holland the expulsion of the Earl of East-Friezland the insurrections of the Scots the Tumults of Bohemia the commotions of Brandenburg the translation of the Crown of Sweden from the King of Pole to Charles Duke of Finland the change of Government in England all acted by the Presbyterian or Calvinian party in those several States under pretence of Reformation and redress of grievances And to say truth such is the Genius of the Sect that though they may admit an Equal as parity is the thing most aimed at by them both in Church and State yet they will hardly be persuaded to submit themselves to a Superiour to no Superiours more unwillingly than to Kings and Princes whose persons they disgrace whose power they ruinate whose calling they endeavour to decry and blemish by all means imaginable First for their calling they say it is no other than an humane Ordinance and that the King is but a creature of the peoples making whom having made they may as easily destroy and unmake again Which as it is the
great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo de vita Mosis or Court of Sanhedrim And this is that which Casaubon doth also tell us from the most learned and expert of the Jewish Rabbins Non nisi nobilissimos è sacerdotibus Levitis caeteroque populo in lege peritissimos in Sanhedrim eligi Casaub Exercit in Baron 1. Sect. 3. that is to say that none but the most eminent of the Priests the Levites and the rest of the People and such as were most conversant in the Book of the Law were to be chosen into the Sanhedrim But to return again to the Book of God the power and reputation of this Court and Consistory having been much diminished in the times of the Kings of Judah was again revived by Jehosaphat Of whom we read that he not only did appoint Judges in the Land throughout all the fenced Cities of Judah 2 Chron. 19.5 but that he established at Hierusalem a standing Council consisting of the Levites and of the Priests and of the chief of the Fathers of Israel for the judgments of the Lord Ibid. r. 8. and for controversies according to the model formerly laid by God himself in the Book of Deuteronomy Which Court or Council thus revived continued in full force authority and power during the time of the captivity of Babilon as appears plainly by that passage in the Prophesie of Ezekiel where it is said of the Priests even by God himself Ezek. 44. v. 24. in controversie they shall stand in judgment compared with another place of the same Prophet where he makes mention of the Seventy of the Antients of the House of Israel Id. c. 8. v. 11. and Jaazaniah the Son of Shaphan standing in the midst as Prince of the Senate And after their return from that house of bondage they were confirmed in this authority by the Edict and Decree of Artaxerxes who gave Commission unto Ezra to set Magistrates and Judges over the People not after a new way of his own devising Ezra 6.7 v. 25. but after the wisdom of his God declared in the foregoing Ages by his Servant Moses In which estate they stood all the times succeeding until the final dissolution of that State and Nation with this addition to the power of the holy Priesthood that they had not only all that while their place and suffrage in the Court of Sanhedrim as will appear to any one who hath either read Josephus or the four Evangelists but for a great part of that time till the Reign of Herod the Supream Government of the State was in the hands of the Priests In which regard besides what was affirmed from Synesius formerly it is said by Justin Morem esse apud Judaeos ut eosdem Reges sacerdotes haberent that it was the custom of the Jews for the same men to be Kings and Priests Justin hist l. 36. and Tacitus gives this general note Judaeis Sacerdotu honorem firmamentum potentiae esse that the honour given unto the Priesthood amongst the Jews did most espeeially conduce to the establishment of their power and Empire And yet I cannot yield to Baronius neither Tacit. hist l. 3. where he affirms the better to establish a Supremacy in the Popes of Rome Summum Pont. arbitrio suo moderari magnum illud Concilium Baron Annal. An. 57. c. that the High Priest was always President of the Council or Court of Sanhedrim it being generally declared in the Jewish Writers that the High Priest could challenge no place at all therein in regard of his offence and descent but meerly in respect of such personal abilities as made himself to undergo such a weighty burden for which see Phagius in his notes on the 16 of Deuteronomy Thus have we seen of what authority and power the Priests were formerly as well amongst the Jews as amongst the Gentiles we must next see whether they have not been employed in the like affairs under the Gospel of Christ and that too in the best and happiest times of the Christian Church In search whereof it is not to be looked for by the ingenuous Reader that we should aim so high as the first 300 years after Christs Nativity The Prelates of the Church were suspected then to have their different aims and interesses from those who had the government of the Civil State and therefore thought uncapable of trust and imployment in it But after that according to that memorable maxim of Optatus Deschismat Donatist l. 3. Ecclesia erat in Republicâ the Church became a part of the Common-wealth and had their ends and aims united there followed these two things upon it first that the Supream Government of the Church depended much upon the will and pleasure of the Supream Magistrate Scorat Eccl. hist lib. 5. c. 1. insomuch as Socrates observeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the greatest Councils have been called by their authority and appointment And 2ly That the Governours and Rulers of the Church of God came to have place and power in disposing matter that appertained to the well ordering of the Civil State And this they did not our of any busie or pragmatical desire to draw the cognizance of secular causes into their own hands or to increase their power and reputation with the common People but meerly for the ease and benefit of those who did repair unto them for their help and counsel and to comply with the command of the Apostle who imposed it on them S. Austin tells us of S. Ambrose with how great difficulty he obtained an opportunity of conversing with him privately and at large as his case required Secludentibus eum ab ejus aure atque ore catervis negociosorum hominum August Confes l. 6. c. 3. the multitude of those who had business to him and suits to be determined by him debarring him from all advantages of access and conference Which took up so much of his time that he had little leisure to refresh his body with necessary food or his mind with the reading of good Authors And Posidonius tells us of S. Austin causas audisse diligenter pie that he diligently and religiously attended such businesses as were brought before him not only spending all the morning in that troublesome exercise Posidon in vita August c. 19. but sometimes fasting all day long the better to content the suitor and dispatch the business The like S. Austin tells us of himself and his fellow Prelates first that the Christians of those times pro secularibus causis suis nos non raro quaererent August in Psal 118. serm 74 Epist 147. did ordinarily apply themselves unto them for the determining of secular causes and chearfully submitted unto their decisions next that the Prelates did comply with their earnest solicitations and desires therein Tu multuosissimas eausarum alienarum perplexitates patiendo Id. de opere Monach. c. 29. by
honour of the Empire and the publick safety Nor is this any new authority which the Ecclesiastical Estate hath gained in the latter times but such wherein they were intrusted from the first beginning of that Empire It being affirmed by Aventinus a Writer of unquestioned credit that long before the institution of the seven Electors which was in An. 996. the Prelates the Nobility and the chief of the People had the election of the Emperour Aventini Annal Boiorum l. 5. And if the Prelates were intrusted in so high a point as the Election of the Emperour or the Soveraign Prince no question but they were imployed also in his publick Councels in matters which concerned the managery of the Common-wealth Next pass we over into France and there we find the Subjects marshalled into three Estates whereof the Clergy is the first Rex coactis tribus Ordinibus Sacerdotio Nobilitate Plebe Paul Aemilius hist Franc. l. 9. subsidia rei pecuniariae petiit that is to say the King assembling or conveening the three Estates viz. the Clergy the Nobility and the Commons demanded subsidies for the support of his Estate So Paulus Aemilius doth inform us Out of these three are chosen certain Delegates or Commissioners some for each Estate as often as the Kings occasions do require their meeting the time and place whereof is absolutely left unto his disposing and these thus met do make up the Conventus Ordinum or L' Assemblie des Estats as the French men call it in form much like the English Parliament but in nothing else the power and reputation of it being much diminished in these latter times especially since the great improvement of the Court of Parliament fixed and of long time fixed in Paris Which Court of Parliament as it was instituted at the first by Charles Martel Mayre of the Palace to the Merovignian line of France and Grand-father to Charle magne so it consisted at the first of the same ingredients of which the great Assembly des Estats consisteth now that is to say the Prelates and the Peers and certain of the principal Gentry which they call La Nebless together with some few of the most considerable Officers of the Kings houshold A Court of such esteem in the former time that the Kings of Sicily Cyprus Bohemia Scotland and Navar Andre du Chesne have thought it no disparagement unto them to be members of it and which is more when Frederick the second had spent much time and treasure in his quarrels with Pope Innocent the fourth he was content to submit the whole cause in difference unto the judgement of this Court But being at last become sedentaire and fixed at Paris as other ordinary Courts of Justice were which was in An. 1286. or thereabouts the Nobles first and after them the Bishops withdrew themselves from the troubles of it and left it to the ordering of the Civil Lawyers though still the Peers do challenge and enjoy a place therein as oft as any point of moment is in agitation the Bishop of Paris and the Abbot of St. Denys continuing constant members of it to this very day But for the Assembly des Estats or Conventus Ordinum made up of the Clergy the Nobility and the Commons as before I told you he that would see the manner of it the points there handled and that remainder of authority which is left unto them let him repair unto Thuanus Thuan. hist sui temp lib. and look upon the great Assembly held at Bloys An. 1573. He shall find it there Pass we next over the Pyrenees to the Realms of Spain and we shall find in each the same three Estates whose meeting they call there by the name of Curia Bodin de Repub lib. 3. c. the Court 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or by way of eminency consisting of the Clergy the Nobility and Commissioners of the Provinces and most antient Cities But we must tell you by the way that long before the institution of these Courts and long before the division of Spain into so many Kingdoms the Prelates of that Church were of such authority that a chief stroke in the election of their Kings did belong to them For in the eighth Council of Toledo summoned by Recesvintus the 25th of the Gothish race of the Kings of Spain An. 653. so long agoe in which were present 52 Bishops 12 Abbots and the Delegates of Vicars of ten other Bishops who could not personally attend the service it was ordered with the Kings consent that from thenceforth the Kings of Spain should be elected in the Regal City or in what other place soever the King should happen to decease by the joynt suffrages of the Prelates and the great Lords of the Court Majores Palatii as the Canon calls them Concil Tolet. VIII Can. 10. But take the whole Canon with you for the more assurance and you find it thus Abhinc ergo deinceps ita erunt in Regni gloria praeficiendi Rectores ut aut in urbe Regia aut in loco ubi Princeps decesserit cum Pontisicum Majorumque Palatii omnimodo eligantur assensu But after Spain became divided into several Kingdoms and that each Kingdom had its Court or Curia as they call their Parliament the Clergy were esteemed in each for the third Estate the first indeed of all the three and either in person or by their Proxies made up the most considerable part in those publick meetings For proof of which we need but look into the General History of Spain translated out of French by Grimston and we shall find a Court or Parliament for the Realm of Aragon consisting of the Bishops Nobles and Deputies of Towns and Commonalties having place in the said Estates conveened by King James at Saragossa Anno 1325. for setling the Succession and declaring the Heir another at Monson Gen. hist of Spain l. 14. Id. lib. 11. where the Estates of Aragon and Catalogne did conveen together 1236. to consult about the Conquest of Valentia and before that another Assembly of the Bishops and Noblemen called at Saragossa by Alfonso the Great touching the War against the Moores Id. lib. 9. And as for the Realm of Naples and Sicily being appends on this Crown there is little question to be made but that the Bishops and Clergy of both enjoyed the place and priviledges of the third Estate both Kingdoms being antiently hoden of the Pope and of his Erection and the Italian Bishops as lying directly under his nose more amply priviledged for the most part than in other Countries Thus for Castile we find a Parliament of Lords Prelates and Deputies of Towns summoned at Toledo by Alfonso the Noble An. 1210. upon occasion of an invasion made by the Moores another before that at Burgos Id. lib. 10. under the same King Anno 1179. for levying of money on the people to maintain the Wars that great Convention of the States held
Clergy Subsidies presented to the Kings of England ever since the 27th of Queen Elizabeth and in the form of the Certificates per Praelatos Clerum returned by every Bishop to the Lord High Treasurer and finally Nos Episcopi Clerus Cantuariensis Provinciae in hac Synodo more nostro solito dum Regni Parliamentum celebratur congregati in the Petition to K. K. Philip and Mary about the confirmation of the Abby Lands to the Patentees So that though many Statutes have been made in these later times excluso Clero the Clergy that is to say the inferiour Clergy being quite shut out and utterly excluded from those publick Councils yet this proves nothing to the point that any Act of Parliament hath been they either were shut out by force or excluded by cunning As for Kilbancies book which that Author speaks of Proing pract of Parl. p. 38. in which the Justices are made to say 7 H. 8. that our Sovereign Lord the King may well hold his Parliament by him and his Temporal Lords and by the Commons also without the Spiritual Lords for that the Spiritual Lords have not any place in the Parliament Chamber by reason of their Spiritualties but by reason of their Temporal possessions Besides that it is only the opinion of a private man of no authority or credit in the Common-wealth and contrary to the practice in the Saxon times in which the Bishops sate in Parliament as Spiritual persons not as Barons the reason for ought I can see will serve as well to pretermit all or any of the Temporal Lords as it can serve to pretermit or exclude the Bishops the Temporal Lords being called to Parliament on no other ground than for the Temporal possessions which they hold by Barony If it be said that my second answer to the argument of Excluso Clero supposeth that the inferior Clergy had some place in Parliament which not to be supposed makes the Answer void I shall crave leave to offer some few observations unto the consideration of the sober and impartial Reader by which I hope to make that supposition probable and perhaps demonstrative First then we have that famous Parliament call it Concilium magnum or Concilium commune or by what other name soever the old Writers called it summoned by King Ethelbert Concil Hen. Speiâ—â— Anno 605. which my Author calleth Commune concilium tam Cleri quam Populi where Clerus comprehendeth the body of the Clergy generally as well the Presbyters as the Bishops as the word populus doth the lay-subject generally as well Lords as Commons or else the Lords and Commons one of the two must needs be left out And in this sense we are to understand these words in the latter times Matth. Paris in Hen. 1. as where we read that Clerus Angliae populus Vniversus were summoned to appear at Westminister at the Coronation of King Henry the first where divers Laws were made and declared subscribed by the Arch-bishops Bishops and others of the principal persons that were there assembled Rong Hov. in Hen. 2. that Clero populo convocato the Clergy and People of the Realm were called to Clarendon Anno 1163. by King Henry II. for the declaring and conforming of the Subjects liberties that in the year 1185. towards the latter end of the said Kings Reign Convocatus est Clerus populus cum tota Nobilitate ad fontem Clericorum Matth. Paris in Hen. 2. the Clergy Commons and Nobility were called unto the Parliament held at Clerkenwell and finally that a Parliament was called at London in which the Arch-bishop of Canterbury was present cum toto Clero tota secta Laicali Quadrilog ap Selden Tit. of Hon. pt 2. c. 5. in the time of King John Hitherto then the Clergy of both ranks and orders as well as Populus or tota secta Laioalis the Subjects of the Laity or the Lords and Commons had their place in Parliament And in possession of this right the Clergy stood when the Magna Charta was set out by King Henry III. wherein the Freedoms Rights and Priviledges of the Church of England of which this evidently was one was confirmed unto her of the irrefragable and inviolable authority whereof we have spoken before Magna Charta cap. 1. The Cavil of Excluso Clero which hath been used against the Voting of the Bishops in the House of Peers comes in next for proof that the inferiour Clergy had their place or Vote with the House of Commons if in those times the Lords and Commons made two Houses which I am not sure of the Clergy could not be excluded in an angry fit or out of a particular design to deprive them of the benefit of the Kings protection if they had not formerly a place amongst them and if we will not understand by Clerus the inferior Clergy which much about that time as before we shewed began to be the legal English of the word we must needs understand the whole Clergy generally the Clergy of both ranks and orders But our main proofs are yet to come which are these that follow First it is evident that antiently the Clergy of each several Diocess were chargeable by Law for the expences of their Proctors in attending the service of the Parliament according as the Counties were by Common law since confirmed by Statute 23 H. 6. c. 11. to bear the charges of their Knights the burroughs and Cities of their Representees which questionless the Laws had not taken care for but that the Clergy had their place in Parliament as the Commons had Rotul Patent 26 Ed. 3. pt 1. 1. M. 22. And this appears by a Record of 26th of King Edward III. in which the Abbot of Leicester being then but never formerly commanded to attend in Parliament amongst others of the Regular Prelates petitioned to be discharged from that attendance in regard he held in Frank-Almoigne only by no other tenure Which he obtained upon this condition ut semper in Procuratores ad hujusmodi Parliamenta mittendos consentiat ut moris est eorundem expensis contribuat that is to say that he and his Successors did give their Voices in the choice of such Procurators as the Clergy were to send to Parliament and did contribute towards their charges as the custom was Next in the Modus tenendi Parliamentum which before we spake of there is a modus convocandi Clerum Angliae ad Parl. Regis Modus tenendi Parl. Ms. V. Titles of hon pt 2. a form of to the Court of Parliament said to be used in the time of Edward the Son of Ethelred presented to the Conqueror and by him observed which shews the Clergy in those times had their place in Parliament Which being but a general inference shall be delivered more particularly from the Modus it self which informs us thus Rex est caput principium finis Parliamenti
held on the 25th of June 1622. were severally condemned to be erroneous scandalous and destructive of Monarchical Government Upon which Sentence or determination the King gave order that as many of those books as could be gotten should solemnly and publickly be burnt in each of the Universities and St. Pauls Church-yard which was done accordingly An accident much complained of by the Puriten party for a long time after who looked upon it as the funeral pile of their Hopes and Projects till by degrees they got fresh courage carrying on their designs more secretly by consequence more dangerously than before they did The terrible effects whereof we have seen and felt in our late Civil Wars and present confusions But it is time to close this point and come to a conclusion of the whole discourse there be no other Objections that I know of but what are easily reduced unto those before or not worth the answering 15. Thus have we taken a brief survey of those insinuations grounds or principles call them what you will which Calvin hath laid down in his book of Institutions for the incouragement of the Subjects to rebellious courses and putting them in Arms against their Sovereign either in case of Tyranny Licentiousness or Mal-administration of what sort soever by which the Subject may pretend that they are oppressed either in point of Liberty or in point of Property And we have shewn upon what false and weak foundations he hath raised his building how much he hath mistaken or abused his Authors but how much more he hath betrayed and abused his Readers For we have clearly proved and directly manifested out of the best Records and Monuments of the former times that the Ephori were not instituted in the State of Sparta to oppose the Kings nor the Tribunes in the State of Rome to oppose the Consuls nor the Demarchi in the Common-wealth of Athens to oppose the Senate or if they were that this could no way serve to advance his purpose of setting up such popular Officers in the Kingdoms of Christendom those Officers being only found in Aristocraties or Democraties but never heard or dreamt of in a Monarchical Government And we have shewn both who they are which constitute the three Estates in all Christian Kingdoms and that there is no Christian Kingdom in which the three Estates convened in Parliament or by what other name soever they do call them have any authority either to regulate the person of the Sovereign Prince or restrain his power in case he be a Sovereign Prince and not meerly titular and conditional and that it is not to be found in Holy Scripture that they are or were ordained by God to be the Patrons and Protectors of the common people and therefore chargeable with no less a crime than a most perfidious dissimulation should they connive at Kings when they play the Tyrants or wantonly abuse that power which the Lord hath given them to the oppression of their Subjects In which last points touching the designation of the three Estates and the authority pretended to be vested in them I have carried a more particular eye on this Kingdom of England where those pernicious Principles and insinuations which our Author gives us have been too readily imbraced and too eagerly pursued by those of his party and opinion If herein I have done any service to supream Authority my Countrey and some misguided Zealots of it I shall have reason to rejoyce in my undertaking If not posterity shall not say that Calvins memory was so sacred with me and his name so venerable as rather to suffer such a Stumbling-block to be laid in the Subjects way without being censured and removed than either his authority should be brought in question or any of his Dictates to a legal tryal Having been purchased by the Lord at so dear a price we are to be no longer the Servants of men or to have the truth of God with respect of persons I have God to be my Father and the Church my Mother and therefore have not only pleaded the cause of Kings and Supream Magistrates who are the Deputies of God but added somewhat in behalf of the Church of England whose rights and priviledges I have pleaded to my best abilities The issue and success I refer to him by whom Kings do Reign and who appointed Kings and other Supream Magistrates to be nursing Fathers to his Church that as they do receive authority and power from the hands of God so they may use the same in the protection and defence of the Church of God and God even their own God will give them his Blessing and save them from the striving of unruly people whose mouth speaketh proud words and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity FINIS De Jure Paritatis Episcoporum OR A BRIEF DISCOURSE ASSERTING THE Bishops Right of Peerage WHICH EITHER By Law or Ancient Custom DOTH Belong unto them WRITTEN By the Learned and Reverend PETER HEYLYN D. D. In the Year 1640. When it was Voted in the Lords House That no Bishop should be of the Committee for the preparatory Examination of the EARL of STRAFFORD He being dead yet speaketh Heb. xi 4. LONDON Printed by M. Clark for C. Harper 1681. A PREFACE ALthough there are Books enough writ to vindicate the Honours and Priviledges of Bishops yet to those that are fore-stalled with prejudice and passion all that can be said or done will be little enough to make them wise unto sobriety to prevail with them not to contradict the conviction of their mind with absurd and fond reasonings but that Truth may conquer their prepossessions and may find so easie an access and welcome unto their practical judgments that they may profess their faith and subjection to that order which by a misguided zeal they once endeavoured to destroy Many are the methods that have been and are still used to rase up the foundation of Episcopacy and to make the Name of Bishop to be had no more in remembrance For first some strike at the Order and Function it self And yet St. Paul reckons it among his faithful sayings 1 Tim. 3.1 that the Office of a Bishop is a good work And the order continued perpetually in the Church without any interruption of time or decrees of Councils to the contrary for the space of many Centuries after the Ascension of Christ and the Martyrdom of the Apostles For they ordained Bishops and approved them Before St. John died Rome had a succession of no less than four viz. Linus Anacletus Clemens and Evaristus Jerusalem had James the just and Simeon the Son of Cleophas Antioch had Euodius and Ignatius and St. Mark Anianus Abilius and Cerdo successively fill'd the See of Alexandria All these lived in St. Johns days and their order obeyed by Christians and blessed by God throughout the whole world for the Conversion of Jews and Gentiles for the perfecting of the Saints and the edifying of
Courts Coke Institutes part 4 p. 45. out of the Records of Parliament and in his Margent pointing to the 13th of King Edward the third doth instruct us thus viz. Abbates Priores aliosque Praelatos quoscunque per Baroniam de Domino Rege tenentes pertinet in Parliamentis Regni quibuscunq ut pates Regni praedicti personaliter interesse ibique de Regni negotiis ac aliis tractari consuetis cum caeteris dicti Regni Paribus aliis ibidem jus interessendi habentibus consulere tractare ordinare statuere definire ac caetera facere quae Parliamenti tempore imminent facienda Which if it be the same with that which we had before differing only in some words as perhaps it is yet we have gained the Testimony of that Learned Lawyer whose judgment in this Case must be worth the having For hear him speaking in his own words and he tells us this viz. Coke Institut fol. 4. That every Lord of Parliament either Spiritual as Arch-bishops and Bishops or Temporal as Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons Peers of the Realm and Lords of Parliament ought to have several Writs of Summons where plainly these words Peers and Lords of Parliament relate as well to Spiritual as to the Temporal Lords And therefore if the Arch-bishops and the Bishops may be granted to be Lords of Parliament they must be also granted to be Peers of the Realm Now to the Testimony and Authority of particular persons we shall next add the sentence and determination of our Courts of Law in which the Bishops are declared to be Peers of the Realm and to be capable of all the priviledges which belong to the Peerage For first in the aforesaid Case of the Bishop of Winchester when he was brought upon his Trial for departing from the service of the Parliament without leave of the King and pleaded sor himself quod esset unus è Paribus Regni c. The priviledg of Barony It was supposed clearly both by Court and Council that he was a Peer that part of his defence being not gainsayed or so much as questioned So in the Year-Books of the Reign of King Edward the 3d in whose Reign the Bishop of Winchester's Case was agitated as before is said a Writ of Wards was brought by the Bishop of London and by him pleaded to an Issue and the Defendant could not be Essoyned or have day of Grace for it was said that a Bishop was a Peer of the Land haec erat causa saith the Book which reports the Case In the like Case upon an Action of Trespass against the Abbot of Abbingdon who was one of the Lords Spiritual day of Grace was denied against him because he was a Peere de la Terre So also it is said expresly that when question was made about the returning of a Knight to be of a Jury where a Bishop was Defendant in a Quare impedit the Rule of the Court was that it ought to be so because the Bishop was a Peer of the Realm And in the Judgment given against the Bishop of Norwich in the time of Richard the 2d he is in the Roll expresly allowed to be a Peer for he had taken exceptions that some things had passed against him without the Assent or knowledg of his Peers of the Realm To which Exception it was Answered that it behoved him not at all to plead that he was a Prelate for traversing such Errors and misprisions as in the quality of a Souldier who had taken wages of the King were committed by him Thus also in the Assignment of the Errors under Henry the fifth for the Reversal of the Attainder of the Earl of Salisbury one Error is assigned that Judgment was given without the consent of the Prelates which were Peers in Parliament And although that was adjudged to be no Error yet was it clearly allowed both in the Roll and the Petitions that the Bishops were Peers Finally in the Government of the Realm of France the Bishops did not only pass in the Ranks of Peers but six of them were taken into the number of the Douze-pairs or twelve Peers of that Kingdom highly esteemed and celebrated in the times of Charlemayne that is to say the Arch-bishop and Duke of Rhemes the Bishop and Duke of Laon the Bishop and Duke of Langres the Bishop and Earl of Beuvois the Bishop and Earl of Noyon the Bishop and Earl of Chalons And therefore it may be inferred that in the Government established by the Anjovin and Norman Kings the English Bishops might be ranked with the Peers at large considering their place in Parliament and their great Revenues and the strong influence which they had on the Church and State But there is little need for Inferences and book-Cases and the Authorities of particular men to come in for Evidence when we are able to produce an Act of Parliament to make good the point For in the Statute made the 4th year of King Henry the fifth it was repeated and confirmed That no man of the Irish Nation should be chosen by Election to be an Arch-bishop Bishop Abbot or Frior nor in no other manner received or accepted to any dignity and benefice within the said Land c. The Reason of which inhibition is there said to be this viz. because being Peers of the Parliament of the said Land they brought with them to the Parliaments and Councils holden there some Irish servants whereby the privities of the Englishmen within the same Land have been and be daily discovered to the Irish people Rebels to the King to the great peril and mischief of the Kings lawful Liege people in the said Land And if the Bishops and Arch-bishops of Ireland had the name of Peers there is no question to be made but the name of Peers and the right of Peerage may properly be assumed or challenged by them Now as this Statute gives them the name of Peers so in an Act of Parliament in the 25th year of King Henry the 8th they are called the Nobles of your Realm as well Spiritual as Temporal as all your other Subjects now living c. Which Term we find again repeated by the Parliament following the Nobles Spiritual and Temporal and that twice for failing so that we find no Title given to Earls and Barons Nobles and Peers and Lords as the Statutes call them but what is given to the Bishops in our Acts of Parliament and certainly had not been given them in the stile of that Court had any question then been made of their Right of Peerage And that their calling had not raised them to a state of Nobility concerning which take this from the Lord Chief Justice Coke for our more assurance and he will tell us that the general division of persons by the Law of England is either one that is Noble and in respect of his nobility of the Lords House of Parliament or one of the Commons of the
and that the way being thus laid open it was no hard matter to make the Bishop of Carlisle obnoxious to that kind of Trial which being forsaken on all sides as the times then were he was not able to avoid Which might be also the condition of Arch-bishop Cranmer and as for Fisher Bishop of Rochester he was to deal with an impetuous and violent Prince who was resolved to put the greater disgrace upon him because he had received some greater Honours from the Pope than the condition of Affairs might be thought to bear But against all these violations of their Rights of Peerage it may be said in their behalves for the times to come that by the Statute of the 25th of King Edward the 3d which serves to this day for the standing Rule in Cases of Treason it is required that the Malefactor or the suspected person must be attainted by such men as are of his own Condition and therefore Bishops to be tryed by none but the Peers of the Land unless it be in open opposit on to this Rule of King Edward and in defiance to the fundamental Law in the Magna Charta where it is said that no man is to be Disseised of his Freehold exiled or any ways destroyed nisi per Judicium parium suorum Or per Legem Terrae but by the Judgment of his Peers and by the Law of the Land and I can find no Law of the Land which tells me that a Bishop shall be tryed by a Common Jury Finally if it be a sufficient Argument that Bishops ought not to be reckoned as Peers of the Realm because they may be tryed by a Common Jury then also at some times and in certain Cases the Temporal Lords Dukes Marquesses Earls c. must not pass for Peers because in all Appeals of Murder they are to be tryed by Common Jurors like the rest of the Subjects But secondly it is objected That since a Bishop cannot sit in Judgment on the death of a Peer nor be so much as present at the time of his Trial they are but half-Peers as it were not Peers to all intents and purposes as the others are But this incapacity is not laid upon them by the Laws of the Land or any Limitation of their powers in their Writ of Summons or any thing inhering to the Episcopal Function but only by some ancient Canons and more particularly by the fourth Canon of Toledo which whether they be now of force or not may be somewhat questioned Secondly whensoever they withdrew themselves they did it with a salvo Jure paritatis as before is shewn To which intent they did not only cause their Protestations to be filed on Record Coke Institut part 4. fol. 23. but for the most part made a Proxy to some Temporal Lords to Act in their behalf and preserve their right which though they did not in the Case we had before us yet afterwards in the 21st of King Richard the 2d and from that time forwards when they found Parliamentary Impeachments to become more frequent they observed it constantly as it continues to this day Nor were they hindred by those Canons whatsoever they were from being present at the depositions of Witnesses or taking such preparatory examinations as concern the Trial in which they might be able to direct the Court by the Rules of Conscience though they withdrew themselves at the time of the sentence That was a Trick imposed upon the Bishops by the late long Parliament when they excluded them from being members of the Committee which was appointed for taking the examinations in the business of the Earl of Strafford And this they did not in relation to those ancient Canons but upon design for fear they might discover some of those secret practices which were to be hatched and contrived against him Against which Preparations for a final Trial or taking the Examinations or hearing of depositions of Witnesses or giving counsel in such cases as they saw occasion the Council of Toledo saith not any thing which can be honestly interpreted to their disadvantage So that the Bishops Claim stands good to their right of Peerage any thing in those ancient Canons or the unjust practices of the late Long Parliament to the contrary notwithstanding To draw the business to an end what one thing is required unto the constituting of a Peer of England which is not to be found in an English Bishop if Tenure and Estate they hold their Lands per integram Baroniam as the old Lords did if Voice in Parliament they have their several Writs of Summons as the Lay-Lords have if we desire Antiquity to make good their Interesse most of them have sat longer there in their Predecessors than any of our Temporal Lords in their noblest Ancestors if point of Priviledg they have the same in all respects as the others have except it be in one particular neither clearly stated nor universally enjoyed by those who pretend most to it if Letters Patents from the King to confirm these Honours they have his Majesties Writ of Conge d'eslire his Royal Assent to the Election his Mandate under the Great Seal for their Consecration If therefore we allow the Bishops to be Lords of Parliament we must allow them also to be Peers of the Realm There being nothing which distinguisheth a Peer from from a common Person but his Voice in Parliament which was the matter to be proved A TABLE OF THE CONTENTS The Way of the Reformation of the Church of England declared and justified SECT I. I. THE Introduction shewing the Occasion Method and Design of the whole Discourse Page 1 I. Of Calling or Assembling the Convocation of the Clergy and the Authority thereof when convened together Page 2 II. Of the Ejection of the Pope and vesting the Supremacy in the Regal Crown Page 5 III. Of the Translation of the Scriptures and permitting them to be read in the English Tongue Page 7 IV. Of the Reformation of Religion in the points of Doctrine Page 10 V. Of the Reformation of the Church of England in the Forms of Worship and the times appointed thereunto Page 14 VI. Of the power of making Canons for the well ordering of the Clergy and the directing of the people in the publick duties of Religion Page 18 VII An Answer to the main Objections of either Party Page 20 SECT II. I. That the Church of England did not innovate in the Ejection of the Pope and setling the Supremacy in the Regal Crown Page 23 II. That the Church of England might proceed to a Reformation without the approbation of the Pope or the Church of Rome Page 26 III. That the Church of England might lawfully proceed to a Reformation without the help of a General Council or calling in the aid of the Protestant Churches Page 30 IV. That the Church did not innovate in Translating the Scriptures and the publick Liturgy into vulgar Tongues and of the Consequents thereof to the
belong also to Bishops 14. And of Lay-people if they walk unworthy of their Christian calling ibid. 15. Conjectural proofs that the description of a Bishop in the first to Timothy is of a Bishop strictly and properly called Page 233 CHAP. VI. Of the estate of holy Church particularly of the Asian Churces toward the later days of Saint John the Apostle 1. The time of Saint Johns coming into Asia Page 235 2. All the seven Churches except Ephesus of his Plantation ibid. 3. That the Angels of those Churches were the Bishops of them in the opinion of the Fathers Page 236 4. And of some Protestant Divines of name and eminency ibid. 5. Conclusive Reasons for the same Page 237 6. Who is most like to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus ibid. 7. That Polycarpus was the Angel of the Church of Smyrna Page 238 8. Touching the Angel of the Church of Pergamus and of Thiatyra ibid. 9. As also of the Churches of Sardis Philadelphia and Laodicea Page 239 10. What Successors these several Angels had in their several Churches Page 240 11. Of other Churches founded in Episcopacy by Saint John the Apostle ibid. 12. Saint John deceasing left the Government of the Church to Bishops as to the Successours of the Apostles Page 241 13. The ordinary Pastors of the Church Page 242 14. And the Vicars of Christ Page 243 15. A brief Chronologic of the estate of holy Church in this first Century Page 244 PART II. CHAP. I. What doth occur concerning Bishops and the Government of the Church by them during the first half of the second Century 1. OF the condition of the Church of Corinth when Clemens wrote unto them his Epistle Page 249 2. What that Epistle doth contain in reference to this point in hand Page 250 3. That by Episcopi he meaneth Bishops truly and properly so called proved by the scope of the Epistle Page 251 4. And by a text of Scripture therein cited ibid. 5. Of the Episcopal Succession in the Church of Corinth Page 252 6. The Canons of the Apostles ascribed to Clemens what they say of Bishops Page 253 7. A Bishop not to be ordained under three or two at least of the same Order ibid. 8. Bishops not barred by these Canons from any Secular affairs as concern their Families Page 254 9. How far by them restrained from the employments of the Common-wealth ibid. 10. The jurisdiction over Presbyters given to the Bishops by those Canons Page 255 11. Rome divided into Parishes or tituli by Pope Euaristus Page 256 12. The reasons why Presbyteries or Colleges of Presbyters were planted first in Cities ibid. 13. Touching the superiority over all the flock given to the Bishop by Ignatius Page 257 14. As also of the Jurisdiction by him allowed them Page 258 15. The same exemplified in the works of Justin Martyr Page 259 CHAP. II. The setling of Episcopacy together with the Gospel in the Isle of Britain by Pope Eleutherius 1. What Bishops Egesippus met with in his Peregrination and what he testifieth of them Page 260 2. Of Dionysius Bishop of Corinth and of the Bishops by him mentioned ibid. 3. How Bishops came to be ordained where none were left by the Apostles Page 261 4. The setling of the Gospel in the Isle of Britain by Pope Eleutherius Page 262 5. Of the Condition of the Church of Britain from the first preaching of the Gospel there till the time of Lucius Page 263 6. That Lucius was a King in those parts of Britain which we now call England Page 264 7. Of the Episcopal Sees here founded by King Lucius at that time Page 265 8. Touching the Flamines and Arch-flamines which those Stories speak of ibid. 9. What is most like to be the reason of the number of the Arch-bishopricks and Bishopricks here of old established Page 266 10. Of the Successors which the Bishops of this Ordination are found to have on true Record Page 267 11. Which of the British Metropolitans was antiently the Primate of that Nation Page 268 CHAP. III. The Testimony given to Episcopal Authority in the last part of this second Century 1. The difference betwixt Pope Victor and the Asian Bishops about the Feast of Easter Page 269 2. The interpleading of Polycrates and Irenaeus two renowned Prelates in the aforesaid cause Page 270 3. Several Councils called about it by the Bishops of the Church then being with observations on the same ibid. 4. Of the Episcopal Succession in the four prime Sees for this second Century Page 271 5. An Answer to some Objections made against the same Page 272 6. The great authority and esteem of the said four Sees in those early days ibid. 7. The use made of this Episcopal Succession by Saint Irenaeus Page 273 8. As also in Tertullian and some other Antients Page 274 9. Of the authority enjoyed by Bishops in Tertullians time in the administration of the Sacraments Page 275 10. As also in enjoyning Fasts and the disposing of the Churches treasury ibid. 11. And in the dispensation of the Keys Page 276 12. Tertullian misalledged in maintenance of the Lay-Presbytery Page 277 13. The great extent of Christianity and Episcopacy in Tertullians time concludes this Century Page 278 CHAP. IV. Of the Authority in the Government of the Church of Carthage enjoyed and exercised by Saint Cyprian and other Bishops of the same 1. Of the foundation and preheminence of the Church of Carthage Page 279 2. Of Agrippinus and Donatus two of Saint Cyprian's Predecessors ibid. 3. The troublesome condition of that Church at Cyprian's first being Bishop there Page 280 4. Necessitated him to permit some things to the discretion of his Presbyters and consent of the People Page 281 5. Of the Authority ascribed by Cyprian to the People in the Election of their Bishop Page 282 6. What power the People had de facto in the said Elections ibid. 7. How far the testimony rf the People was required in the Ordination of their Presbyters Page 283 8. The power of Excommunication reserved by Saint Cyprian to the Bishop only Page 284 9. No Reconciliation of a Penitent allowed by Cyprian without the Bishops leave and licence Page 285 10. The Bishop's power as well in the encouragement as in the punishment and censure of his Clergy Page 286 11. The memorable case of Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of Carthage Page 287 12. The Bishop's power in regulating and declaring Martyrs Page 288 13. The Divine Right and eminent Authority of Bishops fully asserted by Saint Cyprian Page 289 CHAP. V. Of the condition and affairs of the two Patriarchal Churches of Alexandria and Antiochia 1. Of the foundation and first Professors of the Divinity-School in Alexandria Page 290 2. What is affirmed by Clemens one of those Professors concerning Bishops Page 291 3. Origen the Divinity Reader there permitted to expound the Scriptures in the presence of the Bishop of Caesarea ibid. 4. Contrary to
name of Sunday often used for the Lords day by the primitive Christians but the Sabbath never Page 422 CHAP. III. That in the fourth Age from the time of Constantine to Saint Austine the Lords day was not taken for a Sabbath day 1. The Lords day first established by the Emperour Constantine Page 423 2. What labours were permitted and what restrained on the Lords day by this Emperours Edict Page 424 3. Of other Holy days and Saints days instituted in the time of Constantine Page 425 4. That weekly other days particularly the Wednesday and the Friday were in this Age and those before appointed for the meetings of the Congregation ibid. 5. The Saturday as highly honoured in the Eastern Churches as the Lords day was Page 426 6. The Fathers of the Eastern Churches cry down the Jewish Sabbath though they held the Saturday Page 427 7. The Lords day not spent wholly in Religious exercises and what was done with that part of it which was left at large Page 428 8. The Lords day in this Age a day of Feasting and that it hath been always deemed Heretical to hold Fasts thereon Page 429 9. Of Recreation on the Lords day and of what kind those Dancings were against the which the Fathers enveigh so sharply Page 430 10. Other Imperial Edicts about the keeping of the Lords day and the other Holy-days Page 432 11. The Orders at this time in use on the Lords day and other days of publick meeting in the Congregation Page 433 12. The infinite differences between the Lords day and the Sabbath Page 434 CHAP. IV. The great improvement of the Lords day in the fifth and sixth Ages make it not a Sabbath 1. In what estate the Lords day stood in S. Austins time Page 435 2. Stage plays and publick Shews prohibited on the Lords day and the other Holy days by Imperial Edicts Page 437 3. The base and beastly nature of the Stage-plays at those times in use Page 438 4. The barbarous bloody quality of the Spectacula or Shews at this time prohibited ibid. 5. Neither all civil business nor all kind of pleasure restrained on the Lords day by the Emperour Leo as some give it out The so much cited Canon of the Council of Mascon proves no Lords day Sabbath Page 440 6. The French and Spaniards in the sixth Age begin to Judaize about the Lords day and of restraint of Husbandry on that day in that Age first thought of Page 441 7. The so much cited Canon of the Council of Mascon proves no Lords day Sabbath Page 442 8. Of publick honours done in these Ages to the Lords day by Prince and Prelate Page 443 9. No Evening Service on the Lords day till these present Ages Page 444 10. Of publick Orders now Established for the better regulating of the Lords Day-meetings Page 445 11. All Business and Recreation not by Law prohibited are in themselves as lawful on the Lords day as on any other ibid. CHAP. V. That in the next six hundred years from Pope Gregory forwards the Lords day was not reckoned of as of a Sabbath 1. Pope Gregories care to set the Lords day free from some Jewish rigours at that time obtruded on the Church Page 447 2. Strange fancies taken up by some about the Lords day in these darker Ages ibid. 3. Scriptures and Miracles in these times found out to justifie the keeping of the Lords day Holy Page 448 4. That in the judgment of the most Learned in these six Ages the Lords day hath no other ground than the Authority of the Church Page 449 5. With how much difficulty the People of these times were barred from following their Husbandry and Law-days on the Lords day Page 450 6. Hüsbandry not restrained on the Lords day in the Eastern Parts until the time of Leo Philosophus Page 451 7. Markets and Handicrasts restrained with no less opposition than the Plough and Pleading Page 452 8. Several casus reservati in the Laws themselves wherein men were permitted to attend those businesses on the Lords day which the Laws restrained Page 453 9. Of divers great and publick actions done in these Ages on the Lords day Page 454 10. Dancing and other sports no otherwise prohibited on the Lords day than as they were an hinderance to Gods publick Service Page 455 11. The other Holy-days as much esteemed of and observed as the Lords day was Page 456 12. The publick hallowing of the Lords day and the other Holy-days in these present Ages Page 457 13. No Sabbath all these Ages heard of either on Saturday or Sunday and how it stood with Saturday in the Eastern Churches Page 458 CHAP. VI. What is the judgment of the School-men and of the Protestants and what the practice of those Churches in this Lords day business 1. That in the judgment of the School-men the keeping of one day in seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment Page 640 2. As also that the Lords day is not founded on Divine Authority but the Authority of the Church Page 461 3. A Catalogue of the Holy-days drawn up in the Council of Lyons and the new Doctrine of the Schools touching the native sanctity of the Holy-days Page 462 4. In what estate the Lords day stood in matter of restraint from labour at the Reformation Page 463 5. The Reformators find great fault both with the said new doctrine and restraints from labour Page 464 6. That in the judgment of the Protestant Divines the keeping of one day in seven is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment Page 465 7. As that the Lords day hath no other ground on which to stand than the Authority of the Church Page 466 8. And that the Church hath power to change the day and to transfer it to some other Page 467 9. What is the practice of all Churches the Roman Lutheran and Calvinian chiefly in matter of Devotion rest from labour and sufferance of lawful pleasures Page 468 10. Dancing cryed down by Calvin and the French Churches not in relation to the Lords day but the sport it self Page 470 11. In what estate the Lords day stands in the Eastern Churches and that the Saturday is no less esteemed of by the Ethiopians than the said Lords day Page 471 CHAP. VII In what estate the Lords day stood in this Isle of Britain from the first planting of Religion to the Reformation 1. What doth occur about the Lords day and the other Festivals amongst the Churches of the Brittans Page 472 2. Of the estate of the Lords day and the other Holy days in the Saxon Heptarchie Page 473 3. The honours done unto the Sunday and the other Holy-days by the Saxon Monarchs Page 474 4. Of the publick actions Civil Ecclesiastical mixt and Military done on the Lords day under the first six Norman Kings Page 476 5. New Sabbath doctrines broached in England in King Johns Reign and the miraculous original of the same
them then who being well persuaded of their own safe-standing and perhaps having suffered much in testimony of their perseverance became the worse opinionated of those who had not been endued with an equal constancy So that upon a sudden unawares the Church of Rome was in a very great distemper the neighbouring Churches also suffering with it either in regard of their own peace which presently began to be endangered by this plausible and popular faction or out of commiseration unto the distresses of so great a number in the body mystical Nor was Cornelius wanting to the Church or the Church to him For presently upon the breaking out of the flame he gives notice of it to his dear Brother and Colleague S. Cyprian the Metropolitan of Carthage to Fabius Inter. Epistolas Cypr. Ep. 46.48 Euseb hist Eccl. l. 6. c. 35. n. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Patriarch of the Church of Antioch acquainting them with the whole story of the business assembling also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great and famous Synod in the City of Rome consisting of sixty Bishops and as many Presbyters or more besides Deacons For being a Provincial Council and not General the Presbyters and others of the inferiour Clergy had their Votes therein according as they still enjoy on the like occasions And on the other side the Orthodox and Catholick Bishops made the cause their own neither repelling of his Agents who came to justifie his Ordination as S. Cyprian did Cypr. Epist 41. Euseb hist Eccl. lib. 6. c. 36. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. c. 35. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or writing in behalf of the Church against him as did Dionysius the Learned and renowned Bishop of Alexandria The like no doubt did other Bishops And more than so they caused several Councils to be called about it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in their several Provinces and charges as well in Italy as Africk in each of which the faction was condemned and the Arch-Schismatick with all his Fautors deprived of the communion of the Church I have the rather been more copious in the description of this Schism and the Authors of it than otherwise I would have been not only because of that great power and influence which it had after in the Church which we shall find hereafter in the prosecution of this present story if it please God to give me means and opportunity to go thorow with it but also for those many observations which any one that would be curious in collecting them might raise or gather from the same For first of all it must be noted that though Novatianus had a great desire to be made a Bishop and that he could not get it by a fair orderly Election as he should have done yet he could find no other entrance thereunto than by the door of Ordination and therein he would be Canonical though in nothing else For being a Presbyter before as Cornelius tells us in his Epistle unto Fabius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith that holy Prelate Id. ibid. he thought that did not qualifie him enough for the place and office of a Bishop unless he might receive Episcopal Ordination also And when he was resolved on that he would not be ordained but by three Bishops at the least according to the ancient Canon and the present practice of the Church and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he procures three Bishops to be drawn together for the purpose And being thus Ordained he sends abroad his Agents into foreign Churches Cypr. E. 41. as viz. Maximus a Presbyter and Augendus a Deacon Macheus and Longinus and perhaps some others to the See of Carthage to have his Ordination ratified and himself acknwledged for a Bishop according to the commendable usage of those watchful times In which who would not but observe that Bishops had a different Ordination from the Presbyters and therefore do not differ from them only in degree or potestate Jurisdictionis but in the power of Order also and that this power of Order cannot be conferred regularly I mean and when there is no urgent and unavoidable necessity unto the contrary but by the joint assistance of three Bishops For how can any give that power of Order unto others with which they never were endued themselves Secondly it might be observed not to take notice of his seeking for the approbation of his neighbouring Prelates that the first Schism which did disturb the peace of these Western Churches was made by those who by the rigidness of their Profession were in that very instant termed Catharists Euseb hist Eccles l. 6.35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as that Author hath it and that not to be Englished in a fuller Word than that of Puritans And thirdly that however in these later times the Scene be changed and that the greatest stirrs that have been raised in the Church have been for pulling down Bishops yet in the former times the course was otherwise most of their troubles and commotions being for setting up of Bishops when certain factious and unquiet spirits not willing to submit to the Chuches Government would have a Bishop of their own Certain I am that thus it was with the Novatians who though they stood divided from the Catholick Church a long time together yet they desired to be accounted for a Church and that they might be so accounted maintained an Episcopal Succession from the first Apostle of their Sect Socrat. bist Eccl. l. 5. c. 21. the names of many of their Bishops Agellius Sisinnius Marcianus others being to be found upon good record But from these counterfeit and schismatical Bishops proceed we forwards unto those who were acknowledged by the Church for true and real and amongst those keeping my self to the succession of the Church of Rome the fourth in order from Cornelius Baron Annal. Eccl. An. 261. Ap. Binium Concil Tom. 1. was Dionysius who entred on that weighty charge Anno 261. Of him we find in the Pontifical Presbyteris Ecclesias divisisse coemeteria Parochiasque dioeceses constituisse that he divided to the Presbyters their several Churches and Church-yards and that he first did set out Parishes and apportioned Diocesses Which as they were two several Actions so Platina Platina in vita Dionys assigns each action to its proper place making the first which was the distributing of the Presbyters into their several Churches and Churchyards then common places of Assembly to relate only to the City of Rome In urbe Roma statim divisit as his words there are Which being it had been done before by Pope Euaristus as hath been formerly observed we must resolve it with Baronius Baron in Annal An. 270. n. ult that this was a reviver only of the former Act and that the Presbyters being ravished from their Churches and the Church-yards taken from the Presbyters during the persecution of Valerian were afterwards restored again to their former
state by the Authority of Dionysius In other places and perhaps here also this was not done by the Authority but in the time of Dionysius the Order or Authority proceeding from an higher hand Nicephorus Callist Eccl. hist l. 6. c. 12. even from the Emperour Gallienus who did not only prohibit the persecution raised by his Father Valerianus but also did permit by his publick Edict ut Christiani loca coemeteriorum suorum recigerent as by Nicephorus it is related And for the other part of the Relation viz. the setting out of Parishes and the apportioning of Diocesses that Platina refers unto the Countrey unto the parts and Provinces abroad Parochias Dioeceses foris distribuit Platina in vita Dionys so he tells us there adding withal quo quisque finibus suis limitibusque contentus esset that this was done that every Bishop might contein himself within the limits of his Diocess and every Presbyter be confined to his proper Parish And this as Dionysius did within the limits and precincts of his jurisdiction viz. that is to say the Patriarchate of Rome for it were vain to think that he could do the like over all the World being beyond the sphere of his activity so other Primates seeing the conveniency and ease which redounded by it to the Church might and did also do the like within their Commands Concerning which it is to be remembred that as the Romans in each City had a Civil Magistrate called a Defensor Civitatis who was to do justice for and in the name of the Commonwealth not only in the City it self but also unto all the Towns and Villages within the Territory of the same so in each City there had been placed a Bishop in the former times who was not only to take care of the Church of God within the walls and circuit of that City but also of the parts adjoyning accordingly as they were gained to the faith of Christ And then the substance of the Institution will be briefly this that when the faith had spread it self in the Countrey Villages and that it was too cumbersom a work for the City-Presbyters to repair thither upon all occasions it was thought fit by Dionysius and afterwards by other Primates following the Example that every Countrey Town and Village which had received the faith of Christ should be furnished with its proper Presbyter and that the Presbyters so setled and dispersed in the Countrey Villages should be responsible to the Bishop of that City within the Territory of the which the said Village stood Which distribution of the Church into those smaller portions and particular Congregations as we now call Parishes so the Collection of these Parishes into one united body under one Pastor or chief Governour which was the Bishop of the City we do call a Diocess borrowing the names of both from the Ancient Writers in whom the same are very frequent and frequent also in the sense in which now we use them specially in those Authors and Synodical Acts which did succeed the times we speak of 'T is true the words being used otherwise in the Ancient Writers such of them chiefly as relate unto us the occurrences of the former times have given some men occasion to conceive that there was never any Bishop in the Primitive Church but a Parish-bishop viz. the Rector of each several Congregation to whom the cure of Souls is trusted because they find that in Eusebius the Churches of Jerusalem Antioch and Alexandria are called Paroeciae and that there were no Diocesses nor Diocesan Bishops in the purest times because they find them not so called in those Ancient Writers For satisfying of which doubt it is first confessed that by Eusebius the Churches of Jerusalem Antioch and Alexandria as also of Corinth Ephesus Lyons Carthage Vide Euseb hist Eccl. l. 3. c. 2. l. 4. c. 1 4 5 11 15 19 23 31 l. 5. c. 5 22 23 27. c. and many other famous Cities are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Paroeciae There is no doubt at all of that But then it is to be confessed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that Author is never used to signifie a Countrey-parish or a sole Congregation only which we call a Parish but for the whole City with the Suburbs and adjoyning Villages within the circuit of the which were many Congregations and material Churches The very composition of the word doth import no less the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of a City containing not alone the Citizens but all such Borderers and Strangers as dwelt near or repaired to any chief Church or City for Gods publick Worship as our learned Bilson doth observe Perpetual Government of Christs Ch. cap. 11. comprizing not the City only but the Towns and Villages near the City as Master Brerewood also noteth And this may be made good even from Eusebius himself so often cited to the contrary who having said that Laetus was President of Alexandria and the rest of Egypt adds next 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the inspection M.S. Discourse of the Ancient Government or superintendency of the Paroeciae or Churches there Demetrius had of late received So that Demetrius being Bishop of the Church of Alexandria 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he after calls him was not the Bishop of a Parish only Euseb hist Ecc. l. 6. c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or of the Congregations in the City only but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all the Churches throughout Alexandria and those parts of Egypt Id. l. 6. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were under the command of Laetus for their Civil Government And lest it may be thought that the word being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plural number may bear a different construction from what it doth being used in the singular the same Eusebius tells us of the same Demetrius Id. l. 6. c. 7.11 that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishop of the Paroecia or Church of Alexandria whereas at that time there were many Parish-Churches as we now call Parishes within the circuit of that City as doth appear by Epiphanius Epiphan adv haeres 69. who doth not only shew the names of many of them but tells us also who officiated in the same as Presbyters So that the word Paroecia in its first and primitive acception signified not a Parish but a Diocess nor only the Cathedral but all other Churches how near or far soever situated within the Rule and Government of a Bishop But for the sense in which we use it in our Age it gained it not but by degrees after this division made by Dionysius and that the Countrey Churches grew to be considerable for their means and numbers And in this sense Concil Carthag IV. Can. 102. we find it used in the Fourth Council of Carthage where we find mention of these Presbyters which did Paroeciis praeesse and were
albeit the light of Reason doth abide yet is it much darkned and with much difficulty doth discern things that be inferiour and pertain to this present life but to understand and perceive things that be spiritual and pertain to that everlasting life it is of it self unable And so likewise there remains a certain freedom of the will in those things which do pertain unto the desires and works of this present life yet to perform spiritual and heavenly things Freewill of it self is unsufficient and therefore the power of mans Freewill being thus wounded and decayed hath need of a Physician to heal it and one help to repair it that it may receive light and strength whereby it may be so and have power to do those godly and spiritual things which before the fall of Adam it was able and might have done To this blindness and infirmity of mans Nature proceeding of Original sin the Prophet David hath regard when he desired his eyes to be lightened of Almighty God that he might consider the marvellous things that be in his Law And also the Prophet Jeremy saying Psalm 115. Jer. 16. Heal me O Lord and I shall be made whole Augustin also plainly declareth the same saying We conclude that Freewill is in man after his fall which thing whoso denieth is not a Catholick man but in spiritual desires and works to please God it is so weak and feeble hat it cannot eithre begin or perform them unless by the Grace and help of God it be prevented and holpen And hereby it appeareth that mans strength and Will in all things which be helpful to the soul and shall please God hath need of the graces of the holy Ghost by which such things be inspired to men and strength and constancy given to perform them if we do not wilfully refuse the said Grace effered to them And likewise as many things be in the Scripture which do shew Freewill to be in man so there be now fewer places in Scripture which declare the Grace of God to be so necessary that if by it Freewill be not prevented and holpen it neither can do nor will any thing good and godly of which sort be these Scriptures following Without me you can do nothing no man cometh to me except it be given him of my Father John 15. Jon. 6.1 Cor. 3. We be not sufficient of our selves as of our selves to think any good thing According unto which Scriptures and such other like it followeth That Freewill before it may will or think any godly thing must be holpen with the grace of Christ and by his Spirit be prevented and inspired that it may be able thereunto And being so made able may from thenceforth work together with grace and by the same sustained holpen and maintained may both accomplish good works and avoid sin and persevere also and increase in grace It is true of the grace of God only that first we are inspired and moved to any good thing but to resist temptations and to persist in goodness and go forward it is both of the Grace of God and our Freewill and endeavour And finally after we have persevered unto the end to be crowned with glory therefore is the gift and mercy of God who of his bountiful goodness hath ordained that reward to be given after this life according to such good works as be done in this life by his Grace Therefore men ought with much diligence and gratitude of mind to consider and regard the inspiration wholesom motions of the holy Ghost and to embrace the Grace of God which is offered to them in Christ and moveth them to work good things And furthermore to go about by all means to shew themselves such as unto whom the Grace of God is not given in vain And when they do settle that notwithstanding their diligence yet through their infirmity they be not able to do that they desire then they ought earnestly and with a fervent devotion and stedfast faith to ask of him which gave the beginning that he would vouchsafe to perform it which thing God will undoubtedly grant according to his promise to such as persevere in calling upon him For he is naturally good and willeth all men to be saved and careth for them and provideth all things by which they may be saved except BY THEIR OWN MALICE they will be evil and so by the righteous judgment of God perish and be lost For truly men be to themselves the AVTHOR OF SIN and DAMNATION God is neither the AVTHOR OF SIN nor the CAVSE OF DAMNATION and yet doth he most righteously damn those men that do with Vices corrupt their Nature which he made good and do abuse the same to evil desires against his most holy will wherefore men be to be warned that they do not impute to God their Vice or their damnation but to themselves who by Freewill have abused the grace and benefits of God All men be also to be monished and chiefly Preachers that in this high matter they looking on both sides so attemper and moderate themselves that neither they so preach the Grace of God as to take away thereby Freewill Nor on the other side so extol Freewill that injury be done to the grace of God Such was the judgment of the Bishops and Clergy assembled in Convocation Anno 1543. touching the nature of Freewill and the co-operations of it with the grace of God In which I can see nothing not agreeable to the present establish'd Doctrine of the Church of England And if it be objected as perhaps it may that this Convocation was held in times of Popery and managed by a Popish Clergy it may be answered that the Bishops and Clergy then assembled were such as had a principal hand in the Reformation and generally subscribed unto the Articles of Religion agreed upon and published in King Edwards time Anno 1552. At which time fifteen of the Bishops which had been present at the Convocation Anno 1543. were not only living but present and consenting to the Articles in King Edwards time that is to say Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Parfew Bishop of Saint Asaph Buchely Bishop of Bangor Bush Bishop of Bristol Sampson Bishop of Litchfield Barlow Bishop of Saint David Goodrich Bishop of Ely Ship Bishop of Hereford Folgate Bishop of Landaff and afterwards Archbishop of York King Bishop of Oxon Chambers Bishop of Peterborough Cepon Bishop of Sarum Thirlby then Bishop of Westminster Aldrich then Bishop of Carlile and Bird Bishop of Chester By which proportion we may conclude that a far greater number of the Deans and Arch-deacons who have a personal right of voting in all Convocations and coming to the number of eighty and thereabouts must be living and consenting also to the Reformation as being younger men than the Bishops were not to say any thing of the Clerks or Procurates of Cathedral Churches and those of the Diocesan Clergy as being variable and changeable
from time to time though possibly a great part of them might be present and consenting also 1552. Nor stood this book nor the Article of Freewill therein contained upon the order and authority only of this Convocation but had as good countenance and encouragement to walk abroad as could be superadded to it by an Act of Parliament as appears plainly by the Kings Preface to that Book and the Act it self to which for brevity sake I refer the Reader But if it be replyed that there is no relying on the Acts of Parliament which were generally swayed changed and over-ruled by the power and passions of the King and that the Act of Parliament which approved this Book was repealed the first year of King Edward the sixth as indeed it was we might refer the Reader to a passage in the Kings Epistle before remembred in which the Doctrine of Freewill is affirmed to have been purged of all Popish Errors concerning which take here the words of the Epistle Epist Ded. viz. And for as much as the heads and senses of our people have been imbusied and in these days travelled with the understanding of Freewill Justification c. We have by the advice of our Clergy for the purgation of Erroneous Doctrine declared and set forth openly plainly and without ambiguity of speech the meer and certain truth of them so as we verily trust that to know God and how to live after his pleasure to the attaining of everlasting life in the end this Book containeth a perfect and sufficient Doctrine grounded and established in holy Scriptures And if it be rejoyned as perhaps it may that King Henry used to shift Opinion in matters which concerned Religion according unto interest and reason of State it must be answered that the whole Book and every Tract therein contained was carefully corrected by Archbishop Cranmer the most blessed instrument under God of the Reformation before it was committed to the Prolocutor and the rest of the Clergy For proof whereof I am to put the Reader in mind of a Letter of the said Archbishop relating to the eighth Chapter of this book in which he signified to an honourable Friend of his that he had taken the more pains in it because the Book being to be set forth by his Graces that is to say the Kings censure and judgment he could have nothing in it that Momus himself could reprehend as before was said And this I hope will be sufficient to free this Treatise of Freewill from the crime of Popery But finally if notwithstanding all these Reasons it shall be still pressed by those of the Calvinian party that the Doctrine of Freewill which is there delivered is in all points the same with that which was concluded and agreed on in the Council of Trent as appears Cap. de fructibus justificationis merito bonorum operum Can. 34. and therefore not to be accounted any part of the Protestant Doctrine which was defended and maintained by the Church of England according to the first Rules of her Reformation the answers will be many and every answer not without its weight and moment For first it was not the intent of the first Reformers to depart farther from the Rites and Doctrines of the Church of Rome than that Church had departed from the simplicity both of Doctrine and Ceremonies which had been publickly maintained and used in the Primitive times as appears plainly by the whole course of their proceedings so much commended by King James in the Conserence at Hampton Court Secondly this Doctrine must be granted also to be the same with that of the Melancthonian Divines or moderate Lutherans as was confessed by Andreas Vega one of the chief sticklers in the Council of Trent who on the agitating of the Point did confess ingenuously that there was no difference betwixt the Lutherans and the Church touching that particular And then it must be confessed also that it was the Doctrine of Saint Augustine according to that Divine saying of his Sine gratia Dei praeveniente ut velimus subsequente ne frustra velimus ad pietatis opera nil valemus which is the same of that of the tenth Article of the Church of England where it is said That without the grace of God preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will we can do nothing that is acceptable to him in the ways of piety So that if the Church of England must be Arminian and the Arminian must be Papist because they agree together in this particular the Melancthonian Divines amongst the Protestants yea and St. Augustine amongst the Ancients himself must be Papists also CHAP. XIII The Doctrine of the Church of England concerning the certainty or uncertainty of Perseverance 1. The certainty of Grace debated in the Council of Trent and maintained in the Affirmative by the Dominicans and some others 2. The contrary affirmed by Catarinus and his adherents 3. The doubtful resolution of the Council in it 4. The Calvinists not content with certainty of Grace quoad statum praesentem presume upon it also quoad statum suturum 5. The bounds and limits wherewith the judgment in this point ought rationally to be circumscribed 6. The Doctrine of the Church of England in the present Artìcle 7. Justified by the testimonies of Bishop Latimer Bishop Hooper and Master Tyndal 8. And proved by several arguments from the publick Liturgy 9. The Homily commends a probable and sted-fast hope But 10. Allows no certainty of Grace and perseverance in any ordinary way to the Sons of men OF all the Points which exercised the wits and patience of the School-men in the Council of Trent there was none followed with more heat between the parties than that of the certainty of Grace occasioned by some passages in the writings of Luther wherein such certainty was maintained as necessary unto justification and an essential part thereof In canvasing of which point the one part held that certainty of grace was presumption the other that one might have it meritoriously The ground of the first was Hist of the Coun of Trent fol. 205. c. that Saint Thomas Saint Bonaventure and generally the School-men thought so for which cause the major part of the Dominicans were of the same opinion besides the authority of the Doctors they alledged for reasons that God would not that man should be certain that be might not be lifted up in pride and esteem of themselves that he might not prefer himself before others as he that knoweth himself to be just would do before manifest sinners and a Christian would so become drowsie careless and negligent to do good Therefore they said that uncertainty was profitable yea and meritorious besides because it is a passion of the mind which doth afflict it and being supported is turned to merit They alledged many places of the Scripture also of Solomon that a man knoweth not