the Bishops against one another The Emperors called General Councils by their Summons they sate in them and confirmed their Decrees This was the constant Practice of the Roman Emperors both in the East and in the West When the Church came to fall under many lesser Sovereignties those Princes continued still to make Laws to name Bishops to give Investitures into Benefices to call Synods and to do every thing that appeared necessary to them for the good Government of the Church in their Dominions When Charles the Great was restoring those things that had fallen under much disorder in a course of some ignorant and barbarous Ages and was reviving both Learning and good Government he published many Capitulars a great part of them relating to Ecclesiastical matters nor was any exception taken to that in those Ages The Synods that were then held were for the greatest part mixt Assemblies in which the Temporalty and the Spiritualty sate together and judged and decreed of all matters in common And it is certain that such was the Sanhedrim among the Iews in our Saviour's time it was the Supreme Court both for Spirituals and Temporals In England our Princes began early and continued long to maintain this part of their Authority The Letters that are pretended to have passed between King Lucius and Pope Eleutherius are very probably Forgeries but they are antient ones and did for many Ages pass for true Now a Forgery is generally calculated to the Sense of the Age in which it is made In the Pope's Letter the King is called God's Vicar in his Kingdoms and it is said to belong to his Office to bring his Subjects to the holy Church and to maintain protect and govern them in it Both Saxon and Danish Kings made a great many Laws about Ecclesiastical matters and after the Conquest when the Nation grew into a more united Body and came to a more settled Constitution many Laws were made concerning these matters particularly in opposition to those Practices that favoured the Authority that the Popes were then assuming such as Appeals to Rome or Bishops going out of the Kingdom without the King's leave King Alfred's Laws were a sort of a Text for a great while they contain many Laws about Sacred matters The exempting of Monasteries from Episcopal Jurisdiction was granted by some of our Kings at first William the Conqueror to perpetuate the Memory of his Victory over Harold and to endear himself to the Clergy founded an Abbey in the Field where the Battel was fought called Battel-Abbey And in the Charter of the Foundation in imitation of what former Kings had done in their Endowments this Clause was put It shall be also free and quiet for ever from all subjection to Bishops or the dominion of any other Persons This is an Act that does as immediately relate to the Authority of the Church as any one that we can imagine The Constitutions of Clarendon were asserted by both King and Parliament and by the whole Body of the Clergy as the Antient Customs of the Kingdom These relate to the Clergy and were submitted to by them all Becket himself not excepted though he quickly went off from it It is true the Papacy got generally the better of the Temporal Authority in a course of several Ages but at last the Popes living long at Avignon together with the great Schism that followed upon their return to Rome did very much sink in their Credit and that stopped the Progress they had made before that time which had probably subdued all if it had not been for those Accidents Then the Councils began to take heart and resolved to assert the Freedom of the Church from the Papal Tyranny Pragmatick Sanctions were made in several Nations to assert their Liberty That in France was made with great Solemnity In these the Bishops did not only assert their own Jurisdiction independent in a great measure of the Papacy but they likewise carried it so far as to make themselves Independent on the Civil Authority particularly in the point of Elections This disposed Princes generally to enter into Agreements with the Popes by which the matter was so transacted that the Popes and they made a division between them of all the Rights and Pretensions of the Church Princes yielded a great deal to the Popes to be protected by them in that which they got to be reserved to themselves Great Restraints were laid both on the Clergy and likewise on the See of Rome by the Appeals that were brought into the Secular Courts from the Ordinary Judgments of the Ecclesiastical Courts or from the Bulls or Powers that Legates brought with them A distinction was found that seemed to save the Ecclesiastical Authority at the same time that the Secular Court was made the Judg of it The Appeal did lye upon a pretence that the Ecclesiastical Judg had committed some Abuse in the way of proceeding or in his Sentence So the Appeal was from that Abuse and the Secular Court was to examine the matter according to the Rules and Laws of the Church and not according to the Principles or Rules of any other Law But upon that they did either confirm or reverse the Sentence And even those Princes that acknowledg the Papal Authority have found out distinctions to put such Stops to it as they please and so to make it an Engine to govern their People by as far as they think fit to give way to it and to damn such Bulls or void such Powers as they are afraid of Thus it is evident That both according to Scripture and the Practice of all Ages and Countries the Princes of Christendom have an Authority over their Subjects in matters Ecclesiastical The reason of things makes also for this for if any Rank of men are exempted from their Jurisdiction they must thereby cease to be Subjects And if any sort of Causes Spiritual ones in particular were put out of their Authority it were an easy thing to reduce almost every thing to such a relation to Spirituals that if this Principle were once received their Authority would be very precaâ—ious and feeble Nothing could give Princes stronger and juster Prejudices against the Christian Religion than if they saw that the effect of their receiving it must be the withdrawing so great a part of their Subjects from their Authority and the putting as many Checks upon it as those that had the Management of this Religion should think fit to restrain it by In a word all mankind must be under one Obedience and one Authority It remains that the Measures and the Extent of this Power be right stated It is certain First That this Power does not depend upon the Prince's Religion Whether he is a Christian or not or whether he is of â— true or false Religion or is a good or a bad man By the same Tenure that he holds his Sovereignty he holds this likewise Artaxerâ—â—◠〈◊〉 it as well as either
Messiah did come and was cut off during the continuance of Ierusalem and the Temple but that it hapned within a Period of Time designed in that Vision Time was then computed more certainly than it had been for many Ages before Two great Measures were fixed one at Babylon by Nabonassor and another in Greece in the Olympiads Here a Prediction is given almost Five hundred Years before the Accomplishment with many very nice Reckonings in it I will not now enter upon the Chronology of this matter on which some Great Men have bestowed their Labours very happily Archbishop Usher has stated this matter so that the Interval of Time is clearly Four hundred eighty six Years The Covenant was to be confirmed with many for one Week in the midst of which God was to cause the Sacrifice and Oblation for Sin to cease which seems to be a Mystical way of describing the Death of Christ that was to put an end to the Virtue of the Iudaical Sacrifices so Sixty nine Weeks and a half make just Four hundred eighty six Years and a half But without going further into this Calculation it is evident That during the Second Temple the Messias was to come and to be cut off and that soon after that a Prince was to send an Army to destroy both City and Sanctuary The Iews do not so much as pretend that during that Temple the Messias thus set forth did come or was cut off so either the Prediction fail'd in the Event or the Messiah did come within that Period And thus a Thread of the Prophecies of the Messias being carried down through the whole Old Testament it seems to be fully made out That he was to be of the Seed of Abraham and of the Posterity of David That the Tribe of Iudah was to be a distinct Policy till he should come That he should work many Miracles That he was to be Meek and Lowly That his Function was to consist in Preaching to the Afflicted and in comforting them That he was to call the Gentiles and even the remote Islands to the knowledge of God That he was to be born of a Virgin and at Bethlehem That he was to be a New Lawgiver as Moses had been That he was to settle his Followers upon a New Covenant different from that made by Moses That he was to come during the Second Temple That he was to make a mean but a joyful Entrance to Ierusalem That he was to be cut off That the Iniquities of us all were to be laid on him and that his Life was to be made an Offering for Sin but that God was to give him a glorious Reward for these his Sufferings and that his Doctrine was to be internal accompanied with a free Offer of Pardon and of Inward Assistances and that after his Death the Iews were to fall under a terrible Curse and an utter Extirpation When this is all summed up together when it appears That there was never any other Person to whom those Characters did agree but that they did all meet in our Saviour we see what Light the Old Testament has given us in this matter Here a Nation that hates us and our Religion who are scattered up and down the World who have been for many Ages without their Temple and without their Sacrifices without Priests and without their Genealogies who yet hold these Books amongthem in adue Veneration which furnish us with so full aproof that the Messiah whom they still look for is the Lord Jesus whom we worship We do now proceed to other matters The Iews pretend That it is a great Argument against the Authority of the New Testament because it acknowledges the Old to be from God and yet repeals the far greater part of the Laws Enacted in it though those Laws are often said to be Laws for ever and throughout all Generations Now they seem to argue with some advantage who say That what God does declare to be a Law that shall be perpetual by any one Prophet cannot be abrogated or reversed by another since that other can have no more Authority than the former Prophet had And if both are of God it seems the one cannot make void that which was formerly declared by the other in the Name of God But it is to be considered That by the Phrases of a Statute for ever or throughout all Generations can only be meant that such Laws were not transient Laws such as were only to be observed whilst they marched through the Wilderness or upon particular occasions whereas such Laws which were constantly and generally to be observed were to them perpetual But that does not Import that the Lawgiver himself had parted with all the Authority that naturally belongs to him over his own Laws It only says That the People had no power over such Laws to repeal or change them They were to bind them always but that puts no limitation on the Lawgiver himself so that he might not alter his own Constitutions Positive Precepts which have no real value in themselves are of their own nature alterable And as in human Laws the words of Enacting a Law for all future times do only make that to be a perpetual Law for the Subjects but do not at all limit the Legislative power which is as much at liberty to abrogate or alter it as if no such words had been in the Law There are also many hints in the Old Testament which shew that the Precepts of the Mosaical Law were to be altered Many plain Intimations are given of a time and state in which the knowledge of God was to be spread over all the Earth And that God was every where to be worshipped Now this was impossible to be done without a Change in their Law and Rituals It being impossible that all the World should go up thrice a Year to worship at Ierusalem or could be served by Priests of the Aaronical Family Circumcision was a distinction of one particular Race which needed not to be continued after all were brought under one denomination and within the same common Privileges These things hitherto mentioned belong naturally to this part of the Article yet in the intention of those who framed it these words relate to an extravagant sort of Enthusiasts that lived in those days who abusing some ill-understood Phrases concerning Justification by Christ without the works of the Law came to set up very wild Notions which were bad in themselves but much more pernicious in their Consequences They therefore fancied that a Christian was tied by no Law as a Rule or Yoke all these being taken away by Christ They said indeed That a Christian by his renovation became a Law to himself he obeyed not any written Rule or Law but a new inward Nature And thus as it is said that Sadocus mistook his Master Antigonus who taught his Disciples to serve God not for the hope of a Reward but without any expectations as if he by
it looks plausiable and is calculated to take in the greatest Numbers They therefore suppose that God in his Infinite Goodness will accept equally the Services that all his Creratures offer to him according to the best of their skill and strength In opposition to all which they are here condemned who think that every Man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth Where a great difference is to be observed between the words saved by the Law and saved in the Law the one is condemned but not the other To be saved by a Law or Sect signifies That by the virtue of that Law or Sect such Men who follow it may be saved Whereas to be saved in a Law or Sect imports only That God may extend his Compassions to Men that are engaged in false Religions The former is only condemned by this Article which affirms nothing concerning the other In sum if we have fully proved that the Christian Religion was delivered to the World in the Name of God and was attested by Miracles so that we believe it's Truth we must believe every part and tittle of it and by consequence those Passages which denounce the Wrath and Judgments of God against Impenitent Sinners and that promise Mercy and Salvation only upon the account of Christ and his Death Rom. 10.9 10. Mark 8.38 We must believe with our hearts and confess it with our mouths We must not be ashamed of Christ or of his words lest he should be ashamed of us when he comes in the glory of his Father with his holy Angels This I say being a part of the Gospel must be as true as the Gospel it self is and these Rules must bind all those to whom they are proposed whether they are enacted by Law or not For if we are assured that they are a part of the Law of the King of Kings we are bound to believe and obey them whether Human Laws do favour them or not it being an evident thing that no subordinate Authority can derogate from that which is superior to it So if the Laws of God are clearly revealed and certainly conveyed down to us we are bound by them and no Human Law can dissolve this Obligation If God has declared his Will to us it can never be supposed to be free to us to chuse whether we will obey it or not and serve him under that or under another Form of Religion at our pleasure and choice We are limited by what God has declared to us and we must not fancy our selves to be at liberty after he has revealed his Will to us As to such to whom the Christian Religion is revealed there no question can be made for it is certain they are under an indispensable Obligation to obey and follow that which is so graciously revealed to them They are bound to follow it according to what they are in their Consciences persuaded is its true sense and meaning And if for any Secular Interest they chuse to comply with that which they are convinced is an Important Error and is condemned in the Scripture they do plainly shew that they prefer Lands Houses and Life to the Authority of God in whose Will when revealed to them they are bound to acquiesce The only difficulty remaining is concerning those who never heard of this Religion Whether or How can they be saved St. Paul having divided the World into Iews and Gentiles called by him those who were in the Law and who were without Law he says Those who sinned without Law Rom. 2.12 14 15. that is out of the Mosaical Dispensation shall be judged without Law that is upon another foot For he adds when the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature things contained in the Law That is the Moral parts of it these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves that is their Consciences are to them instead of a Written Law which shew the work of the Law written in their hearts their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another This implies that there are either Seeds of Knowledg and Virtue laid in the Nature of Man or that such Notions pass among them as are carried down by Tradition The same S. Paul says How can they call on him in whom they have not believed And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 1â— 14 and how can they hear without a Preacher Which seems plainly to intimate that Men cannot be bound to believe and by consequence cannot be punished for not believing unless the Gospel is preached to them St. Peter said to Cornelius Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons Acâ—â— 1â— â—4 35. but in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him Those places seem to import that those who make the best use they can of that small measure of Light that is given them shall be judged according to it and that God will not require more of them than he has given them This also agrees so well with â—he Ideas which we have both of Justice and Goodness that this Opinion wants not special colours to make it look well But on the other hand the Pardon of Sin and the Favourof God are so positively limited to the believing in Christ Jesus and it is so expresly said That there is no salvation in any other Acts 4.12 and that there is none other name or Authority under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved that the distinction which can only be made in this matter is this That it is only on the Account and in the Consideration of the Death of Christ that Sin is pardoned and men are saved This is the only Sacrifice in the sight of God so that whosoever are received into mercy have it through Christ as the Channel and Conveyance of it But it is not so plainly said that no Man can be saved unless he has an explicit Knowledge of this together with a belief in it Few in the Old Dispensation could have that Infants and Innocents or Ideots have it not and yet it were a bold thing to say that they may not be saved by it So it does not appear to be clearly Revealed That none shall be saved by the Death of Christ unless they do explicitely both know it and believe in it Since it is certain That God may pardon Sin only upon that score without obliging all Men to believe in it especially when it is not Revealed to them And here another distinction is to be made which will clear this whole matter and all the difficulties that arise out of it A great difference is to be made between a Foederal certainty of Salvation secured by the Promises of God and of this New Covenant in Christ Jesus and the extent to which the Goodness and Mercy of God may go None are in
of the Church to whom the care and watching over the Souls of the People is committed and the Prince or Supreme Power comprehends virtually the whole Body of the People in him Since according to the Constitution of the Civil Government the Wills of the People are understood to be concluded by the Supreme and such as are the subject of the Legislative Authority When a Church is in a state of Persecution under those who have the Civil Authority over her then the People who receive the Faith and give both protection and encouragement to those that labour over them are to be considered as the Body that is Governed by them The natural effect of such a state of things is to satisfy the People in all that is done to carry along their consent with it and to consult much with them in it This does not only arise out of a necessary regard to their present circumstances but from the Rules given in the Gospel of not Ruling as the Kings of the several Nations did nor lording it or carrying it with a High Authority over God's Heritage which may be also rendred over their several lots or portions But when the Church is under the Protection of a Christian Magistrate then he comes to be in the stead of the whole People for they are concluded in and by him he gives the Protection and Encouragement and therefore great regard is due to him in the exercise of this Lawful Authority in which he has a great share as shall be explained in its proper place Here then we think this Authority is rightly lodged and set on its proper Basis. And in this we are confirmed because by the Decrees of the first General Councils the concerns of every Province were to be setled in the Province it self and it so continued till the Usurpations of the Papacy broke in every where and disordered this Constitution Through the whole Roman Communion the chief Jurisdiction is now in the Pope only Princes have laid checks upon the extent of it and by Appeals the Secular Court takes Cognizance of all that is done either by the Pope or the Clergy This we are sure is the effect of Usurpation and Tyranny Yet since this Authority is in fact so setled we do not pretend to Annul the Acts of that Power nor the Missions or Orders given in that Church because there is among them an Order in Fact though not as it ought to be in Right On the other hand when the Body of the Clergy comes to be so Corrupted that nothing can be trusted to the Regular decisions of any Synod or Meeting called according to their Constitution then if the Prince shall select a peculiar Number and commit to their care the Examining and Reforming both of Doctrine and Worship and shall give the Legal Sanction to what they shall offer to him we must confess that such a Method as this runs contrary to the established Rules and that therefore it ought to be very seldom put in practice and never except when the greatness of the occasion will balance this Irregularity that is in it But still here is an Authority both in Fact and Right for if the Magistrate has a Power to make Laws in Sacred Matters he may order those to be prepared by whom and as he pleases Finally if a Company of Christians find the publick Worship where they live to be so defiled that they cannot with a good Conscience join in it and if they do not know of any place to which they can conveniently go where they may Worship God purely and in a regular way if I say such a Body finding some that have been Ordained though to the lower Functions should submit it self intirely to their Conduct or finding none of those should by a common Consent desire some of their own Number to Minister to them in Holy things and should upon that beginning grow up to a Regulated Constitution though we are very sure that this is quite out of all Rule and could not be done without a very great Sin unless the necessity were great and apparent yet if the Necessity is real and not feigned this is not Condemned nor Annulled by the Article for when this grows to a Constitution and when it was begun by the Consent of a Body who are supposed to have an Authority in such an extraordinary case whatever some hotter Spirits have thought of this since that time yet we are very sure that not only those who Penned the Articles but the Body of this Church for above half an Age after did notwithstanding those Irregularities acknowledge the Foreign Churches so Constituted to be true Churches as to all the Essentials of a Church though they had been at first irregularly formed and continued still to be in an imperfect state And therefore the general words in which this part of the Article is framed seem to have been designed on purpose not to exclude them Here it is to be considered that the High Priest among the Iews was the chief Person in that Dispensation not only the chief in Rule but he that was by the Divine Appointment to Officiate in the chief act of their Religion the yearly Expiation for the Sins of the whole Nation which was a solemn renewing their Covenant with God and by which Atonement was made for the Sins of that People Here it may be very reasonably suggested that since none besides the High Priest might make this Atonement then no Atonement was made if any other besides the High Priest should so Officiate To this it is to be added that God had by an express Law fixed the High Priesthood in the Eldest of Aaron's Family and that therefore though that being a Theocracy any Prophet empowered of God might have transferred this Office from one Person or branch of that Family to another yet without such an Authority no other Person might make any such change But after all this not to mention the Maccabees and all their Successors of the Asmonean Family as Herod had begun to change the High Priesthood at pleasure so the Romans not only continued to do this but in a most mercenary manner they set this sacred Function to sale Here were as great Nullities in the High Priests that were in our Saviour's time as can be well imagined to be For the Iews keeping their Genealogies so exactly as they did it could not but be well known in whom the Right to this Office rested and they all knew that he who had it purchased it yet these were in Fact High Priests and since the People could have no other the Atonement was still performed by their Ministry Our Saviour owned Caiaphas the Sacrilegious and Usurping High Priest John 11.51.18.22 23. and as such he Prophesied This shews that where the necessity was real and unavoidable the Iews were bound to think that God did in consideration of that dispense with his own Precept This may be a just
which they were represented as governing the World with an Universal and Unbounded Authority This Book was a little disputed at first but was quickly submitted to and the Popes went on upon that Foundation still enlarging their Pretensions Soon after that was submitted to it quickly appeared that the Pretensions of that See were endless They went on to claim a Power over Princes and their Dominions and that first with relation to Spiritual matters They deposed them if they were either Hereticks themselves or if they favoured Heresy at least so far as not to extirpate it From deposing they went to the disposing of their Dominions to others And at last Boniface the Eighth compleated their Claim for he decreed That it was necessary to every man to be subject to the Pope's Authority And he asserted a direct Dominion over Princes as to their Temporals That they were all subject to him and held their Dominions under him and at his Courtesy As for the Jurisdiction that they claimed over the Spirituality they exercised it with that Rigor with such heavy Taxes and Impositions such Exemptions and Dispensations and such a Violation of all the Antient Canons that as it grew insupportably grievous so the management was grosly scandalous for every thing was openly set to Sale By these Practices they disposed the World to examine the Grounds of that Authority which was managed with so much Tyranny and Corruption It was so ill founded that it could not be defended but by Force and Artifices Thus it appears that there is no Authority at all in the Scripture for this Extent of Jurisdiction that the Popes assumed That it was not thought on in the first Ages That a vigorous Opposition was made to every step of the Progress that it made And that Forgery and Violence was used to bring the World under it So that there is no reason now to submit to it As for the Patriarchal Authority which that See had over a great part of the Roman Empire that was only a Regulation made conform to the Constitution of that Empire So that the Empire being now dissolved into many different Sovereignties the new Princes are under no sort of obligation to have any regard to the Roman Constitution Nor does a Nation 's receiving the Faith by the Ministry of Men sent from any See subject them to that See for then all must be subject to Ierusalem since the Gospel came to all the Churches from thence There was a Decision made in the Third General Council in the case of the Cypriotick Churches which pretended that they had been always compleat Churches within themselves and Independent therefore they stood upon this Privilege Not to be subject to Appeals to any Patriarchal See The Council judged in their favour So since the Britannick Churches were converted long before they had any Commerce with Rome they were originally Independent which could not be lost by any thing that was afterwards done among the Saxons by men sent over from Rome This is enough to prove the First Point That the Bishops of Rome have no Lawful Jurisdiction here among us The Second is That Kings or Queens have an Authority over their Subjects in Matters Ecclesiastical In the Old Testament the Kings of Israel intermeddled in all matters of Religion Samuel acknowledged Saul's Authority and Abimelech though the High-Priest when called before Saul 1 Sam. 15.30.22.14 appeared and answered to some things that were objected to him that related to the Worship of God Samuel said in express words to Saul That he was made the Head of all the Tribes and one of these was the Tribe of Levi. 15.17 David made many Laws about Sacred Matters such as the Orders of the Courses of the Priests and the time of their Attendance at the Publick Service When he died and was informing Solomon of the Extent of his Authority he told him that the Courses of the Priests and all the People were to be wholly at his Commandment Pursuant to which 1 Chron. 23.6.28.21 Solomon did appoint them their Charges in the Service of God and both the Priests and Levites departed not from his Commandment in any matter He turned out Abiathar from the High-Priests Office 2 Chron. 8.14 15. and yet no Complaint was made upon it as if he had assumed an Authority that did not belong to him It is true both David and Solomon were men that were particularly inspired as to some things but it does not appear that they acted in those matters by virtue of any such Inspiration They were Acts of Regal Power and they did them in that Capacity Iehoshaphat Hezekiah and Iosiah gave many Directions and Orders in Sacred Matters 2 Chron. 17.8 9. chap. 19.8 to the End Chap. 26.16 17 18 19. But though the Priest withstood Vzziah when he was going to offer Incense in the Holy Place yet they did not pretend Privilege or make opposition to those Orders that were issued out by their Kings Mordecai appointed the Feast of Purim by virtue of the Authority that King Ahasuerus gave him And both Ezra and Nehemiah by virtue of Commissions from the Kings of Persia made many Reformations and gave many Orders in Sacred Matters Under the New Testament Christ by saying Render to Caesar the things which are Caesars did plainly show that he did not intend that his Religion should in any sort lessen the Temporal Authority The Apostles writ to the Churches to obey Magistrates Rom. 13.6 to submit to them and to pay Taxes They enjoined Obedience whether to the King as supreme or to others that were sent by him Ver. 1. 1 â—et 2.13 Every Soul without exception is charged to be subject to the higher Powers The Magistrate is ordained of God and is his Minister to encourage them that do well and to punish the evil doers If these Passages of Scripture are to be interpreted according to the common consent of the Fathers Churchmen are included within them as well as other Persons There was not indeed great occasion to consider this matter before Constantine's coming to the Empire for till then the Emperors did not consider the Christians otherwise than either as Enemies ot at best as their Subjects at large And therefore though the Christians made an Address to Aurelian in the matter of Samosatenus and obtained a favourable and just Answer to it yet in Constantine's time the Protection that he gave to the Christian Religion led him and his Successors to make many Laws in Ecclesiastical matters concerning the Age the Qualifications and the Duties of the Clergy Many of these are to be found in Theodosius and Iustinian's Code Iustinian added many more in his Novels Appeals were made to the Emperors against the Injustice of Synods They received them and appointed such Bishops to hear and try those Causes as happened to be then about their Courts In the Council of Nice many Complaints were given to the Emperor by
Magistratibus REgia Majesâ—as in hoc Angliae regno ac caeteris ejus dominiis summam habet potestatem ad quam omnium statuum hujus regni sive illi Ecclesiastici sint sive civiles in omnibus causis suprema gubernatio pertinet nulli externae jurisdictioni est subjecta nec esse debet Cum Regiae Majestati summam gubernationem tribuimus quibus titulis intelligimus animos quorundam calumniatorum offendi non damus Regibus nostris aut verbi Dei aut Sacramentorum administrationem quod etiam Injunctiones ab Elizabetha Regina nostra nuper editae apertissime testantur Sed eam tantum praerogativam quam in sacris Scripturis a Deo ipso omnibus piis Principibus videmus semper fuisse attributam hoc est ut omnes status atque ordines fidei suae a Deo commissos sive illi Ecclesiastici sint sive civiles in officio contineant conâ—umaces ac delinquentes gladio civili coerceant Romanus pontifex nullam habet jurisdictionem in hoc regno Angliae Leges Regni possunt Christianos propter capitalia gravia crimina morte punire Christianis licet ex mandato Magisâ—ratus arma portare justa bella administrare De illicita bonorum communicatione FAcultates bona Christianorum non sunt communia quoad jus possessionem ut quidam Anabaptisâ—ae falso jactant debet tamen quisque de his quae possidet pro facultatum ratione pauperibus eleemosynas benigne distribuere De jure jurando QUemadmodum juramentum vanum temerarium a Domino nostro Jesu Christo Apostolo ejus Jacobo Christianis hominibus interdictum esse faâ—emur 〈◊〉 â—hrisâ—ianorum Religionem minime prohibere censemus quin jubente magistratu in causa fidei charitatis jurare liceat modo id fiat juxta Prophetae doctrinam in justitia in judicio veritate Confirmatio Articulorum HIC liber antedictorum Articulorum jam denuo approbatus est per assensum consensum Serenissimae Reginae Elizabethae Dominae nostrae Dei gratia Angliae â—raâ—ciae Hiberniae Reginae defensoris fidel c. retinendus per totum Regnum Angliae exequendus Qui Articuli lecti sunt denuo confirmati subscriptione D. Archiepiscopi Episcoporum superioris domus totius Cleri inferioris domus in Convocatione Anno Domini 1571. THE TABLE of the Contents INâ—roduction Page 1 Hâ—resies gave the Rise to larger Articles Ibid. A Form of Doctrine settled by the Apostles 2 Bâ—shops sent râ—und them a Declaration of their Faith Ibid. These were afterwards enlarged 3 This dâ—ne at the Council of Nice Ibid. Mâ—ny wild Sects at the beginning of the Reformation 4 And many complying-Papists put them on framing this Collection Ibid. The Articles set out at first by the King's Authority 5 A Question whether they are only Articles of Peace or of Dâ—ctrine 6 They bind the Consciences of the Clergy Ibid. The Laity only bound to Peace by them 7 The Subscription to them imports an Assent to them and not only an acquiescing in them 8 But the Articles may have different Senses and if the Words will bear them there is no Prevâ—rication in subscribing them so Ibid. This illustrated in the Third Article 9 The various Readings of the Articles collated with the MSS. Ibid. An Account of those various Readings 16 ARTICLE I. 17 THat there is a God proved by the Consent of Mankind Ibid. Oâ—j 1. Some Nations do not believe a Deity This is answered 18 Obj. 2. It is not the same Belief among them alâ— This is answered Ibid. The Visible World proves a Deity 19 Time nor Number cannot be Eternal nor Infinite Ibid. Moral Arguments to prove that the World had a Beginning 20 Such a Regular Frame could not be fortuitâ—us Ibid. Objection from the Production of Insects answered 21 Argument from Miracles well attested 22 Argument from the Idea of God examined Ibid. God is Eternal and necâ—ssarily exists 23 The Vnity of the Deity Ibid. God is without Body 24 Outward Manifâ—stations only to declare his Presence and Authority 25 No successive Acts in God 26 Question concerning God's immanent Acts Ibid. God has no Pâ—ssions 27 Phrases in Scripture of these explained Ibid. Some Thoughts concerning the Power and Wisdom of God 28 True Ideas of the Goodness of God Ibid. Of Creation and Annihilation 30 Of the Providence of God 31 Objections against it answered 32 Whether God does immediately produce all things 33 Thought and Liberty not proper to Matter 34 Whether Beasts think or are only Machines Ibid. How Bodies and Spirits are united 35 The Doctrine of the Trinity 36 Whether revealed in the Old Testament or not 37 The Doctrine stated Ibid. Argument from the Form of Baptism 38 Other Arguments for it 39 This was received in the First Ages of Christianity 40 Some Attempt to the stating true Ideas of God 41 ARTICLE II. 43 CHrist how the Son of God Ibid. Argument from the Beginning of St. John's Gospel 44 Reflections on the state of the World at that time 45 Arguments from the Epistle to the Philippians Ibid. Other Arguments complicated 46 Argument from Adoration due to him 47 The Silence of the Jews proves this was not then thought to be Idolatry by them 49 Argument from the Epistle to the Hebrews 50 God and Man in Christ made one Person 51 An Account of Nestorius's Doctrine 52 The Truth of Christ's Resurrection Ibid. Christ was to us an Expiatory Sacrifice 53 An Account of Expiatory Sacrifiâ—eâ— 54 The Agonies of Christ explained 55 ARTICLE III. 56 RUffin first published this in the Creed Ibid. Several Senses put on this Article 57 A Local Descent into Hell Ibid. What may be the true sense of the Article 58 ARTICLE IV. 59 THE Proof of Christ's Resurrection Ibid. The Jews in that Time did not disprove it 60 Several Proofs of the Incredibility of a Forgery in this matter 61 The Nature and Proof of a Miracle 62 What must be ascribed to good or evil Spirits 63 The Apostles could not be imposed on Ibid. Nor could they have imposed on the World 64 Of Christ's Ascension 65 Curiosity in these matters taxed Ibid. The Authority with which Christ is now vested 66 ARTICLE V. 68 THE senses of the word Holy Ghost Ibid. It stands oft for a Person 69 Curiosities to be avoided about Procession Ibid. The Holy Ghost is truly God 70 ARTICLE VI. 71 THE Controversy about Oral Tradition 72 That was soon corrupted Ibid. Guarded against by Revelation 73 Tradition corrupted among the Jews 74 The Scripture appealed to by Christ and the Apostles 75 What is well proved from Scripture 76 Objections from the darkness of Scripture answered 77 No sure guard against Error nor against Sin 78 The Proof of the Canon of the Scripture 79 Particularly of the New Testament 80 These Books were early received 81 The Canon of the Old Testament proved 82 Concerning the Pentateuch 83 Objections against the Old
Saviour's words Ibid. The discourse Joh. 6. explained 312 It can only be understood spiritually 313 Bold Figures much used in the East Ibid. A plain thing needs no great proof 314 Of unworthy Receivers and the effect of that sin 315 Of the effects of worthy receiving Ibid. Of Foederal Symbols 316 Of the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ Ibid. Of the like Phrases in Scripture 317 Of our Sense of the Phrase Real Presence Ib. Transubstantiation explained 318 Of the words of Consecration 319 Of the Consequences of Transubstantiation Ibid. The grounds upon which it was believed 320 This is contrary to the Testimony of all our Faculties both Sense and Reason Ibid. We can be sure of nothing if our Senses do deceive us 321 The Objection from believing Mysteries answered 322 The end of all Miracles considered Ibid. Our Doctrine of a Mystical Presence is confessed by those of the Church of Rome 323 St. Austin's Rule about Figures Ibid. Presumptions concerning the belief of the Ancients in this matter 324 They had not that Philosophy which this Doctrine has forced on the Church of Rome 325 This was not objected by Heathens 326 No Heresies or Disputes arose upon this as they did on all other Points 327 Many new Rituals unknown to them have sprung out of this Doctrine Ibid. In particular the adoring the Sacrament 328 Prayers in the Masses of the Saints inconsistent with it Ibid. They believed the Elements were Bread and Wine after Consecration Ibid. Many Authorities brought for this 329 Eutychians said Christ's Humanity was swallowed of his Divinity 330 The Fathers argue against this from the Doctrine of the Eucharist Ibid. The Force of that Argument explained 331 The Fathers say our Bodies are nourished by the Sacrament Ibid. They call it the Type Sign and Figure of the Body and Blood of Christ 332 The Prayer of Consecration calls it so 333 That compared with the Prayer in the Missal Ibid. The progress of the Doctrine of the Corporal Presence 334 Reflection on the Ages in which it grew 335 The occasion on which it was advanced in the Eastern Church 336 Paschase Radbert taught it first 337 But many wrote against him Ibid. Afterwards Berengarius opposed it 338 The Schoolmen descanted on it Ibid. Philosophy was corrupted to support it 339 Concerning Consubstantiation Ibid. It is an Opinion that may be born with 340 The Adoration of the Eucharist is Idolatry Ibid. The Plea against that considered Ibid. Christ is not to be worshipped though present 341 Concerning reserving the Sacrament Ibid. Concerning the Elevation of it 342 ARTICLE XXIX 343 THE wicked do not receive Christ Ibid. The Doctrine of the Fathers in this Point Ibid. More particularly St. Austin's 344 ARTICLE XXX 345 THE Chalice was given to all Ibid. Not to the Disciples as Priests Ibid. The breaking of Bread explained 346 Sacraments must be given according to the Institution Ibid. Nâ— Arguments from ill consequences to be admitted unless in cases of necessity 347 Concomitance a new Notion Ibid. Vniversal practice for giving the Chalice Ibid. The case of the Agrarii 348 The first beginning of taking away the Cup Ibid. The Decree of the Council of Constance 349 ARTICLE XXXI 350 THE term Sacrifice of a large signification Ibid. The Primitive Christians denied that they had any Sacrifices Ibid. The Eucharist has no virtue but as it is a Communion 351 Strictly speaking there is only one Priest and one Sacrifice in the Christian Religion 352 The Fathers did not think the Eucharist was a Propitiatory Sacrifice 353 But call it a Sacrafice in a larger sense Ibid. Mâ—sses without a Communion not known then 354 None might be at Mass who did not communicate Ibid. The Importance of the Controversies concerning the Eucharist 355 ARTICLE XXXII 356 NO Divine Law against a Married Clergy Ibid. Neither in the Old or New Testament but the contrary 357 The Church has not Power to make a perpetual Law against it Ibid. The ill consequences of such a Law 358 No such Law in the first Ages Ibid. When the Laws for the Celibate began 359 The practice of the Church not uniform in it Ibid. The progress of these Laws in England 360 The good and the bad of Celibate balanced Ibid. It is not lawful to make Vows in this matter 361 Nor do they bind when made Ibid. Oaths ill made are worse to be kept 362 ARTICLE XXXIII 363 A Temper to be observed in Church Discipline Ibid. The necessity of keeping it up Ibid. Extremes in this to be avoided 364 Concerning the delivering any to Satan Ibid. The Importance of an Anathemea 365 Of the effect of Church-Censures Ibid. What it is when they are wrong applied 366 The causless jealousy of Church-Power Ibid. How the Laity was once taken into the exercise of it 367 The Pastors of the Church have Authority Ibid. Defects in this no just cause of Separation 368 All these brought in by Popery Ibid. A Correction of them intended at the Reformation 369 ARTICLE XXXIV 370 THE Obligation to obey Canons and Laws Ibid. The great Sin of Schism and Disobedience 371 The true Notion of Scandal Ibid. The fear of giving Scandal no warrant to break established Laws 372 Human Laws are not unalterable Ibid. The Respect due to Ancient Canons 373 The Corruptions of the Canon Law Ibid. Great Varieties in Rituals Ibid. Every Church is a compleat Body 374 ARTICLE XXXV 375 THE occasion of compiling the Homilies Ibid. We are not bound to every thing in them Ibid. But only to the Doctrine 376 This illustrated in the Charge of Idolatry Ib. What is meant by their being necessary for those times Ibid. ARTICLE XXXVI 377 THE occasion of this Article Ibid. An Explanation of the words Receive ye the Holy Ghost 378 ARTICLE XXXVII 379 QVeen Elizabeth's Injunction concerning the Supremacy Ibid. The Popes Vniversal Iurisdiction not warranted by any of the Laws of Christ 380 Nor acknowledged in the first Ages 381 Begun on the occasion of the Arian Controversy Ibid. Contested in many places 382 The Progress that it made Ibid. The Patriarchal Authority founded on the division of the Roman Empire sunk with it 383 The Power exercised by the Kings of Judah in Religious Matters Ibid. That is founded on Scriptures 384 Practised in all Ages Ibid. And particularly in England 385 Methods used by Popish Princes to keep the Ecclesiastical Authority under the Civil Ibid. The Temporal Power is over all persons 386 And in all causes Ibid. The Importance of the Term Head 387 The Necâ—ssity of Capital Punishments Ibid. The measure of these 388 The Lawfulness of War Ibid. Our Saviour's words explained Ibid. In what cases War is juâ—t 389 Warranted by the Laws of God 390 How a Subject may serve in an unlawful War Ibid. ARTICLE XXXVIII 391 COncerning Property and Charity Ibid. The Proportion of Charity to the Poor 392 ARTICLE XXXIX 393 THE Lawfulness of Oaths proved Ibid. From Natural Religion and
particularities of this Confession of our Faith There were some steps made to it in K. Henry's Time in a large Book that was then published under the Title of The Necessary Gruâ—ition that was a Treatise set forth to instruct the Nation Many of thâ— Errors of Popery were laid open and condemned in it but none were obliged to assent to it or to Subscribe it After that the Worship was Reformed as being that which pressed most And in that a Foundation was laid for the Articles that came quickly after it How or by whom they were prepared we do not certainly know By the remains of that time it appears that in the alterations that were made there was great precaution used such as indeed matters of that Nature required Questions were framed relating to them these were given about to many Bishops and Divines who gave in theit several Answers those were collated and examined very carefully all sides had a free and fair hearing before Conclusions were made In the fermentation that was working over the whole Nation at that time it was not possible that a thing of that nature could have passed by the methods that are more necessary in Regular Times And therefore they could not be offered at first to Synods or Convocations The Corruptions complained of were so beneficial to the whole Body of the Clergy that it is justly to be wonder'd at that so great a number was prevailed with to concur in Reforming them But without a Miracle they could not have been agreed to by the Major part They were prepared as is most probable by Cranmer and Ridley and published by the Regal Authority Not as if our Kings had pretended to an Authority to judge in Points of Faith or to decide Controversies But as every private man must chuse for himself and believe according to the convictions of his Reason and Conscience which is to be examined and proved in its proper place so every Prince or Legislative Power must give the publick Sanction and Authority according to his own Persuasion this makes indeed such a Sanction to become a Law but does not alter the Nature of Things nor oblige the Consciences of the Subjects unless they come under the same Persuasions Such Laws have indeed the Operation of all other Laws but the Doctrines Authorised by them have no more truth than they had before without any such Publication Thus the part that our Princes had in the Reformation was only this that they being satisfied with the Grounds on which it went received it themselves and enacted it for their People And this is so plain and so just a consequence of that liberty which every man has of believing and acting according to his own Convictions that when the one is well made out there can be no colour to question the other It was also remarkable that the Law which stood first in Iustinian's Code was an Edict of Theodosius's who finding the Roman Empire under great distractions by the diversity of Opinions in Matter of Religion did appoint that Doctrine to be held which was received by Damasus Bishop of Rome and Peter Bishop of Alexandria such an Edict as that being put in so conspicuous a part of the Law was a full and soon-observ'd Precedent for our Princes to act according to it The next Thing to be examined is the Use of the Articles and the Importance of the Subscriptions of the Clergy to them Some have thought that they are only Articles of Union and Peace that they are a Standard of Doctrine not to be contradicted or disputed that the Sons of the Church are only bound to acquiesce silently in them and that the Subscription to them amounts only to a general Compromise upon those Articles that so there may be no disputing nor wrangling about them By this means they reckon that though a man should differ in his Opinion from that which appears to be the clear sense of any of the Articles yet he may with a good Conscience subscribe it if the Article appears to him to be of such a nature that though he thinks it wrong yet it seems not to be of that consequence but that it may be born with and not contradicted I shall not now examine whether it were more fit to leave men to the due freedom of their thoughts and that the Subscription did run no higher it being in many cases a great hardship to exclude some very deserving persons from the Service of the Church by requiring a Subscription to so many particulars concerning some of which they are not fully satisfied I am only now to consider what is the Importance of the Subscriptions required among us and not what might be reasonably wisht that it should be As to the Laity and the whole Body of the People certainly to them these are only the Articles of Church-Communion so that every person who does not think that there is some proposition in them that is Erroneous to so high a degree that he cannot hold Communion with such as profess it may and is obliged to continue in our Communion For certainly there are many Opinions held in Matters of Religion which a man may believe to be false and yet he may esteem them to be of so little Importance to the chief design of Religion that he may well hold Communion with those whom he thinks to be so mistaken Here a necessary distinction is to be remembred between Articles of Faith and Articles of Doctrine The one are held necessary to Salvation the other are only believed to be true that is to be revealed in the Scriptures which is a sufficient Ground for acknowledging them true Articles of Faith are Doctrines that are so necessary to Salvation that without believing them no man has a foederal Right to the Covenant of Grace These are not many and in the Establishment of any Doctrine for such it is necessary both to prove it clearly from Scripture and to prove its being necessary to Salvation as a mean setled by the Covenant of Grace in order to it We ought not indeed to hold Communion with such as make Doctrines that we believe not to be true to pass for Articles of Faith though we may hold Communion with such as do think them true without stamping so high an Authority upon them To give one Instance of this in an undeniable particular In the days of the Apostles there were Judaisers of two sorts some thought the Iewish Nation was still obliged to observe the Mosaical Law but others went further and thought that such an Observation was indispensably necessary in all men to Salvation Both these Opinions were wrong but the one was tolerable and the other was intolerable Because it pretended to make that a necessary condition of Salvation which God had not commanded The Apostles complied with the Judaisers of the first sort 1 Cor. 9.19 to 23. as they became all things to all men that so they might gain
Body The Third is concerning his Ascension and Continuance in Heaven And the Fourth is concerning his returning to judge all men at the Last Day These things are all so expresly affirmed and that in so particular a manner in the New Testament that if the Authority of that Book is once well proved little doubting will remain concerning them It is punctually told in it That the Body of Christ was laid in the Sepulchre That a Stone was laid to the Mouth of it That it was rolled away and upon that Christ arose and left the Death-Cloaths behind him That those who viewed the Sepulchre saw no Body there That in the same Body Christ shewed himself to his Disciples so that they all knew him he talked with them and they did eat and drink with him and he made Thomas feel to the Print of the Nails and Spear It is as plainly told That the Apostles look'd on and saw him ascend up to Heaven and that a Cloud received him out of their sight It is also said very plainly that he shall come again at the Last Day and judge all men both the Quick and the Dead So that if the Truth of the Gospels is once fully proved it will not be necessary to insist long upon the special Proof of these Particulars Somewhat will only be necessary to be said in Explanation of them The Gospel was first Preached and soon after put in Writing in which these Particulars are not only delivered but are set forth with many Circumstances relating to them The Credit of the Whole is put on that Issue concerning the Truth of Christ's Resurrection so thar the overthrowing the Truth of That was the overturning the whole Gospel and struck at the Credit of it all This was transacted as well as first published at Ierusalem where the Enemies of it had all possible Advantages in their hands their Interest was deeply concerned as well as their Malice was much kindled at it They had both Power and Wealth in their hands as well as Credit and Authority among the People The Romans left them at full liberty as they did the other Nations whom they conquered to order their own Concerns as they pleased And even the Romans themselves began quickly to hate and persecute the Christians They became the Objects of Popular Fury as Tacitus tells us The Romans look'd upon Christ as one that set on the Iews to those Tumults that were then so common among them as Suetonius affirms Which shews both how ignorant they were of the Doctrine of Christ and how much they were prejudiced against it Yet this Gospel did spread it self and was believed by great multitudes both at Ierusalem and in all Iudea and from thence it was propagated in a very few Years to a great many remoteCountries Among all Christians the Article of the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ was always look'd on as the Capital one upon which all the rest depended This was attested by a considerable number of men against whose Credit no Objection was made who affirmed that they all had seen him and conversed frequently with him after his Resurrection that they saw him ascend up into Heaven and that according to a Promise he had made them they had received extraordinary Powers from him to work Miracles in his Name and to speak in divers Languages This last was a most amazing Character of a Supernatural Power lodged with them and was a thing of such a nature that it must have been evident to every man whether it was true or false So that the Apostles relating this so positively and making such frequent Appeals to it that way of proceeding carries a strong and undeniable Evidence of Truth in it These Wonders were gathered together in a Book and published in the very Time in which they were transacted The Acts of the Apostles were writ two Years after St. Paul was carried Prisoner to Rome and St. Luke begins that Book with the mention of the Gospel that he had formerly writ as that Gospel begins with the mention of some other Gospels that were writ before it Almost all the Epistles speak of the Temple of Ierusalem as yet in being of the Iews as then in Peace and Prosperity hating and persecuting the Christians every where They do also frequently intimate the Assurance they had of a great Deliverance that was to happen quickly to the Christians and of terrible Judgments that were to be poured out on the Iews which was soon after that accomplish'd in the most signal manner of any thing that is recorded in History These things do clearly prove That all the Writings of the New Testament were both Composed and Published in the Age in which that Matter was transacted The Iews who from all the places of their Dispersion went frequently to Ierusalem to keep the great Festivities of their Religion there had occasion often to examine upon the place the Truth of the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and of the Effusion of the Holy Ghost Yet even in that Infancy of Christianity in which it had so little visible Strength no Proof was so much as ever pretended in opposition to those great and essential Points which being Matters of Fact and related with a great Variety of Circumstances had been easily confuted if there had been any ground for it The great Darkness at the time of Christ's Death the rending the Veil of the Temple in two as well as what was more publick the renting of the Rocks at his death His being laid in a new Sepulchre and a Watch being set about it and the Watchmen reporting That while they slept the Body of Christ was carried away The Apostles breaking out all of the sudden into that variety of Tongues on Pentecost the Miracles that they wrought and the proceedings of the Sanhedrim with them were all things so publickly done that as the discovery of Falshood in any one of these was in the power of the Iews if any such was so That alone had most effectually destroyed the Credit of this Religion and stopt its Progress The Writings of the New Testament were at that time no Secrets they were in all mens hands and were copied out freely by every one that desired it We find within an Hundred Years after that time both by the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna by Iustin and Irenaeus not to mention Clemens of Rome who lived in that time or Ignatius and Polycarp who lived very near it That the Authority of these Writings was early received and submitted to That they were much read and well known and that they began very soon to be read at the Meetings of the Christians for Worship and were esteemed by the several Churches as the great Trust and Depositum that was lodged with them So that though by the Negligence of Copiers some small Variations might happen among some of the Copies yet as they do all agree in the main and most signally in
that very credible For this we have only the Testimony of the Apostles who did all attest that they saw it being all together in an open Field When Christ was Walking and Discoursing with them and when he was Blessing them he was parted from them They saw him Ascend till a Cloud received him and took him out of their sight And then Two Angels appeared to them and assured them Acts 1. â—1 That he should come again in like manner as they had seen him Ascend Here is a very particular Relation with many Circumstances in it in which it was not possible for the Apostles to be mistaken So that there being no reason to suspect their Credit this rests upon that Authority But Ten days after it received a much clearer Proof When the Holy Ghost was poured out on them in so visible a manner and with most remarkable effects Immediately upon it they spoke with divers Tongues and wrought many Miracles and all in the Name of Christ. They did often and solemnly disclaim their doing any of those wonderful things by any power of their own They owned that all that they had or did was derived to them from Iesus of Nazareth Acts 3.12 16. of whose Resurrection and Ascension they were appointed to be the Witnesses Christ's coming again to judge the World at the last day is so often affirmed by himself in the Gospel and is so frequently mentioned in the Writings of his Apostles that this is a main part of his Doctrine So that his Resurrection Ascension together with the Effusion of the Holy Ghost having in general proved his Mission and his whole Doctrine this is also proved by them Enough seems to be said in Proof of all the parts of this Article it remains only that somewhat should be added in Explanation of them As to the Resurrection it is to little purpose to Enquire whether our Saviour's Body was kept all the while in a compleat Organisation that so by this Miracle it might be preserved in a Natural State for his Soul to re-enter it Or whether by the Course of Nature the vast Number of the inward Conveyances that are in the Body were stopt and if all of a sudden when the time of the Resurrection came all was again put in a vital State fit to be animated by his Soul There must have been a Miracle either way So it is to little purpose to enquire into it The former though a continued Miracle yet seemes to agree more fully to these words Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption It is to as little purpose to enquire how our Saviour's new Body was supplied with Blood Since he had lost the greatest part of it on the Cross. Whether that was again by the power of God brought back into his Veins or whether as he himself had formerly said That Man lives not by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God Blood was supplied by Miracle Or whether his Body that was then of the Nature of a Glorified Body though yet on Earth needed the supplies of Blood to furnish new Spirits for serving the natural Functions He Eating and Drinking so seldom that we may well believe it was done rather to satisfy his Apostles than to answer the Necessities of Nature These are Curiosities that signify so little if we could certainly resolve them that it is to no purpose to enquire about them since we cannot know what to determine in them This in general is certain that the same Soul returned back to the same Body so that the same Man who died rose again and that is our Faith We need not trouble our selves with enquiring how to make out the Three Days of Christ's being in the Grave Days stand in the common acceptation for a Portion of a Day We know the Iews were very exact to the Rest on the Sabbath so the Body was without question laid in the Grave before the Sun-set on Friday so that was the First day the Sabbath was a compleat one and a good part of the Third day that is the Night with which the Iews began to count the day was over before he was raised up As for his stay on Earth forty days we cannot pretend to give an account of it whether his Body was passing through a slow and Physical Purification to be meet for Ascending or whether he intended to keep a proportion between his Gospel and the Law of Moses that as he suffered at the time of their killing the Passover so the Effusion of the Holy Ghost was fixed for Pentecost and that therefore he â—ould stay on Earth till that time was near not to put his Apostles upon too long an expectation without his Presence which might be necessary to animate them till they should be endued with Power from on high As to the manner of his Ascension it is also questioned whether the Body of Christ as it ascâ—nded was so wonderfully changed as to put on the Subtility and Purity of an Ethereal Body or whether it 〈…〉 same Form in Heaven that it had on Earth or iâ— it puâ— on a new one It is more probable that it did and that the wonderful Glory that appeared in his Countenance and whole Person at his Trâ—â—sâ—â—gurâ—tion was a manifestation of that more permanent Glory to which it was to be afterwards exalted It seems probable from what St. Paul says 1 Coâ— 15.50 That flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God which relates to our glorified Bodies when we shall bear the Image of the second and the heavenly Adam that Christ's Body has no more the modifications of Flesh and Blood in it and that the Glory of the Celestial Body is of another Nature and Texture than that of the Terrestrial It is easily imagined how this may be and yet the Body to be numerically the same Ver. 40. For all Matter being uniform and capable of all sort of Motion and by consequence of being either much grosser or much purer the same Portion of Matter that made a thick and Heavy Body here on Earth may be put into that Purity and Fineness as to be no longer a fit Inhabitant of this Earth or to breath this Air but to be meet to be transplanted into Ethereal Regions Christ as he went up into Heaven so he had the whole Government of this World put into his hands and the whole Ministry of Angels put under his Command even in his Human Nature So that all things are now in subjection to him All Power and Authority is derived from him 1 Cor. 15.27 28. and he does whatsoever he pleases both in Heaven and Earth In him all fulness dwells And as the Mosaical Tabernacle being filled with Glory the Emanations of it did by the Urim and Thummim enlighten and direct that People so out of that Fulness that dwelt Bodily in Christ there is a constant Emanation of his
who do not acknowledge the New Testament The Ceremonial Parts of the Mosaical Law which comprehends all both the Negative and the Positive Precepts were enjoined the Iews either with relation to the Worship of God and Service at the Temple or to their Persons and course of Life That which is not Moral of its own nature or that had no relation to Civil Society was commanded them to separate them not only from the Idolatrous and Magical Practices of other Nations but to distinguish them so entirely as to all their Customs even in the Rules of Eating and of Cleanness that they might have no familiar Commerce with other Nations but live within and among themselves since that was very likely to corrupt them of which they had very large experience Some of those Rituals were perhaps given them as Punishments for their frequent Revolts and were as a Yoke upon them who were so prone to Idolatry They were as Rudiments and Remembrances to them They were as it were subdued by a great variety of Precepts which were matter both of much Charge and great Trouble to them By these they were also amused for it seems they did naturally love a Pompous Exterior in Religion They were also by all that Train of Performances which were laid on them kept in mind both of the great Blessings of God to them and of the Obligations that lay on them towards God and many of those particularly their Sacrifices and Washings were Typical All this was proper and necessary to restrain and govern them while they were the only People of the World that renounced Idolatry and worshipped the true God And therefore so soon as that of which they had anEmblem in the Structure of theirTemple of a Court of the Gentiles separated with a middle Wall of Partition from the place in which the Israelites worshipped was to be removed and that the House of God was to become a House of Prayer to all Nations then all those distinctions were to be laid aside and all that Service was to determine and come to an end The Apostles did declare that the Gentiles were not to be brought under that heavy Yoke which their Fathers were not able to bear yet the Apostles themselves as born Iews and while they lived among the Iews did continue in the Observance of their Rites as long as God seemed to be waiting for the Remnant of that Nation that was to be saved before his Wrath came upon the rest to the uttermost They went to the Temple they purified themselves and in a word to the Iews they became Iews and in this compliance the first Converts of the Iewish Nation continued till the destruction of Ierusalem after which it became impossible to observe the greatest part of their most important Rituals even all those that were tied to the Temple But that Nation losing its Genealogies and all the other Characters that they formerly had of a Nation under the Favour and Protection of God could no more know after a few Ages whether they were the Seed of Abraham or not or whether there were any left among them of the Tribe of Levi or of the Family of Aaron So that now all those Ceremonies are at an end many of them are become impossible and the rest useless as the whole was abrogated by the Authority of the Apostles who being sent of God and proving their Mission by Miracles as well as Moses had done his they might well have loosed and dissolved those Precepts upon Earth upon which according to our Saviour's words they are to be esteemed as loosed in Heaven The Judiciary Parts of the Law were those that related to them as they were a Society of Men to whom God by a special Command gave Authority to drive out and destroy a wicked Race of People and to possess their Land which God appointed to be divided equally among them and that every Portion should be as a Perpetuity to a Family so that though it might be mortaged out for a number of Years yet it was afterwards to revert to the Family Upon this bottom they were at first set and they were still to be preserved upon it so that many Laws were given them as they were a Civil Society which cannot belong to any other Society And therefore their whole Judiciary Law except where any parts of it are founded on Moral Equity was a complicated thing and can belong to no other Nation that is not in its first and essential Constitution made and framed as they were For instance The Prohibition of taking Use for Money being a Mean to preserve that Equality which was among them and to keep any of them from becoming excessively rich or others from becoming miserably poor this is by no means to be applied to other Constitutions where men are left to their Industry and neither have their Inheritance by a Grant from Heaven nor are put by any special Appointment of God all upon a level So that it is certain and can bear no debate That the Mosaical Dispensation as to all the parts of it that are not of their own nature Moral is determined and abrogated by the Gospel The Descisions which the Apostles made in this matter are so clear and for the Proof of them the whole Tenor of the Epistles to the Galatians and the Hebrews is so full that no doubt can rest concerning this with any man who reads them The last Branch of the Article that remains to be considered is concerning the Moral Law by which the Ten Commandments are meant together with all such Precepts as do belong to them or are Corollaries arising out of them By Moral Law is to be understood in opposition to Positive a Law which has an antecedent Foundation in the nature of things that arises from Eternal Reason is suitable to the Frame and Powers of our Souls and is necessary for maintaining Human Society All such Laws are commanded because they are in themselves good and suitable to the staâ—e in which God has put us here The two Sources out of which all the Notions of Morality flow are first the considerations of our selves as we are single Individuals and that with relation both to Soul and Body and next the consideration of Human Society what is necessary for the Peace and Order the Safety and Happiness of Mankind There are two Orders of Moral Precepts some relate to things that of their own nature are inflexibly good or evil such as Truth and Falshood whereas other things by a variety of Circumstances may so change their nature that they may be either morally good or evil A merciful or generous Temper is always a good Moral Quality and yet it may run to excesses There may be many things that are not unalterably Moral in themselves which yet may be fit Subjects of perpetual Laws about them For instance in the Degrees of Kindred with relation to Marriage there are no degrees but direct Ascendents
otherwise too indiscreet a Rigor might have pulled down that which ought to have been built up If in a broken state of things a common Consent ought to be much endeavoured and staid for this is much more necessary in a regular and settled time with relation to the Civil Authority under whom the whole Society is put according to its Constitution But it can never be supposed that the Authority of the Pastors of the Church is no other than that of a Lawyer or a Physician to their Clients who are still at their liberty and are in no sort bound to follow their directions In particular Advices with relation to their private Concerns where no general Rules are agreed on an Authority is not pretended to and these may be compared to all other Advices only with this difference That the Pastors of the Church watch over the Souls of their people and must give an account of them But when things are grown into Method and general Rules are settled there the consideration of Edification and Unity and of maintaining Peace and Order are such sacred Obligations on every one that has a true regard to Religion that such as despise all this may be well look'd on as Heathens and Publicans and they are so much worse than they as a secret and well-disguised Traytor is much more dangerous than an open professed Enemy And though these Words of our Saviour of telling the Church may perhaps not be so strictly applicable to this matter in their primary sense Matt. 18.17 as our Saviour first spoke them yet the Nature of things and the Parity of Reason may well lead us to conclude That though those Words did immediately relate to the composing of private differences and of delating intractable persons to the Synagogues yet they may be well extended to all those publick Offences which are injuries to the whole Body and may be now applied to the Christian Church and to the Pastors and Guides of it though they related to the Synagogue when they were first spoken It is therefore highly congruous both to the whole Design of the Christian Religion and to many Passages in the New Testament that there should be Rules set for censuring Offenders that so they may be reclaimed or at least ashamed and that others may fear And as the final Sentence of every Authority whatsoever must be the cutting off from the Body all such as continue in a wilful disobedience to the Laws of the Society so if any who call themselves Christians will live so as to be a Reproach to that which they profess they must be cut off and cast out for if there is any sort of Power in the Church it must terminate in this This is the last and highest act of their Authority it is like Death or Banishment by the Civil Power which are not proceeded to but upon great occasions in which milder Censures will not prevail and where the general good of the Society requires it So casting out being the last Act of Church-Power like a Parent 's disinheriting a Child it ought to be proceeded in with that slowness and upon such considerations as may well justify the Rigor of it A wilful Contempt of Order and Authority carries virtually in it every other Irregularity because it dissolves the Union of the Body and destroys that Respect by which all the other ends of Religion are to be artained and when this is deliberate and fixed there is no other way of proceeding but by cutting off those who are so refractory and who set such an ill Example to others If the Execution of this should happen to fall under great Disorders so that many scandalous Persons are not censured and a promiscuous multitude is suffered to break in upon the most Sacred Performances this cannot justify private Persons who upon that do withdraw from the Communion of the Church For after all that has been said the Divine Peecept is to every man to try and examine himself and not to try and censure others All Order and Government are destroyed if private Persons take upon them to judg and censure others or to separate from any Body because there are Abuses in the use of this Authority Private Confession in the Church of Rome had quite destroyed the Government of the Church and superseded all the Antient Penitentiary Canons and the Tyranny of the Church of Rome had set many Ingenious Men on many subtle Contrivances either to evade the Force of those Canons to which some regard was still preserved or to maintain the Order of the Church in opposition to the Appeals that were made to Rome And while some pretended to subject all things to the Papal Authority others studied to keep up the Antient Rules The Encroachments that the Temporal and Spiritual Courts ware making upon one another occasioned many Disputes which being managed by such subtle men as the Civilians and Canonists were all this brought in a great variety of Cases and Rules into the Courts of the Church So that instead of the first Simplicity which was evident in the Constitution of the Church not only for the first Three Centuries but for a great many more that came afterwards there grew to be so much Practice and so many Subterfuges in the Rules and manner of proceeding of those Courts that the Church has long groaned under it and has wished to see that effected which was designed in the beginnings of the Reformation The Draught of a Reformation of those Courts is still extant that so instead of the Intricacies Delays and other Disorders that have arisen from the Canon Law we might have another short and plain Body of Rules which might be managed as antiently by Bishops with the Assistance of their Clergy But though this is not yet done and that by reason of it the Tares grow up with the Wheat we ought to let them grow together till the great Harvest comes or at least till a proper Harvest may be given the Church by the Providence of God in which the good may be distinguished and separated from the bad without endangering the Ruin of all which must certainly be the effect of Peoples falling indiscreetly to this before the time ARTICLE XXXIV Of the Traditions of the Church It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one or utterly like for at all times they have been diverse and may be changed according to the diversity of Countries and mens manners so that nothing be ordained against God's Word Whosoever through his private Iudgment willingly and purposely doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church which be not repugnant to the Word of God and be ordained and approved by common Authority ought to be rebuked openly that others may fear to do the like as one that offendeth against the common Order of the Church and hurteth the Authority of the Magistrate and woundeth the Consciences of weak Brethren Every
says Receive the Holy Ghost And in this sense and with this respect the use of these Words may be well justified ARTICLE XXXVII Of Civil Magistrates The Queen's Majesty hath the chief Power in this Realm of England and other her Dominions unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in all Causes doth appertain and is not nor ought to be subject to any Foreign Iurisdiction Where we attribute to the Queen's Majesty the chief Government by which Titles we understand the minds of some slanderous Folks to be offended we give not to our Princes the ministring either of God's Word or of the Sacraments the which thing the Injunctions also lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testify but that only Prerogative which we see to have 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 restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil-doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Iurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian Men with Death for heinous and grievous Offences It is lawful for Christian Men at the Commandment of the Magistrate to wear Weapons and serve in the Wars THIS Article was much shorter as it was published in King Edward's time and did run thus The King of England is Supreme Head in Earth next under Christ of the Church of England and Ireland Then followed the Paragraph against the Pope's Jurisdiction worded as it is now To which these Words were subjoined The Civil Magistrate is ordained and allowed of God wherefore we must obey him not only for fear of Punishment but also for Conscience sake In Queen Elizabeth's time it was thought fitting to take away those Prejudices that the Papists were generally infusing into the minds of the People against the term Head which seemed to be the more incongruous because a Woman did then reign therefore that was left out and instead of it the words chief Power and chief Government were made use of which do signify the same thing The Queen did also by her Injunctions offer an Explanation of this matter for whereas it was given out by those who had complied with every thing that had been done both in her Father and in her Brother's time but that resolved now to set themselves in opposition to her That she was assuming a much greater Authority than they had pretended to She upon that ordered that Explanation which is referred to in the Article and is in these words For certainly Her Majesty neither doth nor ever will challenge any Authority other than that was challenged and lately used by the said Noble Kings of famous Memory King Henry the Eighth and King Edward the Sixth which is and was of antient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that is under God to have the Sovereignty and Rule over ail manner of Persons born within these her Realms Dominions and Countries of what Estate either Ecclesiastical or Temporal soever they be so as no other Foreign Power shall or ought to have any Superiority over them And if any Person that hath conceived any other sense of the said Oath shall accept the same Oath with this Interpretation Sense or Meaning Her Majesty is well pleased to accept every such in that behalf as her good and obedient Subjâ—cts and shall acquit them of all manner of Penalties contained in the said Act against such as shall peremptorily and obstinately refuse to take the same Oath Thus this matter is opened as it is both in the Article and in the Injunctions In order to the treating regularly of this Article it is First To be proved That the Pope hath no Jurisdiction in these Kingdoms 2 dly That our Kings or Queens have it And 3 dly The Nature and Measures of this Power and Government are to be stated As for the Pope's Authority though it is now connected with the Infallibility yet it was pretended to and was advanced for many Ages before Infallibility was so much as thought on Nor was the Doctrine of their Infallibility ever so universally received and submitted to in these Western Parts as was that of their Universal Jurisdiction They were in possession of it Appeals were made to them They sent Legates and Bulls every where They granted Exemptions from the ordinary Jurisdiction and took Bishops bound to them by Oaths that were penned in the Form of Oaths of Fealty or Homage This was the first Point that our Reformers did begin with both here and every where else that so they might remove that which was an insuperable Obstruction till it was first taken out of the way to every step that could be made toward a Reformation They laid down therefore this for their Foundation That all Bishops were by their Office and Character equal and that every one of them had the same Authority that any other had over that Flock which was committed to his Care And therefore they said that the Bishops of Rome had no Authority according to the Constitution in which the Churches were settled by the Apostles but over the City of Rome And that any further Jurisdiction that any Antient Popes might have had did arise from the Dignity of the City and the Customs and Laws of the Empire As for their deriving that Authority from St. Peter it is very plain that the Apostles were all made equal to him and that they never understood our Saviour's Words to him as importing any Authority that was given to him over the rest since they continued to the last while our Saviour was among them disputing which of them should be the greatest The Proposition that the Mother of Iames and Iohn made Mat. 20.21 ver 24. ver 26. in which it was evident that they likewise concurred with her shews that they did not apprehend that Christ had made any Declaration in favour of St. Peter as by our Saviour's Answer it appears that he had not done otherwise he would have referred them to what he had already said upon that occasion By the whole History of the Acts of the Apostles it appears that the Apostles acted and consulted in common without considering St. Peter as having any Superiority over them He was called to give an account of his Baptizing Cornelius and he delivered his Opinion in the Council of Ierusalem without any strain of Authority over the rest Acts 11.2 3. Acts 15.7 ver 14 19. Gal. 2 7 8. ver 11. St. Paul does expresly deny that the other Apostles had any Superiority or Jurisdiction over him and he says in plain words that he was the Apostle of the Vncircumcision as St. Peter was the Apostle of the Circumcision and in that does rather claim an advantage over him since his was certainly the much wider Province He
withstood St. Peter to his Face when he thought that he deserved to be blamed and he speaks of his own line and share as being subordinate in it to none And by his saying that he did not stretch himself beyond his own Measure 2 Cor. 10.14 he plainly insinuates that within his own Province he was only accountable to him that had called and sent him This was also the Sense of the Primitive Church That all Bishops were Brethren Collegues and Fellow-Bishops And though the Dignity of that City which was the Head of the Empire and the Opinion of that Church's being founded by St. Peter and St. Paul created a great Respect to the Bishops of that See which was supported and encreased by the eminent Worth as well as the frequent Martyrdoms of their Bishops yet St. Cyprian in his time as he was against the suffering of any Causes to be carried in the way of a Complaint for Redress to Rome so he does in plain words say That all the Apostles were equal in Power De Unit Eccles. and that all Bishops were also equal since the whole Office and Episcopate was one entire thing of which every Bishop had a compleat and equal share It is true he speaks of the Vnity of the Roman Chureh and of the Union of other Churches with it but those words were occasioned by a Schism that Novatian had made then at Rome he being elected in opposition to the Rightful Bishop So that St. Cyprian does not insinuate any thing concerning an Authority of the See of Rome over other Sees but speaks only of their Union under one Bishop and of the other Churches holding a Brotherly Communion with that Bishop Through his whole Epistles he treats the Bishops of Rome as his Equals with the Titles of Brother and Collegue In the first General Council the Authority of the Bishops of the great Sees is stated as equal Conc. Nic. Can. 6. The Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch are declared to have according to Custom the same Authority over the Churches subordinate to them that the Bishops of Rome had over those that lay about that City This Authority is pretended to be derived only from Custom and is considered as under the Limitations and Decisions of a General Council Soon after that the Arian Heresy was so spread over the East that those who adhered to the Nicene Faith were not safe in their numbers Ep. 10. ad Greg. and the Western Churches being free from that Contagion though St. Basil laments that they neither understood their matters nor were much concerned about them but were swelled up with Pride Athanasius and other oppressed Bishops fled to the Bishops of Rome as well as to the other Bishops of the West it being natural for the oppressed to seek Protection wheresoever they can find it And so a sort of Appeals was begun and they were authorized by the Council of Sardica But the ill effects of this Con. Sard. Can. 3 7 Con. Constant Can. 3. if it should become a Precedent were apprehended by the Second General Council in which it was decreed That every Province should be governed by its own Synod and that all Bishops should be at first judged by the Bishops of their own Province and from them an Appeal was allowed to the Bishops of the Diocess whereas by the Canons of Nice no Appeal lay from the Bishops of the Province But though this Canon of Constantinople allows of an Appeal to the Bishops of every such Division of the Roman Empire as was known by the name of Diocess yet there is an express Prohibition of any other or further Appeal which is a plain repealing of the Canon at Sardica And in that same Council it appears upon what the Dignity of the See of Rome was then believed to be founded For Constantinople being made the Seat of the Empire and called New Rome the Bishops of that See had the same Privileges given them that the Bishops of Old Rome had except only the Point of Rank which was preserved to Old Rome because of the Dignity of the City This was also confirmed at Chalcedon in the middle of the Fifth Century Con. Chalced Can. 28. This shews that the Authority and Privileges of the Bishops of Rome were then considered as arising out of the Dignity of that City and that the Order of them was subject to the Authority of a General Council Conc. Afric cap. 101. 1â—5 Epâ—st ad Bonifac. Celâ—st The African Churches in that time knew nothing of any Superiority that the Bishops of Rome had over them They condemned the making of Appeals to them and appointed that such as made them should be excommunicated The Popes who laid that matter much to heart did not pretend to an Universal Jurisdiction as St. Peter's Successors by a Divine Right they only pleaded a Canon of the Council of Nice but the Africans had heard of no such Canon and so they justified their Independence on the See of Rome Great Search was made after this Canon and it was found to be an Imposture So early did the See of Rome aspire to this Universal Authority and did not stick at Forgery in order to the compassing of it In the Sixth Century when the Emperor Mauritius continued a Practice begun by some former Emperors to give the Bishop of Constantinople the Title of Universal Bishop Greg. Ep. Lib. 4. Ep. 32 34 36 38 39. Lib. 6. Ep. 24 28 30 31. Lib. 7. Ep. 70. Pelage and after him Gregory the Great broke out into the most Pathetical Expressions that could be invented against it he compared it to the Pride of Lucifer and said That he who assumed it was the forerunner of Antichrist and as he renounced all Claim to it so he affirmed that none of his Predecessors had ever aspired to such a Power This is the more remarkable because the Saxons being converted to the Christian Religion under this Pope's direction we have reason to believe that this Doctrine was infused into this Church at the first Conversion of the Saxons yet Pope Gregory's Successor made no exceptions to the giving himself that Title against which his Predecessor had declaimed so much But then the Confusions of Italy gave the Popes great Advantages to make all new Invaders and Pretenders enlarge their Privileges since it was a great accession of Strength to any party to have them of their side The Kings of the Lombards began to lye heavy on them but they called in the Kings of a new conquering Family from France who were ready enough to make new Conquests and when the Nomination of the Popes was given to the Kings of that Race it was natural for them to raise the Greatness of one who was to be their Creature so they promoted their Authority which was not a little confirmed by an Impudent Forgery at that time oâ— the Decretal Epistles of the first Popes in
David or Solomon when the Iews were once lawfu◠〈◊〉 â—ubjects and the Christians owed the same Duty to the Emperors 〈◊〉 â—eathen that they paid them when Christian. The Relations of Nature such as that of a Parent and Child Husband and Wife continue the same that they were whatsoever mens Persuasions in matters of Religion may be So do also Civil Relations Master and Servant Prince and Subject they are neither increased nor diminished by the Truth of their Sentiments concerning Religion All Persons are subject to the Prince's Authority and liable to such Punishments as their Crimes fall under by Law Every Soul is subject to the higher Powers Neither is Treason less Treason because spoke in a Pulpit or in a Sermon It may be more Treason for that than otherwise it would be because it is so publick and deliberate and is delivered in the way in which it may probably have the worst effect So that as to persons no great difficulty can lye in this since every Soul is declared to be subject to the higher powers As to Ecclesiastical Causes it is certain That as the Magistrate cannot make void the Laws of Nature such as the Authority of Parents over their Children or of Husbands over their Wives so neither can he make void the Law of God That is from a Superior Authority and cannot be dissolved by him Where a thing is positively commanded or forbid by God the Magistrate has no other Authority but that of executing the Laws of God of adding his Sanctions to them and of using his utmost Industry to procure Obedience to them He cannot alter any part of the Doctrine and make it to be either truer or falser than it is in it self nor can he either take away or alter the Sacraments or break any of those Rules that are given in the New Testament about them because in all these the Authority of God is express and is certainly superior to his The only question that can be made is concerning Indifferent things For instance in the Canons or other Rules of the Church How far they are in the Magistrate's Power and in what Cases the Body of Christians and of the Pastors of the Church may maintain their Union among themselves and act in opposition to his Laws It seems very clear that in all matters that are indifferent and are determined by no Law of God the Magistrates Authority must take place and is to be obeyed The Church has no Authority that she can maintain in opposition to the Magistrate but in the executing the Laws of God and the Rules of the Gospel In all other things as she acts under his Protection so it is by his Permission But here a great distinction is to be made between two Cases that may happen The one is When the Magistrate acts like one that intends to preserve Religion but commits Errors and Acts of Injustice in his Management The other is When he acts like one that intends to destroy Religion and to divide and distract those that profess it In the former case every thing that is not sinful of it self is to be done in compliance with his Authority not to give him Umbrage nor provoke him to withdraw his Protection and to become instead of a Nursing Father a Persecutor of the Church But on the other hand when he declares or it is visible that his design is to destroy the Faith less regard is to be had to his Actions The People may adhere to their Pastors and to every Method that may fortify them in their Religion even in opposition to his Invasion Upon the whole matter the Power of the King in Ecclesiastical Matters among us is expressed in this Article under those Reserves and with that Moderation that no just Scruple can lye against it and it is that which all the Kings even of the Roman Communion do assume and in some Places with a much more unlimited Authority The Methods of managing it may differ a little yet the Power is the same and is built upon the same Foundations And though the Term Head is left out by the Article yet even that is founded on an Expression of Samuel's to Saul as was formerly cited It is a Figure and all Figures may be used either more loosely or more strictly In the strictest sense as the Head communicates Vital Influences to the whole Body Christ is the only Head of his Church he only ought to be in all things obeyed submitted to and depended on and from him all the Functions and Offices of the Church derive their Usefulness and Virtue But as Head may in a Figure stand for the Fountain of Order and Government of Protection and Conduct the King or Queen may well be called The Head of the Church The next Paragraph in this Article is concerning the Lawfulness of Capital Punishments in Christian Societies It has an appearance of Compassion and Charity to think that men ought not to be put to death for their Crimes but to be kept alive that they may repent of them Some both Antients and Moderns have thought that there was a Cruelty in all Capital Punishments that was inconsistent with the Gentleness of the Gospel But when we consider that God in that Law which he himself delivered to the Iews by the hand of Moses did appoint so many Capital Punishments even for Offences against Positive Precepts we cannot think that these are contrary to Justice or true Goodness since they were dictated by God himself who is eternally the same unalterable in his Perfections This shews that God who knows most perfectly our Frame and Disposition knows that the love of Life is planted so deep in our Natures and that it has such a Root there that nothing can work so powerfully on us to govern and restrain us as the fear of Death And therefore since the main thing that is to be considered in Government is the Good of the whole Body and since a feeble Indulgence and Impunity may set mankind loose into great Disorders from which the Terror of severer Laws together with such Examples as are made on the Incorrigible will naturally restrain them it seems necessary for the preservation of Mankind and of Society to have recourse sometimes to Capital Punishments The Precedent that God set in the Mosaical Law seems a full Justification of such Punishments under the Gospel The Charity which the Gospel prescribes does not take away the Rules of Justice and Equity by which we may maintain our Possessions or recover them out of the hands of violent Aggressors Only it obliges us to do that in a soft and gentle manner without Rigor or Resentment The same Charity though it obliges us as Christians not to keep up Hatred or Anger in our Hearts but to pardon as to our own parts the Wrongs that are done us yet it does not oblige us to throw up the Order and Peace of Mankind and abandon it to the Injustice and
Time or rather for the sake of such a Time only to have setled those Functions in the Church and that the Aposâ—les should have ordained Elders in every Church Those extraordinary Gifts that were then Acts 14.23 without any authoritative Settlement might hâ—ve served in that Time to have procured to Men so qualified all due Regards We have therefore much better Reason to Conclude that this was setled at that Time chiefly with respect to the following Ages which as they were to fall off from that Zeal and Purity that did then reign among them so they would need Rule and Government to maintain the Unity of the Church and the Order of sacred Things And for that Reason chiefly we may conclude that the Apostles setled Order and Government in the Church not so much for the Age in which they themselves lived as once to establish and give credit to Constitutions that they foresaw would be yet more necessâ—ry to the succeeding Ages This is confirmed by that which is in the Epistle to the Hebrews both concerning those who had ruled over them and those who were then their Guides Heb. 13.7 17. 1 Pet. 5.2 3. St. Peter gave directions to the Elders of the Churches to whom he writ how they ought both to feed and govern the flock and his charging them not to do it out of Covetousness or with Ambition insinuates that either some were beginning to do so or that in a Spirit of Prophecy he foresaw that some might fall under such Corruptions This is hint enough to teach us that though such things should happen they could furnish no Argument against the Function Abuses ought to be corrected but upon that pretence the Function ought not to be taken away If from the Scriptures we go to the first Writings of Christians we find that the main subject of St. Clemens and St. Ignatius Epistles is to keep the Churches in order and union in subjection to their Pastors and in the due subordination of all the Members of the Body one to another After the first Age the thing grows too clear to need any further proof The Argument for this from the standing Rules of Order of Decency of the Authority in which the Holy things ought to be maintained and the care that must be taken to repress Vanity and Insolence and all the extravagancies of light and ungoverned Fancies is very clear For if every Man may assume Authority to Preach and Perform Holy Functions it is certain Religion must fall into disorder and under contempt Hot-headed Men of warm Fancies and voluble Tongues with very little knowledge and discretion would be apt to thrust themselves on to the Teaching and Governing others if they themselves were under no Government This would soon make the publick Service of God to be loathed and break and dissolve the whole Body A few Men of livelier Thoughts that begin to set on foot such ways might for some time maintain a little credit yet so many others would follow in at that breach which they had once made on publick Order that it could not be possible to keep the Society of Christians under any method if this were once allowed And therefore those who in their heart hate the Christian Religion and desire to see it fall under a more general contempt know well what they do when they encourage all those Enthusiasts that destroy order hoping by the credit which their outward appearances may give them to compass that which the others know themselves to be too obnoxious to hope that they can ever have credit enough to persuade the World to Whereas those poor deluded Men do not see what Properties the others make of them The Morals of Infidels shew that they hate all Religions equally or with this difference that the stricter any are they must hate them the more the root of their quarrel being at all Religion and Virtue And it is certain as it is that which those who drive it on see well and therefore they drive it on that if once the publick Order and the National Constitution of a Church is dissolved the strength and power as well as the order and beauty of all Religion will soon go after it For humanly speaking it cannot subsist without it I come in the next place to consider the Second Part of this Article which is the Definition here given of those that are lawfully Called and Sent This is put in very general words far from that Magisterial stiffness in which some have taken upon them to dictate in this matter The Article does not resolve this into any particular Constitution but leaves the matter open and at large for such accidents as had happened and such as might still happen They who drew it had the state of the severalChurches before their Eyes that had been differently reformed and although thâ—ir own had been less forced to go out of the beaten path than any other yet they knew that all things among themselves had not gone according to those Rules that ought to be sacred in Regular times Necessity has no Law and is a Law to it self This is the difference between those things that are the means of Salvation and the Precepts that are only necessary because they are Commanded Those things which are the means such as Faith Repentance and new Obedience are indispensable they oblige all Men and at all times alike because they have a natural influence on us to make us fit and capable Subjects of the Mercy of God But such things as are necessary only by virtue of a Command of God and not by virtue of any real Efficiency which they have to reform our Natures do indeed oblige us to seek for them and to use all our endeavours to have them But as they of themselves are not necessary in the same order with the first so much less are all those methods necessary in which we may come at the regular use of them This distinction shall be more fully enlarged on when the Sacraments are Treated of But to the matter in hand That which is simply necessary as a mean to preserve the Order and Union of the Body of Christians and to maintain the Reverence due to holy things is that no Man enter upon any part of the holy Ministry without he be Chosen and Called to it by such as have an Authority so to do that I say is fixed by the Article But Men are left more at liberty as to their Thoughts concerning the subject of this lawful Authority That which we believe to be Lawful Authority is that Rule which the Body of the Pastors or Bishops and Clergy of a Church shall settle being met in a Body under the due Respect to the Powers that God shall set over them Rules thus made being in nothing contrary to the Word of God and duly executed by the particular Persons to whom that care belongs are certainly the Lawful Authority Those are the Pastors