and the Persons engaged in it set up opposite Churches and Officers or joyn with them This is a degree of the Sin much worse than Separation considering it only as such without the addition of Immorality False Doctrine or Apostacy which are often mingled with it You are not to expect that I should give you Examples out of Scripture of Schismatical Churches drawn from Churches and establish'd under separate Pastors for I do not find from thence that Schism had made so great a Progress as to form Regular Societies opposite to the deserted Churches But if the Vniversal Church according to Christ's Institution be one Body to set up another Body in opposition to it or any sound part of it must needs be very Criminal This we find some were attempting in the Apostles Days and some Directions that are given by St. Paul are very useful on this occasion He advises Titus as you have seen to reject a Heretick or Sectary after one or two Admonitions And he writes thus to the Romans I beseech you Brethren Mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which you have learn'd and avoid them St. Ignatius who was instructed by the Apostles tells the Philadelphians that if any one be a Follower of the Schismatick he shall not inherit the Kingdom of God He also admonishes the Church of Smyrna That nothing in Church-Matters should be done without the Bishop and declares That the Eucharist is then to be esteem'd Valid when it is celebrated by the Bishop or a Person appointed by him But without the Bishop he says it is not lawful to Baptize or to keep the Feast of Love And he adds a little after That he that doth any thing in a clandestine manner without the Bishop's Knowledge serves the Devil St. Cyprian who flourish'd in the next Age and also died a Martyr as Ignatius had done says That he that adheres not to his Bishop is not in the Church and that they flatter themselves in vain who not being at Peace with the Priests of God creep about and think they may privately communicate with certain Persons when the Church which is one Catholick Society is not in it self out or divided but connected every where by the Vnion of the Bishops The same Author says That one Altar may not be erected against another and that a new Priesthood cannot be rais'd He that gathereth elsewhere scattereth Whatsoever is appointed by Humane Fury that the Order of God may be violated is impious it is Adulterous and Sacrilegious 4. A yet higher degree of Schism is when they that are engaged in it constitute Officers without Authority or take to themselves Pastors that have no Lawful Mission or Real Ordination Such Pastors may pretend to a Commission from God but having none and seeming to do his publick Work without a Warrant in the judgment of Presbyterian Writers They mock him to serve their own turns They profane the Sacred Function and make a trifle of the Sin They are Troublers of the People and the Subverters of Souls they take away the distinction between the Shepherd and the Flock and areVsurpers of the Broad Seal of Heaven They bring all to confusion and like so many Phaetons burn up the Spiritual World by presuming to govern the Chariot of the Sun According to Dr. Owen himself they that act in the stead of Christ and not by express Patent from him are plain Impostors But he more fully expresses his Thoughts on this Subject in these Words All Power and Authority says he whether in things Spiritual or Temporal which is not either founded in the Law of Nature or collated by Divine Ordination is Vsurpation and Tyranny no Man can of himself take either Sword To invade an Office which includes Power over others is to disturb all Right Natural Divine and Civil That such an Authority is included in the Pastoral Office is evident 1. From the Names ascrib'd to them in whom it is vested as Pastors Bishops Elders Rulers all of them requiring it 2. From the Work prescrib'd to them which is feeding by Rule and Teaching 3. From the Execution of Church-power in Discipline or the Exercise of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven committed to them 4. From the Commands given for Obedience to them which Respect Authority 5. From their appointment to be Means and Instruments of exerting the Authority of Christ in the Church which can be done no other way He farther shews That the whole Flock the Ministry it self the Truths of the Gospel as to the Preservation of them are committed to the Pastors of the Church who must give an account for them And nothing continues he can be more wicked and foolish than for a Man to intrude himself into a Trust which is not committed to him They are branded as profligately wicked who attempt any such things among Men which cannot be done without Impudent Falsification And what shall he be esteem'd who intrudes himself into the highest Trust that any Creature is capable of in the Name of Christ Whoever therefore takes upon him the Pastoral Office without a Lawful Outward Call doth take unto himself Power and Authority without any Divine Warranty which interests him in an accountable Trust no way committed unto him hath no promise of Assistance in or Reward for his Work but engageth in that which is destructive of all Church-Order and consequently of the very Being of the Church it self These are his words and you may do well to bear them in mind till a farther occasion In the mean time I desire you to consider how tender the Almighty is of his own Constitutions and what Punishments he hath inflicted on those who made Invasions on them Vzzah incurr'd his displeasure for taking hold of the Ark when he saw it shake and therefore might seem to be justified by a good intention But being no Priest or Levite on this account his Action which otherwise might have been laudable became sinful in a Person not qualified for it And however it had some appearance of Necessity and proceeded from a good End yet this could not excuse him but he suffer'd present Death for his Transgression If he was an Upright Man as he seems to have been we need not doubt but that he met with Favour and Happiness in another World But in this God made him an Example of his Justice and Severity that he might guard the Discipline of his Church from the Assaults of others and that he might teach Posterity says Palladius to abstain from the like rashness Long before this Korah with a high Hand affronted the Divine Authority and made bitter Invectives against the Government and Officers which were appointed by God himself It was Envy and Ambition that first push'd this Man into an Action so Impious and would not afterwards suffer him to retreat Being guided and mov'd by such restless Furies
The Government of the Universal Church is One. According to St. Cyprian who understood this matter perfectly there is but One Episâ—â—â—acy And this is possess'd by the Bishops in such a manner that they are all legally One and every one of them is vertually all But both these Propositions may require some Explication 1. All the Bishops of the Universal Church are Legally One That is as a College in Law is One Person so they being a College in the Sense of the Ancients are One also They 〈◊〉 the Person of Christ and if Christ be not divided neither are they They are not divided I mean so far as they act according to his Will and the Rules of their Order But I meddle not with the particular Faults of any nor am I accountable for their irregularities 2. Every Bishop is vertually all or hath vertually the power of the whole Episcopal Order And so United he is with the other Bishops in the Administration of the Government that what he does in several Cases which I shall mention is as Obligatory to all the rest and of as much force as if it had been done by their actual Consent and Approbation For Example 1. A Bishop Ordaining Presbyters does it as effectually as if all other Bishops had assisted at it and his Act is as Obligatory to them all For the Persons so Ordain'd do not part with their Office when they change Climates but ought to be receiv'd in all Churches as bearing the same Character and be employ'd accordinly if there be occasion in the Work of their Ministry without a new Imposition of Hands This I know is contrary to the Opinion of some of your Brethren who are persuaded that a Minister is only so to his own Congregation and that if he Preaches to another he doth it not as a Pastor but as a Gifted Man And consequently if he takes a new Charge upon him he must have a new Ordination and this I consess is agreeable enough to their own System For their Minister being a Creature of their own and claiming his 〈◊〉 to the Ministry from their Election of him and upon such Terms as they prescrib'd to him all the supposed vertue of that Choice must cease when he is gone from them and cannot bind another Congregation that hath no dependence on them But how ever this is suitable to thâ—â—â— own Principles it hath no Ground in Scripture or the Practice of Antiquity Amongst the Hereticks indeed in Tertullian's time there was something like it for with them a Person was the Day a Priest and the next a Laymâ—â— But in the Church the standing Officers were so for Life 〈◊〉 in all places kept their Station unless they were Depos'd for their Crimes or advanced to a higher Dignity The Words of a Judiâ—ious Nonconfor mist which I shall here cite are very pertinent to my purpose If a Minister says he be only so to his own Congregation and not in other Churches Then are not the Churches of God One nor the Ministry One nor the Flock which they feed One nor the Communion One which they had each with others And I add That if a Minister as such be related to the Catholick Church if he may be remov'd from one part of it and take on him the peculiar charge of another without a new Ordination as the Presbyterians generally asseâ—â— Then are the Churches One the Ministry One the Flock which they feed One and the Communion is One as that of a Visible and Political Society 2. If a Bishop or other Minister appointed by him confers Baptism on Persons fit to receive it it is as effectual every where as if all the Spiritual Pasters upon Earth had concurr'd in that Act. It is that One Baptism which never ought to be repeated nor is there any need that it should for the â—ame being every where of the same vertue it both qualifies us alike in all places for Christian Communion and gives us a Right to demand it in any part of the World But of this more hereafter 3. When a Bishop Excommunicates Oftenders they are thereby cut off from the Communion of the whole Church We have been told by a Dissenter That whosoever will erect a Stated National Governing Church in England 〈◊〉 find us an Officer cloathed with Authority to Excommunicate from Michael ' s â—Mount in Cornwall to Carlile and Berwick But there is no need of such a Discovery to prove more than he demands To prove the Vnity of the Catholick Church it is enough that when a Bishop Excommunicates any Criminals of his own Diocese the Effect of his Sentence reaches every where and at the greatest distance it is Obligatory to his Collegues who being duly inform'd of it are â—o regulate their Practice by it and not admit those to Communion whom he hath Expell'd from it unless it be by his Câ—â—â—ent either expresly given or vertually contain'd in 〈…〉 of the Church And anciently it was a great part of the Business oâ— Episcopal Letters to declare what Offenders were Excommunicate that they might every where be avoided or treated as Persons that were Ejected out of the Christian Society This way of proceeding with them is a plain Argument that in the sense of these times Ecclesiastical Government was One however the Administration of it was in many Hands And it is also agreeable to the Holy Scripture which will not suffer us to believe that they who are cut off from the Body of Christ in one Country are Members of it in another They can gain no such Advantage by shifting Places Nor can it be thought that they are kept bound and loos'd on Earthâ— unless they may be Absolv'd and Condemn'd in Heaven at the same time 4. It follows that when a Bishop Absolves the Offenders of his Diocese from the Ecclesiastical Censures under which he had put them he thereby restâ—â—es them to the Peace of the Universal Church Thus it was generally thought 〈◊〉 the Primitive times and the Persons to Absolv'd having obtain'd from their Bishop his Communicatory Letters were then as much qualified for full Communion in Worship with other Christians in all parts of the World as if they had 〈◊〉 been Condemn'd All other Bishops to whom they apply'd themselves were obliged to râ—â—â—â—ve them into the Number of the Faithful and to act by the Sentence of 〈◊〉 Collegue as if it had been their own And this they did sometimes and thought it expedient when they were not well satisfied with his Proceedings 'T is true the Sentence of a Bishop either for Condemnation or Absolution might be revers'd or declared void by a Synod and it was fit that it should if it was Unjust or sometimes if it was only Irregular If it was otherwise he might withdraw it or he concluded by the Votes of the Synod and it was â—â—ch better in such Cases that One should submit to the
Judgment of many who were Assembled by Mutual Agreement for the Administration of Discipline than that the great Benefit of Synods should be lost But when 〈◊〉 began to make himself a Bishop of Bishops When he took it upon him to be their Judge and to exercise a Jurisdiction over them this gave a new Turn to the Affairs of the Church and alter'd them much for the worse It made a mighty Breach upon the Antient Discipliâ—â— and was the Foundation of the Papul 〈◊〉 I have suppos'd all along that however a Bishop is by his Office a Pastor of the Catholick Church yet it is but some part of it that is allotted to his special care as it was most expedient for the benefit of the Whole But the further Consideration of this Matter being of great use it may be requâ—â—â—â—e to trace it to the beginning and to observe that the Apostles who of all the Officers of Christ were most at liberty being sent to Disciple all Nations might all have gone to one Nation and leâ—t others destitute of help But to prevent this they distributed their Work in such a manner as might be most for the Publick Good and best answer the Ends of their Commission I need not inquire what Countries or Cities fell to the Charge of this or that Apostle And indeed our Knowledge of that is very imperfect But this you find in Scripture that St. Paul with whom the other Apostles doubtless agreed would not build upon anothers Foundation He would not stretch himself beyond his Measure nor boast in another Man's Line of things made ready to his Hand As the Apostles employ'd themselves with great Prudence to carry on the Work of Conversion so they dispos'd and settled things in an excellent order and some Light it may give into them that when there is mention in Scripture of a Province or Country where the Gospel was received we read of the Churches of it Thus we read of the Churches of Jâ—dea of the Churches of Macedonia of the Churches of Galatia and of the Churches of Asia These several Churches then were distinct Societies under their proper Governours who yet were United in such a manner as I have describ'd and the nearer they liv'd to one another the better opportunity they had of meeting together for mutual Advice and Assistance and for the Decision of Ecclesiastical Matters But when the Discourse is of the Christians of a City which is to be understood as taking in its Territory then the Style is alter'd and we read of the Church in Jerusalem in Antioch in Corinth of the Church in Pergamus in Thyatira in Sardis in Philadelphia of the Ephesine Church of the Church of â—â—â—â—â—naeans of the Laodiceans and of the Thessalonians If you will but be at the pains to consult the places to which I have refer'd you you will certainly find the Matter as I have related it And from hence the Presbyterians strongly argue That how great soever the Number of Christians was in any City and notwithstanding they made up many Congregations as they needs must in some of the Cities yet they were constantly call'd a Church as being under the same particular Government I differ from them in this That I believe the Government was Episcopal For as there is mention of Seven Churches of Asia so there were just so many Angels or Supream Pastors of those Churches and the like may be said of others But this I have more fully handled in another Treatise to which I have refer'd you before for satisfaction 'T is true the extent of Diocesses is not always the same nor is there any certain Rule for it in the Holy Scripture but since it appears necessary from the Scripture and the Nature of the thing that some limits be fixed and since the Diocesan and Parochial Divisions in this Kingdom are confirm'd by all the Authority that the Church and 〈◊〉 could give them Private Persons â—â—ght to submit to it For however there may be some inequality in such Distributions that being hardly avoidable no Disturbances ought to be rais'd about them it being certain that such Inconveniences can never be mended by Confusion II. The Faithful People under their Lawful Pastors make up One Body This may be gather'd from what went 〈◊〉 but I shall farther make it evident 1. From their Duty 2. From their Rights From both it will be manifest that they are Fellow-Citizens or Visible Members of the same Community I. To begin with their Duty 1. They are obliged as you have seen to Honour 〈◊〉 Obey their Spiritual Rulers to adhere to those that are over them in the Lord and hereby they maintain an Union with all other Pastors of the Church that are One in Government For if they are One with any of those that are One amongst themselves they must needs be all One 〈◊〉 2. It is their Duty to joyn together in Publick Acts of Worship with that Company of Christians which they find Established under a Lawful Pastor where they reside which may happen to be in England or America or at different times in the most distant places as they remove from one to another And from hence it appears that all those Companies make but One Society or Catholick Church and are Members of it For otherwise by passing from one Country to another and consequently from the Congregation to another a Person would lose his former Title and Benefit of being a Visible Member of Christ and his Church and gain others in their stead and this might happen as often as he changed Climates But this is too absurd to need a Consutation II. That the Faithful make up One Body appears from their Rights which are the same every where In one sense they aâ—â— every where Strangers on Earth but in another they are at Home in all Places The Priviledges which belong to them as Christians are the same in every Country and they may as justly challenge them as the Natives of it Some Cities who were associated together did so value themselves for it and receiv'd such mutual Benefits and Honours from their Concord and from their being of One Community that they express'd these things upon their Coins and other Monuments of Antiquity which are yet remaining But the Vnity of the Christian Church is of greater extent and takes in the Faithful of all Nations This Vnity is founded on a Divine Institution and the Baptismal Covenant in which they are all alike engaged and not on a Formal Positive League amongst themselves Nor does it so much resemble the Union of the Confederate Cities as that of a City in its self which may consist of many Corporations For all the Members of it are Fellow-Citizens and as such they have the same Prerogatives in all the parts of the World But more particularly 1. According to Scripture and the Sence of the Primitive
he is a Stranger as well as if he were a Native of it From hence it follows that both Strangers and Natives are alike of the same Political Body And this reasoning must be good if Aristotle had the true Notion of a City who is generally allow'd to write of such things with great exactness What hath been said sufficiently shews how the Catholick Church however dispers'd is One But it will appear with the greater force If you please to compare it with the Case of Independent and Separate Societies in which you find nothing like it You may bear Office in one of these Societies but have no Title to it nor have any of your Acts esteem'd valid in another You may be Members of one and justly excluded from another You may enjoy the Priviledges of one and want those of another You may be banish'd from one and made Denizons of another Acts of State bind only the Subjects of the State and oblige not Forreigners that are under another Dominion But this demonstrates the Vnity of the Catholick Church that what is done by one Governour or Bishop is valid amongst all the rest and taht a private Christian who hath an Obligation on him and a Right to an actual and full Communion with a particular Church hath the like with all other Churches where he happens to reside Having prov'd that the Vniversal Church is One Body I shall only add what gives us great encouragement to preserve the Unity of it and affords us a most delightful Contemplation that it is now the same Body that it was from the Beginning For as a City may remain the same for a Thousand Years or even to the End of the World and is therefore said by some Ancient Writers to be Immortal So is the Church the same that it was from the first Foundation of it And from hence it is that if we Communicate with those who derive their Ministry by Succession from the Apostles and with such Professors of Christianity as adhere to that Ministry we do it vertually or by Interpretation with the Apostles themselves and with the Saints Confessors and Martyrs that rest from their Labours and are now in Happiness waiting for a Glorious Resurrection To this effect Tertullian says That from the Apostolical Churches all other Churches borrowed the Branch of Faith and Seeds of Doctrine and from them it is daily that Churches become such and so are esteem'd Apostolical as being the Off-spring of the Apostolical Churches Every thing must be reckon'd with its Original and therefore so many Great Churches are as the One First Church constituted by the Apostles and from which all are descended So all are First and Apostolical whilst they alike approve the Vnity Whilst there is amongst them the Communication of Peace the Title of Brotherhood the Covenant of Hospitality the Rights of which nothing preserves but the Tradition of the same Sacrament or Mystery But this is not all For being in Communion with the Apostles we are so with the Father and the Son That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you says St. John that you also may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ The Father will take care of us as his Peculiar People and the Son will Influence and Govern us as our Head a Head that hath such a Tenderness for his Church that he is represented in Scripture as making up One Person with it For says the Apostle as the Body is One and hath many Members and all the Members of that One Body being many are One Body So also is Christ And being of his Church we are assur'd that he will nourish and cherish us as Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones SECT II. VVE have seen that all Christians ought to be United in Faith Love and in Outward Worship and Communion And if you grant this you must also acknowledge that a Breach of Union in any of these things where-ever the fault is must needs be sinful For it is plain I. That if there be but One Faith delivered to the Saints for which they must earnestly contend they grievously offend who add New Articles to it or take away from it such as are already reveald or otherwise deprave it by a mixture of Falshood And so far as they do so we ought to depart from them and not betray or deny the Truth in compliance with them II. If all the Faithful must be firmly link'd together in Love this must condemn all Discord and Malice all Envying and Strife amongst them as being directly against the Spirit of Charity And indeed where these things are there is Confusion and every Evil Work III. If all the Faithful are obliged to live in Outward Communion as Visible Members of the same Body then such a Division in the Body as is a Breach of that Communion must be Criminal a thing I know that many of you are unwilling to hear of But Mr. Baxter has suggested a reason of it which I hope does not reach you all Whence is it says he but for want of Self-denial that Men that know that Whoredom and Drunkenness and These are Sins can be ignorant in the midst of Light that Discord and Church-Divisions are Sins And that they hear him with Heart-rising Enmity or Suspicion that doth declaim against them As if Vniting were become the Work of Satan and Dividing were become the Work of Christ These Words I would recommend to your serious Thoughts and being now come to that which is the chief Subject of our Debate I desire you sincerely to consider that not only Modern Writers but the Fathers who were no Parties in our present Controversies speak of Schism as a most horrid Crime St. Optatus mentions it as a mighty Wickedness and argues that it is worse than Murder and Idolatry And St. Chrysostom affirms That nothing equally provokes God as the Division of his Church He makes it equal to the Crucifying of Christ Which he says was for the good of the World however not intended but this continues he affords no Benefit but the greatest Mischief To mention no more at this time St. Irenaeus says That God will judge the Schismaticks who having not the Love of God but being intent on their own Profit rather than the Peace of the Church for small Matters or for any divide the Great and Glorious Body of Christ and do what in them lies to kill it speaking Peace but making War straining indeed at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel You need not think it strange that these Excellent Men who had seen the sad Effects of Church-Divisions express'd such an Abhorrence of them St. Paul himself reckons Seditions and Heresies with Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Withchcraft and other Works of the Flesh of which he says That they that practise such
thing for which they contend that Calvin himself who was the Father of their Discipline could find in it no such Matter For he thought that Presbytery here signifies the Office of a Presbyter and then the meaning would be that Timothy should not neglect but be careful to exercise that Presbyterial Office or Power which was committed to him by Laying on of Hands So that if the greatest Patron of Presbytery and one that had Sagacity enough to discover what might be advantagious to it was not mistaken this Passage of Scripture affords it no support Mr. Selden favours the Interpretation of Calvin and confirms it with Citations from the Story of Susanna from Josephus from Eusebius and from the Council of Ancyra Yet remaining something doubtful of the true meaning of the Word he censures those who from this single place of the New Testament and that of an Vncertain Reading and Sense form'd such strange Notions of the Jurisdiction of a Christian Presbytery as if it had been then founded on a Divine Institution Nevertheless let us suppose that by the Presbytery we are to understand the Persons that did bear the Office we are not certain from the Expression it self who are here intended by it For it is a Name of Dignity not always taken in its limited Sense but sometimes attributed to Ecclesiastical Officers of the highest Rank St. John twice calls himself a Presbyter in his Epistles and St. Peter assumes the same Title where he says The Elders which are among you I exhort who am also an Elder And now the Question is Whether the Supream or Inferiour Presbyters Ordained Timothy That is Whether they did it who had power to Ordain him or they who as far as we can find never had any such Authority And this I think admits of an easie Resolution We do not find in Scripture that to mere Presbyters any such Authority was ever committed nor are there any Footsteps of it in Antiquity But if they must be thought to have quitted it presently after the Apostles Days there were never Men that at such a vast distance of place so Universally and all on a suddain conspir'd to degrade themselves and to yield up their Rights tamely without any Complaint Yet with so much Artifice must they be imagin'd to have betray'd their Trust and cover'd their Shame that no Discovery was made of it for Fifteen Hundred Years We hear of no claim of any such Power made by any Presbyters before the Fourth Century when Aerius and others oppos'd Episcopacy But they were expell'd from the Churches and could no where gain an Establishment nor are they of such a Character as may give Reputation to any Cause Yet if mere Presbyters might Constiture others of their own Character it doth not follow that they could Ordain Timothy who was a Bishop and had Jurisdiction over them as I have shew'd in another place They could not give what they never had nor communicate a Power which they had never receiv'd Thus the Fathers argue in the case And on another occasion Salmasius himself asserts That such reasoning is good concerning the Conveyance of an Authority which is of Divine Institution as that is which is now in question The Dissenters I know contend that Timothy was not a Bishop but an Evangelist and Evangelists say they were Extraordinary Officers they were Companions of the Apostles and of a higher Rank than Pastors But if this be admitted doth it at all mend the matter Who ever saw or read says Salmasius that they who were to have Extraordinary Power were delegated by those who had no more than Ordinary Can you imagine that mere Presbyters can Ordain an Evangelist whose Office was so much Exalted above their own Can you really believe when there is no Revelation for it no Ground for any such thing that the Private Ministers of a Congregation appointed Collegues for the Apostles Surely it is more probable at least if it could not otherwise be discover'd that the Apostles made choice of their own Fellow-Labourers to whom as there was opportunity they committed the Government of the Churches Yet to prevent all câ—villing as much as possible let us suppose what I do not grant That the Persons in the Text were mere Presbyters it does not prove that others who at this time assume that Title have the Power of Ordaining Presbyters and if they attempt it there is nothing in the Text that may be for their Vindication To make this appear 1. It is to be observ'd that St. Paul himself Ordain'd Timothy and says to him on that occasion I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the Gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my Hands And if he condescended to call to his assistance some Inferiour Officers for the greater Solemnity of the Action it does not follow that they could do it of themselves without him and much less that they could do it in opposition to him or any other that should be in the same Station 2. If mere Presbyters had the Power of Ordination when they are suppos'd to have confer'd it on Timothy it may well be thought to have been some Personal Priviledge which died with them for we find no marks of it in succeeding Times St. Jerome who of all the Fathers is the greatest Favourite of the Presbyterians says That originally a Presbyter was the same as a Bishop and that at first the Churches were govern'd by the Common Council of Priests till by the Instigation of the Devil Divisions did arise and one said I am of Paul and another said I am of Apollos or I of Cephas and then it was decreed all over the World That one chosen out of the Presbytery should be placed over the rest that to him the whole Care of the Church might be committed and so the Seeds of Schism be extirpated And if he has truly related the Matter this Change must have been made when many of the Apostles were alive and transacted by themselves And we need not doubt but when the New Prelates were Constituted they were Distinguish'd from all Inferiour Officers by the Power of Ordination Certain it is that afterwards this Power was every where thought peculiar to the Bishops and when they had been in possession of it much above a Thousand Years common Equity requires that we should judge them to have had it by Right unless the contrary do appear But there is no Ground to believe that they were Usurpers of it No probability that they would ingross it to themselves especially in the early Times when they were generally such Mighty Instances of Humility and Meekness of Patience and Self-denial There is not the least Complaint leâ—t us of any such thing nor is it at all credible that they should so universally attempt it or if they did that they should have the same success in all the Churches upon Earth It follows
if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us But had they been of the Opinion of your Advocates they might have reply'd Our Desertion can never make it manifest that we were not of you Indeed we went out from you and did forsake your Assemblies but notwithstanding this we may be all one with you But we do not find that they had the confidence to make such an Apology II. It has been said that in the Apostles Days there were Independent and Separate Churches planted in the same City And for this the Testimony of a very Learned Conformist has been cited by some who at other times express little regard for it And it is true he tells us that as St. Peter was the Apostle of the Circumcision and St. Paul of the Gentiles so whensoever these two great Apostles came to the same City the one constantly applied himself to the Jews received Disciples of such form'd them into a Church left them when he departed that Region to be govern'd by some Bishop of his own Assignation and the other in like manner did the same to the Gentiles To prove this he urges from Ancient Writers That the Church of Antioch was founded and instructed by St. Peter and St. Paul and consequently that the Jewish part of it was Converted and Rul'd by one and the Gentile by the other That the Decrees of the Council at Jerusalem were peculiarly sent and inscrib'd To the Brethren at Antioch c. Those of the Gentiles that is separately from the Jewish Church in that City c. That it appears from the Apostolical Constitutions that Euodius and Ignatius at the same time sate Bishops of Antioch the one succeeding St. Peter the other St. Paul one in the Jewish the other in the Gentile Congregation That the Separation continued till both Parties were joyn'd and united together under Ignatius That from hence it is that by Origen and Eusebius he is called the Second and by St. Jerome the Third Bishop of Antioch and yet he is as truly said by Athanasius to be constituted Bishop after the Apostles That at Rome the two Apostles met again and each of them there erected and managed a Church St. Peter of the Jews and St. Paul of the Gentiles That as Linus and Clemens were Deacons the one of St. Paul and the other of St. Peter so both afterwards succeeded them in the Episcopal Chair Linus being constituted Bishop of the Gentiles Clemens the Jewish Christians there And that from hence unquestionably grows that variety and difference observ'd amongst Writers some making St. Peter others St. Paul the Founder of that Church but others both of them Some making Clemens others Linus the first Bishop after the Apostles both Affirmers speaking the truth with this Scholion to interpret them Linus was the first Bishop of the Gentile Christians after St. Paul Clemens the first of the Jewish after St. Peter This is the Sum of the most material things that he has said on this Subject but it seems all too infirm to support his Opinion which yet out of the respect that is due to the Authority of so great a Man I shall not reject without giving the Reasons of my Dissent from him And they are these that follow I. However the Work of the Apostles was so distributed by consent that the care of the Jews was especially committed to St. Peter and that of the Gentiles to St. Paul yet they were not limited to either For 1. St. Peter being sent for by Cornelius a Gentile instructed him and those that were come together at his House in the Christian Faith and when they had received it he commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord And after this he declar'd in the Council of Jerusalem That God had chosen him for this purpose that the Gentiles by his Mouth should hear the Gospel and believe 2. St. Paul Preach'd in the Synagogues of the Jews at Salamis and Antioch And at Corinth he reason'd in the Synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks At Rome also he expounded and testified to the Jews the Kingdom of God persuading them out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets from Morning till Nighs and some believed the things that were spoken tho' some believed not Now as it cannot be thought that when he had converted Jews and Gentiles together he divided them into Separate Congregations so neither is it probable that when St. Peter and he were in the same City Matters were so nicely managed between them that the One pickt out the Jews as belonging to his Province and gather'd them into a Church by themselves and that the Other did the like for the Gentiles No such thing I am sure can be gather'd from the Scripture II. Both these Apostles might be Founders of the Church of Antioch as also of that of Rome and yet neither of these Churches be divided into separate Societies Rome it self had two Founders and yet it was but one City And manifest it is by many other Examples that different Persons acting as one may constitute a Corporation either Ecclesiastical or Civil which is United in all its parts III. The Inscription of the Epistle to the Brethren of the Gentiles that were at Antioch c. does only suppose them to have been chiefly concern'd in the Contents of it and not that they were of a Church distinct from the Jewish Christians It may rather seem if they had been so that the Zealots who came from Judea would not have press'd them to be Circumcis'd after the manner of Moses but left them to enjoy their own way as a Separate Body But the Council having decided the Matter in Debate between them remov'd from both sides all pretences of Division IV. The Writer of the Apostolick Constitutions no where affirms that Euodius and Ignatins sate at the same time Bishops of Antioch He only introduces Peter saying that one of them was Ordain'd by him and the other by Paul which might be afterwards at a great distance of time Malata informs us that after the Death of Euodius Peter being then at Antioch Ignatius receiv'd the Episcopal Dignity and if this be so it may help to put an end to the Dispute about the Order in which he was advanced to that Office V. That Linus and Clemens were at the same time Bishops of Rome hath no better ground than the Testimony of Ruffinus which signifies but little when oppos'd as it is in this case by the whole Stream of Antiquity There are indeed Differences amongst the Fathers concerning the Line of Succession in that See but they are accounted for by an Excellent Hand And if they were not nor would admit of any Reconciliation they would be too weak a Foundation for the
shews That however Death was the Punishment of such as did break the Mosaical Constitutions yet as we are honoured with greater Knowledge than the Jews had been so we are liable to greater Danger That is if we pass our Bounds and raise Disturbances as they did Order therefore is still to be preserv'd in the Church and that more carefully than it was in the time of the Aaronical Priesthood In the New Testament we find that our Lord gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers He gave them for the perfecting of the Saints or as the Word may well be rendred for the compacting or joyning them together He did it for the Work of the Ministry for the Edifying of the Body of Christ And some such Officers are always necessary and must be continu'd Till we all come in the Vnity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect Man unto the Measure of the Stature of the fulness of Christ Amongst the Officers of Christ the Apostles are reckoned as the first and were the chief And since all the Power that is purely Ecclesiastical and which ought still to remain in the Church pass'd through their Hands it may be very fit to consider what Authority they received from him for from thence we may gather what they transmitted down to Posterity for the Government of his Kingdom Now we find that the Apostles were the Stewards of the Mysteries of God and had the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven They were the Representatives of Christ on Earth and acted in his Name and in his Stead They were his Ambassadors and employ'd by him to reconcile Mankind unto God upon the Terms of the New Covenant As the Father sent him so he sent them into the World and accordingly having so high a Commission they went about and labour'd to bring all Nations under his Discipline When their Work increas'd they appointed some to serve Tables or to provide things necessary for the Sustenance of the meaner Proselytes Others they constituted not only to be Teachers but Rulers of the Churches And if they Rul'd well especially if they labour'd in the Word and Doctrine they were to be accounted worthy of double Honour or a double share out of the common Stock And thus a Government distinct from that of the Secular Magistrate and a long time oppos'd by it was establish'd in all places where-ever Christianity did prevail There is no need that I should here discourse of the Form of Church-Government having prov'd in another Treatise That this Government from the beginning was Episcopal and that the Bishops were Successors to the Apostles And this I have done by such Arguments as I verily believe cannot be answer'd if it be but granted That there is any such thing as an Evangelical Ministry I had almost said as a Christian remaining in the World and with those that would dispute or deny so evident a Truth whether Scepticks or Deists or whatever else they are I am not at present concern'd But were all Apostles or Bishops Were all Pastors and Teachers No certainly but there was a Faithful People distinct from them and under their Care and Charge and what the Duty of the People was may be gather'd from these places of Scripture We beseech you Brethren says St. Paul to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their Works sake 1 Thess 5. 12 13. Agreeable to which are these Words in the Epistle to the Hebrews Remember them which have the Rule over you which have spoken to you the Word of God Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls Heb. 13. 7 17. Men are generally averse from enduring any thing of Subjection but we are to consider that the Obedience which is prescrib'd in the Texts of Scripture which I have cited is to be paid by the Faithful to those that are over them in the Lord Over them for his sake and on his account The Apostles or Bishops of the Churches are said to be the Glory of Christ That is they are his Representatives in governing such parts of his Kingdom as are assign'd to their charge The ground of this Interpretation I have mention'd in another place and taken from 1 Cor. 11. 7. where we read That Man is the Image and Glory of God which words in the Judgment of Theodoret are not to be understood with respect either to the Body of the Man or his Soul but to the Domion that he hath from God over the Creatures In the same Verse we read That the Woman is the Glory of the Man The Wife is the Glory of her Husband She is says Theodoret as it were the Image of that Image and as such she hath power over the rest of the Family It follows that Bishops being the Delegates of Jesus Christ the Observance that is paid to them as bearing that Character is graciously accepted as done to himself who hath said He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me We have seen that the Church is a Body consisting of Governing Parts and such as are Subordinate to them And as on this account it is Regular in its Constitution so it ought to be in its Practice For this reason the Spirits of Prophets were subject to Prophets Either to the Prophets that had them or as I rather think to Superior Prophets But certain it is that even extraordinary Gifts were to be submitted to the Rule of Peace and Discipline and Men that could speak by Divine Inspiration might not exercise that power any farther than was consistent with the Precept of doing all things decently and in order The Word which is rendred Order often signifies a Regular Disposition of things or a due proportion of parts with respect to the whole and to one another And in this so much of the beauty and strength of things consists that St. Paul had great reason to rejoyce as he did when he beheld the Order that was amongst the Colossians For he knew very well that when they invaded not one another's Work but were employ'd in their own When they whose Office it was to Teach waited on Teaching and they that Rul'd did it with Diligence when they that were under Authority were submissive to it and ready to receive instruction by such a happy Concurrence they would adorn their Religion and fortifie it against the Assaults of Adversaries They would do what was most beneficial to themselves and acceptable to God who is the Author of Peace and not of Confusion III. The Church however dispers'd over the World is One Political Body For it is the Vniversal Church that
under the Peril of their Souls And did none of them discover what it was Did the Ancient Fathers speak such terrible things against it and none of them understand what they said Did they make no doubt to lay it to the Charge of the Novations and Donatists And might these be Innocent all the while Are the Scriptures so plain in their Directions about things that are necessary either to be done or avoided And are they so obscure in this that for the space of about Sixteen hundred Years neither the Learned nor Unlearned could find out what they meant till in this present Age One arose who made the Discovery But in this case the Novelty of his 〈◊〉 once it is a sufficient Argument against it and it is in effect an acknowledgment that the Independents wanted some New thing for the Vindication of their Practice which I am sure cannot be defended by the common receiv'd Principles of Christianity But because the Doctor is of no small Reputation amongst Dissenters let us consider a little the force of his Reasoning The Schism at Corinth was a Disorder in a Church and from hence he infers That a Separation from a Church is not Schism and that for the Separatist to be a Schismatick is impossible But can you really believe that one would do you wrong if he made a small Rent in your Garment and none if he should tear it in pieces That he would be injurious if be Wounded your Hand and Innocent if he cut it off Can you imagine that a Mutiny begun in a Camp or Kingdom is Seditious and that an open Revolt is not so But as well may you be persuaded of all this as that Faction and Disorder in a Church is a Sinful Division and to Desert it as unworthy of Communion is none Whether such a Desertion be expresly stiled Schism in Scripture is not material if it be a greater Division than that which is call'd by that Name For as I have always thought when any thing is forbidden as sinful others that are worse but of the same kind come under the same Prohibition Otherwise things that for their Filthiness are not fit to be Nam'd may be very fit to be done and Holiness may be consistent with the most detestable Pollutions 2. A farther degree of Schism is a causeless Separation from the Church For it is worse in its own Nature to renounce a Society with which one is obliged to live in Communion and ordinarily more tends to the Dissolution of it than it does to create some Disturbances in it as it also gives more Scandal in the Eye of the World 'T is true the Disturbances may sometimes be so great that the Desertion of those that raise or keep them up may be more desirable or a less Evil to the Church than their continuance in it but to the Offenders themselves it can be of no advantage but is rather an Addition to their Guilt and Misery I would says St. Paul to the Galatians that they were even cut off which trouble you or that unsettle or move you from your Stations And to be cut off doubtless he esteem'd a very great Judgment And yet under this the Sectary brings himself of whom the same Apostle says That he is Self-condemn'd Not that the Sectary confess'd his Fault nor that he had secret Convictions for it for these could not have been Ground of his Rejection or of Proceedings against him but by wilfully departing from the Unity of the Church he in effect inflicted on himself the Punishment which the Church useth to the greatest Malefactors and so was broken off from the Body of Christ I need not here enter upon the Debate whether Episcopal Ordinations and Baptism confer'd in Schism are valid it being sufficient for my present purpose that according to the Rule of Catholick Vnity which is grounded on the Scripture and was Universally receiv'd by the Faithful in the purest Ages Schismaticks persisting in their Separation can do nothing that can qualifie them for Communion with any part of the Catholick Church and therefore in that State they must be excluded from the whole Being wilfully divided from some they cannot be United to the rest of the Christian Society which are One amongst themselves and all Members one of another If they are not of the Body I do not see how they can be United to the Head Break off a Bough from the Tree says S. Cyprian and it blossoms no more Divide a River from the Fountain and it will be dried up And this in his judgment sets forth the Condition of those that cut off themselves from the Christian Church He adds a little after If a Person could escape who was out of the Ark of Noah then shall one escape also who is out of the Church But says our Lord he that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth And he that breaks the Peace and Concord which Christ hath established acts against Christ himself In like manner St. Ignatius a Disciple of St. John and Glorious Martyr of Jesus Christ tells us That he that is not in the Sanctuary is depriv'd of the Bread of God And of a Person that comes not to the Publick Assemblies he says That he is proud and hath condemn'd himself For it is written God resisteth the Proud Let us therefore not resist the Bishop that we may be the Subjects of God If you search the Scriptures you will find that to forsake the Christian Community was in effect to renounce all the Priviledges of it and openly to disown Christianity it self They went out from us says St. John but they were not of us For if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us St. Jude represents such Men under a very ill Character as being Mockers and wâ—â—king after their own Vngodly Lusts And says he These are they who separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit They pretended to greater perfection than others but their deserting the Christian Assemblies together with a vicious Conversation discover'd them to be Carnal and to be govern'd by no higher Principle than that of the Animal Life They that are truly Spiritual are of another Temper and as they walk in the Light so they also think themselves obliged to cause their Light to shine before Men and to keep up the Face of a Church not only when their Affairs are prosperous but also in times of difficulty For then it is that they are more especially requir'd To consider and provoke one another unto Love and unto good Works not to forsake the Assembling of themselves together as the manner of some is but to exhort one another and so much the more as they see the Day approaching 3. Schism sometimes proceeds beyond a Separation
of Schism III. You may enquire whether the Pastors you have chosen have any Lawful Call to the Ministry Some of the Dissenters I know do not think themselves much concern'd about this For they tell us It is the Duty of every Gifted Man as such to exercise his Gifts that if he has receiv'd Gifts to teach publickly he must exercise them publickly and that he himself may be the Judge of his own Gifts But says Mr. Pool a Learned Nonconformist What can be expected but that this Doctrine should be a Trojan Horse whence the Adversaries of Truth may break out and destroy the City of God A Pandora's Box from whence all sorts of mischievous and foul poysoning Opinions may fly out and that without Remedy And say the Assembly of Divines This Opinion That any who suppose themselves Gifted Men may Preach the Word and Administer the Sacraments we judge to be the Highway to all Disorder and Confusion and Inlet to Errors and Heresies and a Door open'd for Priests and Jesuits to broach their Popish and Antichristian Doctrine There are some it seems lately risen up amongst us that are in expectation of New Priests and Prophets who will be alter'd they say by such a Visible appearance of Majesty in their very Countenance as may be call'd the Writing of the Father's Name upon their Foreheads as it was with Moses when he came from Conversing with God and with our Blessed Lord himself when the Clouds of Glory overshadowed him And this at present may be thought a harmless Opinion however there be no foundation for it But the Patrons of it we see can adventure upon Predictions and New Revelations without any such splendor upon them as they describe and how much farther they may proceed we know not As for your selves I suppose that there are few if any of you that ascribe the Call of your Pastors or their Distinction from other Men to a Miracle but you generally believe that to constitute them in their Office some Ordination is necessary or Expedient at least whether it be perform'd by a Bishop or by Presbyters or by the People For there are those amongst you who lay claim to their Ministry these several ways 1. Some of them I confess had Episcopal Ordination But since these must have solemnly promis'd that they would obey their Ordinary I would have you consider how the Blessing of Heaven can be expected on their Work as now it is managed when it is a continual Breach of that Engagement Yet if they had made no such Engagement their Separation from their Bishops to whom they owe Obedience and from the Church to which they ought to be united their passing beyond their Line and their drawing Disciples after them which belong not to them their gathering Churches out of sound Churches and opposite to them and their administring the Sacraments which are the Bond of Vnion in a dividing way are things highly Schismatical And however such Men may be eminent for their personal Abilities yet in their exercise of them if we may believe St. Ignatius they serve the Devil Before I come to examine other Pretences of your Teachers to the Ministry give me leave to put you in mind that the Elders and Messengers of the Congregational way who met at the Savoy confess'd That in respect of the publick and open Profession either of Presbytery or Independency this Nation hath been a Stranger to each way it 's possible ever since it hath been Christian And the like they might have said of all other Christian Nations The truth is neither of those Sects were anciently in being and then we are not like to hear of their Ordinations It is but of late that they appear'd and therefore we have the more reason to enquire whether there be any ground for their Establishment or what Right they have to make such Changes in the Church as they every where attempt If a Person should now profess that he was sent to Dethrone all Kings and to New-model all Governments he would have no cause to be angry if we propos'd these Questions to him By what Authority doest thou these things And who gave thee this Authority And if Men will be now endeavouring to Depose or Degrade all Bishops to abrogate their Office and overthrow their Chairs and to set up a Discipline which was unknown to all the Churches upon Earth they may not be offended if we desire a sight of their Commission The Prophet Jeremiah was set over the Nations and over Kingdoms to root out and to pull down to build and to plant That is he was not to make these great Turns of Affairs himself but only to Prophesy of them and to do this it was manifest that he was appointed of God But some would perswade us that they may act as great Matters as he was to foretell That they may destroy that sort of Government which hath been transmitted down to us from the Apostles throughout all succeeding Ages and was established in all Christian Nations and that they may introduce another that was unknown to Antiquity and for above a Thousand Years after Christ not receiv'd by any Church in the World We have therefore reason to demand of them a sight of such Credentials as make it plain that they are sent of God And since they have been so forward to make Invasions on an Order of Men which hath been in possession of Ecclesiastical Authority for above Sixteen Hundred Years they must pardon us if we question their own Title to it or say to them as Optatus did to the Donatists Who are ye and from whence did ye come I have nothing here to do with Forreign Protestants whose Call they say to the Pastoral Office was Extraordinary But my Business at present is with your Teachers who pretend to no such thing or if they do may be easily refuted They have taken upon them the Sacred Function in a New way a way that was never approv'd in Ancient times and therefore we may demand a sight of the Patent by which they would justifie their Innovations H. Amongst the Innovatom I doubt we shall find the second 〈◊〉 of your Teachers which I have mention'd and these are they who claim a Title to the Ministry as being Ordain'd by Presbyters They would be thought I know to be of very Antient Extraction and for this quote these Words of St. 〈◊〉 to Timothy Neglect not the Gift that is in thee which is given unto thee by Prephecy with the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery And this Text of Seripture they take to be so evident are their fide that they urge it frequently and to comply with their Interpretation of it they wrest other Passages which make directly against them So that on this one place the whole Fabrick of their Cause seems to depend Yet is this place so far from plainly asserting the
to the Doctrine of their Brethren express'd in the last Section They mock God to serve their own turns They profane the Sacred Function and make a trifle of the Sin They are the â—roublers of the People and the Subverters of Souls They are 〈◊〉 Impostors and Vsurpers of the Broad 〈◊〉 of Heaven They are the Disturbeâ—â— all Right and the Phaâ—ton's that burn 〈◊〉 the Spiritual World They 〈◊〉 themselves into a Trust even the 〈◊〉 Trust which was not committed to 〈◊〉 and therefore are to be reckon'd amongâ—â— those that are branded as 〈…〉 wicked and guilty of impudent â—â—â—cation If this sounds harsh I hope you will remember that it is the Language of your Brethren And if your Pastors would make fit Reflections on it I might hope that they would not esteem 〈◊〉 their Enemy for dealing plainly with them but rather be thankful for my Endeavours to save them with fear 〈◊〉 by a faithful representation of their Condition to bring them to Repentance I doubt many of them are hindred from this by their numerous Followers and therefore Charity does the more â—â—â—strain me to warn you not to be Partakers with them any longer in Dividing the Church not to assist or encourage them in giving such deep Wounds as they do to the Body of Christ There may be other Cases of Schism which are perplex'd and difficult but â—â—urs is not of that number For to sum up all 1. You have forsaken a Church to which by your own Confession your Conformity was Lawful You have abandon'd the whole Episcopal Communion and thereby in effect you renounced all Right to the Ministry and Sacraments 2. You have not only deserted those who by your own acknowledgment are Lawful Pastors but to their great Disturbance and a farther Breach of Unity you have brought within their Line and in opposition to them other Guides of your own chusing 3. These for the most part are such as had no Episcopal or Real Ordination So that you have exceeded the Novatians Donatists and Meletians who had their proper Bishops and these upon their Repentance of their Irregularities were received by the Church into the same Station which they possess'd before in the time of their Separation But no part of the Ancient Church ever admitted of a Pastor of your way None ever approv'd your Presbyterian and Popular Ordinations When one of the former sort did first appear it was condemn'd as null and void by the third Council of Alexandria And the other till of late was never heard of in the Christian World Thus have I laid before you a just Account of your State as you are divided from us and to clear it I have given you the true Character of your Preachers I mean as they are such and bear their part in the Schism It is only on this occasion that I have modled with them and now exhort you with all earnestness to depart from the Tents of those Men left ye be consumed in their Sins SECT IV. HAVING shew'd what Grounds I have to apprehend that you are deeply engaged in Schism I come now to examine the Arguments that have been offer'd on your part to excuse you from the guilt of it and I shall set them down in this Method I. It has been said That notwithstanding your present Separation from us yet you are One with us because we both adhere to the same Doctrine II. That in the Apostles Days there were Independent and Seperate Churches planted in the same City III. That Jesus Christ hath declar'd That when two or three are gather'd together in his Name there He is in the midst of them and that you assemble in this manner and are therefore assur'd of his favourable Presence IV. That Paul rejoyced that Christ was Preach'd even by those Men who did it out of Envy and Strife and if the case of your Teachers were as bad as this you have no reason to be solicitous about their Call nor we to be offended about their Work V. That you are only return'd to those whom you had forsaken before and that you might do this since you had the Indulgence or the Liberty granted to you by the Law VI. That the use which you make of this Liberty is not only Lawful but your Duty And that having your freedom you ought to make choice of the way of the Dissenters because you conceive it to be better than that of the Church and to be prefer'd before it as enjoying purer Ordinances as affording Communion with a better People and as most conducing to your Edification This I think is the Sum of what has been said in your Defence and whether it may sufficiently clear you from the imputation of Schism is the Subject of our present Enquiry I. It hath been said That notwithstanding your present Separation from us yet ye are One with us because we both adhere to the same Doctrine And I know nothing hath been more commonly urged of late in your Vindication So that we may seem to have gain'd this by your late Conformity that we are now treated with softer Language than formerly we were Yet the rude Assaults which before were so frequently made upon the Conformists by the Adversaries that call'd them Babylonish and Antichristian and thereby expos'd their own Malice or Folly did less hurt to the Church than this seeming compliance which would make Communion with it an indifferent thing and so dissolve its Government as I shall shew hereafter How far you are at an Agreement with us in Doctrine I know not But if the same be taught in your Meetings that is published by many of your Party in their Printed Books and even in their Catechisms I think it is liable to great Exceptions Yet if it were every way Pure and Apostolical and the very same with that of the Conformists Can this be a reason for your Desertion of them Or may not the same reason bring you back to them But I fear it is only to serve a Turn and to be laid aside on other occasions If you please to consult your Teachers and demand of them Whether you may not return to us Since as 't is thought your Doctrine is the same with ours doubtless they would press you to remain where you are They would thunder against Schism as others have done and terrifie you with the great Evil of Separation notwithstanding it lies at their own Door I am sure the Independants who made so light of Schism when they were drawing Congregations out of Congregations did afterwards endeavour to secure to themselves their own Proselites For they declare That when a Person was admitted into any of their Churches he might not remove from it to another Church without the consent of the former first sought and obtain'd But if that was deny'd and yet he would depart they would not detain him by violence nor make their Church a Prison to him However they would look on
him as a Heathen and Publican They would condemn him as a Breaker of the Everlasting Covenant or as one that like Annanias and Saphira lyed against the Holy Ghost And in the Heads of Agreement subscrib'd by your Ministers of different Sects they assert That a Visible Professor joyn'd to a particular Church ought to continue stedfastly with the said Church and not forsake the Ministry and Ordinances without an orderly seeking a Recommendation to another Church And say they in another place We ought not to admit any one to be a Member of our respective Congregations that hath joyn'd himself to another without endeavours of mutual satisfaction of the Congregations concern'd Here they give you some useful Hints which may intimate how requisite it is to review their Actions and your own For this may afford you matter of great Humiliation and be a means of your Conviction when you reflect how you did forsake our Churches without any permission granted by them or requested of them and how your Pastors receiv'd you without giving any satisfaction to those whom ye had deserted What your Teachers will say to this I know not but it seems they would have you believe that an Agreement with us in Faith is sufficient but an Union with them in Worship is necessary You may forsake us without any Permission but not depart from them without their Consent The Liberty they allow you in one case they take away in another and reject it as a thing not to be endured when it touches their own Constitution But not to insist farther on the Opinions and Practices of these Men I shall shew you what St. Cyprian and St. Chrysostom thought of the pretence for Church-Divisions which is now under consideration For they speak as home to it as if they had been directed by a Prophetick Spirit But the reason is because the Schismaticks in their Days excus'd themselves in the same manner as some of you have done And the same Plea being us'd by both you equally come under the same Confutation St. Cyprian speaking of the Novatians says It could not help them at all that they acknowledge God the Father the Son and Holy Spirit as we do For Korah Dathan and Abiram own'd the same God the only true God and as to the Law and Religion were on equal terms with Moses and Aaron yet being unmindful of their place and transgressing their Bounds they challenged to themselves the power of Sacrificing and then by a stroke from Heaven they suffered the punishment due to their unlawful Attempts And that it may be better understood what the Divine Judgment was against such presumption we find that not only the Captains and Leaders in Wickedness but also such as were partakers with them in it were condemn'd to suffer if they did not separate themselves from the Society of those Criminals By which Example it appears that all must be guilty and liable to punishment who with a profane rashness joyn themselves with Schismaticks against their Bishops and Priests As the Holy Spirit testifies by the Prophet Hosea saying Their Sacrifices shall be as the Bread of Mourning All that 〈◊〉 thereof shall be polluted Hereby teaching us that all who have been defil'd i◠Sin with their Leaders must be their Companions also in the Sufferings inflicted on them St. Chrysostome speaks more fully on this Subject and discourses of it to this effect A certain Holy Man said what seems very bold and yet he said it and it is that even the Blood of Martyrdom cannot wash away this Sin of Schism For tell me I pray you wherefore would you suffer Martyrdom Is it not for the Glory of Christ But if you would lay down your Life for Christ wherefore do ye lay waste the Church for which Christ died Hear what Paul speaks I am not meet to be call'd an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God But Persecution gives a greater lustre to the Church whereas Schism exposes it to shame amongst its Enemies This I speak to such as indifferently yield up themselves to the conduct of those that divide the Church Know ye not what Korah Dathan and Abiram suffered Or can ye be ignorant that they also perished that were with them Wherefore then do you say their Faith is the same with ours and they are Orthodox For if that be so why are they not with us If their Affairs succeed well ours must be in a bad posture and if ours prosper theirs must be calamitous And can you imagine I pray you it is sufficient to say that they are Orthodox if the Rights of Ordination be wanting or destroy'd What profit is there of other things if due care be not taken for This We ought to contend for it as we do for the Faith it self For if it be Lawful for any that will to fill their own Hands as the Ancients speak or to make themselves Priests in vain was this Altar built in vain is this full Assembly and this Company of Sacred Ministers is in vain also If any one make light of these Matters let him look to it How shall we bear the Derision of the Vnbelieving Greeks If they upbraid us with Heresies what will they not speak of these things If say they these Men have the same Opinions if they have the same Mysteries why does one thus leap into the place of another Do not ye see how all the Affairs of the Christians are fill'd with Vain-glory How Ambition and Deceit dwell amongst them but take away the Multitude from them and they are nothing Thus far that Excellent Father who hath more to the same purpose What I shall add will be farther to prove 1. That it is most Absurd to affirm that you are One with us being divided from us as you are 2. That the Pretence that Unity of Doctrine is sufficient to make us all one is inconsistent with Church-government and would be destructive of the Church it self 3. That it is inconsistent with the Notion of Schism as express'd in the Holy Scripture 4. That it would take away the Distinction which the Scripture makes between the Schismaticks and those that are Approved 1. It is most Absurd to affirm that you are One with us being Divided from us as you are I have proved that the Universal Church is a Political Body and that a Particular Church is so I think is generally granted And then if a Company withdraw themselves from it and shake off all Dependance on it and Communion with it they cannot be of the same Body which they deserted but being Associated together by themselves they become another The Empire of Persia was One Body under Darius but it was not so when it was divided into several Kingdoms under the Successors of Alexander A City is One Body yet if it sends out Colonies which afterwards are formed into Cities living by their own Laws having full Jurisdiction in themselves they
are no longer the same with the Metropolis from which they came And much less can it be said that some part of the Citizens shaking off their Obedience to their Governours and advancing others into their places are united to those from whom they made the Revolt Now a Church hath this common with a City and with all Corporations that if some of its Members withdraw themselves from it and make up a Separate Congregation according to your Model they are not then of the Community which they have deserted It is evident that they are of a Society which is opposite 〈◊〉 it and to say that they are One when the contrary is so visible to every Eye is to renounce the use of Words and to affront the Common Sense of Mankind 2. The Pretence that the Unity 〈◊〉 Doctrine is sufficient to make us all 〈◊〉 notwithstanding ye are so Divided from us is inconsistent with Church-Government and being admitted would be destructive of the Church it self Pretences like that would never be wanting if they might justifie the Seditious and it is easie to perceive what sad Effects they would produce If such as are mutinous in an Army should lay aside their Officers and put into then places others of their own chusing they might say in their own Vindication That under their present Commanders they acted according to the same Military Rules as they did before and therefore 't is all One which they obey'd If in a Kingdom or Common-wealth some of the Subjects upon any discontent should depose their Magistrates and elect others in their stead out of their own Company they might make the like defence and say that they had still the same Laws as before the Change and lived according to the Ancient Customs only the Administration of Affairs was put into other Hands which was not material If in a House some of the Children and Servants should conspire against the Father and Master of the Family and take into it another Person to be their Governour they might also plead for themselves that they receiv'd the same direction for Business as they had before and that their Work was still the same and therefore it was all one to whom they paid their Submission But 't is obvious that such an Army must be put into miserable Confusions that such a Kingdom would be brought to Desolation that such a House cannot stand And 't is no less manifest that if the People may forsake their Lawful Pastors and at their pleasure heap to themselves other Teachers if some Members of a sound Church may make a causeless Separation from it and joyn together in opposition it this would make all Church-Government a precarious and useless thing it would soon weaken the Church and push it on to destruction And it will be a vain Excuse for Men to say That they are at an Agreement with the Church in Doctrine when by their Divisions they are tearing the Church in pieces 3. The Pretence that you are free from the Guilt of Schism because you are of the same Faith with the Conformists is inconsistent with the Notion of Schism as it is express'd in the Holy Scripture It is plain from the Scripture and it is granted on all Hands that there was a Schism at Corinth But this was not about an Article of Faith or Matter of Doctrine What was laid to the Charge of the Dividers here is That every one said I am of Paul or I of Apollos or I of Cephas There is no doubt but all these three did teach the same Doctrine but the People were Schismatical and made use of those great Names to give reputation to their several Parties It may seem strange that some are censur'd for saying They were of Christ But I take the meaning to be this they profess'd themselves to be Followers of Christ but it was in opposition to his Ministers as some may pretend to be for the King when they affront those that are in Authority under him or they would be for him as the Head of their own Faction But all these are condemned as Carnal and as Dividers of Christ And this may let you see that their Offence was great notwithstanding the plausible things that on the account of the Excellent Yeachers to which they laid claim might be said in their defence Clemens Romanâ—â— a Fellow-labourer with St. Paul makes such use of this Passage as is very proper for your consideration For says he in an Epistle to the Corinthians Take into your Hands the Epistle of the Blessed Paul the Apostle What is it that he first wrote to you in the beginning of his Gospel Of a Truth he spiritually admonish'd you that there were then Factions among you cancerning himself and Cephas and Apollâ—s But siding or making a Party in that case was a less sin for your Inclinations were towards Apostles of known 〈◊〉 and a Man approved of them But now consider who they are that perverted and diminished the Venerable Esteem of your Brotherly Love which was commended every where Shameful Brethren very shameful is the Report and unworthy of the Christian Conversation that the most firm and ancient Church of Corinth for the sake of one or two Persons should be seditions against their Priests And the Fame of this is 〈…〉 come amongst us but amongst those that are otherwise affected So that because of your Madness the Lord's Name is blasphemed and great danger is created to your selves 4. The Pretence that you are free from the guilt of Schism because you are of the same Faith with the Conâ—â—â—mists takes away the distinction of the Schismatick from the Approved as will appear by considering the Case of both as it is represented in the Holy Scripture 1. It is evident from Scripture that the Approved who are the Beloved of God add this to the practice of other Duties that they live in Conformity to the Church and are of a Regular Behaviour in it There must be Heresies amongst you says the Apostle that they which are Approved may be made manifest among you That is as I noted before as long as Mens Minds are deprav'd there will be Divisions as there were at Corinth about Matters of Discipline and the Almighty permits this for the Tryal of his Servants that by the avoiding those things their Sincerity may be known that having this mark of Distinction upon them it might appear to all with whom they were conversant that they were of the Number of the faithful 2. From hence it is plain that the Dividers and Disturbers of the Church however they agree with it in Doctrine are not to be reckon'd amongst the Approved But it will yet be plainer if they proceed to a Separation from those that are so These Words of St. John which I also cited before are remarkable and pertinent to our purpose They went out from us says he but they were not of us For
separate and had no Communion with one another 6. In the time when this Division is suppos'd to have been between the Jewish and Gentile Converts single Persons successively govern'd the Church of Antioch and the like may be said of that of Rome as the Fathers inform us who liv'd near that Age. And it is well known that Cyprian Cornelim and Others did much insist upon this that of One Church or Diâ—â—ese there could be but One Bishop and we need not doubt but the Novatians against whom they argued would have reply'd That according to Apostolical Institution the Christians living in One City might have several Bishops over them had this been then believ'd But what was the sense of this Matter on both sides may be gathered from the Roman Confessors who had been for both but repenting of the Schism profess'd that they could not charge themselves with the Ignorance of this That as there is One God One Christ One Holy Spirit so there ought to be but One Bishop of a Catholick Church III. It hath been said That Jesus Christ hath declar'd That When two or three are gathered together in his Name he is in the midst of them and that you Assemble in this manner and are therefore assur'd of his favourable Presence But to this I need return no other Answer but what was given by St. Cyprian to the Novatians who objected the same thing These Corrupters of the Gospel and false Interpreters says Cyprian only lay held on the end of a Discourse and omit what went before Part they remember and part they craftily conceal As they are cut off from the Church so they would cut in pieces a passage of Scripture They forget that when our Lord would persuade his own Disciples to Vnanimity and Peace He said to them If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven And this he spake concerning his Church and to those that are in the Church he says That if they are of one Heart if according to his Command and Admonition but two or three of them are gathered together and pray unanimously they may obtain what they ask of the Divine Majesty Where two or three says he are gathered together in my Name I am with theme That is with the Sincere and Peaceable with those that fear God and keep his Precepts So that he that founded and made the Church doth not divide Men from it but upbraiding the Perfidâ—â—us with their Discord and commending Peace to the Faithful he shews that he is rather with two or three that pray in concerd than with the many that are at strife But what Peace do they promise themselves who are Enemies of the Brethren What Sacrifices do they believe they offer when they contend with the Priests Can they imagine that Christ is with them when they are Assembled out of his Church No tho' such Men were slain confessing his Name the blemish of Schism would not be wash'd off with their Blood IV. It hath been said That Paul rejoyced that Christ was Preach'd even by those Men who did it out of Envy and Strife and if the case of your Teachers were as bad as this as long as they preach Christ you have no reason to be solicitous about their Call nor we to be offended at their Work But to this I reply 1. That it does not appear that they who preach'd Christ out of Envy and Strife did take on them the Work of the Ministry without a Call to that Office And if they were lawfully admitted into it it only proves that Ill Men may be so and yet be useful to others but not that any may usurp the Sacred Function and how far this concerns your Teachers and their Followers I have shew'd before 2. Neither doth it appear that they Preach'd Christ to any other than the Infidels and this can never justifie your Pastors for gathering Disciples out of sound Churches or your selves for breaking the Bond of Peace in compliance with them It is one thing to add Members to a Church taken out of the Unbelieving World and for Members to withdraw themselves from it and joyn together in an Opposite Society 3. What the Apostle rejoyced at was the good that his Envyers did beside their intention The Benefit that did spring from the Evil they design'd and not the Evil that set them on Work So that notwithstanding this Example Envy and Strife are as hateful as ever and so are Church-Divisions and all things else condemn'd in the Gospel 4. What they acted out of Envy and Strife did no hurt to any but themselves 'T is true they were guilty of great Inhumanity and Cruelty towards St. Paul yet their Malice had no ill effect on him but rested on their own Heads How it was that they suppos'd that they should add Affliction to his Bonds is not so clear but that it hath given occasion to several Conjectures But to me it seems most probable that they emulated the Glory which he had acquir'd by many Conversions and judging of him by themselves they imagin'd it would be a grievous thing to him to hear that they shar'd with him in that Honour the Faith being propâ—â—gated by their Diligence Whereas iâ— was great satisfaction to him that when he was under Confinement they carried on the Work in which he himself should have been employ'd had he been at liberty Indeed their manner of doing it did exercise his Patience and Self denial yet even that was for his Advantage and he was assur'd that their Preaching would turn to his Salvation And as it was beneficial to him so it was also to the Church as being a means of gaining Proselytes and both to Jews and Gentiles as an Instrument of their Conversion But on the contrary Church-Divisions are prejudicial to all sorts of Persons to the Pastors of the Church and to the Flock To those that are within the Church and to those that are without This I might fully prove but I refer it to a more proper place and shall only here set down the Words of the Lord Chancellor Bacon who says in his Essays That Heresies and Schisms are of all others the greatest Scandals yea more than Corruption of Manners For as in the Natural Body Wound or Solution of Continuity is 〈◊〉 than a corrupt Humour so in the Spiritual So that nothing doth so much keep Meâ—â— out of the Church and drive Men out of the Church as breach of Vnity V. It hath been said That you are only return'd to those whom you had forsaken before and that you might do this since you had the Indulgence or the Liberty granted to you by the Law But if your Separation was sinful before you Conform'd your Return to it must be so too For the Law hath not alter'd the Case nor done
Secular Princes but I am sure I do them no wrong in asserting That they cannot make Schism to be Ecclesiastical Vnion or Vnion to be Schism or either of them to be a thing indifferent They cannot make Falshood to be Truth or Truth Falshood but each of these must remain the same that it was be their Edicts for it or against it They may not call evil good and good evil They may not put darkness for light and light for darkness VI. It hath been said That the use which you make of the Liberty which is now granted is not only lawful but your Duty 〈◊〉 And that having your freedom you ought to make choice of the way of the Dissenters because you conceive it to be better than that of the Church and to be prefer'd before it But the Foundation of this is already remov'd for I have prov'd that the Law hath granted you no such Immunities as you imagine and notwithstanding you are now possess'd of them yet is your Separation sinful as it was before It ought not therefore to be matter of your choice upon the prospect of any Advantages whatsoever We ought indeed to desire and seek after the most excellent things but we must do it in a suitable way What we are infinitely to value above other things is the Favour of God But we may not speak wickedly for God nor talk deceitfully for him We may not do evil that good may come Nor may any real good be expected from evil which can bring forth no such Fruit. In such cases the End cannot sanctifie the Means but the Means would pollute the whole Action and not only frustrate our hopes but bring on us a just Condemnation I come now to the Reasons mention'd before which some have given for preferring the way of the Separation before that of the Church They tell us I. That you enjoy it in purer Ordinances II. That is affords you Communion with a better People III. That it most conduces to your Edification All which Pretences are cut off by the sinfulness of the Separation it self to which those Priviledges are ascrib'd and therefore I might dismiss them without farther consideration But so much is built upon them that I thought fit to bring them under a distinct Examination I. It hath been said That in the way of Separation you enjoy purer Ordinances Ordinances that are freer from Ceremony and the addition of things not commanded that set you at a greater distance from Popery and are therefore the more to be esteem'd But the weakness of this way of arguing will appear if you reflect on the Absurdities which they fall into who would exclude from Religion all things not commanded and make the greatest distance from the Church of Rome the Standard of the best Reformation These Men tell us That the Churches built before the Reformation ought to be level'd with the Ground as Monuments of Idolatry That they can never be purged till they are laid in heaps as their younger Sisters the Abbacies were That they are Idol-Temples nay Idols themselves Execrable things to be demolish'd or avoided Unclean things not to be touch'd The Mark of the Beast not to be receiv'd That the Bells are to be broken as Popish Reliques and to be detested as Abominable Idols which the Law of God devotes to Destruction That Catechisms were to be rejected as Apocryphal things and that Psalms in Meter were to be rank'd with pleasant Ballads and that being song out of a Book either in Verse or Prose they are Idolatry That Books and Writings are of the Nature of Pictures and Images and that therefore the Holy Scriptures are not to be retain'd before the Eyes in the time of Spiritual Worship That Book-Prayer in that Worship is Man's Invention and a breach of the Second Commandment and that Prayer-books and stinted Prayers are indeed Idols Thâ—â— to look on the Book in the time of Singing and Preaching is Idolatrous and that if our Littaâ—â— were the best that ever was devis'd by Mortal Man yet being brought into the Church yea even into a private House and read out of a Book it would be as an Abominable Sacrifice in the Sight of God and even as a dead Dog That they that use the Lord's Prayer at the close of their own are gross Idolaters and that they that Uncover their Heads at the Lord's Supper are Idolaters also and joyn their own Posts and Thresholds with the Lord's And lastly that Idolaters are to be put to Death according to the Judicial 〈◊〉 of Moses which they say still binds all the Nations of the World So that the greatest Potentates on Earth cannot dispense with it but ought to execute the Will of God according to his Word These are some of the Assertions of the more Rigid Separatists which I have not produc'd with an intent to reproach you who I believe abhot them but only to let you see that as those Sectaries were deluded by this False Principle that whatsoever in the Worship of God is not commanded by himself especially if it has been abus'd by the Pipists is sinful and execrable so you are in danger of being led into grievous Mistakes if you entertain a Perswasion that that is the purest Church or Society which hath the lowest Ceremonies not enjoyn'd in Scripture This may easily be gather'd from the Influences already mention'd but I leave them to your own Application 'T is true and it is generally acknowledg'd by the Conformists that nothing is to be receiv'd as an Article of Faith that is not reveal'd in Scripture Nor is any thing to be admitted as an Essential part of Divine Worship that is not the Subject of a Divine Precept But external Rites and Circumstances of Worship are of another Nature and being not forbidden of God expresly or by consequence are not sinful For where there is no Law there is no Transgression But about this I suppose we are agreed And if you thought our Ceremonies which are innocent in themselves so great a burthen for their number that to ease your seves of it you must desert our Communion as soon as you had opportunity I intreat you to consider how very few were required of you as Private Men and how impossible it would be to preserve Peace and Order in the Church if for such things it may be divided and all be put into confusion In the Primitive Church as many Ceremonies were used as now are required by the Church of England and if they are now sufficient to excuse your Desertion they would have justified a Separation from the best Christians in the Purest Ages Even in the Apostles Days several things were appointed and practis'd and for some time were not to be neglected or omitted which yet were only Temporary Institutions and not design'd to be of Perpetual Obligation Such were the Feasts of Charity and the Kiss of Peace as also the Womans Veil by which
her Head and Face were cover'd in sign of her Subjection And if the Church had Power to lay aside such Rites so it hath power also to appoint others of the like Nature and is obliged to do so upon emergent occasions as Christian Prudence may direct Particular Ceremonies are liable to such alterations that when they have been expressive of respect in one Age or Country they become Instances of the contrary in another But there are Rules about them that are constant and certain in all Times and Places 1. It is certain that the Publick Worship of God ought to be celebrated with such Ceremonies as are suitable to the Dignity and Solemnity of the Work and agreeable to the general directions of the Holy Scripture 2. According to the Holy Scripture the Ceremonies that are us'd in the Church ought to be expressive of some Duty So were they that I produced from Scripture such were also the smiting on the Breast the lifting up the Hands in Prayer Kneeling on the same occasion and the putting on some New Garment at the time of Baptism All which things are recommended or alluded to as things approved in Scripture And one of these was a visible sign of Contrition and Indignation against Sin another of the elevation of the Mind to Heaven the third of Humiliation the fourth of putting on Christ or the New Man This may shew how weak the Objection is against our Rites that they are Symbolical for if they were otherwise they would be disagreeble to the Holy Scripture and signifying nothing they would be good for nothing but were fit to be rejected as useless and impertinent 3. The Holy Scripture directs us in general to do all things decently and in order To distinguish between our own Houses and the Churches of God To glorifie him with our Bodies as well as our Spirits and particularly it requires us to Worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker 4. That External Rites be significant and decent there ought to be some Conformity between them and the End for which they were appointed Yet for those that use them it is not always necessary to know the reasonableness of their Instituion They may take an Oath safely by kissing the Book who know nothing of the Original of that Ceremony nor are satisfied of the fitness of it Whatsoever it had at first Custome hath now impress'd a fitness on it and it signifies a Solemn Appeal to God the Searcher of Hearts as much as Words could do and is by the Law prefer'd before them 5. The significancy of Ceremonies and the Measures of Decency are to be taken from Custome which gives Rules not only for speaking but also for Actions Habits and Gestures Thus as by Custome the putting off the Hat bowing and kneeling are Marks of Reverence amongst Men so they are in our Addresses to God Indeed the Uncovering of the Head was formerly a Badge of Authority But Custome hath quite alter'd that signification and yet hath made it fit to be retain'd for another and I think you have no exception against our using of it at present as a sign of our Veneration and Subjection to the Almighty 6. The more early that a Ceremony was us'd and the longer it hath remain'd the more universally it hath been receiv'd and approv'd especially by good Men and the greater good it is expressive of the fitter it is for continuance And this may be said for the Sign of the Cross which hath been much oppos'd by the Separatists That in the next Age after the Apostles if not in their Days it was every where in use amongst the Christians who testified by it to the World that they were not asham'd of the Cross of Christ but rather gloried in it and were ready to suffer for it So that it was a compendious Confession of their Faith or a Visible Creed in which they declar'd to the Eye the same Truth and their Resolution to adhere to it that by Words they profess'd to the Ear. And if this last way ought to be approved the other may not be condemn'd nor was it by any but the Infidels or open Enemies of the Gospel From the Primitive Church it was transmitted down to our own and being freed by our Reformers from the Abuses which Superstition had added to it by the way it is prescrib'd in our Liturgy in the Office of Baptism as signifying the Dedication of the Baptized to him that Died on the Cross for them We have good reason therefore not to lay aside a Ceremony that is come to us thus recommended and is so suitable to the end for which it was employ'd As for those that cast it out as an Idol they must excuse us that we cannot comply with them in reproaching as Idolaters innumerable Saints and Martyrs that are now with God And that being no Enemies to the Cross of Christ we do not abhor the Sign of it 7. It follows from what went before that when things indifferent are against Custome they are also against Decency and to be avoided For a Man to wear Long Hair had no Moral Evil in it nor had the Scripture decided any thing about it yet the Apostle condemn'd it as shameful and against the Dictate of Nature Not as if it was forbidden by any Law of Nature strictly so call'd but the meaning is it was against Custome which is a Law in such cases It is no small matter then to oppose the Customs that have been universally receiv'd and long continued in the Churches as the Separatists have done whilst they have been labouring to advance their own Discipline which till of late was never heard of in any part of the World Charity would teach them not to behave themselves so unseemly But if they will not learn that Lesson nor cease to be Contentious but obtrude on us their own Novelties it may be sufficient for us to say That we have no such Customs neither the Churches of God 8. It also follows from what was said before that things which according to Custome are signs of Irreverence amongst Men are marks of Prophaneness and Contempt when they are us'd towards the Almighty If ye offer the Blind for Sacrifice is it not Evil And if ye offer the Lame and Sick is it not Evil Offer it now to thy Governour will he be pleased with thee or accept thy Person Saith the Lord Amighty Mal. 1. 8. And this may afford us very useful Advice for from hence it is clear that if we rudely rush into his presence without any thing of Ceremony if we refuse him all outward Respect when he speaks to us in the Assemblies of his People and will not bow the Knee when we put up our Prayers to him but call on him in the same Posture as we would talk to our Servants we affront him in such a Behaviour as we would not offer to our Governour and
may justly fear that he will punish our Insolence and Presumption If you lay these things together you may find that what you call the Purity of your Ordinances is their defect That you have acted against the known Rules of Christianity in rejecting the laudable Customs of Antiquity and of the Church which you have deserted and that the way which you have forsaken expressing much more Reverence to the Almighty than that in which ye are now engaged is for that reason to be prefer'd before it As for outward Bodily Worship it is particularly forbidden by the Directory at one time and never so much as recommended at any time nor do I find that it is as much as permitted in any part of the Publick Service I know not whether kneeling be at all used in your Meetings but I have reason to think it is not much And yet you cannot be ignorant that it is a fit Gesture for Prayer and I suppose in your Family-Prayers you do not reject it But if this be so it may seem strange that you should think the House of your Publick Worship the only place wherein you would shew Irreverence to the Divine Majesty I need not here treat of all the particulars in debate between us but one thing I will not omit because it demonstrates to the Separatists the weakness of their Exceptions against the Ceremonies of the Church and shews the Irreverence that is us'd in your Meetings in a thing of very great moment What I mean is the Lord's Supper which in your way is appointed to be received Sitting But is there any Precept for this in Scripture Or if none can be found is it not against the Second Commandment Is it not an Idol That is the way of reasoning us'd by many Dissenters and this instance may shew them the folly of it To make up this matter Mr. Cotton gives us a reason for sitting at the Sacrament which is that it is of Symbolical use to teach the Church their Majority over their Ministers who if they be their true Pastors are over them in the Lord. He also tells us That Christ administred it to his Disciples sitting but the Learned amongst you will inform you that this is a mistake Others contend that a Table-gesture is to be us'd but neither hath this any ground in Scripture It is certain the matter is not decided there and if it were not determin'd by our Superiours the best way would be to enquire which Gesture would be most expedient for so great a Solemnity Now your Table-gesture being the same that you use at home in your own Houses seems very unfit for a Religious Feast at which we are entertain'd by the Almighty King the Lord of Men and Angels It argues a great piece of Familiarity with him which he hath no where approv'd He hath no where requir'd you to sit down but ye will do it without his Call And if this seems decent and respectful Offer the like to your Governour Will he be pleased with it or accept your Persons The Publican that would not so much as lift up their Eyes to Heaven but smote upon their Breast did that which was suitable to his Condition But your Behaviour at the Sacrament is very different for rejecting the several Gestures which are expressive of Reverehce you only admit of that which hath nothing in it of Respect and which you would not presume to use before a Governour without his express Command or Invitation As for the Gesture of Kneeling I think it is very proper for this occasion It is fit that we should be then in a Posture of Praying when we joyn with the Minister in the Petition That the Body and Blood of Christ may preserve our Bodies and Souls unto Eternal Life And since Christ is to be Worshipped surely it is very fit that we pay Him our Adoration when He comes to consign over to us the Inestimable Benefits of His Cross and Passion And now I leave you to judge with which of us this Ordinance is celebrated with greater Reverence or in a Way more suitable to the Dignity of so Venerable a Mystery Or which of us does most appear to discern the Lord's Body II. It hath been said That the Way of the Separation affords you Communion with a better People than those which you have deserted And not to enquire how justly this Comparison is made Partial as it appears but to make as short Work as may be I think we may agree in this That the Conforming Churches consist of a Mixture of Good and Bad Men. And since the last are not excluded the Question is Whether this justifies your Separation For if That be Sinful the Pretence of your joyning with a better People must fall to the Ground And so I might dismiss this Debate having said enough for the Decision of it before Yet to set the present Case in a clearer Light I shall further shew 1. That for Private Persons to withdraw themselves from a Church because Ill Men are tolerated in it and that they may form a Purer Congregation consisting only of Visible Saints as they call them is not according to Scripture but directly against it 2. If it were admitted it would be attended with great Evils 1. It is not according to Scripture which indeed gives us an Account of the Corruptions and want of Discipline in many Churches yet says not a Word to justifie a Separation from them but much for the Condemnation of it whatsoever might be pleaded in its Defence To give an Instance out of many In the Church at Corinth the Incestuous Man who had committed a Crime that was not so mnch as Nam'd among the Gentiles was tolerated and they mourned not that he might have been taken away from among them Besides him there were many others that were guilty of great Immoralities and the Apostle was afraid that he should have cause to bewail them as not having repented of the Vncleanness Fornication and Lasciviousness which they had committed He complains of their going to Law before the Vnjust Brother with Brother before the Vnbelievers He complains of their Irregularities in their Assemblies and Disorders in their Feasts of Love One he says was Hungry and another was Drunken And such were their Miscarriages even at their Meetings for Religious Worship that he declares their coming together was not for the better but for the worse Now here was a very sad Face of Affairs And what Remedy doth the Apostle apply on this occasion Doth he say That their Constitution was dissolv'd and they were no longer a Church Or doth he say That the better part should desert the worse and make up a Church by themselves consisting only of Visible Saints No such matter He considers them all together as a Society gather'd out of the World and Consecrated to God and addresses his first Epistle to them in this Style To the Church
were guilty of great Immoralities for it would be easie for them to recriminate and the truth is there have been and are on both sides great Numbers of Men notoriously Vicious but we must leave them to bear their own burthen Offences will come and such there were in the Apostles Days in the Churches at Corinth and Philippi in the Churches of the Galatians and in all the Seven Churches of Asia Yet on that occasion no allowance was given to any of the Faithful to withdraw themselves from the Publick Assemblies It is therefore to be suppos'd that you can prove some very hainous thing not only against particular Persons who profess themselves Conformists but against the Conforming Churches as such some great thing for which they ought to be forsaken or you are very injurious to them in your desertion of them For by this you do what in you lies to dishonour them and to fix a publick Disgrace or Infamy upon them in the Eye of the World It is now your Business to exalt the Societies with which you are at present in Communion as well as to depress those which you have deserted a thing very usual in such cases But that you may state the Account aright when you are comparing the Old Churches with the New as they are call'd you ought carefully to examine whether the last be Churches in reality or in Name only Whether any of your Pastors have Right to exercise their Office in the Separate Way and whether the far greater part of them are not meer Usurpers that have no just Title to the Ministry and the Administration of the Sacraments All these are things of great weight and what I said before may help you in your Enquiries into them and convince you if you please to consider it attentively that you have been mistaken about them and that where you thought your selves safe you are in great danger You have seen some of the sad effects of your Separation upon a Pretence of joyning with a better People Yet I have the Charity to believe that you expected much good Fruit from it But had you consulted Mr. Baxter he would have instructed you better for he says That to Reform the Church by dividing it is no wiser than to cut out the Liver or Spleen or Gall to cleanse them from the Filth that doth obstruct them and hinder them in their Office You may indeed thus cleanse them but it will be a Mortal Cure As he that should divide the Kingdom into two Kingdoms dissolveth the old Kingdom or part of it at least to erect two new ones So he that would divide the Catholick Church into two must thereby destroy it if he could succeed or destroy that part which divideth it self from the rest Can a Member live that is cut off from the Body or a Branch that is separated from the Tree And to these Questions I shall leave you to reply III. It hath been said That the Way of the Separatists conduces more to your Edification and that if you would provide what is best for your Bodies you ought more especially to do so for your Souls That you are more Edified by the Dissenting Ministers than by the Conforming Clergy and think it requisite to be Hearers of those by whom you profit most And this I confess is Popular and affords a very ready Answer such as it is to the strongest Arguments that can be produced against you But that you may not be too confident of it the Assembly of Divines tell you that the gathering of Churches out of Churches hath no footsteps in Scripture is contrary to Apostolical Practice is the scattering of Churches the Daughter of Schism the Mother of Confusion but the Step-Mother to Edification Mr. Baxter also says That Divisions among Christians do greatly hinder the Edification of the Members of the Church While they are possess'd of Envyings and Distast of one another they lose all the benefit of each others Gifts and of that Holy Communion which they should have with one another And they are possess'd with that Zeal and Wisdom which James calleth Earthly Sensual and Devilish which corrupteth all their Affections and turneth their Food to the Nourishment of their Disease and maheth their very Worshipping of God to become the increase of their Sin Where Divisions and Contentions are the Members that should grow up in Humility Meekness Self-denial Holiness and Love do grow in Pride and perverse Disputings and passionate Strivings and envious Wranglings The Spirit of God departeth from them and an Evil Spirit of Malice and Vexation taketh place though in their Passion they know not what Spirit they are of Whereas if they be of one Mind and live in Peace the God of Love and Peace will be with them To speak more distinctly to this Matter I shall enquire I. What is the True Notion of Edification II. What you understand by it and whether you rightly judge how it is best promoted III. Whether according to your sense of it it be a good Rule that you may or ought to follow those Teachers by whom you can most be Edified IV. Whether this may justifie your present Separation I. I am first to enquire What is the True Notion of Edification And to clear this it is to be consider'd that the word which is Literally render'd Building is often in the Holy Scripture applied to Spiritual Matters and being taken in a good Sense as commonly it is it signifies the Advancement of Persons in some Spiritual Good And to Edifie them is to do that Work of Charity whereby we become beneficial to their Souls Knowledge puffeth saith the Apostle but Charity Edifieth 1 Cor. 8. 1. Comfort your selves together and Edifie one another 1 Thes 5. 11. Let no corrupt Communication proceed out of your Mouth but that which is good to the use of Edifying that it may minister Grace to the Hearers Ephes 4. 29. Let us follow after things which make for Peace and things wherewith one may Edifie another Rom. 14. 19. Let every one please his Neighbour for his good to Edification Rom. 15. 2. In which places it is the Edifying of our Neighbours that is required of us and that of our selves is never enjoyn'd under this Expression nor can it well be sought but in conjunction with the Publick good 'T is true St. Paul tells us That he that speaketh in an unknown Tongue Edifieth himself 1 Cor. 14. 4. But this is mention'd but as a mean use of his Gift and one that Prophefied and instructed others was for this reason prefer'd before him For says the Apostle Greater is he that Prophesieth than he that speaketh with Tongues except he Interpret that the Church may receive Edifying 1 Cor. 14. 5. It is certain that the Business of Edification duly managed hath a principal regard to the Church And by how much more any thing is beneficial to that by so much more it ought to be
esteem'd Forasmuch says the Apostle as ye are zealous of Spiritual Gifts seek that ye may excel to the Edifying of the Church 1 Cor. 14. 12. There is no doubt to be made but the use of this Word Edification is taken from another Metaphor which signifies the Church For the Church being in Scripture call'd a House and the Members of it being said to be Living Stones the adding to it such Materials and the polishing and perfecting those that are in it are the Edification of it This House is already built and established upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone But it is not as yet finish'd nor will it compleatly be so till the end of the World And we shall be reckon'd amongst the Builders or Edifiers of it if we repair its Breaches if we enlarge it or raise it higher or contribute any thing to its strength or splendor That is if we bring new Proselytes into the Church or confirm those that are in it if we are instrumental in the Conversion of some or in advancing any in Knowledge and Piety in Faith and Practice Without Practice there is no true Edification but all that are duly exercis'd in Holiness are perfected by it and others are invited and drawn into the Church by their Example The Churches says St. Luke had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were Edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost were multiplied Acts 9. 31. The Church in many respects may be compar'd to a House but more especially for the Vnity and Order of Building But on both these I have treated before and what I shall add will only be farther to explain what is meant by Edification and to remove the Mistakes about it 1. Vnity is required in this Spiritual House and all the parts of it ought to be compacted like those of an Artificial Building or a Natural Body The more they are so the better they are prepar'd for Edification and Improvement in things Divine They are call'd to Peace in One Body and being knit together in it they increase with the Increase of God Coloss 2. 19. As Divisions are the cause of Weakness and Deformity in this Body so on the contrary Vnion helps to strengthen and adorn it Thus when the Schism which I mention'd before was broken out amongst the Corinthians The Vile or Ignoble on that occasion rose up against the Honourable Persons of no Reputation against those that were highly esteem'd the Foolish against the Wise and Young Men against the Aged For which cause Justice and Peace were far from them Every one did forsake the Fear of God and in his Faith became blind None of them lived according to the Rule of his Precepts or walked worthy of Christ But they all followed their own depraved Lusts having taken up an Unjust and Impious Envy by which Death entred into the World This is the Account that Clemens Romanus gives of them But he also acquaints us that when they were United Their Piety was wonderful their Hospitality magnificent and their Knowledge perfect That they were all of an humble Mind boasting of nothing more willing to be subject than to govern and to give rather than receive That they were content with the Portion which God had allotted to them and carefully attending to his Word That they had Hearts enlarged with Mercy and that before their Eyes they had the Sufferings of Christ That a profound and advantageous Peace being given to them they had an insatiable desire of doing good and that then there was upon them all a plentiful Effusion of the Holy Spirit That being fill'd with Holy Purposes they did with chearfulness and a pious Confidence stretch forth their Hands to Almighty God beseeching him to be merciful to them if unwillingly they sinned against Him That their care was Day and Night for the whole Brotherhood that through the Mercy of God and a Good Conscience the Elect might be saved That they were Sincere and Inoffensive and forgetful of Injuries and that all Sedition and all Schism was then abominable to them That they lamented the Faults of their Neighbours and esteem'd the Wants of Others as their Own That they were firm and steady in doing good and forward to every good Work That they were adorn'd with a Conversation altogether Vertuous and Venerable and did all things in the fear of God whose Commandments were written upon the Tables of their Heart By this and many other Examples it appears that the Unity of the Christians is highly beneficial to them And we may add That it also promotes the Edification of the Church by the strong Inducement it affords to those that are without to embrace the Christian Faith and become Members of the same Community They will see says Mr. Baxter that the Design and Doctrine of Christianity is good and excellent beseeming God and desirable to Man when they see it does produce such good Effects as the Love and Vnity and Concord of Manknd And it is an exceeding great and powerful help to the Conversion of the World in this respect because it is a thing so conspicuous in their sight and so intelligible to them and so approved by them They are little wrought on by the Doctrine of Christ alone because it is visible or audible but to few and understood by fewer and containeth many things which Nature doth distaste But the Holy Concord of Believers is a thing that they are more able to discern and judge of and do more generally approve The HOLY CONCORD of Christians must be the CONVERSION of the Unbelieving World if God have so great a Mercy for the World which is a Consideration that should not only deter us from Division but make us zealously study and labour with all our Interest and Might for the healing of the Lamentable Divisions amongst Christians if we have the Hearts of Christians and any sense of the Interest of Christ 2. The Church resembles a House in Order And Order is to be observ'd in all our Endeavours for the Edification of it This Living Building resting upon Christ and being fitly framed together groweth unto One Holy Temple in the Lord. And as an Organical Body being fitly joyned together and computed by every Ministring Joynt supplying something according to its Power in proportion to the other parts it increaseth to the Edifying of it self in Love Mr. Baxter says very well That Enemies both Spiritual and Corporal are deterred from assaulting the Church or any of its Members while they see us walk in our Military Vnity and Order In this posture every Man is a Blessing and Defence unto his Neighbour As every Soldier hath the benefit of all the Conduct Wisdom and Valour of the whole Army while he keepeth in his place so every weak Christian hath the use and