VI. and when but a Child and which I remember is objected by Parsons the Jesuit in his Three Conversions of England and we are risked sufficiently for it nor without cause if true without rejecting Doctor Stillingfleets M SS and which tells us that both State and Church met at Windsor in his days and determined it otherwise and that the original and full Power of the Priesthood was in him the Prince as now abiding upon Earth next under Christ But how is it that I have really dealt with these two Doctors being engaged in a Treatise the result of the course of my Studies I met among several others them my Adversaries as I did those others so also I detected their Errors refuted their Reasons repelled their Arguments and voided their Autorities in that particular as well as I could and is not this what every Body does under these like Circumstances or did ever any Man engage upon a Subject and not take notice of the known and obvious opposers and thwarters of him surely never and I have this to say for my self that I have never made one reflexion upon either of them but where my subject directly engaged me to it nor is there any thing that is Personal and Foreign that I have meddled withal As for their Eminency in the Church and Controversies that are of high concern among us and which they have discharged with a general applause I have not any ways endeavoured an abatement of their Merit but this was so far from being an Argument or but Motive to me that I was not to encounter them on this Subject that it mostly prevailed with me to do it doth the King of Israel go out as against a Flea nor do those of meaner Order and Quality undertake that Autority which is in it self none falls of it self to the ground nor was ever influential upon any and had I had no sense of the mischief in points of so great concern that must necessarily accrue to the Church of God under such their Autorities in future ages especially I had wholly passed them by untouched and uncanvassed as the Combination expected and require What is farther urged that we are not to create differences among our selves and that we have Enemies enough abroad is most true but that which makes our Enemies abroad is that we do not unanimously assert and vindicate the one Faith and Truth that we countenance those among our selves which violate it where divisions already made and other Doctrines brought in this is the rule of St. Paul Mark such and his Practice is the same upon the Rule and James and Cephas and John who seemed to be somewhat and Pillars were withstood to the face by him and the same Practice is every where in the Christian Church apparent I 'le only add this one thing more Whatever my first Error was in designing this my Collection for the Press without their Approbation and it appears they thought it my Duty to do otherwise they had my Copy a full quarter of a year in their hands and I am informed did Transcribe what seemed for their advantage but never had I any notice any ways of my great mistake that it might be Corrected or not Printed and whether what I have answered be of force that I burn my Papers I durst appeal to an easie Consideration or why did not the two Deans themselves inform me better when I addressed my self to each of them in a distinct Letter and begg'd the favour that I might know what my fault was and which the Injury that I had done I have been credibly told that they said my style was rough and haughty and therefore they would not answer I confess I did not consider them in their stalls and where I always pay that regard the Secular Power requires and which alone places them there but as stating to them a Point of Divinity or which is more a Case of Conscience where Truth only is to be respected and with a thorow Severity and any thing but like a Complement is not to have place But whatever my Letter was and however they scorn to answer it I am not ashamed here to Print it in the very words I sent it to each of them apart only the Site of their Names is changed as was the particular Address Reverend Sir I Am very well assured that you are not Ignorant nor indeed can you be of some Papers of mine that have been in so many Mens hands and more Months in London since the beginning of last Winter and design'd for the Press as also of the Reasons why they are not yet Printed viz. Some Reflexions upon your Self and the Dean of St. Paul's I am mightily satisfied with mine own Integrity in that Design and Action and besides it was never yet objected by any of those worthy Persons who have read the Discourse that the Cause was not useful and seasonable or that I had betray'd it in general or any one ways injur'd you in any one relation and yet it is you two that are Pleaded as the very occasion that they remain still in the M SS I do therefore once more deal with you plainly and sincerely thô with a due regard to your accidental Dignities and in which you are my Superiors as a Christian Brother and fellow Presbyter and whose Conscientious Zeal for the Cause of God's Church Catholick and this its particular live Member here in England may be supposed as much and as duly bottomed as another Mans or Member of it and thus with all Humility address my self unto you Either I have done you Injury or I have not if I have condescend but in Charity to give me the particulars and you will oblige me in abundance I 'le be so hold to say you never obliged any man more and my Acknowledgment and Submission shall be equally real and hearty if I have not and all is said of you be true i. e. your own Words and Sense you to this day own and assent to it or you do not if you do what Injury can I now have done you in Publishing your own Words and Sense if you do not you ought to have satisfied the Church of God by a Recantation as Publick as your Error Scandal and Offence the alone way to prevent such Reflexions from those with whom you converse only in your Writings nor can any man otherwise be blame-worthy that makes them Be pleased to consider you have not erred in the Leniora Evangelii and the Point is Whether God has a Church on Earth with its peculiar appropriated Power or not and the Laws of God his Church and all Christian Kingdoms require of you at once its Acknowledgment You are not Ignorant what Pleas are made for Errors against the Church and of the Dammages accrew to her by haling in particular Doctors if but leaning that way and seeming such as their Abettors and Avouchers and this by how much greater such Doctors
Calvin and Beza themselves did not believe to he in any other on Earth besides that trick that all Power was radically and virtually in the Presbyters Orders was not then invented and their pretended Power must be either of Man or from Heaven there can be but one of these two ways proposed the one failing the other must be introduced otherwise there must be an universal failure of the Power it self and therefore they are sent as was Christ Jesus as were his Apostles and the Disciples in the Acts and so necessary is it that Calvin still go for an Apostle by all such as now claim a Succession from him 'T is soundly as well as wittily argued by the Author of those Questions and Answers going under the name of Justin Martyr Respons ad Quest 78. ad Orthodox the Child which was illegitimate by Bathsheba died God would not have Christ descend in the Flesh but by such as were born to David by lawful Marriage his descent as the Son of David was to be in the legally received way and such are to be his descents according to the Spirit it is by a due and regular course and succession he devolves and continues his Power amongst us is his Kingdom supported And though there has been several cases in Church Story and Plea's and Bandyings about the validity of Ordinations and some Irregularities as to Canon have been passed by and the Ordination notwithstanding admitted but yet where it plainly appear'd that the Person ordaining was no Bishop himself nor receiv'd that Power by a devolved Succession which he pretended to give to others all debates presently ended the Ordination was I cannot say nulled and voided because declared to be none at all as in the case of Maximus Cynicus Can. 4. Conc. 2. Gen. Constantinop for this it is Socrates Hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 27. tells us that Ischyras was reputed worthy of many Deaths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that having attained to no one degree of the Priesthood he durst attempt to officiate in holy Things no one Plea of Necessity or Circumstance whatever could gain a liberty for this or but a connivance In some cases the Canons were dispensed with and in time of Persecutions Bishops might attend and officiate in foreign Ordinations and so they did as we read in Sozomen Hist Eccl. l. 7. cap. the common safety and succession of the Church was their great aym and particular Rules and Canons had no force in such cases Thus we read Can. 2. Conc. 2. Gen. Constantinop of some distant barbarous Countries which had no Bishops planted among them and there it was lawful for any Bishop to Ordain that they could either procure or of himself would take the pains And so it appears also from Can. 102. Conc. Carthag that several discerptions and regions there were which had not their proper Bishops and the same in all probability was the case of the Church of Carthage an account of which we have from Victor in his History De Persecutione Vandalorum l. 2. pag. 627. as bound up with the tripartite History who tells us there was no Bishop there for twenty four years together till Zeno the Emperor interposed with Hunnericus the King of the Vandals who had invaded Africa and Eugenius was consecrated their Bishop and this the London Ministers have observ'd to our hands in their Divine right of the Evangelical Ministry cap. 5. pag. 80. with what Zeal and how many Miles some have travelled for Episcopal Ordination and that our Neighbours in Scotland did not do the same admitting what is pretended that once they had only Presbyters among them I could never yet meet with any thing to convince us Sure I am their having none of their own does not imply they used none the instances above given refute a necessity of that or if they did not but consecrated one another such as urge it a Pattern to all Christian Churches ought first to have given the world Satisfaction that it was not their imperfection their guilt and indeed Insolency and Usurpation in so doing But when Musaeus and Eutichianus who were no Bishops had ordained and Gaudentius the Bishop of the place did contend to have their Ordinations valid and confirm'd by that Synod and gave the very same reason why it should be confirmed because at that time Troubles and Seditions were many and there seemed a necessity for what they had done his Reasons were not accepted of Necessity and other accidents do plead for and excuse what is only uncanonical but where want of Power in general it does not And Hosius that most Holy and Reverend Bishop stood up and publickly declared in the Council that we ought indeed all to be quiet and meek and to contend for it but neither Eutichianus nor Musaeus were Bishops had any Power at all for what they pretended and therefore their Consecration was invalid and themselves were only to be admitted into Lay Communion of all which who so pleases may have an account Can. 18 19. Conc. Sardic with the Scholia's of Balsamon and Zonaras and the Annotations of William Beveridge these are certain Rules Habere namque aut tenere Eccelsiam nullo modo potest qui Ordinatus in Ecclesia non est he cannot any ways have or hold a Place in the Church who is not ordained in the Church Cypr. Ep. 76. Sine successione Sacerdotum totus ordo cadit without a succession of Priests the whole Order falls St. Jerome lib. 2. adv Lucifer Tom. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the Succession is cut off a Communication of the Holy Ghost ceaseth Can. 1. St. Basilii ad Amphilochium apud Pandect Can. Beveridg § XXXV AND now I hope this Objection is fully answered that the Church can be no Body separate and apart from the State because no Powers and Officers of its own nothing outward sensible and coercive and consequently with neither Rewards nor Penalties annexed all must return into the Prince or set up against the soveraignty of him if at all and in being for the Church's rise and original is sufficiently declared to be from another Fountain its imbodying and incorporation to be apart with its own Powers and Acts Offices and Officers Laws and Rules Rewards and Penalties Censures and Punishments Hopes and Expectations And all different from that of the Soveraign in the State no ways against the either Power or Soveraignity of him the influences distinct but no ways so opposite to one another as thwarting or destructive Fratres dicuntur habentur qui unum Deum patrem agnoverunt unum spiritum biberunt sanctitatis qui de uno utero ignorantiae ejusdem ad unam lucem expaverunt veritatis as Tertullian describes the incorporation Apol. cap. 30. Christians are called and accounted Brethren who have acknowledged one God and Father who have drank of one Spirit of holiness who have broke through with astonishment one Womb of Ignorance into one Light and Truth I do
Mr. Selden so much admires it must blemish our Saviour much to say he purposely call'd together a Church and design'd it none of its own to preserve it Sect. 4. The Jews Excommunication was not bodily Coercive and then there may be such a Punishment an Obligation to Obedience without force and that is not outward and this much more in the Christian Society Sect. 5. And this their Government abstracted from the Civil Magistrate is an Essay of Christ's Government so far of the same Nature to come into the World Sect. 6. The Christian Church might be both from Caesar and Christ as was the Jewish from God and Caesar and there is no thwarting The Jews and Christians distinct Sect. 7. In answer to his main Objection That all Government must be of this World Sect. 8. It is replied To assert Christ to have such a Kingdom is to thwart his design of coming into the World the whole course of his Actions and Government and those Ancients that expected him to come and Rule with them on Earth yet did not believe it to be accomplished till after the Resurrection Sect. 9. To say he therefore has no Power at all is as wide of Truth the way of Men in Error to run from one extreme to another and of Mr. Selden here Sect. 10. The Church is a Body of a differing Nature from others Sect. 11. With differing Organs and Members of its own in Subordination to one another Sect. 12. With different Offices and Duties Gifts and Endowments these either Common to all Believers or limited to particular Persons Sect. 13. As Christians in common they had one Faith into which Baptized and of which Confession was made the Apostles Creed and other Summaries of Faith and sound Doctrine Interrogatories in Baptism How Infants perform it Sect. 14. They had one and the same Laws and Rules for Obedience for which they Covenanted which is their Baptismal Vow the Abrenunciation of the World the Flesh and Devil Sect. 15. One Common Worship and Service and Religious Performance to God in their Assemblies the particular Offices and Duties there the Priest and People officiate interchangeably as in Tertullian Justin Martyr c. Sect. 16. Common Duties and Services as to God so to one another in supplying one anothers Necessities as occasion Sect. 17. In the supply of such as attended at the Altar by a Common Purse deposited in the hands of the Bishop Sect. 18. Of the Poor and Indigent whose Treasurer was the Bishop Sect. 19. The Power Offices and Duties not promiscuous but limited to particular Persons are those of the Ministry distributed into the three standing Orders of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon and which make up that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Gospel Priesthood to remain to the Restitution Sect. 20. This Power and Jurisdiction though limited to and residing in these three yet it is not in each of them alike in the same degree force and virtue the Deacon is lowest the Presbyter next the Bishop the full Orders and Vppermost Supreme and including all Sect. 21. Against this Primacy of Bishops that of Metropolitans Exarchy Patriarchy and the Supremacy of Rome is objected Sect. 22. The Metropolitan c. is in some Cases above the Bishop but not in the Power of the Priesthood 't is the same Power enlarged No new Ordination in Order to it Sect. 23. The Vniversal Primacy of the Bishop of Rome is but Pretended not bottom'd on either the Scriptures or Fathers or Councils Sect. 24. 25 26. The Bishops Superiority or full Orders and Power in the Church is reassumed and farther asserted He with his Presbyter or Deacon or some one of them are to be in every Congregation for the Presbyter or Deacon or both to assemble the People and Officiate and not under him is Schism The several instances of this Power of the Priesthood Sect. 27. To Preside in the Assemblies Pray give Thanks for Teach and Govern there No Extempore Prayers in those Assemblies Sect. 28. To Administer the Sacraments the Consecration of the Lords Supper by Prayer and Thanksgiving and Attrectation of the Elements Baptism by Lay-Persons Rebaptizations on what terms in the Ancient Church Confirmation Sect. 29. To Vnite and Determine in Council The use of Councils and Obligation Their Autority Declarative Autoritative Sect. 30. To impose Discipline the several instances and degrees of it in the Ancient Church Indulgencies and Abatements Sect. 31. To Excommunicate or cast out of the Church a Power without which the Church as a Body cannot subsist a natural Consequent to Baptism Priests not excommunicated but deposed Sect. 32. To Absolve and Re-admit into the Church this the design of Excommunication which is only a shutting out for a time in order to Mercy on whom to be inflicted It s certain force in the Execution Sect. 33. To depute others in the Ministry by Ordination the Necessity of it An instance in St. John out of Eusebius St. Clemens Romanus Calvin and Bezae's Opinion and Practice It s ill Consequences Only those of the Priesthood can give this Power to others Sect. 34. The Objection answered and 't is plain the Church is an Incorporation with Laws Rewards and Penalties of its own not of this World nor opposing its Government Sect. 35. The outward stroke is reserved to the Day of Judgment but the Obligation is present If the Church has no Power nor Obligation because not that present Power to Punish or any like it neither has any Law in the Gospel Mr. Hobbs the more honest Man says neither the Ecclesiastical or Evangelical Law obliges His and their Principles infer it Sect. 36. The Power of Christ and his Church cannot clash with the Civil Power because no outward Process till the Day of Judgment and then civil outward Dominion is to cease in its course the present Vnion and Power to be sure cannot this is clear from the several instances of it already reckon'd up Sect. 37. Their Faith is an inward act of the Soul acquitted by Mr. Hobbes and that which is more open Confession obliges if opposed but to dye and be Martyrs Sect. 38. That they Covenant against Sin makes them but the better Subjects Sect. 39. No Man that says his Prayers duly can be a Rebel because first of all to own his Prince and Pray for him The first Christians Innocency defended them when impleaded for Assembling without leave If this did not do they suffer'd Their Christianity did not exempt them from inspection Sect. 40. Charity not obstructive to Government when on due Objects a common Purse without leave dangerous not generally to be allow'd These Christians innocency indemnified them The Divine Right of Titles how asserted Nothing can justifie those Practices but their real Case The Profession of Christianity must otherwise cease Sect. 41 42. Presiding in the Church rises no higher than the Duties exercised 'T is Dr. Tillotson alone ever said To Preach Christ is to Affront Princes
Westminster both Usurpers the one of the Regal the other of the Episcopal Power whom they had Assaulted both with Sword and Pen to their then present Abolition and whom he slatters with the specious Titles of Supporters both of Church and State Vobis viri maximi in quos Ecclesia Respublica inclinatè recumbum Britannorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Choice Men and Supreme in our Land Quibus incoâ—â—um est generoso pectus honesto and for Episcopacy it self besides the whole Design of the Book which is laid against it he places it for time and quality with those first Heresies which infested the Church those Antichrists which were then in the World both in St. Paul's Epistles and in St. John's and in the Revelations with those Hereticks that deny the Monarchy of God and the Incarnation of Christ Jesus and that it was by Diotrephes devolv'd to after-ages by degenerate Men who regarded not the institution from God Per degeneres plurimos divinaeque originis immemores propagatum by such only as consult Ambition to whom the Apostolical Humility enjoyn'd by our Saviour was tedious and nauseous men affecting Tyranny and Usurpation against St. Peter's monition 1 Pet. 5.2 3. Obtaedium Apostolicae humilitatis quam praecepit affectantes Tyrannidem c. He approves the Scotish Covenant and their bringing it into England fortissimum Communis concordiae pacisque vestrae vinculum as the most effectual way for Peace and Concord of which Covenant one part of its second Article is this To endeavour the Extirpation of Prelacy i. e. Church-Government by Arch-Bishops Bishops c. and Exhorts them by their Loyalty and Obedience to their Prince to quit and vindicate themselves of that Aspersion of Rebels they lye under and through them may be cast upon all Protestants Christianâ modestiâ pacificisque consiliis perpetuisque fidelis vestrae in regiam Majestatem observantiae exemplis asperas voces refellite that the World convinc'd by Experience may confess that it is neither true now nor ever shall be necessary No Bishop no King and that the one may be admitted and supported without the other Fateaturque continuis experimentis evictus orbis nec verum nunc nec necessarium esse vel fuisse unquam qui aegrè Episcopos ferunt aegriùs reges serre qui nullos admittunt nec regiam potestatem ex animo admittere and assures them of the concurrency of the Protestant Churches on their side the Sea who have often wish'd to see their own Simplicity in Government to be restored and setled among them quam Disciplinam à cismarinis Protestantibus praeoptatam c. and all which is to be seen and more by whoso pleases to read over but his Preface to the Apology Claudius Salmasius goes the same way or worse if worse can be he argues indeed for the Episcopacy in England because continued with the Reformation and what prevented many Pestiferous Sects which after the Seclusion of Bishops arose Quod quamdiu fuerat Episcopatus mille pestiferae Sectae Haereses in Anglia pullularunt Praefat. ad Defens Regiam and aggravates it against the Independents whom he supposes to have Murdered the King and removed the Bishops without his Assent Defens pag. 358. it seems it was concluded in France what Party brought the King to Death nor did they then believe the Bishops to be the Authors of all the Heresies in the Christian World Though Mr. Baxter tells us It is not agreed here in London and that all Heresies sprang thence in that his black Book call'd Church History abbreviated then which a Lucian has not been more rude in his language and scurrilous Imputations to our common Christianity and all Parties of but common apprehension that read that his Book or hear of it must agree that he is indeed a Hater as he in the Title-Page terms himself but not of false History but of the truth of Christian Religion to the baffling of which representing it effectually to the Age inclined enough to believe it as a Cheat and Imposture what more could have been done then by exposing in that odious way so many Successions of the Bishops and acknowledged Governors in the Church the most eminent Professors there and the great part of them to the Stake and with their Blood by such Follies and Impertinencies many times but oftner by heavier guilts reported of them the Author's Impudency and his Falsities as to Matter of Fact has already been given to the World by an Ingenious Hand and nothing but a decay of Discipline and Government in the Church can hinder that a farther censure does not follow his Person be not equally pursued and he publickly Excommunicated the Body of Christians Perhaps James Naylor did not more deserve to have his Tongue bored through But to return to our Friend Walo who in Comparison to Mr. Baxter is so indeed but his Spleen was now but low it swells and grows bigger at other times and our Bishops are then its object he speaks out in other places he says so long as Episcopacy remains which is the foundation and root of Papacy little or nothing is done to cut off the Head is not enough Quamdiu remanebat Episcopatus qui tanquam basis est ac radix Papatûs nihil am parum proficeret qui solum caput resecaret Appâ—rat ad lib. de Primatu pag. 169 70. And he goes to the same purpose Pag. 197. that those Common-wealths or Kingdoms which have receiv'd the Reformation Sworn against the Roman both Court and Church and where there is now no Papacy for what reason they can desire to retain Episcopacy he does not see the Reformation seems not whole and full which is in that part defective and that Episcopacy is become a degree above a Presbyter he imputes to the corrupt Manners to Ambition and desire of Honor and to other evil Arts and depraved Minds of Men Walo Messal de Episcop Presbyt cont Petavium Dissert cap. 6. and suitably did he lay his design and he did not think he could write to the purpose against the Primacy of the Pope without that his tedious and nauseous Apparatus or Preface levelled against the Government of the Church by Bishops and indeed against Church-Government in general so unhappy were still those Men in their Plots against Rome as there will be occasion further to consider in this Discourse and which make up that bulky Volume the World is enrich'd withall and to all which Andrew Rivet has subscrib'd applauding Salmasius in this particular and according with him and thinks it Crime enough in Grotius that he differs from him Grotianae Discuss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sect. 1. 16. John Dailee his rage is nothing less but rather more this way and so is his industry too that eminent Martyr Ignatius is discarded and turn'd out of the Catalogue of Church-Writers for Asserting in so plain and positive words the Divine perpetual Right of Episcopacy and
2. 5. or in what extent soever the Kings of Judah are proposed as Patterns to our Kings for the exercise of Power in the Christian Church in our Nine and thirty Articles and may authorize them in it to be sure they were never design'd Examples in this particular of Unction or whatever Power it was they were to have as from them our Church could not mean it should thus be derived Our Kings of England 't is plain owe no one instance of their Power to the Coronation it self much less to their being then anointed one but particular Ceremony in the Performance of it and all Jurisdictions and Rights they have as Kings they have before and are to enjoy their whole life-time Supposing they were neither anointed nor even Crown'd at all 't is all an high Ceremony Solemn and Magnificent Peculiar as is the Person and Power and Majesty of a Prince as is becoming a Crown Imperial when set on his Head and the anointing may be used as very lively significant and expressing that separation of his Person which was due and made and acknowledged before and really in him as has been the Custom by Oyl so to sever and set apart Persons and Things but that the thing it self is either commanded or expected by God or design'd and used by Man to any other end service or purpose I never could yet understand David Blondel in his Formula regnante Christo Pag. 119. tells us that the Unction or Custom of anointing Princes was not used among Christians till the year of our Lord 750. and the Consecration of their King Pippin and it was often repeated as twice four five times a year as he instances in several Princes and makes evident it is not look't upon as an initiating investing Ceremony whatever else use they appropriated to it though afterwards it was adjudged Sacriledge to iterate it by a growing Superstition and assum'd Opinion of it the famous Arch-Bishop of Paris De Marca in his Second Preface to his Book De Concord c. and in the Second Book Cap. 7. of the Treatise it self tells us of some in the Greek Church that were of the Opinion that the Prince had the Priestly Power by virtue of his Unction And it was defined in a Synod held at Constantinople in the year of our Lord Nine hundred and seventy that the anointing of the Emperor gives him the same Power to forgive Sins as has the Sacrament of Baptism and the Greeks out of the same Principle of flattery managed the same Opinion and gave their Emperor the same Power as hath the Patriarch but this as we are told depended mostly on a Faction then on foot as it was in it self precarious and Arbitrary so wee 'l leave it to its first bottom which is none at all nor needs it any farther Consideration § V NON est Respublica in Ecclesia sed Ecclesia in Republica 't is the saying of Optatus lib. 3. Contr. Parmen Donatist The Common-wealth is not in the Church but the Church in the Common-wealth under the Head and Government of the Powers of the World as to the Temporals and that instance of the Polity of it no Plea of Office and Deputation what Commission or Designation soever from God and Christ can or ever did exempt any one Man on Earth from it collate or invest therewithal a Power for Earth above it at least as binding Rules for continuance and a pattern for future Practice Our Saviour had it not who made me a Judge or a Divider and none can exercise it as from him but by Usurpation but the Common-wealth and the Church are no ways thus in Subordination and dependencies in another regard as the Church is a Body endow'd with Powers Spiritual thus they are different as the Soul and Body are in Man's Person in their distinct Orbs and Stations as are the Sun and the Moon in the Heavens have a quite diverse Orb and Powers Influences and Devolutions that are variant As the Church must be always in the World in that other sense subject to its governance to the accidents too oft the frowns and high displeasures of it till the World it self is no more So must the World be in the Church in this other sense if that World for whose Sins Christ died if coming to Heaven and Salvation be subject to its Head and Jurisdiction the World may not improperly be said to be as the Moon and the Church as the Sun receiving light and assistance splendor and glory and beauty from it thus influenced and increasing with the increase of God though the Metaphor needs not run any farther and as it has been stretcht too much by some and all this is demonstrable and will appear as evident as the Sun in its Zenith or at Noon day 't is wrote as with an Adamant a Pen of iron on a Rock on that Pillar the Church to be seen and read of all Men and to all Ages for evermore in the Original rise and succession of Church Power in all Transactions Records and Histories of it in the Matter of Fact as notorious to the common sense of Mankind as that one and two make three is to his reason and which is the only Rule in this case to be gone by I 'le begin with the Apostles and so come down to those Ages of the Church and Laws Imperial and Concessions whose Truth and Interest is believed by all to be such as not to engage them to be false in which all Parties agree and concenter § VI PVLCHERRIMA illa quae Ecclesia continet coagmentatio non ex Imperio Romano fluxit Christo monstrante sequentibus Apostolis Grot. in Animadvert Rivet ad Articul 7. That comeliness of Order and Degrees in the Church did not slow from the Roman Empire but from Christ Jesus the Apostles following and imitating of him and as he their chief great Master had not so neither had they his immediate Deputies and Successors their Power either from Man or the Will of Man they in no instance consulted with Flesh and Blood with any thing Humane and of the World in the first rise devolution and conveyance of it but still term themselves the Apostles and Ministers of Christ Jesus nor in the execution of this Power did they do otherwise they consulted only with themselves in the arduous difficult cases arising 't is to the Spirit of the Prophets the Prophets alone are to be subject they go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and Elders there Acts 15. and 't is Peter James and John consult together upon the like occasion Gal. 2. 't is they ordain Elders and give Laws in all Churches leave Timothy and Titus in Ephesus and Crete and appoint for decency and order they are brought before Kings but 't is mostly if not always to suffer they there take the advantages to assent and plead this their Right and Power distinct and separate to give Rules and Exhortations but
of the Church every ways dishonour'd and displaced § IX I know it will be here reply'd and 't is so generally All this was when the Emperors were Heathens nay more Opposers and Persecutors of Christianity how could the Offices Managery and Concerns of Religion be intrusted with them who did who would not understand it who scorned and affronted it who to their power endeavour'd to suppress it by all manner of Cruelties executed on its Professors the Church then did as well as she could and exercised her own Prudence and Strength that Power and Jurisdiction which they agreed upon and assum'd by particular compact among themselves and which became an Escheat to the Crown when the Empire became Christian and Kings then executed it in their own Right as inherent to their Secular Power designed and appointed and expected from them by God Almighty And in Answer to which groundless Plea and Objection I shall add farther either the Bishops and Doctors and Confessors of the Christian Church understood this Case as thus stated That this Power was not really in themselves and their execution of it was but accidental forced under the present Circumstances and to return to such Governors in State as should become Christians as its proper Seat or Subject or they did not understand it To say they did not understand it is to implead and represent them to all Ages succeeding guilty of Ignorance gross and inexcusable to give that for certain Truth which some of our Reformers have made their Libel and Objection against these first and Holy Christians That they were more Zealous than Wise Pious but imprudent less discerning men and from whom Truth is not to be had nor expected and which is in effect to put a baffle upon our whole Christianity in general and to lay a ground for mistrust upon each of its particulars it must receive a great blow upon such Supposals when reflected upon and considered that those who alone propagated our Faith for Three hundred years together did not understand the Power and Autority they were invested with in order to it or the true tenor or state of it To say they did understand it then surely it had been stated by them a Model of it drew up and left at least for Posterity a thing so in course and most usual in other cases thus to give Specimens Schemes and Draughts of the Design and Purpose especially when to propose attempt and carry on something that is but new not before received much more when thwarting to the common Sentiments and Apprehensions of Mankind That no Men but such as the Christians were given out to be by their Opposers and Persecutors Mad-men and Fools the followers of a Carpenter and a few Fishermen can be supposed guilty of Certainly the occasion and meaning of that particular Power they then exercised in the Church different from the Secular nay when enjoyned and commanded the contrary by those Powers that they act and speak no more in that Name when Persecuted to Bonds and Imprisonment moreover unto Death for it had been declared and published to such those Governors a Manifesto or Remonstrance made of it to all Princes of the World certainly among the many Apologies that were made to the Empire in their own behalf this had had a share a room at least in some one of them That what Jurisdiction was then exercised by them the Pastors of the Church was only under the present Necessity a present contrivance of their own to keep their Followers and Adherents in some tolerable Peace and Order to awe and restrain as they could better an assumed Usurped Government than none at all that the real and whole Government was laid upon theirs the Magistrates shoulders alone would they but be pleased to come in to the Faith and sustain and execute it What a plausible even cogent Argument is here all along omitted to let the Powers of the World know what a considerable Portion of their Birth-right as Princes they neglect and disown abdicate and relinquish what a real damage and disadvantage they receive in not coming in to the Church what a principal Jewel would be added to their Crown in so doing So great and considerable a number as they which are Christians and which grow upon the World and increase daily Vestra omnia implevimus Vrbes Insulas Castella Municipia Conciliabula Castra ipsa Tribus Decurias Palatium Senatum Forum cui bello non idonei non prompti fuissemus etiam impares Copiis as Tertullian in his Apology cap. 37. Vast Multitudes every where of all sorts in all Places and Offices who as they professed all manner of Allegiance and Duty to them in Seculars so would they acquit resign into their hands their Power Spiritual nay it is really theirs already and the execution falls in course upon them an accession that must be advantageous cannot be accounted mean and inconsiderable to a Government Thus to be the Fountain and Head of all Rule and every Jurisdiction to invest or abdicate to oblige or punish so great so considerable a Sect as are the Christians to constitute and influence to depose and remove every way to govern at Pleasure their Bishops and Pastors who thus grow upon the World and influence all Men the Motive could never have been neglected the Argument must have had a great deal of room in their several Apologies and Embassies to the Empire in behalf of themselves and their Religion who spared nothing like an Argument that might but ingratiate and insinuate into their good favour and liking as 't is evident from such their Writings and yet there is not one word there of any such Pleadings or any thing like it but the quite contrary as it hath been already made to appear I 'le go on farther and assert that 't is very improbable if not our Saviour himself yet that the Apostles should not have done all this and thus stated the case down to the World and yet no man sets these two Powers of the Church and State more apart than does St. Paul and so leaves them To instance in no more at present he often exhorts That they obey Magistrates and that they also remember those that have rule over them who have spoken to them the Word of God and his Bishop has his distinct care over the Church of God 1 Tim. 3.5 has his things to set in order Tit. 1.5 a Power to Summon by Process to receive Accusations as in Court as upon a Seat of Judicature before witnesses 1 Tim. 5.19 20. though no Power to lay either Confinement or any other corporal outward Punishment on their Persons The Powers of the World becoming Christian it must needs make a great alteration as to its Worship and great was the advantage the Gospel received thereby but so great a translation of Power from one Body to another must in all likelihood have been forewarn'd of and declared by such as had a
foresight for that very purpose of all even Contingencies and much more of what was to come to pass in the future Ages of the Church and as the thing it self was so predivulg'd that Kings and Queens should be Nursing Fathers and Mothers to the Church and this seems reasonable and requisite to be done were it only to satisfie mens Minds in the revolution especially since all Revelations ended in their Persons and 't is only for such to believe and assent to after-translations and new appearances in the Affairs of Religion and not upon such notices aforehand as expect and depend upon new Discoveries and Periodical Illuminations whimsical and Enthusiastical Persons WHEN God was to constitute the Jewish § X Body engaged and stipulating according to the Law of Moses the present State and Necessities as well as other Occurrences foreseen hindring the perfection and full accomplishment of his designed Platform for some time the Wisdom and Mercy and Providence of God which is always present with himself and his own People and accompanies his designs foretold and declared what they were to expect in the particular instances the present narrower state of things and future ill humors of Men prohibiting the one and accidentally occasioning the other As when the Model and Shape of their Government was to be changed into that of Kings or a translation of Power from Person to Person as is the pretended case here it was declared long before by Moses Deut. 17.14 as when the Worship was to be transferr'd at first of necessity elsewhere as is again also here pretended that Church-Power was for a time in the Clergy to the place that God should choose to the Temple at that time not built Men are generally in love with old ways and call that old they have time out of mind been accustomed to Innovations are not relish'd without plain and a great Autority nothing but Prophecy or present notorious Miracles or a great assurance from those whom a known outward evidence makes appear and most manifest that 't was delivered down from Persons so assisted by God and as God's Wisdom and Goodness is always the same so neither certainly had his Mercy and Providence been shorter to this his Body of Christians than 't was to that of the Jews in the like case had there been any like it among Christians as indeed there was none the Government of the Church which is here in this Discourse asserted remaining one and the same and in the same succession of Persons when the Powers of the Earth were Christian as before when they were Heathen and the good Providence of God so ordered it that Constantine the Emperor's becoming Christian and his Succession the Church and Church-men received only new Courage and Strength the greatest additional advantages in such their Charges and Offices by the Imperial Countenance and Protection with all manner of supplies and abundance as to Places Utensils Revenues and Immunities Stately Churches being immediately erected with the greatest magnificence and elegancy of Structure the Furniture as rich and Endowments as large with a like Privilege as to Persons and Things Investitures every ways answerable and all assistance conferr'd and Provision for the time to come by setled Laws and most wholesome Constitutions to preserve and continue what was thus done and granted Serviant Reges terrae Christo etiam leges ferendo pro Christo as St. Augustine speaks in his 48 Epistle The Kings of the Earth serve the Church in making Laws to defend her and which Saying was occasioned by St. Augustine and more to that purpose in that Epistle by reason of the severer Imperial Laws and Penalties made against and inflicted upon that spawn of the Donatists those unruly Circumcellians who broke out into all manner of Outrages and Violence and though the Church had not long enjoyed this Peace but what is the woful effect of Ease and Plenty Divisions and Breaches arose and grew wide within her self carried on to great Ruptures and much was innovated and taught amiss in other Points yet as to this particular the Subject of Church-Power it was never questioned fell not under debate much less was it wrested out of the hands of Church-men did any one Emperor if not withal known Heretical either usurp it to himself or alienate it from the Bishops but all along acknowledge and confirm it to them and this will be as clear from the Aera or Date of their turning Christians as it has appear'd to have been from the first entrance of Christianity till then and that if we continue our Method and look into those times as we have done into the foregoing Ages THERE was no Man of the Age more § XI tenderly Conscientious in professing and paying his Obedience to the Emperor than was the holy Athanasius how solicitously and anxiously did he Vindicate himself when accused as an Enemy and Traducer of him when by his cruel and most malicious Adversaries which were many represented as Rebellious and Disobedient This will appear sufficiently from all such as have imployed their Pens in giving to the World an account of those Transactions by the Arians and Meletians managed and improv'd against him and which were numerous and particularly from his own Apology to Constantius of which he that will take a taste let him read the beginning of it only if he thinks much of his labour to go through with it he acknowledges the Power of the Empire in Religious things in assigning the Feasts of Dedication and their times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he acknowledges his Power over his Person and asks his Diploma or Letters of leave for the exercise of his Episcopal Function in his own Church of Alexandria and for the Convention of Synods Ibid. p. 682. 754. 761. Ed. Paris he asks the Emperor's Grant concerning the Publick Service and Churches in Alexandria as we have out of Sozomen Eccl. Hist l. 3. c. 20. but yet he puts a difference betwixt the Work of a Synod and that of the Empire and blames those that confound them or rather refer all to the Emperor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 730. he refuses to receive Arius into Communion upon his Heretical Terms and Principles though the Emperor do Command him though he threaten him if he do not and for refusing he causes him to be deposed by a Synod held at Tyre for that very purpose and of his own Convention and afterwards banish'd him and which he submits to but not to deliver up the Rights of the Church of God as Socrates tells us in his Ecclesiastical History Lib. 1. cap. 27 28.32.35 and he is so bold with Constantius as to six the mark of Antichrist upon him when he undertakes the Protection of a wicked Religion dissolving the received Orders of Christ and his Apostles creates of his own head new Constitutions 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in Athanasius Ep. ad Solit. Vit. agentes p. 845. 860. and reproves the Emperor
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flavianus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gennadius Evagr. Hist Eccl. lib. 1. cap. 8. lib. 2. cap. 11. lib. 5. cap. 16. So that if things by words are delivered to us which must be since we have not converse with one another as they tell us Angels have or private immediate infusions from God he speaks not to us inarticulately in Sounds and in Dreams as of old we have here the thing contended for in this Discourse viz. a real Autoritative Power in the Church independent equally as in the Empire neither Subordinate to one another The Argument and Evidence is as good as the Story is true and the reception of those Ages or as the truth of Matter of Fact can make it § XIII AND suitably the first and most ancient Councils which are come to our hands of the Christian Church have still owned the Empire and submitted to it in its full Latitude but yet still they reserved and asserted a Power within themselves which was neither derived from nor depended upon it in the execution and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word they still express their Chair by they could make Sanctions and Constitutions oblige and bind the Conscience of themselves and without it the first great Council of Christendome they met indeed in the Name of the Emperor were summon'd by his Writ nor ought they personally and in Bodies collectively to Assemble without it but they acted and decreed in their own Names by their own Power and Autority were all their Synodical Determinations made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the great and first general Council of Nice and was the after-form of the Proceedings of the succeeding Councils which still confirm'd that first solemnly owning and receiving of it It seemed good to the Holy Synod to the Holy Bishops and Fathers there as the immediately following General Council at Constantinople explains it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a form but a little abating of that of the Apostles Synod Acts 15. It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us and as their Power is distinct so is its Execution in different words and Penalties so as expressed for the most part by none else and in all never executed by any 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arceri seu ejici ab Ecclesia à fraternitatis Communione relegari submoneri à limine omni tecto Ecclesiae Sacramento Benedictionis exauctorari Communione interdici abstineri depelli these are the words still expressing the Execution of this Church-Power as they are to be met with up and down in the Greek Councils and Greek and Latine Fathers many of which Mr. Selden has took the pains to Collect to our hands Lib. 1. De Synod Pag. 257. 259. and are to be seen also in an earlier Copy in the first Canon of the Seventh general Council held at Nicea there reckoned up and own'd as bottomed on the Autority of the Apostles Canons and the Six foregoing general Councils And the Bishops have a Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Con. 5. Concil Anciran 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as before in the first Nicene Council Can. 12. of absolving from and removing taking off such their Mulcts laid upon them either in whole or in part or adding farther degrees suitable as their repentance and amendment is perceiv'd and approved or not approved of and this Power asserted in the Church by the great Council of Nice and that of Ancyra is the great instance of the self-existing eminent independent underivable Power that is in the Church of Christ wholly in her self and in none else beside as having Power to punish and relieve to give Sentence and relax in her own breast this is what is not done in the Civil Judicatures where the Judge is in Deputation who cannot correct his Sentence once given make heavier or alleviate it that is only in Soveraign Power as the Lawyers speak but the Bishop can do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Photius Nomocanon Tit. 9. cap. 1. 3. doctas videas nuperas Annotationes in Can. Niceae there was then believed and accounted a first and antecedent Right in the Church to make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laws and Rules from which out of Contempt and Opposition there was not allow'd any Appeal to be made to the Empire or Secular Power or Judicatures unless by way of imploring Patronage for a better enquiry as not Canonically executed Can. 6. Concil 2. Gen. Constantinop Can. 107. Concil Carthag and he that proceeds otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not according to the Rules and Laws of the Church is to be cast out of her Communion if a Lay-man if a Presbyter or Deacon he is to be deposed never to be restored again never admitted but to Plead his Cause Conc. Antioch Can. 11 12. and the Clergy-man is not to leave his Bishop in Matters of Strife and go to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Power of the Realm is still call'd the Secular Judges or if he Appeal from his Bishop it may be only when the Case is with the Bishop himself as a Party and he is to appeal to the Provincial Synod or the Metropolitan Exarch or Patriarch Can. 9. Concil Gen. Chalcedon or he may ask and Petition the Emperor that he interpose with his Power over all Persons in all Causes for a farther Enquiry by the Bishop when Justice seems to be not understood or to be denied Can. 107. Conc. Carth. the Sin of Schism is still defined to be when a Presbyter makes a Congregation and makes an Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in despite and contempt of his Bishop Can. 31. Apost and so Can. 6. Concil Gen. Constantinopolit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when they unite for Religious Services in opposition to their Bishop and Can. 31. Concil 6th in Trullo and Can. 5. Concil Antioch Can. 10. Concil Carthag 'T is more express If any Presbyter or Deacon contemns his own Bishop separates from the Church and makes a private Congregation and Altar and disobeys farther his Bishops Summons to render him accountable for so doing he is to be deposed and if he perseveres to make farther troubles in the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Seditious Person the outward Secular Power is to Chastise him Can. 5. Concil Antioch where we have a thorow distinction of the two Powers with their Offices and the Canon goes before that of the Church is antecedent and therefore when Constantius went to cast some Bishops that were clamorous and contentious out of the Church Eleusius with Sylvanus and others told him That he had Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the outward Punishment what reach'd the Liberties and Advantage of his Person but 't was theirs to judge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Piety and Impiety Theodoret. Eccles Hist l. 2. c. 27. § XIV I know it will be here reply'd this was only the Judgment Declaration and Practice of the Churchmen themselves
by them By which things what is there intended and what the Power came into the Empires hand by becoming Christian the next words of the Historian clears making the Instance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the greatest Synods were by their Appointment Summoned and still are so I 'le bring here some instances of the Power and Procedure of the Empire in Church Businesses to render all more conspicuous if possible § XIX AND the first shall be this of Calling Synods just now mentioned the giving leave to Church-men to meet and unite in one Body in a certain place of the Empire limited to them Publickly to enquire examine debate and determine in Religion in which Councils if the Emperor himself was not present in Person he deputed some chief Minister of State there to represent him Thus Constantine himself sat in Person in the Case of Cecilianus and the Donatists Miltiades and the Bishop of Rome and the Clergy debating it as St. Austin tells us lib. 1. cont Parmen Donatist and Flavius Marcellinus is deputed afterwards by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius in a Collation of that Nature as a Secular Cognitor and Supervisor 16. Cod. Theodos Lex 3. Tit. 11. they exercised a Power and Cognizance over all Persons in these Causes and Meetings they were then their Subjects as before and whom they commanded and though such Members were obliged at the Summons of the Bishops themselves and by consent among one another to be present at the Council to come in and appear there Can. 80. Concil Carthag yet the Emperor retain'd a Power above them and they might be absent altogether or depart after they had appeared if the Emperor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by his Letters required it Concil Sardicens Can. 7. they had a Power over the very Causes themselves in these Conciliary Clerical Debates and Determinations and were Judges here If all that was determined seem'd not duly reported or adjusted every ways clear and plain unto them if scruples and doubts notwithstanding remain if new matter proposed and adjudged considerable by the adverse Parties De Clericis judicantibus Praesidet Imperator ipse prout malè vel benè Judicat 16. Cod. Theodos l. 42. Tit. 2. and which Law though instancing in some Immunities as to Publick Secular things yet holds in other Decisions So Constantine heard the Cause of Cecilianus and the Donatists a second time when the Bishops had heard it before and Myltiades of Rome was there as above in St. Austin And it was the suit of the Bishops in the Council of Chalcedon that it might be decreed by a Law that all things at Ephesus since the first Synod there of which St. Cyril of Alexandria was Chief should not retain any force implying it in his Power to revise and reconsider and he may reexamine the Actions of Councils Compend Act. Synod Chalced. apud Evagrium Eccl. Hist l. 2. cap. 18. And Petrus de Marca gives us several instances of the like nature of Appeals made to the Empire upon the results of Councils and he accepted them De Concord Sacerd. Imper. l. 7. c. 2. that the Emperor had directed and limited in what Points and how far to proceed calling Councils only for particular occasions as De Marca Ibid. lib. 6. c. 22. and all this the Security of the Empire required in the common course of things that no Men imbody or unite locally upon any Plea whatever or Pretence of what Business soever and not by his Warrant under his Oversight and Protection whose Designation and Commissions come not from him and all which Christianity supposes and declared for upon its admission into the World and Kingdoms imbracing of it it appoints every Man wherein he was called there to abide if a state of Honesty and Justice not of that filthiness sometimes reign'd among the Gentiles and many times had a Chief Place in what they called Religious Worship this Christianity was designed to rectifie and remove but continue to Caesar the things that are Caesar's adds new Obligations to Government and gives new Arguments for Obedience to it but cancels no one takes no one subject in any one instance from under his Jurisdiction nor can any Governor be secure upon other terms that has so many Persons so considerable as so many Professors are or at least may be with Power to associate in his Jurisdictions as they shall please and when and not in all instances relating to such their imbodying his Subjects or though if not able to meet without his Call yet when together and not under his Inspection and Jurisdiction not Govern'd by his Rules and Laws with a Power to canvass and unhinge to insinuate and propose and manage as they shall list and how long in Ordine ad Spiritualia if they judge it useful to Religion This is the same in effect as to meet at their Wills no Government can bear it can subsist on such conditions all must or may at the Pleasure or Piques of such the associated be undermined and ruined Again the Empire is engaged as to preserve the Laws of the Church then in being so that in making new ones those the old be not entrenched upon and affronted or that the repeals be upon equitable accounts and agreeable with the Catholick Faith certainly received with former Sanctions of either their Ancestry or their own and these we find the Rules and Directions given by the Emperors Honorius and Theodosius to Flavianus Marcellinus their Secular Cognitor in the Debates about the Donatists Ea quae circa fidem Catholicam vel certa ordinavit antiquitas vel Parentum nostrorum autoritas Religiosa constituit vel nostra Serenitas roboravit Novella Superstitione remotâ inviolata custodire praecipimus suprà Cod. Theodos 16. Tit. 11. l. 3. and indeed it were an Imposition not to be indured in common Business betwixt one man and another when but a private Consent Confirmation and Autority is desired to deny liberty of Enquiring Demurring Discoursing or Debating or whatsoever may seem best to tend to Information as to particulars and then how insufferable if not allow'd the Prince when supplicated and call'd in by the Church to make Laws give the Royal Assent Stamp and Character and Protection to their Results and Determinations and which otherwise must want the edge and advantage of it and not upon a freedom to consider former Laws and Canons made and ratified with future inconveniences that may happen this were indeed to make Princes Lacqueys Hackneys or what vile and mean enough we can say to the Church to debase them into the order of Ideots or Pageants all true Church-men in their Offers and Proceedings have started at and abhorr'd it But then we are to note farther that when the Emperors appear'd in Councils whether themselves in Person or by their Proxies and Substitutes the most Politick and Prudent the more Acute and Ingenious as Theodosius or any other they acted there
by him and their Religion was allow'd after their own manner again The meaning of which can be only this that the Laws of the Empire gave License and Indempnity to their Persons in the ancient and accustomed exercise of it and which they accepted and were thankful for But does it hence follow that they acknowledged and return'd their Original Right either for their Worship in general or Excommunication in particular in and to Caesar and that they ceased to have any because denied by the Empire surely not they only were more streightned in its exercise when under his interdict Nor had they less right or stood they less bound to its Obligations in every respect when this liberty was not conceded under their Vassalage and though the Empire own'd them not even at this very time i. e. during their Captivity Mr. Selden says they assumed this Discipline of Excommunication or a naked Exclusion from outward Communion by consent among themselves the better to keep up and preserve this their Religion when so suppress'd by the Civil Power Ibid. suprà Cap. 7. pag. 141. 143. alibi as they would not this day in England or in what other Countries they are dispersed therefore forego such their Right should the present Government distress and frown upon them Nor do I know any one case or instance coming up nearer to the state of the Power and Right of the Prince in Ecclesiasticks and the Right of the Church Absolute too and Independent than this of the Jews under the Empire their Religion is from another Fountain and the Empire does not derive it unto them and Gallio the Secular Deputy could discharge his Duty without caring for any of these things when the Matters were purely of their Laws and Customs but yet their Persons and the Publick exercise of it are subject to this Government and Jurisdiction to limit or enlarge indulge or recall as may be the Reasons and Motives and is his Will and Pleasure Thus it stood with the Jewish Church in the days of our Saviour in the Flesh and of his Apostles and so it is to this day where the Association or imbodying is continued nor did the Empire conceive its Power any ways intrenched upon or abated thereby did he cease upon the account of their Worship to continue to them his Protection or had they any ingagement to withdraw their Obedience only those uncircumcised in Hearts and Ears which always resisted the Holy Ghost and Crucified the Lord of Life sometimes attempted Insurrections and Rebellions against him BUT however it was with the Heathen § XXIII Emperors in respect of the Jews Mr. Selden positively says it that the Christian Emperors did actually exercise the censures of the Church judicially Anathematize and Excommunicate in their own Persons and Rights he having first swollen up himself with an Opinion and a true one too true it is that himself is the great Searcher of Records and Authors and Laws of the Books and Practice of all Ages and if the mighty the laborious Selden has said it it must be so there can be no doubt of there needs no other search after it otherwise he could never have ventur'd to obtrude it on the world as out of the Imperial Code that Princes have so Excommunicated whose Laws Declarations Practice Positive Assertions and Dogmatical Resolutions are quite another ways as I have already made it appear in these foregoing Pages which Collection and Citations if any one distrust let but himself peruse the particulars with much more that might be added out of the Nomocanon Church-story and Primitive Fathers concurring with and giving strength to such the Relations and the Grounds he delivers it from is such that a Man may swear 't was his bloated conceit of his Name at the Fount like gild to the Pills possessed with as aery a Phancy that any thing would down of his wrapping up in the following Pages could engage him to it I confess could any one have found such things out none likelier than he his Zeal and Industry being singular I wish his Integrity had been so too he seldom missing of any thing within the compass of his designed subject that may be any ways useful to his present Plot and Enquiry had he as little fail'd in his use and applying of them The places he produces for Evidence in his Treatise De Synedriis lib. 1. cap. 10. pag. 318. is out of the Sixteenth Code Theodosian Tit. 5. Lex 6. where Gratianus Valentinianus and Theodosius thus give the charge to Eutropius not Hesperius as he That all Hereticks especially such as oppose the Nicene Faith Ab omnium summoti Ecclesiarum limine penitus arceantur communione Sanctorum inhibentur c. with others to the same purpose in the following Laws both here and in the Justinian Code That Justinian oft in his own Name thus speaks Anathematizamus Anathematizentur sub Excommunicatione fiet c. and which are to be found Code lib. 1. That such be not suffer'd to come into the Church be inhibited the Communion of Saints we do anathematize them Let him be Anathematized let him be under Excommunication c. by which all that can be meant is only this and which is the Province of every good Christian Governor to see that the Laws of the Church be duly put in Execution that the royal Will and Pleasure is it should be so the Laws and Canons of the Church the Rule of Faith to be believed and adhered to requiring it and to which his Imperial concurrence is annexed which he confirms and strengthens by his Autority and will stand by in the Execution as 't is explain'd Novel 42. and that is to be his sense if the Codes may interpret themselves which is much more proper than for Selden to do it it being there most certain that the judicial Act was from the Church and Phrases must be interpreted according to the present Subject and designed Matter and no more is meant then that Prerogative which we see to have been given always to all Godly Princes in Holy Scripture by God himself that they should rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their Charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Sword the stubborn and evil doers as 't is expressed in our Seven and thirtieth Article and he himself confesses unawares in the next lines having a Quotation to bring in and cannot either omit it or tell where else to do it That they only simply judged them cursed of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in the Georgick Laws and that their design was they should be notabiles and marked out for it by whose act and judicial Sentence 't is not express'd And what he brings out of the Hundred and three and twentieth Novel cap. 11. and Photius his Nomocanon 9.9 to prove it the Act of the Empire is quite another thing and none but he arrived to that strange Presumption as to
that they had then been Excommunicated In Rom. 6.17 and in 1 Cor. 5.11 by the Keys of David he understands not only he that hath the Power of Death and Hell but he that hath Plenissimum Imperium the entire Power in the House of God as Eliachim had in the House of David Ad Apoc. 3.7 and then which what more can be desired by us and how consistent with himself any one may see I 'le only add the words of our Profound Mr. Thorndike in his Treatise of the Laws of the Church p. 395. He that in his Preface to his Annotations on the Gospel shall read him disclaiming whatever the Consent of the Church shall be found to refuse will never believe that he had admitted no Corporation of the Church without which no Consent thereof could have been observed And 't is I say from these his Annotations on the Gospels we are to find and know what are his Sentiments if any where he desires us to have recourse hither if we will read his other things with Profit in his Preface to the Reader Now that those above cited Treatises in which his Errors as to Church-Government are so visible were all wrote when he was young 't is certain and that he was too much pre-occupated and prejudiced by his Education and particular Converse and Business at Amsterdam in such his Youth follows in course and himself was afterwards sensible of and lamented it throughout his whole Life And thinks it less Candid and Ingenious in Andrew Rivette that he objects those things against him that he had wrote some times since Cum illi multarum rerum conspectum adimeret nimius Patriae amor cùm esset Parvulus loquebatur ut Parvulus when the over-much love to his Country did take from him the sight of many things When he was a Child he wrote as a Child Rivet Apol. Discuss Pag. 732. And it must be also very harsh and severe in us should we object against him that his particular Treatise of the Power of the Supreme Magistrate in Holy Things which that it is a Posthumous work 't is most apparent And farther That he disown'd it when it was wrote and never design'd it for the Press 't is more then probable especially if we give Credit to what account our Herbert Thorndike gives of it in his Laws of the Church the last Chapter That at his being in England he left it with two great Prelates of our Church Lancelot Lord Bishop of Winchester and John Lord Bishop of Norwich to peruse and both of them advising him not to Print it he rested in their Judgments and 't was laid aside till his Death And indeed that that Treatise was not the issue of a fixed Judgment but to serve a Party appears from the unevenness of the Discourse contradicting it self frequently and contending against the very design of it the great Argument of a raw imperfect confused Notion And particularly if we consider he was every ways an adherent to the Holland Remonstrants a sort of Men that in Prejudice to the Church so extremely flatter'd the Civil Magistrate as our Author makes it appear Ibid. suprà though he never drank so deep of the Cup as to take off the Dregs as he himself farther pleads to Rivet concerning some Presbyterian Tenents imbibed in his Youth Ibid. suprà and acknowledges much to the Mercies of God that when compassed round with their so great Power he could never be brought to Approve that which is proper to Calvinists Ibid. And how easily these things slide into Mankind how incredibly they work and how difficultly cast off Experience too much Evidences The Natural Love to a man's Country the Prejudice of his Education the higher Imployments in it its Applause and Acclamations All which Grotius had in a great measure The latter alone is able to spoil a Judgment it must do it where entertained and pursued and though he that reads over Grotius and says he is not the better for him such is his excellent and incomparable Notion must be either a great Fool or very ill natur'd yet 't is to be doubted some of these never quitted him quite his Theological Works lately Printed together give too great a Presumption all Amsterdam somewhere or other being to be found in them and every one may pick out or very near it his own Religion So fatal is it for Men of great Parts to set out without some first Principles as he did and frame their Scheme of Divinity to the present Notion and Conception no regard had to something receiv'd and certain So in course does it follow what in him is to be found and nothing could have done him so much right as in the setting out of his Works to have given account to the World of the particular time when they were each of them Composed and first made Publick All that I shall add more concerning Grotius is this In the pursuance of his assumed Notion of Supreme laid down by him in the Entrance to his Treatise De Imperio summarum Potestatum in Sacris and which is the chief occasion of his following Mistakes As To be Supreme is to be above all indefinitely in the full Latitude of things and where fixed and attributed to any one Person or Subject the very Design and Nature of the Expression will allow none to be excluded or exempted from a Submission and Subjection no other Power can be supposed and not in Subordinacy and Dependency upon to be and subsist without and besides it He is so unhappy as to fall into and pursue the same Mistake the Jesuit had done in Doctor Bilson's Book of Christian Subjection and Obedience in the Second Part who there thus argues against the Oath of Supremacy If Princes be Supreme Governors over all Persons in all Causes then in vain did the Holy Ghost appoint Pastors and Bishops to govern the Church then are they Superior to Christ himself in effect being Christ's Masters then may they prescribe which way to Worship God And goes on a little farther and declares his dislike to Supreme in the Oath because that word maketh Princes Superior to God himself for Supreme is Superior to all neither Christ's own Person nor his Church excepted Now I say this one and the same Notion of Grotius and the Jesuit if adhered unto and both will continue to allow it they are upon equal Grounds and with the same advantage sight against one another and the Combat may be Eternal only of Skirmishes and some Blows but no Victory on either side When Grotius goes along with our Church of England and makes his Magistrate Supreme in all Causes and over all Persons the Jesuite tells him That to be Supreme is above all to be Superior to all and he sets up his Prince above God and Christ and the Church when the Jesuit asserts the Supreme Power of the Church of God Grotius upon the same Ground replies the self-same thing upon
him That he exalts the Church-Power above God and Christ and the Magistrate as all their Masters And indeed according to these Mens Notions to apply the Superlative to any Person or Thing is the height of Blasphemy For why God is not excepted And the most common Phrases of a most Mighty Prince a most Holy Place a most Wise Counsellor are all instances of it nor can any one Attribute of Gods be otherwise applyed to the Creature Whereas if the Word be understood and used as in common use it is to be and in complyance with things it must be suitable to the present Subject it is assign'd and limited to and the particular things it is conversant with as under such and such Heads and Orders all is easie and plain Thus God is the alone Supreme all Rule Governance and Autority being originally in him and eminently Christ is Supreme as Head of the Church to whom all Power is given of the Father for bringing Mankind to Heaven the Apostles and their Successors the Pastors of the Church were and are now Supreme on Earth in the same Power derived from Christ by the Apostles unto them The Prince is Supreme and hath all Power from God committed unto him as to Government relating to this World over all Things Persons and Causes to appropriate or alienate to Endow Limit Restrain Coerce or Compel as the alone Supreme Law-giver upon Earth and none may oppose and the great and gyant Objection that is only wrangling about and mistaking of words falls to the ground as it is in it self nothing CHAP. IV. Chap. 4. The Contents The Objections answer'd Selden's Error that there are to be no other Punishments by Christ than was before and under the Law the Query is to be what Christ did actually constitute He mixes the Temporal Actions of the Apostles and those design'd for Perpetuity Adam and Cain might have more than a Temporal Punishment Sect. 1. The great Disparity betwixt the Jewish and Christian State considered no Inferences to be drawn from the one to the other but what is on our side Sect. 2. Theirs is the Letter ours the Spirit They Punish'd by Bodily Death we by Spiritual Sect. 3. If Government was judged so absolutely necessary by the dispersed Jews that they then framed one of their own for the present Necessity and whose Wisdom in so doing Mr. Selden so much admires it must blemish our Saviour much to say he purposely call'd together a Church and design'd it none of its own to preserve it Sect. 4. The Jews Excommunication was not bodily Coercive and then there may be such a Punishment an Obligation to Obedience without force and that is not outward and this much more in the Christian Society Sect. 5. And this their Government abstracted from the Civil Magistrate is an Essay of Christ's Government so far of the same Nature to come into the World Sect. 6. The Christian Church might be both from Caesar and Christ as was the Jewish from God and Caesar and there is no thwarting The Jews and Christians distinct Sect. 7. In answer to his main Objection That all Government must be of this World Sect. 8. It is replied To assert Christ to have such a Kingdom is to thwart his design of coming into the World the whole course of his Actions and Government and those Ancients that expected him to come and Rule with them on Earth yet did not believe it to be accomplished till after the Resurrection Sect. 9. To say he therefore has no Power at all is as wide of Truth the way of Men in Error to run from one extreme to another and of Mr. Selden here Sect. 10. The Church is a Body of a differing Nature from others Sect. 11. With differing Organs and Members of its own in Subordination to one another Sect. 12. With different Offices and Duties Gifts and Endowments these either Common to all Believers or limited to particular Persons Sect. 13. As Christians in common they had one Faith into which Baptized and of which Confession was made the Apostles Creed and other Summaries of Faith and sound Doctrine Interrogatories in Baptism How Infants perform it Sect. 14. They had one and the same Laws and Rules for Obedience for which they Covenanted which is their Baptismal Vow the Abrenunciation of the World the Flesh and the Devil Sect. 15. One Common Worship and Service and Religious Performance to God in their Assemblies the particular Offices and Duties there the Priest and People officiate interchangeably as in Tertullian Justin Martyr c. Sect. 16. Common Duties and Services as to God so to one another in supplying one anothers Necessities as occasion Sect. 17. In the supply of such as attended at the Altar by a Common Purse deposited in the hands of the Bishop Sect. 18. Of the Poor and Indigent whose Treasurer was the Bishop Sect. 19. The Power Offices and Duties not promiscuous but limited to particular Persons are those of the Ministry distributed into the three standing Orders of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon and which make up that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Gospel Priesthood to remain to the Restitution Sect. 20. This Power and Jurisdiction though limited to and residing in these three yet it is not in each of them alike in the same degree force and virtue the Deacon is lowest the Presbyter next the Bishop the full Orders and Vppermost Supreme and including all Sect. 21. Against this Primacy of Bishops that of Metropolitans Exarchy Patriarchy and the Supremacy of Rome is objected Sect. 22. The Metropolitan c. is in some Cases above the Bishop but not in the Power of the Priesthood 't is the same Power enlarged No new Ordination in Order to it Sect. 23. The Vniversal Primacy of the Bishop of Rome is but Pretended not bottom'd on either the Scriptures or Fathers or Councils Sect. 24. 25 26. The Bishops Superiority or full Orders and Power in the Church is reassumed and farther asserted He with his Presbyter or Deacon or some one of them are to be in every Congregation for the Presbyter or Deacon or both to assemble the People and Officiate and not under him is Schism The several instances of this Power of the Priesthood Sect. 27. To Preside in the Assemblies Pray give Thanks for Teach and Govern there No Extempore Prayers in those Assemblies Sect. 28. To Administer the Sacraments the Consecration of the Lords Supper by Prayer and Thanksgiving and Attrectation of the Elements Baptism by Lay-Persons Rebaptizations on what terms in the Ancient Church Confirmation Sect. 29. To Vnite and Determine in Council The use of Councils and Obligation Their Autority Declarative Autoritative Sect. 30. To impose Discipline the several instances and degrees of it in the Ancient Church Indulgencies and Abatements Sect. 31. To Excommunicate or cast out of the Church a Power without which the Church as a Body cannot subsist a natural Consequent to Baptism Priests not excommunicated
much below that of a Bishop Presbyterorum ordinem Patres Ecclesiae generare non valentem per regenerationis lavacrum Ecclesiae filios non Patres aut Doctores genuisse as D. Blondel himself in his Apology pro Hieronimo Pag. 311. quotes Epiphanius Haeres 75.4 the Presbyter though not able to beget or constitute Fathers or Bishops or Doctors in the Church can he yet by Baptism beget Sons create to the Adoption of Children he can Baptize but he cannot give Power and enable others to do it and which the Bishop can And a share of this Power is also given to the Deacon but a much less than that to the Presbyter and yet is he more than a Lay-man there is something 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Priestly Function enstated on him Can. 1.2 Conc. Ancyr 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 10. Conc. Naeocesar he hath an Order there Concionatur in Populos Diaconus gradus in Ecclesia cui Obediendum assurgamus Diacono he Preaches to the People 't is a Church degree to whom Service and Respect is to be paid As St. Jerome Comment in Ezek. c. 48. in Micah c. 7. a Person above all Men not to be suspected to give the Deacon more than his due as will appear to whoso has read over that his smart Epistle to Evagrius reproving the insolency of some Deacons that set themselves above Presbyters And indeed had they been design'd only to serve Tables little reason can be given why they had so Solemn an Ordination and Separation at their first Institution Acts 6. and so distinct are these Orders and their Powers so peremptorily limited and consined in the Intent Prayer and whole Performance at their Ordination That 't is equally an Usurpation for a Deacon to undertake the Office of a Presbyter or a Presbyter the Office of a Bishop without a distinct Ordination or a farther Commission granted as for a Lay-man as such to intrude into any one and more of them without Ordination at all 't is in either or all of them the Sin of Vzzah and the Bethshemites a Robbery and Invasion 'T is not my sense alone they are the words and determination of our great and profound Dr. Thomas Jackson in the second Volume of his Works Cap. 6. p. 377. according to the last Edition I find two great Cases upon Church Story concerning the Ordinations made by Ischyras and Colluthus the former had no Orders at all the other was only a Presbyter and they were both null'd and declared void alike and those ordained by the Presbyter equally as by the Lay-man were reduced to and reputed in the Laick Order So Athanas Apol. pag. 732. Ed. Paris Ibid. p. 784. Socrates Hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 27. § XXII THERE are some Objections which readily arise and present themselves against this Primacy of Bishops in the Christian Church as thus asserted the first and immediate Subject of Church-Power the chief Fountain and Head next under Christ from whence all instances of Church-Autority are devolved and derived to particular Offices and Members of it I shall omit that Plea of those who contend that the Presbyter is really equal with the Bishop that the Bishop is not invested with a true and distinct Power above him and the whole Priesthood or Power of the Ministry is in every Presbyter by his Orders in Actu Primo and habitually radically and intrinsecally in which very words their sense is very stoutly stated in the late Irenicum p. 197. 276. only limited in the Execution for present convenience because what is the sense of Antiquity and our particular Church in part I have but just now declared and who give it in the Negative and the distinct Power of the Bishop above the Presbyter is notorious and I may have occasion hereafter in this Discourse to instance farther in the sense of Antiquity about it it falling again in the way I shall only insist upon what either the whole Church of God has allow'd and assented to and practised giving and fixing a Precedency to certain Church-Officers beyond these of Bishops as Patriarchs Exarchs for some time to be sure but to Metropolitans Primates Arch-Bishops or whatever the Titles were into which an Enquiry is not now to be made all frequent in Church-Story and their Prerogative and Jurisdiction above and apart is there as frequent also or else what a great part of the visible Church so numerous as next to an Universal have still for some Hundreds of years together with great ostentation and clamor both of Argument and Autority contended to be in the Pope or Bishop of Rome in particular as Superior to not only all other Bishops in Christendom but even these Patriarchs and all other Metropolitanes too be sure and to this immediately enstated and invested by Christ in the Person of St. Peter with a first and absolute Power as Universal Governor and Bishop of the believing World whence even all and every even Bishop himself must derive what Autority he has or can duly receive and legally execute to whom each Metropolitan and Patriarch is an Homager and Subject in Dependency and Subordination unto and all this inseparably annexed to St. Peter's Chair and to descend through all Ages in the Succession till time be no more and to the restitution of all things What was the sense of the Church as to the Nature Reason and Designment of the former and what the no Ground and Foundation of the latter I shall endeavour to declare and evince not in that extent the Subjects require for that is the work of Volumes But with that brevity seems requisite to the clearing and better managery of this particular Discourse § XXIII AND first as to the single Solitary Power residing in one Person above and beyond that of a Bishop whether Patriarch Exarch Metropolitan Primate Arch-Bishop or whatever Title it went under as it needs not so would it be too long and excursive now to enquire as when the Name Patriarch came first into the Church how it differs from that of a Metropolitan when the change of Names as to these two or any other and which Ecclesiastical Men discourse Certain it is that the Power was there very early and the Bishops themselves were under Canonical Obedience to their Primate they were in some instances inferior to governed and ruled by them and as certain it is again this their Prerogative and Presidency flowed not from any thing conferr'd in their Orders the Power given to a Bishop is the utmost is or ever shall be in that Holy Rite or Sacrament collated nor is there any thing in Holy Orders beyond it And when the Patriarch Metropolitan or Primate was constituted or whoever that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Primae sedis Episcopus was mentioned so often in the Council of Carthage we do not read in the ancient Church Rituals or any Practice apart from them of any farther new or solemn Ordination that was
Church of Christ all Christian Bishops by whomsoever Consecrated and his Arm is to rule them whosesoever's Hands were laid upon them and this solitary and by himself nor is any one a sharer with or out of subjection to him To which I shall reply that though the distinction in it self will with very much difficulty be admitted of and the ordaining and governing Parts will be very rarely found asunder Nor do I believe there can be an instance given of but one Bishop who at his Consecration had the Power of governing left out of the Office in which that other of Ordination together with this were not design'd at once and transmitted though the Objects have many times been changed either enlarged or limited as they have been both suspended altogether yet allowing the distinction it may possibly do Estius this present Kindness lookt upon as a Disputant and oppressed with an Argument giving him the opportunity of something like an Answer and with some shew he may escape that severity of words and blacker censure he there acknowledges to be passed by St. Gregory in several Occasional Epistles against whomsoever it is shall style himself Universal Bishop or Bishop of all Bishops That the very Name is Prophane Proud Sacrilegious Diabolical a Name of Blasphemy and the forerunner of Antichrist and all this Estius there tells us was occasion'd from this Holy Father by reason of the Patriarch of Constantinople's Ambition in that Nature declaring that as the Emperor did alone hold the Empire and all Inferior Governors were sent by him and held of him the Head and not to do it was Usurpation and Treason so did he alone hold the Episcopacy and all Holy Orders were to descend and flow from him and to receive them and not from him was to climb up the wrong way and by intrusion come in But then what more right he has on his side or better Autority than Bellarmine has on his or how he can prove a solitary peculiar Care and Government demandated to and in its special Constitution settled on St. Peter and by his Succession at Reme or which way soever else it was over the Universal Church or whole Gospel-Priesthood so as to constitute him and them its immutable perpetual Head to Govern though not to Ordain them and which was not in the rest of the Apostles Persons to be sure not in their Succession this does not readily appear the Scriptures are favourers of both alike and indeed give to neither any bottom at all Nor does any such thing appear in the best Antiquity or succeeding Matter of Fact in his behalf no ill Argument of ever a Divine Right were it on their side § XXV THE first instance we have from the Ancients of this Pretended Power is in Victor Bishop of Rome in the year One Hundred ninety four who threatned Excommunication against the Asiaticks because they complied not with him in the Observation of Easter The Succession of the Bishops of Rome is all along delivered down in Church-History from the beginning to this day each Bishop particularized under the Title of Romanae Vrbis Episcopus Antistes c. there 's no one note of Singularity affixed unto him and this is the first time we meet with any thing like a Superiority there practised and at the most he is but ranked with the other Metropolitans Now whether this was attempted by Victor purely out of Zeal for an Apostolical Custom and we have many examples of Eminent Bishops that have intermeddled without their own Districts or whether as supposing himself really invested with a Power for Inspection and Animadversion upon all other Christian Bishops certain it is this his Power was disown'd and rejected by an eminent Branch of the Church Catholick and as eminent Bishops as any She had the Autority and Practice of St. John is set up and Pleaded against that of St. Peter as what every way balances nor doth it any way submit unto it And Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons in France and none of the Quartodecimane but one who comply'd with Victor in the Observation of Easter yet asserts the Asiaticks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Self-Autority nor is any Foreign Power to over-rule and controle them or the Peace of the Church to be broken on such occasions all which is to be seen in Eusebius Hist Eccl. l. 5. c. 23 24. and if we descend some time lower we shall not find any thing really more advantageous to him Constantine the Great Complements indeed Eusebius of Caesarea and tells him he is worthy of the Episcopale or Government of the whole Church De Vita Constant apud Euseb l. 9. c. 6. but that such an extent of Power was then in the Person of any one Bishop is no where said nor is there any probability to suppose it 'T is true that some Privileges have belong'd to the Bishop of Rome and which have been claimed as their due in good times Julius is very angry with the Clergy of Antioch that they did not call him to a Synod and urges it as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law of the Church that whatsoever is done without the Bishop of Rome is to be void Sozom. Eccl. Hist l. 3. c. 10. and in an Epistle of his to some whom he accuses of Contention and want of Charity not consulting the Peace of the Church in the cause of Athanasius he farther adds Are you ignorant that this is the Custom that we are first to be wrote to that what is just may hence be defined Inter. Athanas Opera Tom. 1. Ed. Paris Pag. 753. But then whatever this Privilege was that it did not arise from any Connatural Right to his See but Ecclesiastical Canon is most plain out of Socrates his Church History l. 2. c. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and he may not have so much for what Vallesius in his Annotations there can produce for it Which is the alone Autority of Ferrandus that is Christian Ammianus Marcellinus an Heathen an Historian that concerns himself as little with Christianity and Church Affairs as any one can be supposed to have done that attempted an History of the Times in which so much of the Church concerns its Power and Autority was Transacted as in the days of Constantius and Julian and whose times make up the best part of his Story The latter he studiously affects to represent to the World with what advantages he can both living and dying And for the Christian Religion he does not I am confident so much as name it Twenty times in all his Books and then accidentally and very slightly and the greatest advantage that he gives us is we have his Testimony that such a Sect call'd Christians was then in the World and for that particular passage quoted by Vallesius it makes if any thing against himself for he tells us That when Constantius the Emperor who is known to be Athanasius his great and mortal Enemy and mov'd every
where there is a doubt and no sure witness to avouch the Baptism pretended once to be administred or the Persons themselves are not able to give an account of the Mysteries then delivered unto them as Can. 57. Conc. Carthag and which Canon was occasioned by their Embassador with the Moors who usually brought such Children from the Barbarians but yet there is no instance in the first Canons of rebaptizing those who were certainly known to be baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost upon any accident by Lay-men and yet such we have reason to believe there was Hence Baptism once appearing to have been administred as to the Matter and Substance of it and in the words of the Institution and by such as were not of the Hieratical Order they adjudged it the safer way to trust the Mercy and Goodness of God for a supply of whatever defect might be in one or two outward Circumstances than to run the hazard of an attempt of what seemed so visibly and notoriously unlawful viz. a second admission by that Sacrament or a violation of that known and sacred rule or instance of our Belief one Baptism for remission of Sins And this as in all defects and where something is wanting it ought to be permitted and pardoned only under the present and unhappy Circumstances as also in the after practice of the Church but never produced and urged as a Rule enacted into a Law Infirmities are never made Presidents unless for Pity and Pardon and to quicken future care and watchfulness against them the common course of things abhors nor is it to be endur'd if otherwise Potestatem regenerationis demandans suis discipulis cum dixit iis Euntes docete omnes gentes baptizantes c. Iren. l. 3. c. 19. Christ Jesus then demandated or devolved the Power for Regeneration unto his Disciples when he bad them go and teach all Nations baptizing them c. and certainly such as attempt it ought first to receive the same Autority in Succession from him without which his Disciples that in Person attended him did it not Tertullian represents it as the height of impudence and irregularity for a Woman to baptize forsitan tingere a more sawcy act then to teach in the Church De praescr c. 41. then which no Book was ever wrote with a more Primitive Spirit and speaks of it as a thing in general forbad a Woman de Virgin Veland c. 9. He limits it to the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon only in necessity it comes to the Lay-man Sufficiat sc ut in necessitatibus utaris sicubi aut loci aut temporis aut personae conditio compellit tunc enim constantia succurrentis excipitur quam urgit circumstantia periclitantis De Baptism c. 17. and surely that which is but one never to be reiterated 't is Sacriledge 't is incest to do it to which so many and great Titles Eulogies and Effects are given by the Ancients it would be endless to repeat them so many to be sure more are not spoken of any one Service in the whole City of God That which first enters us into the Body and Association of Christians with so large Promises upon such solemn ties and obligations the Expectations and Duties of our whole life following and that which is performed and obtained with the same solemnity and invocation as in other Holy Mysteries invocato Deo Sanctificationis Sacramentum consequuntur aequae Tertul de Baptism c. 4. it is not agreeable that the Consecration and Solemnization be left and assigned promiscuously and to every hand and which is not in other Sacraments it must in course be equally peculiar and separate as to the separation of the Persons that are to be entrusted with the administration of it A further appropriated distinct Power to § XXX the Officers of the Church is to unite and determine in Council in the affairs of Religion as to Matters of Faith when less cleer when unhappily wrested and perverted by Hereticks in fixing things indifferent in their Nature for the more usefulness order and uniformity in the Worship of God for the setling of Consciences in the private apprehension of them and governing suitable to such the Laws and Canons in each case so made and constituted by them For this end the Apostles and Elders met together and united in Council at Jerusalem and determined concerning things offer'd to Idols and eating of Blood c. Acts 15. so those many subsequent Councils whilst the Empire kept off from the Church as against that Error of the Arabians that the Souls sleep upon the separation Euseb Hist l. 6. c. 37. in that against Novatus Cap. 43. against Paulus Samosetanus l. 7. c. 29. with several others in History transmitted to this purpose was that Body or Collection of Canons bearing the Title of the Apostles Canons upon several occasions made for the use and direction and government of the Christian Incorporation and Society such were the four first general Councils when the Empire became Christian and receiv'd the Church under its wings and protection The first under Constantine held at Nicaea against Arius and asserted the Eternity of the Son of God that he was not a meer Creature The second held at Constantinople under Theodosius the Great against Macedonius and asserted the Eternal divinity of the Holy Ghost who said the third Person was a meer Creature The third was held at Ephesus under Theodosius the lesser against Nestorius who own'd the both Godhead and Manhood of Christ but divided him into two Persons The fourth at Chalcedon under Marcian the Emperor against Eutiches who consounded the two Natures in one Person as Nestorius divided the Persons with others whether Oecumenical or Topical during or succeeding these and whose either Declarations as to what Faith was at first delivered and since received upon a just and traditional enquiry even to the placing some Books into the Canon of Scripture which were not with the earliest admitted or constituted Canons in Church-Polity were still thought obliging to all good and peaceable Christians determined and ended the present debate and only a Compliance was the issue of them and that either to all Christendom or particular Churches suitable as were the Councils either Universal or under single Metropolitans or particular Bishops accordingly did they oblige And this Legislative Power as originally given only to Church-Officers so is it alone residing in them to rule and to govern receive or reject to punish or reward according to such their own Laws as the reason and nature of such the Societies and their Constitution will direct and bear as unhappy Differences and Debates arose they were thus to be decided by the Convention of Councils who either confirmed what they found was well done before or passed farther Sanctions where the occasion was new or upon notoriety of failure in former Declarations For the Power of Councils was never asserted
not know how better to give an account of this Kingdom of Christ than in the answer of those Kindred of our Saviours to Domitian the Tyrant related by Eusebius Eccl. hist l. 3. c. 20. Domitian was afraid of Christ's Kingdom as Herod had been before him he had the same apprehension that still is in the World derived from most excellent Presidents Herod and Domitian that Christ's Kingdom and Caesar's could not stand together whereupon such Christ's Kindred were summoned and accused as of the stock of David who upon demand acknowledging they were so and giving an account of their Meanness and Poverty as to this World and shewing their hands which were hard and callous with the assiduity of labour for a daily sustenance and not to be suspected to be Invaders of the Kingdomes here they were at length demanded concerning Christ and his Kingdom what the nature and quality of it was and when and in what places he was to appear and to which they also answered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that Christ's Kingdom is not of this world or earthy but heavenly and Angelical to be accomplished in the conclusion of Ages when coming in Glory he shall Judge the living and the dead and retribute to every one according to his works IN the mean time and till such his Personal § XXXVI Appearance in Glory with outward Power and force as well as splendor to sit visibly as a Judge and every one to receive in his Body by way of Punishment what evil he hath done in the flesh to say his Power is none at all because not of the same quality in the same form of Process and by sensible Awards is to discourse as those that are equally ignorant of the Reasons of such God's terrible Proceedings at the end of the World that Fire and Brimstone in Hell as they are of the nature of his Church and Association its Rules and Laws and Discipline here on Earth And our Saviour therefore and then personally and bodily afflicts for ever because his Moral spiritual Laws his Church Injunctions so often urged have been believed on these mens Principles to be of no account to have no edge or force because no present destruction of the flesh nothing sensible restraining or coercing had they been received and obey'd as in the design from God such his fearful doom had never reached them and to contend that the Ecclesiastical Church Power is now none at all because not such as at that great Day or not the same as of a secular Judge at an Assize to send to Prison Whip or put to Death is with the same Argument to contend that there is no force or obligation in any one oâ— all the Gospel moral Precepts either whose utmost return by way of outward Penalty upon such as receiv'd them not was to casâ— off the dust of their Shoes upon them As the Seventy we know were by our Saviour alonâ— enjoyn'd who had neither Whips or Axeâ— Goals nor Gallows committed unto them whâ— could only deny them the advantage of thaâ— Gospel which themselves refused when it was Preached unto them To say Church Power can be none at all upon this score is to deny all Evangelical Power for present Judgment is not there speedily executed and the Law of Love and Virtue are alike precarious and of no Autority and Jurisdiction that 's engaging as are the Laws Ecclesiastical if their reason be good they give against the latter because voluntary in the submission to and acceptance of them and no one is forced except he please to covenant at first or if he does covenant he 's as much free from all outward force whether he pleased or not to put his part in practice he may renounce and rescind it at his liberty Surely no Cords tye no Irons bind like those that enter into the Soul whether it be by Love or Fear by Punishments or Rewards by the Comforts and Hopes of the one or the Terrors and Consternations of the other a wounded Conscience who can bear its burdens are insupportable and which comes not by Weights and Engines inventions of Man pressing and over-powering and according to the Principles of these men there can be no other but by reflex actions and a sense of non-performance of Duty and the horrid black guilt annexed from a sense of that loss which like the Conscience it self is spiritual and which over-bears and over-rules very oft to the neglecting of the flesh to the undergoing any Tortures and Cruciatings of the Body as we know despairing Persons do when as with Esau the Blessing is sought and 't is too late there 's no room for Repentance but which is not the first and immediate punishment and burden and surely a sence of Duty performed and the Expectations of a good man are no less binding on the other side â—ngage and tye the Soul that is not feared with an hot iron is sensible and considering and he that believes and is fully possessed that without the Pale of the Church if not a Member of this Body and Association as above described there is no Gospel advantages here nor life hereafter no other way revealed to us by God in his Word to follow and adhere unto he needs no other Motive and Boâ—d for his keeping within this Pale for his submission to the Laws and Discipline of it and if any one does not believe it he is to be dealt with as those are that say the flames of Hell are painted also that deny the reality and truth of those eternal Punishments and 't is the great folly of those men who first suppose there can be no Association but by outward ties and then upon this begg'd Principle of their own conclude against this of the Church and which is only spiritual The sum of this Section is this if the Church on Earth has no Power because no outward coercion neither has any one instance of the Gospel if these Men's reasons conclude any thing And Mr. Hobbâ—… is to be done thus much right in the case that he speaks so like an Honest man that is to one that is true to his Principles and all along asserts That the New Testament is only Canonical and Law as made so by the Civil Magistrate and to say it is a Law in any place where the Law of the Common-wealth has not made it so is contrary to the Nature of a Law and more particularly as to the present point in hand that the Decrees of the Council at jerusalem Acts 15.28 were no more Laws than are those other Precepts Repent be Baptized keep the Commandments believe the Gospel come unto me sell all that thou hast give it to the Poor and follow me which are not Commandments but Invitations and Callings of Men to Christianity the Kingdom which they acknowledged and to which they invited being not present but to come and they that have no Kingdom can make no Laws nor did
〈◊〉 they obey their appointed Laws and by their exacter Lifes and stricter Conversations go beyond the Laws supererogate and are more perfect than their Rules require or Sanctions enjoyn them To which I 'le add that of Octavius to Cecilianus in Minutius Faelix De nostro numero carcer exaestuat Christianus ibi nullus est nisi aut reus suae Religionis aut Profugus your Prisons swarm the Walls will scarce contain them but there is no Christian unless Runawaies and Desertors of their Religion and when we assert the divine Right of Titles and that God himself assigned and separated such a Portion of the goods of the Earth for the maintenance of the Evangelical Priesthood also and which Sanction is to endure together with the Kingdom and to take away this is to rob God we do not then maintain them with any such Clause in the Charter or Conveyance warranting and enabling a forcible violent Entry as in the usual cases of Right and Property upon dispossession that Power St. Paul speaks of as to Eat and to Drink not to work with our hands but to live upon the Gospel and which we believe to descend with the Gospel is together with holy Orders invested in him is quite another thing and neither implies nor supposes Power like it it is bottomed only on the Grounds and Reasons of our Association nor has it any other motives but those which make us Christians and which did not at all depend on outward force Hence it was till the world came into the Church that the Priesthood was maintained by what every one offer'd upon the forementioned inducements and as he that denied this maintenance to him that served at the Altar was supposed still to deny withal his Faith and place in the Body of Christians and suitably is it with the greatest equity and proportion of things still the continued Practice of the Christian Courts to Excommunicate or cut off such an one from the Church Communion so neither could they which saw no reason why themselves should become Christians be supposed to be convinced by other reasons of the necessity of maintaining those who claimed no other right for the maintenance than their Preaching and Publishing such that Religion And therefore when upon with-holding of Tithes or the Churches Revenue we proceed farther than Excommunication to Personal Confinement or whatever outward restraint we have no Warrant or Power for this but from the Prince and the Laws of the Land alone enable us to do it 'T is true to have a Body or Government in it self distinct and apart from that which is Secular and with its own obligations for maintenance which way soever it arises but more especially when from so prevailing a motive and engagement as that which makes men Christians and entitles them to Eternity to have their own bank or stock to what ends or on what Persons soever erogated and expended it matters not whether on their Poor or on their Clergy to which add the Power to assemble for religious Worship upon the same Considerations is what may carry some appearance for Suspitions and Jealousies from the State and advantages are possible to be taken for undermining and overthrowing of it upon each occasion a Government indeed ought to be watchful and jealous in such Cases Premunires Eschetes and Confiscations are but due and equitable Provisions as by Law assigned that surely is a very unsafe Rule I find among other as bad laid down by Mr. Dean in his Sermon in a case not very unlike to this in hand He that acknowledges himself to derive all his Autority from God can pretend to none against him Unless wee 'l suppose there can be no Cheats nor Hypocrites double dealings in the World or that a power or trust duely received cannot be abused and estranged such as designedly Act against God pretend mostly to his Autority and often have it really in them And the truth is nothing but the peculiar constitution of this Christian Body or Incorporation could have then by any one been permitted as it was by some before Constantine or now be pleaded for whose humble innocent peaceable temper and complexion as above described was so undoubted and notorious in every instance experienced whose very essence was obedience whose design of making good Christians was to make them good Subjects the very Plot of the Gospel was in part this that Government be every ways preserved and entire administring new Motives and Arguments for it and that Princes if possible be more Sovereign and Glorious thereby whatever the Gospel Preaches and Commands is all along with a just regard and even subordination to it But then again since thus it is by the Blessings and Providence of God that Kings and Queens themselves are become Nursing Fathers and Mothers of the Church since our Church Doors are set wide open by their command our Revenues in our hands at the publick disposal of our Bishops to which is superadded their own Royal Bounty and Endowments together with more from the Piety of others their Subjects and eminent Christians among us and all by Law Established and Confirmed unto us as the rest of our Tenures still to plead the example of the Primitive Christians who were under no one of these Advantages to keep a part in distinct Assemblies to make Privy Purses and Fonds brings such as practise it under as great a suspicion of Hypocrisie and private ill-laid designs as those first Christians were notorious for their integrity when so doing and unsuspected not only that Government under which they live but all good Christians have ground enough for jealousie of their underhand indirect purposes to implead and seize on the one hand and to admonish and censure on the other as Delinquents no one consideration of State can countervail the Damage a toleration or connivance of such may bring unto it nothing can justifie the Practice it self but that alone which was pleaded by the Primitive Christians and was their real case that the Association and Assemblies of Christians for the Profession and Service of the Gospel must cease and fall without so doing that Christianity it self cannot otherwise stand and which our supposal overthrows as to any such Pleas now adays nor indeed dare any of our Dissenters openly say it § XLIII THAT the Clergy alone preside in their several Districts is no more prejudicial to Government in State than any of the other and which will appear from their Offices there performed as to be the Mouth in Prayer and thanksgiving and which is already consider'd to Catechize Teach and Instruct the People and admonish them in the ways to Heaven by Virtue and the instances of all sorts of Obedience as indispensably required and nothing but a thorow after-repentance and amendment upon failure will regain the Inheritance forfeited and Iâ—le take it to be only an ill Phrasing or inconsideration in the Expression when Preaching the Gospel in the due sense
rather to be hazarded then to comply with and imbody into us any thing that is sinful even to gain a Protection for other instances of Virtue and Duty yet nothing but that which strikes at Religion it self will ingage or be a Warrant to proceed in this extreme utmost way upon him whose alone is the outward Coercive Power and who can weild his Sword at pleasure deny the Church that support countenance and assistance which our Saviour designed Religion should outwardly flourish under be in some respects propagated and preserved by become more notoriously visibâ—e and conspicuous to all Nations And what is said of Excommunication and other Church censures is to be said of Absolution which though a Power enstated alone in the Priesthood by Christ yet is not to be executed in an Arbitrary way and that not only as to the Laws of Christ but the Laws of Kingdoms also in many cases especially where Christian I 'le end this Section and Head of Discourse in the words of our Learned Dr. Hammond in his Book of the Power of the Keys Cap. 1. Sect. 1. The Power of binding and loosing is only an Engine of Christ's invention to make a Battery or impression upon the obdurate Sinner to win him to himself to bless not triumph over him it invades no part of the Civil Judicature nor looses the bonds thereof by these Spiritual Pretences but leaves the Government of the World just in the posture it was before Christ's coming or as it would be supposed to be if he had never left any Keys in his Church § XLV THAT the Church as a Body and Corporation of it self judiciarily determines in Council and lays obligations to Obedience infringes and inrodes no more than her other acts now mentioned if it be declarative of matter of Faith or Duty indispensably as received originally from Christ by Church conveyance the Determination is no more than the first Teaching and Promulgation of it was if it be constitutive of Laws and Canons for setling and enjoyning of Discipline the matter in it self indifferent but limited for present use and service and of which and to which purpose all Humane Laws Ecclesiastical or Civil are made and tend these Church Canons are as in the make and obligation so in the Practice and execution to retain that just regard to known Duties especially those of Allegiance that such the other Church acts and censures do and as already shewed 'T is true the great transcendent regard and reverence the Empire when Christian has had for the institution as from our Saviour for Religion it self in whose defence the Canons were made and for the high Dignity and Office of the Bishops his Commissioners that it still has made antecedent Canons the Rule of all Laws enacted if relating to or but bordering upon affairs Ecclesiastical as instances are already produced quas leges nostrae sequi non dedignantur Novel 83. and to command contra venerabilem Ecclesiam against the venerable Church Nullius est nisi Tyrannidis cujus actus omnes rescinduntur is reputed as the Act of a Tyrant and such Acts are null'd Cod. Justin l. 1. Tit. 2.16 nay farther Canones ubi agitur de re Ecclesiastica jure civili sunt preferendi and if the Canon and Civil Laws those of the Church and the State have happened to be different and in competition in any Ecclesiastical case the Canons have took place and obliged as in that Code and Title Sect. 6. and their general care and industry was mostly for these as the Determinations more immediately for the good of their Souls Novel 137. but this was from the greater Indulgence and Grace of the Christian Emperors and in particular cases and it cannot be supposed that the Church should designedly set up her Bishops and Laws above or in opposition to that Government which the frame of their Religion includes in Subordination to and by Protection of which it was to be propagated and preserv'd but of this we shall have occasion anon to consider farther And if it be reply'd that a Council cannot be convened or meet at all without the Prince's Grant at least his Letters of leave and how then can they have any Autority independent or should they otherwise assemble they are reputed Seditious Disturbers of the Peace and of Majesty and punishable as is the Law imperial 16. Cod. Theodos Tit. 1. l. 3. To this I answer neither can they nor ought they nor did ever any Christian Council otherwise unite in their Persons then by the Grant and Letters Imperial and that censure was just if any did otherwise attempt it But then it is farther to be consider'd that the form essence and force of a Council that which gives a right for Sanctions and invests with Autority Ecclesiastical is not their local personal meeting as in one place there convocated and sitting but a joynt-enquiry and resolution as to the Truth 's debated and concurrency as one man in the Laws enacted upon the true Motives and Reasons of Faith and the Gospel as by Tradition transmitted or in Discipline for Government and Peace useful and which may be done by the Bishops and Clergy dissite and in diverse Countries by their Letters Missive and Communicatory those Literae signatae or systaticae or circular Epistles to one another and which has been done under diverse Circumstances and when the state of the Church was so low and its Capacities not enabling her to do it otherwise as is plain from Church Story and Practice and that this was the course of the Church's 't is more than probable when that debate arose about the keeping of Easter an account of whose Epistles we have appearing to this purpose given us by Eusebius Eccl. Hist l. 5. c. 23. AND lastly that this Church Power is derived § XLVI only from the Church and her Bishops to others in the Succession exclusive to Kings and the Clergy are not in this sense his Ministers he ordains and substitutes them not carries nothing of opposition in the action it self nor any thing in the design than what the Incorporation and Offices themselves imply and which has been hitherto rendred altogether innocent The Leviathan scruples not to say That they all derive their Offices and Power only from the Prince and are but his Ministers in the same manner as Magistrates in Towns Judges in Courts of Justice and Commanders in Armies are and his account why they must be so is because the Government could not be secure upon other terms If the Soveraignity in the Pastor over himself and his People be allow'd of it deprives the Magistrate of the Civil Power and his Peoples dependency would be on such their Doctors both in respect of the opinion they have of their Duty to them and the fear they have of Punishment in another World Part 3. Cap. 42. but this mistake of his has been enough discovered all along in this Treatise and will be more
place Mat. 10.28 Fear not those that can kill the Body but can kill the Soul All men therefore that would avoid both the Punishments that are in this World to be inflicted for Disobedience to their earthly Soveraign and those which shall be inflicted in the World to come for Disobedience to God have need to be taught to distinguish well between what is and what is not necessary to eternal Salvation Leviathan Part 3. cap. 43. § IV NOR is it Mr. Hobbs his Rule only but the Rule of those who were as much better as they are ancienter than he I mean the Ancient and Holy Fathers of the Christian Church whom we find thus laying down these distinctions of necessary and not necessary or rather more and less necessary for the adjusting and determining concerning the degrees and measures of Duty whether to God or Man In Clemens Alexandrinus we have the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tenents that are Principal and of a first Order and others that are higher and go beyond them Strom. l. 6. pag. 675. and Lib. 4. p. 538. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatever is impossible is not necessary and what is necessary is easie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is no want or inability to such things we are indispensably to do Idem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 2. c. 1.148 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strom. lib. 7. pag. 737. in the Life of Constantine by Eusebius l. 2. c. 70 71. there is mention'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Head and Uppermost of the Commandments in the Law which will admit of no debate and demur in the assent unto them and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the same purpose in Evagrius Eccl. Hist l. 1. c. 11. which are Principles and not to be innovated in or dissented from which to do is certain Punishment in some points a liberty to change is granted but not in all as it is in that Chapter St. Austin discourses of some things ad ipsa fidei pertinent fundamenta as the foundation and support of Religion and which if taken away Totum quod in Christo auferre molitur Christianity it self is gone with it and in others he leaves a latitude and good and Learned Men may dissent about them Lib. 1. cont Julian Pelag. cap. 6. Ep. 157. ad Optatum and not thus to consider things is occasion of distraction among Christians nor can Conscience receive a just satisfaction in discharge of her Obedience I do not know how to express my self better than in the words of our Learned Dr. Hammond Serm. on Acts 3.26 Vol. 2. There is not a more noxious mistake a more fatal piece of Stoicism among Christians than not to observe the different degrees and elevations of Sin one of the first another of the second magnitude it is the ground to say no more of a deal of desperate prophaneness And it is this in particular is lamented in John Calvin by Arnoldus Poelengburgh one friend enough to him that he did not apprehend and separate inter fundamentalia non fundamentalia between what was fundamental and what not Vberiori cum fructu arduum opus reformationis promovisset and which had he done his Reformation had been with much success carried on by him inter Ep. Eccl. pag. 328. Amstelodam BUT then what is necessary and what not § V and such the degrees of it is that which will be harder yet to determine unless we go on with Mr. Hobs in that Chapter and then indeed 't is easie enough done For he tells us All that is necessary to Salvation is contained in two Virtues Faith in Christ and Obedience to Laws and the Laws we are to obey are only what the Civil Soveraign has made so and the Precepts of the Bible oblige no otherwise then as he so commands and puts his Sanction upon them and this all the Obedience is necessary to salvation and by Faith he only means that Jesus is the Christ thus indeed it is not hard to reconcile our obedience to God with our obedience to the Civil Magistrate as himself there very well infers because on his terms we owe and are to pay no obedience to God at all all the faith we are not to violate and all the Laws we are to obey are only this that Commandment to obey our Civil Sovereign and whatever rules he assigns for our obedience nothing upon these accounts can make demur or but lay a scruple upon conscience for the point is plain and easie and decided to our hands that 't is Man and not God we are to obey unless man please to receive and imbody into his Codes or Laws what God in Scripture has proposed and recommended unto us not unlike that Law of the Senate decided and exposed by Tertullian Apol. cap. 5. Ne quis Deus ab Imperatore consecretur nisi à Senatu probatus apud nos de humano arbitrio divinitas pensitetur nisi homini Deus placuerit non erit Deus that none must be consecrated a God unless approved of by the Senate the Apotheosis is from man by his favour and grant and unless God pleases man he shall not be God § VI AND all this is not much to be admired in Hobbs and Spinosa his Scholar whose known design is to depretiate and make nothing at all of the Gospel of Christ to render both God and his Church insignificant but the admiration and astonishment is this to see it publickly Preach'd and then Printed in our Church of England and by him that is of a higher Order and Dignity there as by the Dean of Canterbury as in his Sermon above mentioned and he that takes but a little pains to run over that train of absurdities collected out of Mr. Hobbs by the great Archdeacon of Canterbury in his late Treatise of the Obligation of Christianity by Divine Right and compares them with that passage of the Sermon and the following part of the Section the occasion of this Discourse will find very little difference in the expression and delivery So many of those most fulsome Positions to come so very near what is said by the Dean as his own present Judgment that no less than an Ambition of being suspected for a Hobbist if not embraced as really such could have drawn it from his Tongue and Pen and the next wonder must be that two such opposite Judgments and at this time o' th' day in the Church of England should be found fellow members together and with the two Head Titles in her famous Metropolitical Church of Canterbury And had I been of the same Judgment with Mr. Deane or but inclinable to a perswasion in order to it and had Yorkshire been my Country and I to Preach a Sermon to my fellow Natives of it of Love and Peace as he once did I would never have laid the Surplice and Cross and Kneeling at the Altar upon the Bishops but plainly told them that they
were made Law and establish'd by the Civil â—…veraign and they were to thank God it was no worse and did the King command to adore the Linnen or Font or Tables themselves they are not to gain-say and affront because affronting Laws and Magistracy to pretend to a farther obligation from Conscience and to oppose even a false Religion or to make Proselytes to their own though they be never so sure they are in the right is to be guilty of gross hypocrisie without an extraordinary Commission from God to that purpose they are no more obliged to do it here at home than to go into Spain or Italy or Turkey and there make Converts and which no Protestant holds himself obliged to do Sure I am the Bishops had had more Justice done them than they found in the Sermon and it seems very unequal that they should be supposed to redress and be left wide open to a popular Odium because not doing what never was in their Commission what would have been their gross hypocrisie in attempting because having neither an extraordinary Commission for it nor hath the Providence of God made way by the Permission of the Magistrate and all that can be reply'd is this that Mr. Dean chang'd his Judgment upon the writing his next Sermon which he hath declared to be by Nature mutable and thereby has this advantage is always ready for better information or rather to act the Aecebolius as occasion and to do him all the right I can this is to be said for him that he dissents from Mr. Hobbs something in this very passage of his Sermon for the inference on his side is strong that where extraordinary Commission by Miracles is evidenced a false Religion is to be opposed and the true one to be Preach'd though the Magistracy and Law be otherwise which Mr. Hobs will by no means allow he will not permit it to the Apostles Leviathan Part 3. Cap. 42. but then how Mr. Dean will avoid this Consequence that there is no Church Power on Earth nor is it lawful for any one to Preach the Gospel when it is not Law by the Civil Soveraign since those Miracles which alone were in the Apostles time and which is though less of it every whit as rank Hobbism I have not sagacity enough to see that he desires to do it is not very certain all that can be said for him is that he seems to have been but raw in the Controversie and is ready as all such ought to be to submit upon better Information and to which if these Papers contribute they so far answer the design of the Author BUT whatever either Mr. Hobs or his Adherents § VII have wrote or preached sure we are our Saviour calls for Confession before Men for the owning asserting and publishing his Truths and most of all then and most publickly when mostly opposed with the greatest hazard and jeopardy even before Kings and not to be ashamed when the Kings of the Earth stand up and the Rulers take Council together against us and Christ risen from the Dead is not only to be believed in the Brain and Heart but to be confessed too with the Mouth if Salvation the effect of it as St. Paul tells us 1 Cor. 10. whatever anteceding Law against us or what Power soever enacting 't is our very case now as was St. Peter's in the Acts and we are to obey God and not Man And as sure I am also that this was the Practice of the succeeding Holy Fathers and Professors of the Church in the best Ages of it who still opposed whatever Religion was false by what Law soever established and abetted and still possessed and preached the true in opposition to it with the hazard of whatsoever was merciless from this World could attend them for it Nor was it then thought a Contempt or Affront to the Persons or Laws or Offices of the Civil Magistrate nor was it believed so to be by the Empire it self where satisfaction desired or enquiry made as appears particularly in the days of Trajan who ceased his Persecutions and Jealousies too being well assured that they met before day to Pray and give Thanks to and Praise God and Christ covenanting against Adultery Murder and such like Iniquities 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that they acted nothing at all against the Laws and the Government was not affronted nor endanger'd by it an account of which is to be seen Tertul. Apol. c. 1. and in Eusebius his Church History Lib. 3. c. 33. and not to Profess Christianity was to deny it and nothing but that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that second Baptism as 't is call'd in Sozomen's Church History that initiation or entrance by a new Engagement a thorow Change and severe Repentance could give again a Name or Interest in Christ replace such among the Candidates for Heaven And those that offered at the Heathen shrines at the Command of the Emperor that fell away and disown'd the Faith in the time of Persecution were not received nor had their Libellum Pacis admitted to a Reconciliation and Unity with the Church but upon severest Penance and a larger trial of after-adherency and such were never admitted into Holy Orders to any Charge or Publick Power in the Church or if in Holy Orders before he was deposed for ever of so much blacker a guilt was it not to Preach Christ than not barely only to confess him however Mr. Dean places no Duty at all in it but the quite contrary as appears all along in the Story of those times and the Rules and Canons of the Church made occasionally on such accounts And we have instances in some that when dragg'd to the Idol with Cenfers in their Hands and there forced to offer as it was one of the Devices of the Devil thus outwardly to gain Countenance to his Worship Men of greater Eminency in Christianity being reserv'd for this purpose and whose Examples were more prevailing and apter to perswade being represented as such that had freely offer'd these Christians did not satisfie themselves in their own innocency and that the Church did so repute and receive them but when released openly declared the force in the face of the Magistracy and their greatest Conventions and were again laid hold of for it went immediately to the stake or the Beasts suffer'd Martyrdom for it though the Laws of the Land Prohibited it and the doing of it was Death though indulged by the Church and the present Circumstances indemnified if not done yet all did not perswade when but in shew to the World their Christianity was not own'd and to the appearance of many denied by them they could on no other terms believe themselves Christians nor consequently design to live upon Earth than as on Earth they confessed their Saviour before Men on this account only did they expect that Christ should own them before his Father which is in Heaven And they were only the worst of
Hereticks and of Men which in that Age taught and practised otherwise Simon Magus and his Sect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was receiv'd to be the Ring-leader of all Hereticks nor was there any thing so impure which he and his followers did not out-do them in as Eusebius tells us Hist Eccl. lib. 2. c. 14. and particularly he tells us lib. 4. c. 7. that these were the Tenents of Basilides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is indifferent to eat what is offer'd to Idols and deny the Faith in the time of Persecution and suitably I find this account of them in Irenaeus That whatsoever they outwardly committed against the rules of the Gospel was no Sin that they were not saved by their just actions that there was no such thing as Martyrdom and by the Redemption it was so ordered that the Judge had no advantage over them Ed. Fenard Paris l. 1. c. 20. l. 4. c. 64 c. that they were in their own opinion of themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Kingly Royal Priesthood and People in this sense because above all Laws and Rules of good living as St. Clemens Strom. 3. p. 438 439. Ed. Sylburg and no doubt but Mr. Hobs has been very well acquainted with these Men though he may pass for an Original with many of his Wel-wishers IT then appearing that Obedience is due § VIII from a Christian to both God and Man to his Church and his Prince and Religion and Loyalty are what he must Profess and Practice what is the case that the one may and must yield to the other in abate and be suspended for some time and in some distinct Acts and Offices and neither be violated be affronted or contemn'd in the true intent design and purpose of both I do now undertake to give Satisfaction and in order to which we are to range and limit the Laws of Religion under these three general Heads that the Duties in each Branch may the more particularly appear to whoso considers them 1. They are such as are Arbitrary in their Sanction and Enacting without any antecedent Necessity as to the particular instance and might have been these or other but are Humane only and Ecclesiastical constituted and limited by the Bishops and Governors of the Church in their Canons and Rules to that purpose and which together with the decency and aptness and usefulness of the things themselves renders obliging 2. They are such as are equally Arbitrary and without any foregoing Obligation as are the former the reason and force of which depends upon the choice and Autority of the Law-giver but here is the difference these Laws are Divine their Author and Institutor is Christ or such as were immediately inspir'd miraculously and in an extraordinary manner commissioned by him in order to this very thing Such are the Sacraments c. and which might have been other than they now are had he pleased 3. They are such as are no ways Arbitrary in the instance but follow necessarily and naturally upon the supposal and reception of Religion and this whether the Religion be that of Nature immediately flowing from our Natural Relations and dependency to and upon God and one another such are all the Acts of Natural Religion as Faith and Relyance upon God Prayer and Praises and Thanksgivings to him an Imitation and Copying out of his Purity and Holiness Love and Faith and Justice being tender-hearted and affectionate to one another with more of the like nature and to which all Mankind is oblig'd immutably and for ever not by any positive-superadded Law or Injunction but by the force and necessary results of his Creation connate and congenious with mans being and subsistency and the first Notions of Religion Man must fall from his Orb cease his own proper instincts and operations without them or whether the Religion be founded in the Offices of Christ to which he was since deputed of the Father upon Earth as a King Prophet and Priest in order to Man's Redemption and is in part now executed in Heaven to govern teach satisfie and intercede for him and which implies and includes in the first design and purpose whatever Duty and Service is Natural as above and its farther distinct Acts and Obligations are that this Saviour and Redeemer be believed in inwardly and from the Heart and suitably be obey'd and submitted to as is required of us by him and this to be publickly ownâ—d and confessed in each of his Offices even on the Cross it self when in the greatest hazards when call'd before Kings for his Name sake and this so immediately and indispensably every Christian's Duty that not only his Honour and Advantage is placed in it but he must cease to be a Christian without it and his Saviour will not upon others terms own him before his Father which is in Heaven the Religion cannot be where it is not we cannot suppose a Saviour to come in that Nature into the World so to dye and live for us upon other terms 't is all connate with the being and offices of a Redeemer I 'le consider them each in their order 1. THE Laws of Religion are Church § IX Laws Determinations of what are in themselves indifferent so order'd in the course of things as to be the Subject of Laws Ecclesiastical for the present Power to enact and repeal limit or enlarge suspend or execute as occasion and circumstances direct and urge and tend to the more decent and uniform apt and suitable Performance of what is in an higher order of Duty and farther degree of Necessity and to which there is no antecedent fixed Rule given nor can the most Lesbian rule of what Latitude or how comprehensive soever be so at once contrived and made upon the greatest foresight of the Law-giver as to be so fitted for and answer each Case that offers or Circumstance that may happen to fall in of it self and comply with the present accident and then if no present Power to oblige and over-rule only disorder and confusion in the Church will be the consequent Now these Laws though in themselves obliging and each Christian as a Member of that Society stands immediately engag'd unto them nor can any other Foreign Power repeal or null them as to their Sanction yet there may be there is to be a Cessation as to Practice under some Cases and Circumstances and the particular local Performance may be superseded at present or suspended for the future nor do the terms for Heaven consist in the forbearance or shut out of the Church-Society because of it little Accidents and Contingencies not to be foreseen nor prevented will oft obstruct and become lawful Impediments and much more where the Civil Power comes thwarting upon us and renders Church Laws impracticable a Secular inhibition upon Penalties and Inconveniencies which tend to the greater Damage of our common Christianity if incurr'd and to the silencing and abating from Duties of a higher concern
good Christian who is also a good Subject is to abate of what Duties and Performances he in some instances immediately owes to Religion and his Saviour in obedience to those Secular injunctions to which if not engaged to submit the Government cannot subsist and be managed as in these particular instances did a pretence to or the actual present exercise in religious Worship exempt and disingage Every one is born a Subject owes a duty to his Prince and the Government as soon as he is indebted for his Being to his Maker and an after-dedication of my Person by holy Orders does not cancel that first dependency my Saviour himself hither all along had his regard and he laid his Religion in relation to it and when in the Pulpit or which is more at the Altar in the midst of my Office am I to give up my Person to that Civil Power by my Christianity supposed and by the same God placed over me The severer Rules and Laws of the Sabbath were to give place to the saving the life of a Man in the design of Moses as our Saviour expounds him to the Pharisees and much more for the support of Kingdoms and Communities and so in all other Instances of this sort of Holiness called Relative and which is good only from the institution and positive appointment and no greater more notorious Cheats than those in Ordine ad Deum that manage and abet Disobedience by a Charter from Religion 't is that very Corban in the Gospel so severely chastised by Christ the saying it is a gift and robbing my Father and Mother That absence from Divine Service or religious Worship which is in it self a sin upon a single instance of Charity for the advantage and relief of the neighbour-hood and then surely of a whole Community is a duty on this score Christians fight their Battels on the Lord's-day the very Ass is to be pulled out of the Pit and how the reasons and ends of Government for its better managâ—ry and conservation did stiil over-rule in the Christian Church in each of these like religious Performances in the best and most flourishing Times of it and the Empire when Christian gave Laws Directions and Limitations as to the Collectae and Publick Assemblies in Ordinations Excommunications Absolutions c. for the more orderly administration of the Civil Affairs is already shew'd in this discourse and yet the things themselves are immediately from Christ that power is not from the Prince which warrants and makes effectual the Institutions and Offices of each of them AND if it be replied that this seems § XV to come too near to what the design of this discourse is laid against or to be sure was the occasion of it If the Magistrate and the Law are to silence and limit in the exercise and profession of these higher Instances of Christianity what is this less than to submit my Religion to their pleasure To which I answer the case is not at all the same this is only adjusting of Duties in order to a due performance a suspension upon a higher reason and duty intervening and both which are equally Christian or at the most a but concealing some truths upon present reasons and motives and which every one allows may be done Should the Prince command me not to say my Prayers at all as he did Daniel to preach or speak no more in Christ's Name as the Sanedrim did the Apostles that Ordinations and Censures be no more Church both Officers and Offices cease for ever or which is the case in Mr. Dean's Sermon should a false Religion be commanded in their rooms and be made the Religion of the Nation this is the case in which I am to speak before Kings and not be ashamed when my life is in my hand as 't is the expression of holy David with a great many more to that purpose in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm then I am not only to exercise what is my duty as a private Christian but to make what open Proselytes I can to that Religion which I am sure is in the right to draw off all I can from that which is false and imposed by the Magistrate and Law This is that confession with the Mouth call'd for all along in the sacred Epistles Confession at Matyrdome that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in St. Clemens Strom. l. 4. p. 503. an eminent way to gain Mercy for our sins and 't is call'd by the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 § XI perfection as he there tells us pag. 480. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the highest act of Charity the greatest demonstration of love when expressed to Souls in the profession of a right and rescuing from a false Religion at so great a distance was it set from gross hypocrisie and which Mr. Dean demonstrates to be such in the next Paragraph of the Sermon I 'le go on so far with his Worship and Consent that where neither Miracles to justifie the extraordinary Commission as had the Apostles nor the providence of God makes way by the permission of the Magistrate the Proselytes are very like to be few and since the former is ceased altogether and never to be more expected the countenance and protection of the latter is what usual course and common Prudence directs to wait for upon any attempt for converting and reducing of Nations from a false Worship I find the Proposal and the Complaint recited and made both at once by our learned Doctor Hammond Serm. 10. in Joh. 7.48 Vol. 2. I 'le here use his own Words If we should plant Christianity in Turkey we must first invade and conquer them and then convince them of their Follies which about an hundred years ago Cleonard proposed to most Courts in Christendom and to that end himself studied Arabick that Princes would join their strength and Scholars their brains and all surprize them in their own Land and Language at once besiege the Turk and his Alcoran put him to the Sword and his Religion to the touch-stone first command him to Christianity with an high hand and then to shew him the reasonableness of the Command Thus also we may complain but not wonder that the reformation gets ground so slow in Christendom because the Forces and potent Abetters of Papacy secure them from being led captive to Christ as long as the Pope is invested so fast in his Chair and as long as the Rulers take part with him there shall be no doubt of the truth of their Religion unless it please God to back Arguments with steel and to raise up Kings and Emperors to be our Champions we may question but never confute his Supremacy Let us come with all the power and rhetorick of Paul and Barnabas all the demonstrations and reasons of the Spirit and yet as long as they have such Topicks against us as the autority of the Rulers and Pharisees we may dispute out our hearts and preach out our Lungs
has not made that the immutable term of Man's Salvation but what is in his own Power and of which if he fails 't is his own perverse will and choice that is debauch'd and betrays him to it the Carved works of the Temple may be beaten down the Church-Discipline be weakned and her Laws and Rules for Holiness become of less force her Towers and Bulwarks be taken away and the Secular Protection be withdrawn I may have neither tongue to speak nor hands to lift up in prayer nor feet to walk to the House of God there may be no Houses of God in our Land the Tyrant may pull out or cut off the one or pull down the other the daily Sacrifice my cease and the Priest-hood too as to particular Persons and when we say where Episcopal Power is not there is no Church we do not so mean that where it is not Men cannot go to Heaven these all may be supplyed by an upright heart and due intentions God accepts of a Man according to what he hath and not according to what he hath not The Sacraments are only generally necessary to Salvation and so of other duties in the same Order of Sanction God does not oblige us to the Tyranny of Impossible Commands to climb up to Heaven and go down into the Deep and fetch thence our Eternity ask of us ten thousand Rams or a thousand of Rivers of Oyl or those Cattel upon a thousand Hills for a Sacrifice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Clement argues to the Gentiles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 't is our own Lust not others we are to answer for if not Subdued and Conquered he does not bind us to go to Heaven when we have no Legs Move without Faculties Act without Strength Live when Dead Men and with Paralytick Joynts Enfeebled by Irrecoverable Weakness to work out our own Salvation every Brick-bat will then make an Altar and Prayers are to be made every where with Holy Hands lift up or but Devout Hearts without Wrath and without Doubting nor is it by Subduing Kings and Conquering Worldly Powers we are to go to Heaven Faith Love Dependence upon God c. are among those acts of the Soul usually called Elicitae whose Practice depends on no outward Faculty and if some Virtues equally indispensable are otherways seated and among those Acts call'd Imperatae and to be perform'd by the outward Organs of the Body yet are they equally free from outward Force so seated in each ones Self and lodg'd in his Person that no Violence but from a Man 's own self can reach them those the only Enemies that are of his own House and 't is every ones own hand that draws his Sword and makes him a Rebel his alone Adulterous Eyes and Heart Promote and Actuate whatever of uncleanness is from him and 't is neither Person nor Object nor Quality any thing that comes cross or is of force from within or without himself whether Devil or Tyrant or Lust any one accident or contingency that can either dismember him from the Church or disunite him from his God deprive him of sufficient Means here or Eternal Life hereafter even the Tyrannies and Deaths here will but Advance the Crown and these lighter Afflictions work for us that more Eternal Weight of Glory and which Considerations are to be the great Support and Comfort of all Christians Should it so happen in the courses of Providence and Kings and Queens cease to be Nursing Fathers and Mothers unto us Should a Nero or a Domitian a Parliament of forty two a Cromwel or a Committee of Safety or what Association soever be set up against and Tyrannize over us plane volumus pati verùm eo modo quo Bellum miles nemo quippe libens Bellum patitur cum et trepidari periclitari necesse sit tamen praeliatur omnibus viribus et vincens in praelio gaudet qui de praelio querebatur quia Gloriam consequitur praedam they are the words of Tertullian Apol. c. 5. to those Scoffers of the Heathens in his days and whom Julian the Apostate after imitated telling the Christians Afflictions was their Advantage and to be Loved by them because their Martyrdom and Crown We must willingly suffer and engage as the Souldier does in War and 't is the expectation of Victory and that recompence of Reward makes us fight on and Rejoyce under that Banner which otherwise the present Difficulties and Dangers working on our fears would engage us to avoid and run from 't was the constancy and evenness of the Christians for the Truth and in Gods Service 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 together with their Gravity Sincerity their Freedom and Modesty of Conversation gain'd upon their Enemies both Greeks and Barbarians and silenced their baser Slanders and Calumnies against them thus together with the learned discourses and endeavours by Writing and which were not few the Church grew and multiplied as Eusebius tells us Hist l. 4. c. 7. These the Weapons of a Christian Warfare and the many Shields of the Mighty these the Spoyls and Trophies they contended for I know not how in fitter words to conclude this Chapter than in those of our Noble Historian Eusebius in his Preface to his fifth Book of his Church History giving an account of those many and Eminent Martyrs in the days of Antoninus Verus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Others making Historical Narrations have delivered in their Writings Victories in War and Trophies over their Enemies the great Actions of Captains and the Valour of Souldiers that had stained their hands in Blood and a thousand Battels for their Children their Country and their Fortunes but the History or the Narrative of the Divine Common-wealth and Enrollment which is of Heaven writes on Eternal Pillars those Peace Designing Battels in order to the Peace of the Soul or that are Spiritual Those that fight in these Battels for Truth rather than their Country for Religion rather than their Children The constancy of the Contenders for Piety and their Fortitude in their manifold Sufferings their Trophies against Devils and Victories obtain'd against the Invisible Powers or Enemies making publick their Crown for an Everlasting Remembrance CHAP. VI. Chap. 6. The Contents The last general of the Discourse Sect. 1. What the Autority of our particular Church and Kingdom is in this Controversie where not Apostolical and Primitive there not obliging Their Doctrine Laws and Practice all along on our side Sect. 2. The People are only Testimonies of the Manners of such as are to be Ordained in our Book of Ordination Sect. 3. No Autority in any but those of the Priesthood to Ordain Excommunicate c. as in our Rubricks Articles c. Sect. 4. Our Kings claim'd it not in their Acts Declarations c. in the days of Henry VIII in the Act of Submission He is declared a Lay-man nothing in Religion made Law but by him He defends Religion His
in Bishop Bilson Cap. 9. pag. 113. As for Excommunication if you take it for removing the unruly from the Civil Society of the Faithful until they conform themselves to a more Christian sort of life this he takes to be the Power of a Christian Magistrate and he goes on and says I am not averse that the whole Church where he is wanting did and should concur in that action for thereby the sooner when all the Multitude joyn with the Pastor in one Mind to renounce all manner of conversing with such will the Parties be reduced to a better mind to see themselves rejected and exiled from all company but 't is the Pastors charge only to deliver or deny the Sacraments Pag. 114.147 but otherwise Lay-men that are no Magistrates may not challenge to intermeddle with the Pastors Function or over-rule them in their own Charge without manifest and violent intrusion on other mens Callings without the Word and Will of Christ who gave his Apostle the Holy Ghost to remit and retain Sins And so expresly again p. 149. If you joyn not Lay-Elders in those Sacred and Sacerdotal Actions with Pastors but make them Overseers and Moderators of those things which Pastors do this Power belongeth exactly to Christian Magistrates to see that Pastors do their Duty exactly according to the Will of Christ and not to abuse their Power to annoy his Church or the Members thereof neither is the case alike betwixt Pastors and Lay-Elders Pastors have their Power and Function distinguished from Princes by God himself insomuch that it were more than Presumption for Princes to execute those actions by themselves or by their Substitutes To Preach Baptize retain Sins impose Hands Princes have no Power the Prince of Princes even the Son of God hath severed it from their Callings and committed it to his Apostles and they by imposition of hands derived it to their Successors but to cause these actions to be orderly done according to Christ's Commandment and to prevent and redress abuses in the doers this is all that is left for Lay-Elders and this is all that we reserve for the Christian Magistrate and that no other Church-Power was then thought by any to belong to the Prince he was not at all considered as its Subject there was no such thing as a pretence then on foot 't is most plain Cap. 9. pag. 108. and among the many Conceits about the Power of the Keys and Subject this never entred into the heart oâ— any his words are these The Power of the Keys and right to impose Hands I mean to ordain Ministers and to Excommunicate Sinners are more controverted than the other two the Word and Sacraments and which were never questioned by reason that diverse Men have diverse Conceits of them some fasten them on the liking of the Multitude which they call the Church others commit them to the judgment of certain chosen Persons as well of the Laiety as of the Clergy whom they call the Presbytery Some attribute only but equally to all Pastors and Preachers and some especially reserve them to Men of the greatest gifts ripest years and highest calling among the Clergy But there 's none mentioned that they are in the Prince 'T is I know the usual Expression in the Pulpit Prayer and the King is placed next under Christ in these His Majestie 's Realms and Dominions and which as that Prayer it self has no good bottom that ever I could meet with for such the use of it a meer Arbitrary customary thing where did God ever make Christ his Deputy and the King Christ's as to the worldly Powers and Secular things of this life his Commission to our Saviour ran quite contrary and nothing less can be gathered from it this is to found right of Dominion in Grace with a Witness our Kings did not receive or rather reassume it upon these terms nor do they since acknowledge it as so derived King Henry VIII did not and there 's no such thing in any one Act or Statute in his days Doctor Burnet indeed in his Collection of Records gives us two instances wherein the Title of Supreme Head under Christ of the Church of England Supremum Ecclesiae Anglicanae sub Christo Caput The one in the Injunctions to the Clergy made by Cromwel Pag. 178. Num. 12. the other in the Commission by which Bonner held his Bishoprick of the King Pag. 184. Num. 14. but in his Addenda Pag. 305. Num. 1. in the Preamble to Articles about Religion set out by the Convocation and Published by the King's Autority 't is only and in Earth Supreme Head of the Church of England and which is of more Autority than the other because in Convocation It is once or twice used by King Edward before his Injunctions Articles c. and sometimes lest out but no mention of it but never used by Queen Elizabeth in any of hers or in her Proclamations nor is it commanded in her Form of bidding of Prayer nor in the Canons or Form of bidding Prayer in the days of King James 't is neither in the Oath of Supremacy or Allegiance and which is to be seen in the account we have of them by Anthony Sparrow now Lord Bishop of Norwich in his Collection of Canons Articles Injunctions c. and our Seven and thirtieth Article of Religion gives the Queens Majesty that only Prerogative was given all Godly Princes by God himself in Holy Scriptures that which had the Kings of Israel and Judah that which had the Kings of the Gentiles the King of Nineveh in the Prophecy of Jonah and which is an instance I find given by our Divines of the preceding Power in other Princes we contend for and have determined to be in ours and with which if the Prince be not invested he has no Government over his People a great part always will and all may when they will exempt their Persons and Actions from his cognizance and inspection upon pretence of their Faith and Religion but there is not a word of any one Derivation as from Christ nor as the Mediator doth he can he bestow any such Power upon them or are Kings thus under him or any ways then as Members of his Body and as Christians they are to submit to and receive his Laws in order to Heaven and these Laws are to be their Rule in their Government upon Earth which they are to obey and protect which indeed supports and exalts them as Righteousness does a Nation but 't is in and by that Autority they were invested in before Christ and they were indeed in a feeble piteous Case if no other Power to rule with than what the crucifyed Jesus can give them whose Kingdom was not of this World nor did he manage any thing by the Powers of it I know it is the least of the Designs of such that still use this Expression in their Prayers and Discourses and they have great Examples for it and of
are of or are esteemed in such the Church and then what astonishment must it be to good minded Men what even Epicurism to Evil that do now or shall hereafter read or hear the great and received Names of Tillotson and Stillingfleet these following Positions That all Church-Power as from Christ has ceased with Miracles and is to be accounted so to have done That Christ Jesus is not to be Preached if the Magistrate and Law forbid it That to pretend a Power to Preach as from Christ and not to go into Spain or Turky and there Preach is gross Hypocrisie That 't was the Sense of Bishop Cranmer c. and the Bottom and Principle on which he and the other Bishops proceeded on in the Reformation and was after made Law in the Kingdom That the King has a Power to Ordain Bishops to Baptize to Excommunicate and do all Pastoral Offices in his own Person or devolve it on others and this is not only from a mistaken M SS but by unfaithful Copying it out and representing it to the World and which brings more guilt occasioning it to be Printed thus Imperfect among the Records of the Church in Doctor Burnet's Church History and abusing the House of Commons to a Publick Approbation of it giving to the Church of Rome what their Emissaries have all along been still gibing us with and fathering upon us but till by you repelled with Scorn That it hath been the continued Judgment of our succeeding Bishops ever since That a Bishop's Power is not solitary and apart from that of a Presbyter with many more of the like Nature And for the severing these your private Opinions and particular Errors from the Doctrines of the Church of God and rescuing her from the great Scandal of them she must or may undergo I have engaged in that so laborious a Work began at our Saviour and his Apostles descended by the Bishops Doctors and Fathers of the Church Catholick the Church Historians Councils and Laws Imperial our own particular Church Canons Rubricks Book of Ordination our own Doctors and Writers in their times the Injunctions and Declarations of our Princes the Statute-Book of our Kingdom all which come in as one Evidence against them you have still time to do it and right your selves and satisfie the Church of God in your own Persons removing the reproach occasioned by you in an acknowledgment of the Error for my Book is not yet in the Press and which if you 'l engage to do I do here indent back again to expunge whatever concerns or but mentions you in it If not I must do you and the Church of God right and will but if upon this fair and Christian notice you shall not think meet to retract these your Assertions that I have animadverted upon yet I shall acquit my self to the World that I have done what my Conscience and sense of Duty and Obligation arising from my Profession has engaged me to I cannot think a concern for the Honour and Reputation of one or two Persons though seeming to be somewhat and Pillars ought to be esteem'd as that of the whole Church of God or that I ought to put their private concerns into the bottom with it I am Sir Your humble Servant Simon Lowth May 1. 1683. THE CONTENTS The Introduction THe Occasion of this Discourse Sect. 1. Not the Power and Offices of the Church but their Subject is what mostly exercises the Age Sect. 2. Whether the Power be originally in Believers in Common or in the Secular Prince in Particular or in a certain Definite Number of Believers the Bishops and Pastors of the Church Sect. 3. The Design of the Whole and its Three General Heads Sect. 4. CHAP. I. CHurch Power is not in the People either as a Body in General or as one Single Congregation Sect. 1. This Power must first evidence it self to be given from God e're executed on or derived to others Holiness in its Nature does not infer it The Priesthood not made Common before the Law under it or the Gospel Admit that first Right by Nature to all Things and Offices 't was to be sure afterwards limited and those that lay it open again must shew by what Autority they do it Otherwise Fanaticks in the sense of St. Jerome Sect. 2. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 infers no such Power Sect. 3. The Peoples concurrency gives no Power even where their Votes are pretended to in the New Testament Sect. 4. Election and Vocation differ from Ordination in the Practice of our Saviour and first Ages of the Church still expressed by several words Sect. 5. The Votes of the People give no Power but yet are necessary because none is given without them both the People and Pastors are Christ's Vicars in the Case So Beza Blondel Sect. 6. Our Saviour's Practice and the Apostles are against them Sect. 7 8. That the People were not always at Elections Blondel allows He is contrary to himself Their Votes never reputed necessary and at last excluded quite by reason of the Riots and Disorders in them Sect. 9. The concurrency of 12 Centuries down from the Apostles amount to a Divine Right Blondel's failure of it His injury to his Friends In what case Apostolical Ecclesiastical Practice is not immutable The ill Consequences attending his Power given to the People His Malice to the Order of Bishops Disreputing Christianity it self 'T is unpardonable in the French Reformation imposing their present harder necessity for our pattern The Deacon and Presbyter under the Bishop but neither in Subordination to the People Sect. 10. And this they do in point of Episcopacy also And we must have no Bishops in England because they have none in France and which is promoted by the advantage of the Rebellion and Schism among us Blondel offer'd his Service before to the Bishops of England but then he Prints his Apologia pro Hieronymo Dedicates it to the Rump Parliament and Assembly-Men Is nauseous in his Flatteries of both Commends the Scotch Covenant Is rude upon Bishops Soliciting their Ruine This the Sense of the Divines on that side the Sea Salmasius raves just so The Independents murder'd the King The Bishops not the Authors of all Heresies as black-mouth'd Baxter Andrew Rivet and so does Dailee Ignatius suffers for it He and Marcian and Valentinius compared Their few Complements does not acquit them We only lose by our Charity towards them The disadvantage thereby from our own Members The late Replyer upon Bishop Pearson and Doctor Beveridge is the same The late Letters from Paris Sect. 11. The People are only Witnesses of the good lifes of the Ordained Blondel's own Collection and the Autority of Cyprian is all along against him The Church Canons Our Ordinations at home The nature of the thing it self Sect. 12 13. The People are not to choose or refuse their Pastor as Blondel rudely and unreasonably contends with his usual Malice against Bishops and our
If the Jesuit do let him look to it Christianity is not in fault An entring into or renewing the Covenant at the Font or Altar is no Encroachment on the but Justice of Peace in the Neighborhood Sect. 43. Excommunication and other Censures change no Mans Condition as to this World they have no force but in relation to known Duties Prudence is to rule in the Execution particular regard to be had to Princes Whatever is Coercive annexed is from the Prince Lay-Judges Chancellors c. when first granted by the Empire upon the Bishops Petition The same is Absolution neither innovate in Civil Affairs Sect. 44. Conciliary Acts invade no more than does the Gospel it self That Canons have had the precedency of the Law is by the savour of Princes a Council without local meeting Letters Missive Sect. 45. Ordaining others no more prejudicial to the Crown than the former acts This is Mr. Hobbe's Misapprehension Sect. 46. CHAP. V. THe grand Objection out of Mr. Hobbes If these two Powers command the same Person at the same time inconsistent Performances it arises from that false Principle that all Power is outward Sect. 1. This infers equally against the Laws of God and which may and do sometimes thus interfere are as difficultly reconcileable with the State Acts. No Church Laws oblige against Natural Duty The Laws of Religion considered at large in order to a clearer Solution Sect. 2. Mr. Hobbe's Rule will Answer all Consider what is and what is not necessary to Eternal Salvation Sect. 3. The same is the Rule of the Ancient Fathers Sect. 4. If Mr. Hobbes his Faith and Obedience be all that is Necessary 't is then easily determined because to obey only the Soveraign Sect. 5. Dr. Tillotson his Sermon of Love and Peace to his Yorkshire Countreymen not to be Vindicated from being herein of Hobbe's Judgment in what he Dissents from him No Church-Power since Miracles ceased according to Mr. Dean Sect. 6. The Gospel calls for Confession and Obedience in Opposition to though not in Contempt of Princes to the hazard of all So the best Christians the worst of Hereticks only Simon Magus Basilides c. did otherwise Sect. 7. For a full Answer the Laws of Religion are to be ranked under Three general Heads They are Arbitrary and Humane Arbitrary and Divine Necessary and Divine Sect. 8. Laws Arbitrary and Humane though never losing their Sanction yet cease in some Cases in the Execution As when the Empire gave Indulgencies beside the Canon Sect. 9. The Civil Injunction does not immediately oblige the Christian in these Cases The Church has her own Power never to be yielded up Ceremonies not the main thing Sect. 10. Not to be changed with our Clothes That Worship which is best not to be foregone only to yield to what is always Necessary The Case of the Asiaticks about Easter Sect. 11. Especially in our Church of England Sect. 12. Least of all are our Mutinies and Factions our even weakness a Ground for Change Sect. 13. Laws Arbitrary and Divine cease in some instances as to Practice the Advantage of Afflictions A good Christian always a good Subject the Empire still gave Rules and Limits in the Exercise of these Positive Duties Sect. 14. To submit and cease as to particular Practice upon the lawful Command of the Magistrate is not the Case in Doctor Tillotson's Sermon to give up the Institution to him If commanding a false Worship I am to withstand him 'T is no Hypocrisie though I go not into immediately and there Preach the same in Spain Mr. Dean's unheard of Notion of Hypocrisie in what Case the Magistrate is serviceable to promote the Faith Sect. 15. The last sort of Laws both Necessary and Divine are never to cease in any one Instance or under what Circumstances soever either as to their Right or Practice I am never to do any one Immorality always to own and profess the Cross of my Saviour Sect. 16. The great Goodness of God in giving such a Subordination of Duties that the end of each may be answer'd in enjoyning nothing absolutely necessary to Heaven but what is in our Power that no Contingencies of this World can take from us our Eternity a Reward we can never miss of without our own Faults Sect. 17. CHAP. VI. The Contents The last general of the Discourse Sect. 1. What the Autority of our particular Church and Kingdom is in this Controversie where not Apostolical and Primitive there not obliging Their Doctrine Laws and Practice all along on our side Sect. 2. The People are only Testimonies of the Manners of such as are to be Ordained in our Book of Ordination Sect. 3. No Autority in any but those of the Priesthood to Ordain Excommunicate c. as in our Rubricks Articles c. Sect. 4. Our Kings claim'd it not in their Acts Declarations c. in the days of Henry VIII in the Act of Submission He is declared a Lay-man nothing in Religion made Law but by him He defends Religion His Power as the Supreme Governor of the Church Is called Worldly and Secular Sect. 5 6 7 8. Of King Edward VI. That the Bishops were to use not their own as formerly but his Name and Seal in their Processes c. implies no such thing Sect. 9. Of Queen Elizabeth King James Sect. 10 11. The King and Church distinct Powers in our Statute Book Our Kings now have but the same Power the Empire of old and their Predecessors before the Reformation had If our Religion be Parliamentary that anciently was Imperial Sect. 12. Mr. Selden says the Parliament of England both can and has actually Excommunicated and the Bishops Power is derived only from them Sect. 13. The Acts of Parliament he produces V. VI. Edw. VI. Cap. IV. III. Jacobi Cap. V. infer it not Sect. 14. Nor do those of II. III. Edw. VI. Cap. 1. Elizabethae Cap. II. that the Prince limits Excommunications in the Execution is not against the Divine Right of them His Instances in the Rump Parliament Geneva The Parliament of Scotland III. Jacob. VI. Cap. XLV are all against him Sect. 15. Archbishop Whitgift is not proved to have Licensed Erastus his Works for the Press that they were found in his Study is no Argument he was an Erastian if Licensed by the Autority of the Nation no Evidence that his Doctrines were then owned Sect. 16. Our own Doctors of the same Opinion with us instances in two of them Sect. 17. Bishop Bilson St. Ambrose one of Doctor Tillotson's Hypocrites A private Liberty of Conscience not enough a false Religion to be declared against though by Autority abetted Mr. Dean gives advantage to the Papists Calumny That our Religion is only that of our Prince Sect. 18. Bishop Sanderson his particular Judgment concerning the Divine Right of Episcopacy Sect. 19. Mr. Selden objects again that our own Doctors and Writers are all on the other side The particular Authors each reckon'd up He
of this Discourse Sect. 1. Not the Power and Offices of the Church but their Subject is what mostly exercises the Age Sect. 2. Whether the Power be originally in Believers in Common or in the Secular Prince in Particular or in a certain Definite Number of Believers the Bishops and Pastors of the Church Sect. 3. The Design of the Whole and its Three General Heads Sect. 4. VVHEN I first consider'd that of Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan § I Part 1. Cap. 12. Of Religion and which is in short to this purpose in several Paragraphs there That every one is free upon the ceasing or discontinuance of the Miracle to Supersede or Change his Religion once attested by that Miracle to be from God and upon which account it was receiv'd and own'd if the change of the Climate and his Governors his former Education and the present Custom of the Place he resides in requires and all that other Authority and Obligation from Heaven obliged only for that present instant in which the Miracle was wrought and evidenced I with less concern passed it by reflecting on the Person a Man affected with and designing Novelty and Singularity filled with a Conceit of his own worth and autority and opposing it to all the World beside And in particular in this Chapter declaring himself to be such an one that believes an extraordinary felicity a sufficient Testimony of a Divine Calling but going on in my Thoughts and finding by a sad Experience that it went further than the Scheme or Systeme that a great part of our Age is thereby brought into this Opinion and 't is contended for so frequently as their Faith that the Church is nothing at all but in the State its Powers and Offices though once in the Apostles and some of their Successors for some time is now gone with those Miracles that at that time abetted and avouched them nor is the Gospel it self to be Preached or divulged upon other terms or a fixed enjoyned false Religion opposed nay farther this very same to be the stated professed Opinions of some and those too our highest dignified Church-men and left upon Record as the judgment of the greatest part and some of them the most remarkable of our first Reformers that the Prince is invested with whatever belongs to a Church-man then was my heart hot within me and while I was thus musing the fire kindled and at the last I spake with my Tongue I then set my self upon a particular immediate enquiry into the Matter and attaining to a more perfect knowledge of that way I here represent it to my Fathers and Brethren of the Clergy to all good Christians whatever in this following Treatise and only state the plain case as I find delivered down from our Saviour by his Apostles the Bishops Fathers and Doctors of the Church Catholique the Church Historians Councils and Laws Imperial from our own particular Church Articles Canons Rubricks our Book of Ordination and Homilies appointed to be read in the Churches in the time of Q. Elizabeth from our own Doctors and Writers in Divinity in their several times and from the Injunctions and Declarations of our Princes and even the Common-Law and Statute Book of our Kingdom the Honor and Duty I owe to my Jesus to his Universal Church to this particular Church of England to my own Profession as a Divine and love to all Christians is what have engaged to it other advantages I have none nor are any proposed these Considerations alone are they which now makes the dumb Child speak looses the string of that Tongue that held its peace and said nothing and brings him into publick otherwise by an universal Concurrency of all things both Persons and Objects design'd for silence and obscurity § II NOW in order to this I have so much prepared and made ready to my hands that the thing in general is immediately denied by none and that there is a Church-Power to be alwayes upon Earth till the restitution of all things and the Heavens be no more that is certain peculiar Persons and Offices to be separated and discharged in and for the affairs of Souls and the guiding and governing the World in order to Heaven and Salvation is affirmed by all that believe a Heaven and Christ Jesus the Way the Truth and the Life in the Attainment That which has so much unhing'd and discompos'd the World of late is concerning the Subject in which it resides the particular Persons design'd and appointed by our Saviour for the conveyance and execution the due force just extent and consequences of it in whom this Power is to be found and to whom limited since none are extraordinarily by miraculous and sensible demonstrations from Heaven commissioned and marked out thereunto as the Apostles and first Publishers of the Gospel were And though Mr. Selden himself as our great Herbert Thorndike in his Principles of Christian Truth tells us usually said in his common Discourse That all Church Power is an Imposture yet his First Book De Synedriis designed and levelled against this Autority Upon this alone score because presumed in and limited to the Bishops and Pastors of the Church as the Successors of Christ and his Apostles makes it plain his quarrel is because so assumed and limited by them because transferr'd from the Prince or Civil Power in whose hands alone he believes it placed and in those in deputation by him and for which he contends all along in that Book with what Success may be seen hereafter and therein places the Imposture THERE are three distinct Orders of Men § III or at the least to be supposed distinct in which this Power is contended for to be seated each exclusive of one another by the several Assertors and Fautors of the distant Opinions and Parties among us The One places it in the People the multitude of Believers in common as the general first immediate subject of Power Ecclesiastical who by their concurrent Notes Elections and Assignations limit and fix it on particular Persons for the Execution so appointing consecrating and investing for the work of the Ministry to negotiate in the affairs of Souls and in order to their Salvation The Other subjects all in the Prince or Secular Power who is supposed in actu Primo virtually and by a first inherency to be Priest and People equally as Prince and by the Right of Soveraignty as chief Magistrate upon Earth is instructed for all Offices and Duties in relation to Heaven with a Power for Deputation and Devolution as the Harvest may be great or the Labourers few upon each occasion requiring and as he is pleased by his secular Hand to mark out the Person The Third place it not in the Multitude in general or in the Prince in special but in a certain indefinite number of Believers called and impower'd thereunto not by their Gifts and Abilities as Christians in common but by a particular signal Donation superadded given
some Cases of Heresie in the Ordainer 16. Cod. Theodos Tit. 5. Lex 12.14.57 Yet amidst these and such like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 illegal Ordinations and defective complain'd of by Eusebius which were during the Persecution of Dioclesian in his twelfth Chapter De Martyribus Palestinae and against which the Church still provided for the future there is no one Caution concerning Ordinations by the People such a thing being never presumed and attempted nor is there any one instance of but voiding any one Ordination that was made without their but Votes and Hands lift up and concurring in order to it and which certainly there would have been had the Church adjudg'd their pre-elections or concurrency so necessary especially upon so many failures as David Blondel acknowledges there were one of which was enough to have awakened the Church-Governors to alike care they used on such Occasions or had she but placed their concurrency with those but Circumstantials of Orders many of which are just now mentioned and the Church there made particular provision relating to them SO that David Blondel's design of a Divine § X and Immutable Right in the defence of which he has took so great pains is only writing in the Dust nor is any one inference due that he has made in order to it 'T is true his Argument is well laid had the Performance been accordingly and the concurrency of ten Centuries immediately upon the Apostles and Scriptures attesting any one Truth or Practice is as authentique and ought to be so received as any Grounds and Motives of Faith can make it to be nor can any thing be required more which can be thought to concur to the making a full perswasion of the Truth under Debate But alas the chief Ingredient for a thorow Tradition is absent Universality it was so neither in all places not at all times nor in any one time or Century of the best and first Ages of the Church in every instance of it but still changed upon accidents often and more upon Industry and Choice and last of all wholly abolished and in good times of the Church without any care or design for a restitution taken even out of the hands of the Magistrate and limited to the Bishops Can. 3. Concil Sept. Gen. Niceae and it may be much questioned whether his Brethren and Friends both in France and Holland and England especially such of them as have took up the Cudgels after him have more reason to be ashamed of his ill Success then to be down-right angry with him for the Way and Method and Grounds he laid for proving the Divine and immutable right of it Surely if this be admitted the disadvantage will be their own in a point of a higher concern if Apostolical Ecclesiastical practice still amount to a Divine immutable Law And indeed it would be of real ill consequence in many considerable cases that would arise in the true Church of Christ for although the matter of Fact be evident it has been receiv'd and practised in the Churches first and best Ages yet it may be a doubt what the Obligation was to them who then receiv'd it and whose practice it was whether as absolute and immutable and consequently how it now reaches us every Truth and Matter of Fact has not the same degree of Necessity in its Nature and Use nor do his Brethren more go against him here than he against himself I might refer to his own Text but the Irenicum has done it before me p. 401. joyning him with Bochart and Amiraldus in the cause of which his Triumvirate as he calls them Blondel is there placed in the head and all to make good that one great Truth by their Autority which is vast and unquestionable and to defend which is the great business of that Treatise of Church-Government nor has that Author as yet declared his Judgment to be otherwise or rather corrected that his first and early Mistake there obtruded on the World to pass a perpetual Sanction upon it That no form of Government or Polity in the Church is immutable though by the Apostles themselves recommended and yet Apostolical practice is here binding and eternal pag. 473. Apol. and the Power of the People is thus transmitted from Heaven as the alone House and Pedegree of its descent and so immutably is it stablish'd that no accident or ill circumstance whatever or with what ill consequences soever foreseen and foreknown no consideration of the Peoples ignorance even duncery it self at eos omnes non modo imperitos sed imperitissimos demus pag. 501. no miscarriages or other seeming inconsistencies are to be considered or can they weigh down against the Eternal antecedent Command either abolish the Power or cease but alter in but one instance the custom and practice of their Votes and Elections to the Office of the Ministry nothing can remain but for common Prudence for all was known at first to our Saviour whence the Apostles received it to the succeeding Church who left no such reserve allow'd not to us nor have we reason to take it ill for they did not to themselves any such Considerations pag. 51 52. and what Exceptions there have been to this first and great Rule as he tells us there was some few arose from the Pride and Usurpations of the Bishops who so soon as they had taken to themselves Titles and Power above the Presbyters they engrossed the Right of Ordaining them and never required the concurrency of the Clergy and the People spurr'd on by Fame and Vain-glory and Secular Interest and that is the reason why there is no Canons express and very few examples of the Peoples choosing Presbyters and Deacons Nor does it in the original right diminish their Power because wrested from them pag. 469 470. and all which is one among the many Fictions and Romances the whole Apology is stuffed withal and every ways like himself who according to his usual good Nature and Malice to the Order it self still lays what dirt he can at the doors of the most eminent Christians the Bishops and Prelates of the Church of Christ not considering or rather not caring what injury the common Christianity thereby receives through the sides of these its known Martyrs and Confessors so be he can but fill up his private Congregation a guilt not easily to be removed from too many of the French Reformation especially from Dailee in his Book of the Use of the Fathers and the abundance of Irreligion in general in these parts of the World ows it self in a great measure to it And to see the unluckiness of it and how his ill Nature returns unavoidably upon himself what he attributes to the Bishops Pride and Arrogancy and Self-interest in assuming and engrossing to themselves a Power which was not theirs that they ordained Presbyters and Deacons without the People and Clergy that the dependency of both might be the surer upon them and certainly
be their Slaves and Vassals and which is the invidious design of his whole Book how easily is it all return'd on his own pate and to what else can any one impute this his clawing with and condescending to the People to be but his own and the other of his Brethrens dependance upon them as it is at this day in France and 't is wholly in the Power of the Congregation both to Vote in and Eject their Minister at pleasure to bestow what Maintenance upon them their Wisdom directs nor is it at all in the Power of the Clergy as things are now with them streightned by the Civil Sword to avoid or amend it to them indeed in their circumstances the good-liking and choice of the People are necessary otherwise they must change the Climate their Churches and Ministry must cease and fall together And this I say not to insult over and upbraid them for their case in general is really to be pitied but thus do outward accidents imbody themselves and become as of the real Substance and too many Models and Systems and Professions have some regard too much yielding and complyance with them this one thing does it generally need a Pardon and to them in particular it cannot easily be granted it may with great justice be called their Pride and Usurpation that what is their own unavoidable Necessity what the frowns and injuries of their Native Countrey they live in the want of Countenance and Protection from the Prince and of a due Provision by Laws and which in reason ought to be otherways lays upon them this they 'l obtrude upon us upon all Churches as the Pattern upon the Mount the Platform not to be deviated from every ways to be copied out upon no less a peril than the breach of an antecedent immutable Law an Institution from Heaven What ought to be their care to represent as fairly as they can they magisterially command other Churches are condemned for not obeying a fault the Churches of the French Reformation are no ways to be acquitted of That there is a Subordination among Clergy-men and a dependence as on one Head and Superior in the several degrees of the Priesthood this is most certain 't is bottomed on as good and known Autority as our Religion it self and which will be made to appear by and by in this Treatise though not as the business of it The Deacon is a Minister or Servant to the Bishop and both Presbyter and Deacon receive their Power and Deputation from him but in any other sense we own no Head or Master Servants Ministers we are but of God and Christ of the Gospel which we minister unto them of which we are Stewards for their advantage and relief dispensing to every man his Portion ministring in our courses as the Angels in theirs for the good of all a faithful Minister of Christ for you so the Apostle Colos 1.23 and in this alone consists our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the work of our Ministry and attendance at the Altar Thus we are to the People as Governors Rulers Instructers Teachers and which last Office allowed us by all so immediately implies Superiority and Prelation that it alone will not let us be their Servants as Autorized and Commissioned impower'd by and in Deputation from them NOR is this David Blondel's disingenuity § XI or undue dealings alone or in this case only of the Peoples Power over their Pastors there is one case more at least and which has more than one Abettor and 't is that of Episcopacy as the People are above the Clergy so must not one Clergy-man be above another the Order Solitary Power Superiority and Prelation of the Bishop must cease was never any then as by Usurpation there must be a level between a Presbyter and him because there are no Bishops in the French Churches an equality is now fixed and setled among them and in order to the surer certain compassing it in our Church of England they took the opportunity of a present Schism and Defection from our present Bishops abetted and heightned by a prosperous Rebellion they even insult over us as men that were down and to rise up no more they pursue us as a vanquish'd Enemy look upon the iron as red hot and to be stricken and their Presbyterian Model to be erected in our Kingdom as that Image once fallen from Heaven To this purpose comes upon the Stage their Triumviri Blondel Salmasius and Dailce Men throughly instructed by a vast and unwearied Industry and Reading and which they perverted to render Episcopacy less acceptable not to say odious in the World as the effect of Innovation and Ambition contrary to the designs of Christ and the Practice of the Church in the best Ages of it and herein their proficiency and advancement was not inconsiderable considering the badness and difficulty of their cause what St. Jerome has observed of Hereticks in and before his time in his Comments on the First Chapter of Amos Omnes enim Haeretici labore nimio ac dolore quaerendi ordinem aliquem consequentiam heraeseos suae reperire conati sunt is evident in them through abundance of toil and sore labour making pretence of Order shews of Antiquity and Consequences to advance and effect it And Blondel goes in the Front or at least has merited to be placed there with his renowned and much gloried in Apology Pro Hieronymo which he says he kept by him Three years ready for the Press but did not Print it by reason of the Wars in England or rather till the King and Church were both ruined easily then presuming of a fairer reception and which Book 't is more than probable he then Digested and Composed when his offer'd Service to write quite the other way and in the Defence of our Episcopacy establish'd in this Church was tender'd to that great Prelate and Martyr of Blessed Memory Arch-Bishop Land but rejected what were the Reasons moving the Wisdom of that excellent Prelate to refuse him I cannot tell he might suspect his Integrity or judge it less for the Honor of our Church on purpose to imply a Foreigner in the managery and defence of what is so neer and of so great a concern to us and he might not think the concurrency of one or two Doctors of the French Reformation so considerable or perhaps of any weight to turn the Scale for or against the famous Church of England as it now appears they are reputed he could not suspect his thorow Instructions and Ability for it and that the former mostly sweigh'd the wonted Sagacity of that excellent Person giving him no small Grounds for it will appear if we go on and find him dedicating That his Book Vniversis Dei optimi Maximi servis occidente toto maxime vero per Britannias ad Christiani populi Ecclesiasticum Politicum regimen vocatis To the Houses of Parliament and Assembly at
Disorders to prevent a greater Mischief or by too much Condescension of the Bishops or by particular Grants and Priviledges to such places which the same Power did and might take away again an antecedent perpetual Right is no way to be inferr'd from either and particularly by David Blondel who over-rules in other Cases when against him upon the same Considerations Apolog. Pag. 541. § XIII AND that all this depends upon Divina Praecepta Divina Praescriptio Dominicis Praeceptis Divina Magisteria Traditione Divina Apostolica Observatione Deisicam Disciplinam and that the contrary is Secundum humanam Praesumptionem as St. Cyprian all along Phrases it in that 68 Epistle is what every one will grant nor is there any such thing gain'd by it on Blondel's side as he thinks there is he many times repeating and insisting on these like Expressions for no man sure will question this to be the Command and Appointment of God that no one be receiv'd into the Publick Imployments of the Church but such as are approved and attested to be Men sit for so great a Charge and high Office and it amounts to no more than that Caution of St. Paul to Timothy Lay hands suddenly on no man nor is there any Nomination of a Bishop to his See which is not made Publick to the whole Kingdom and his Election as much made known in his Diocess by notices affixed on his Cathedral that if any man have an Accusation against him he come and object and then the Clergy in the presence of the People go on to Election and the same is observed at the Ordinations of Presbyters and Deacons who are not and ought not to be received but upon Publick Testimony and which are Ordained at the four Ember-Weeks if Canonically or publick times of the year where every Body has the liberty of access and to speak at pleasure and which is represented as the very course prescribed by the Apostles in this 68 Epistle and recommended as the Practice of many Churches Propter quod diligenter de Traditione Divinâ Apostolicâ observatione observandum est tenendum quod apud nos quoque ferè per Provincias universas tenetur ut ad Ordinationes ritè Celebranda ad eam Plebem cui praepositus Ordinatur Episcopi ejusdem Provinciae proximi quique conveniant Episcopus delegatur Plebe praesente quae Singulorum vitam plenissimè novit unusquisque actum de ejus Conversatione prospexit That the Neighbouring Clergy Convene and the Bishop be assigned in the presence of the People and to which agrees St. Jerome's peculiar Notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and which to be sure is Argument sufficient of the Church's Practice in the Case in his days That the Hands of the Ordainer were extended stretcht out lay open and abroad at Ordinations Ne scilicet vocis imprecatio Clandestina Clericos ordinet nescientes non lene enim peccatum Ordinationem Clericatus nequaquam Sanctis in lege Dei doctissimis sed asseclis suis tribuere vilium Officiorum Ministris quamquam his dedecorosius est muliercularum praecibus Comment in Isai 58. to make them publick and divulge them lest being secret ignorant Clerks may be Ordained it being a great Sin to lay hands on such as are not Holy and very Learned on their Pages and viler Officers but most of all it is dishonorable and disgraceful when Ordinations are procured by the requests and assignations of Women And it were otherwise unpracticable if all the Clergy of whole Provinces were as by the indispensable Appointment of God and under peril of voiding the whole Action to meet in Person at each Consecration and as unserviceable too much more for the numerous or rather innumerable Multitudes The Nature of things requires some particular appearances nor can the whole be supposed to be a competent witness of their Lifes and Conversations it is sufficient that every one has time and opportunity to implead as occasion or at least may have it if he 'll seek after it and which he ought to do if he knows a just exception and indeed business cannot be done otherwise Universals are nothing they subsist only in Conceit and a digestion of the Brain 't is the Individuation makes Action and the People in general if not reduced to some Orders and Station will be only a confused heap each Body be Cyclopian each Assembly become a Riot fill'd only with disorder and astonishment and the popular Elections of Bishops came so near to it at last that they could be no longer permitted NOR does D. Blondel acquit himself with § XIV more Candor and Ingenuity when contending for the Right of the People or believers as such and in common in electing and assigning each Presbyter and Deacon to his particular Title and Parish of which such the Electors are Members the division of Parishes being but of late as he does acknowledge and when it was otherwise the Bishop had still the Power of sending out the Presbyters in the execution of their Ministerial Office as was the Harvest as Occasion and his Prudence saw fit nor has he any Practice either Apostolical or of 12 Centuries after that the People still placed and fixed their own Minister to infer his Divine and Immutable Right from it Sure I am when Paul and Barnabas were to be separated to a peculiar Ministry and Service in the Church 'T was the Clergy the Prophets and Teachers that we know of sent them away to a People unknown as to their faces Acts 13. and which he thinks so great a Crime nor is there any thing after produced against it And himself does acknowledge that the Presbyters and Deacons were not substituted by the People but the Bishops whose indeed Curates they are for this Thousand years downwards and it will very hardly be found a sufficient proof for its Illegality to say there was no Controversie moved about it before and therefore it was otherwise but not mentioned or in his nauseous impious precarious usual manner of speaking when any thing of this nature pinches him that it was from the Pride and Usurpation fastus indomabilis Pag. 64. of the Bishops and yet he exclaims as if all Religion lay at stake a thorow Degeneracy and Dissolution both in People and Clergy they all become negligent and contemned of one another all the disorder ill manners and failures in Duty is imputed to this one thing whatever inconveniencies in Church are observable and always some there will be all hence arise that the People have not the choosing or refusal of him that is to officiate among them have only the opportunity of bewailing with their Tears a vacancy upon Death but not of repairing it that Odor priscae Disciplinae the Primitive Proceedings being gone become even a stink to the Nostrils of a looser Age the immutable fixed Rule of Christ laid aside and broken or in plain terms according to the Genius
and Complexion of these Men observed already because all the well-setled duly constituted Churches in Christendom do not dissolve and fall in pieces are not framed anew into the accidental necessitous Model of a private French Congregation And surely the contrary to all this is most true there can be nothing more fatal to Christianity than to have a Power of Substitution of the Clergy to their several Charges put into the hands of the People that the Power of Mission and Approbation of such as are to serve at the Altar be taken from the Clergy nothing can reflect more upon the Wisdom of our Saviour as the Law-giver and who has therefore gone quite another way and the Bishops and Pastors are made Guides Inspectors Rulers Teachers of not in Substitution and Deputation from the People nothing can go more cross and contradictory to the Nature of things as that the Sheep should approve of and appoint their Shepheard such as have wholly design'd themselves to the particular Study should be the worst Judges in the Science least know and be able to judge what Persons are sit to propagate and promote their own Profession and all this put into the hands of Novices and Ignaro's who are not who cannot be supposed to have any Skill for inspection into it no more and greater sign of his fastus indomabilis the worst sort of Pride and irrecoverable pertinacy than that such a sort should any ways desire or pretend such a Power or presume themselves sit for it no greater disrepute to Religion than that those which are really least to be esteemed in the Church should thus have Judgment and alone Judgment in the things of the highest concern a Power to canvass against and determine upon the eminentest Professors of it nothing but a degeneracy in Knowledge and Manners the profoundest Ignorance and deepest Immorality can attempt it the whole World must be stupid and sottish lay aside all Sense of relations and dependency be sunk down together below its Orb Suaeque in integrum restitutionis penitùs oblivisci the words of Blondel are proper here lose all Capacities of but remembring what is fit and decent be past all hopes of a restitution and amendment § XV AND surely then that Plea which is thus unreasonable groundless and every ways impertinent for the Power of the People in Eleâ—â—â—â—… and Substituting the Bishop or Presbytâ—â— in their several Stations for the discharâ—e of their Functions will render more contemptible yet another Plea many assume and urge for the Power in the People in the Decisions of Matters of Faith and Determinations and fixing Indifferencies in order to present Peace and Practice And where we know the Laity have Convened with the Clergy as in the first Council of Jerusalem and others since they were still bound up and limited Nor can they but with much less reason challenge any more here than in being present at Elections and Ordinations that upon the personal Hearing and View such as desire it may be satisfied of the justness of all Proceedings that no man should blame them in dispensing that Power they are intrusted with and others to submit unto 2 Cor. 2.20 and most precarious is that of admitting Lay-Elders and their Personal necessary concurrency in the Acts and Execution of Government in the Church certain particular Lay-Persons as sharers with the Pastors in the Jurisdiction the gifts of Knowledge Understanding c. are common to all i. e. none are denied them but such as deny them themselves by their own Negligence and Non-improvement or by a first defect in Nature have them not and a promiscuous admission into Debates and rational Decisions is allowable but Church-Power in the governing judiciary part of it is from without and whoever Claims it must evidence the Devolution and Deputation how they were first brought into the Church and in what Exigence Our Judicious Mr. Hooker relates at large that they have since been set up by Divine Immutable Right shews only what the Projects and Interests and Ambition of Men can wrest and pervert Scripture unto and where something of Mens own is lay'd and design'd for so Schismaticks and Hereticks are defin'd De tuo infers So Tertullian to Apelles Lib. de Carne Christi cap. 7. Marcion suum lib. 4. Advers Marcion cap. 7. Something like truth will be alledged in defence of it and surely there is as little for this as ever was urged in behalf of any Sect whatever the once Zealous Abettors of it in this Church and Kingdom could not themselves believe what they pleaded for with so much shew of Zeal and known Violence and their design was only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 't is said the Gentiles did against the Christians in Eusebius with clamorous Noises to make a shew of the want of something to make greater the Rupture they contended for Omnia pro tempore nihil pro veritate as Optatus has observ'd of their elder Brethren the Donatists Lib. 1. Cont. Parme. to serve not Truth but the present disorder by it and it has the Fate of other inordinate Teachings time makes them cease and wear out Nor is this Platform of Lay-Elders the Palladium they now contend for or in the Catalogue of those Grievances and Imperfections are complain'd of Surely there might be Governments and Helps in the Church and Elders which were no Lay-men and 't is no where said in Scripture they were and as certain it is again there 's no after-practice either Apostolical or of Ten succeeding Centuries in which the perpetual immutable Divine Right of it is to be bottomed as D. Blondel has pleaded for their right of Election and Substitution of such as serve at the Altar but with what Success has already appear'd Besides the ill effect of the Schism in general to the first raising of which and after Promotion it concurr'd This particular ill it occasioned and left among us that the Divines of those Ages in which the Aimers at this Platform of ruling Elders so much strove for it as in the days of Queen Elizabeth especially shew'd their greater just Zeal in exposing those their unreasonable Claims of their Consistories to Summon Kings and Arraign them at pleasure In Ordine ad Deum and in defending the Rights of the Civil Power and were less careful in stating the true Rights of the Christian Church as distinct from the Magistrates Power and which is now to be examined and discoursed in this following Chapter CHAP. II. Chap. 2. The Contents This Power is not in the Prince The Child Jesus is Anointed Lord and Christ with all Power given him in order to Heaven to continue in the Gospel-Priesthood to the end of the World Sect. 1. These two Powers have and may reside again in the same Person are both for the general good of Man Emperors how call'd Apli Epi. Sect. 2. Their particular Power necessarily infer not one another The Priest as such is no more a
King than the King as such is a Priest than a good Man is always knowing or the Despotical and Regal Power go together The mixing these several distinct Gifts and Powers is the inlet to all disorder The King and Priest have been brought to a Morsel of Bread by it Sect. 3. Kings have no Plea to the Priesthood by their Vnction the Jewish Custom and Government no example to us if so the consequent would be ill in our Government Our Kings derive no one Right from their being Anointed Blondel's Account of this Vnction The Error and Flattery of some Greeks herein Sect. 4. The Church how in the Common-wealth and the Common-wealth how in the Church and both independent and self-existent Sect. 5. The Church founded only and subsisting in and by Christ and his Apostles Sect. 6. Proved from Clemens Romanus Ignatius Irenaeus Origen Tertullian Justin Martyr Athenagoras Minutius Foelix Sect. 7. A distinct Power is in the Church all along in Eusebius Eccl. Hist Socrates c. Opposed to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Power of the Prince so called all along in those Writings Sect. 8. This was not from the present Necessity when the Empire was Heathen if so the Christians had understood and declared it The Apostles God himself had forewarn'd and preinformed the World of it It continued the same when Christian only with more advantages by the Princes Countenance and Protection Sect. 9 10. In Athanasius Hosins St. Jerome Austin Optatus Chrysostom Ambrose Sect. 11. In Eusebius History from Constantine and other Historians downward the Emperor and Bishop have alike their distinct Throne and Succession independent as plain as words and story can report it Sect. 12. And the same do the Ancient Councils all along separating themselves from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sect. 13. This is not the Sense of the Bishops only in their own behalf and which is the Atheistical popular Plea and Objection the Cruelty of the French Reformers Sect. 14. The Emperors own and submit unto it as Constantine though misunderstood by Blondel Valentinianus Justinian Theodosius Leo c. Sect. 15 16. Blondel owns all this and yet does not understand it Sect. 17. All this farther appears from the Laws and Proceedings of the Empire and the Church as in the two Codes Novels and Constitutions from our Church Histories Photius Nomocanon Sect. 18. This farther appears from the Power of the Empire in Councils and particularly that so much talked of Instance in Theodosius Sect. 19. From their Power exercised on Hereticks Heresie is defined to be such by the Bishops Sect. 20. In Ordinations Sect. 21. Church-Censures Mr. Selden's Jus Caesareum relates only to the outward Exercise of the Jewish Worship and comes up exactly to our Model The state then of the Jews answers this of Christianity Sect. 22. The Christian Emperors never Excommunicated in their own Persons or by their own Power Mr. Selden says they did His Forgeries detected His ridiculous account of Holy Orders from Gamaliel He was a Rebel of 1642. Design'd a Cheat on the Crown when annexing to it the Priesthood Sect. 23. What the Empire made Law relating to Religion was first Canon or consented to by the Clergy Nothing the Empires alone but the Penalty So Honorius and Theodosius Valentinian and Marcian Zeno and Leo. Sect. 24 25. No need of present Miracles to Justifie this Power to Assert it does not affront Magistrates 'T is always to be own'd before them Dr. Tillotson's Sermon on this bottom Arianism was of old opposed against Constantius That this Power ceased when the Empire became Christian is a tattle It receiv'd many Advantages but no one Diminution thereby Sect. 26. § I THIS Power of the Church or Power Ecclesiastical it is not in the Prince issues and flows not from the Secular Temporal Governor he is not the Subject of it he is in himself neither Bishop nor Pastor can neither officiate in the high Affairs of Salvation nor ordain substitute and depute others to do it 't is no Duty of his this way to Teach and Instruct the People the Holy Sacraments are not Administred nor can the Church Censures be executed by him Great and vast is the Power committed by God to Kings here on Earth peculiar is their Power and none else may have none else can Plead a title to it 't is the nearest to Infinite of any Devolution vouchsafed from the Heavens to Mankind and the most of his Image is Characterized and enstamped on their Persons communicated in the largest measure unto them and God hath own'd them all along as such in Scripture suitably severed and separated them from the rest of Mankind placed them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the higher places of the Earth next himself in the Honors and Dignities here above and beyond any other Order and Dignity of men whatever a Kingdom and Majesty and Glory and Honor by the most high God is given unto thee Dan. 5.18 but yet these are not the only Separates he has upon Earth his alone Anointed and that to Publick Offices and Services thus he had his Priests of old and whose Persons and Power was separate too Non est tuum O Ozia adolere Deo sed Sacerdotum 2 Chron. 26.18 It appertaineth not unto thee O Uzziah to burn incense to the Lord but to the Priests the Sons of Aaron that are consecrated to burn incense go out of the Sanctuary for thou hast trespassed neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord thy God There is one Jesus of Nazareth a Man approved of by God and by his right hand exalted the Holy Child Jesus whom he hath Anointed whom he raised from the Dead and made both Lord and Christ God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoke unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed Heir of all things too and who is also the Image of his Person who hath all Power in Heaven and Earth given unto him a Power to Teach and Baptize all Nations in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost a Power for the managery of the things not of the Men of the Earth but of their Souls and Persons for Heaven a Power above that of Angels but not to tread upon Thrones and Scepters of Princes contemn Dignities which Angels durst not do a Kingdom though not of this World yet a true one once given him of God and again to be delivered up by him to the Father who is the head of his Body the Church Colos 1.18 contrary to whom as we are not to set up and be beguiled by Angels so neither Kings nor Princes and not hold fast the head from which all the body by joynts and band having nourishment and knit together increase in the increase of God Col. 2.18 19. Nursing Fathers Kings and Queens are
to be of the Church but the Government it self is laid upon another upon the Shoulders of this Child and Son born and given unto us Isa 9.6 and which they are to nourish to protect and preserve with their Temporal Government and Scepters a Generative Procreative Power is not in them This Power given by the Father to the Son was in part and some instances of it finish'd in his own Person upon Earth in part and other instances he is now managing in Heaven what was to remain here among us after his Ascension was to be given to whomsoever the Son pleased this he deputed and committed to his Apostles some of which Power was to dye with their Persons was extraordinary and temporary only or at the most survived in some few only after them and during a small time what was designed and universally useful for all Mankind and for the lasting perpetual managing us in order to Heaven to continue to the end of the World and in the execution and discharge of which our Saviour has promised to be with us always unto the end of the World this was all transferred and devolved by the Apostles on their Successors in the Evangelical Priesthood the Bishops Presbyters and Deacons of the Church it was not demandated to Kings and Secular Powers which then and for some Hundred years after only Persecuted all that followed after that way and call'd upon that Name before whom they appeared only as Dlinquents if they came before them it was for a Mittimus to the Goal or as men appointed to be slain not for Commissions and Substitutions to Preach the Gospel and this is the state of the World at this day thus stand the Powers in it divided betwixt the King and the Priest each moving in his proper Sphere by virtue of his special particular Grant from Heaven and managing the two great Affairs of Heaven and Earth the Body and Soul both of so high a concern unto us THAT both these Powers have been residing § II at once in one and the same Subject and Person 't is most certain and so it may be again by a conflux of Providences or the immediate pleasure of him whose the Powers originally are and can give to the Sons of men as he pleases nothing but dissonant much more repugnant in it the King has been a Priest too not only with Power and Autority in order to Holy Things and Persons a due Behaviour and Discharge in and of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristotle speaks Lib. 3. Polit. cap. 10 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make them good Citizens and obedient to Laws 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to engage their Souls to Virtue by Rewards and Penalties cap. 13. but the Prince has had that Power which is purely and strictly Hieratical and of the Priestly Office 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Aristotle cap. 10. abovementioned Rex Anuis Rex idem Phoebique Sacerdos and that such as of the Priestly Order have had also the Secular Power conjoyned and annexed to it it is most certain in all manner of History for Evidence of which I 'le only refer such as can enquire to Mr. Selden's First Book De Synedriis cap. 15. Hugo Grotius is of Opinion that the Priesthood was seldom found without some Secular Power added unto it in his Treatise De Sum. Potest Imper. in Sacris Cap. 9. Sect. 4. 30. And the ancient Canons of the Church imply that it was much in Use for the Clergy to be engaged in the Affairs of the World as appears by their several Cautions and Commands against it the Circumstances of the then present Church and particular Reasons moving them to it So Can. Apost 81.84 Can. 11. Concil 1 2. Constantinop Can. 16.18 Concil Carthag The King and the Priest as they are of the same Original so are both designed for the same great End and Purpose for the Care and Promotion Protection and Preservation of the Honor of God his Worship and Service in the ways of Virtue and Holiness and Obedience to his Institutions for the benefit of Mankind both here and hereafter and suitably have their names promiscuously and in common in Ecclesiastical Writers Thus Constantine many times calls himself a Bishop and by other Greek Writers is he called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equal to an Apostle Many of these are to be seen in Potrus de Marca de Concord Sacerd. Imperii l. 2. c. 10. Sect. 6 7. Valentinian and Marcian the Emperors are styled Inclyti Apostoli famous Apostles and Constantine's Animus Sacerdotalis is mention'd and applauded in a Publick Council Vid. Observat Notas in Paenitentiale Theodori Cant. Archiep. pag. 138. with several Compellations of the like Nature And which Considerations or rather undue Consideration of these gives some little gloss upon their Error who fix the full Power of the Priesthood in the Prince renders it somewhat more plausible than that of theirs who place it in the People but the Truth is no more in reality on the one side than on the other These are given partly by way of Complement Magnificent Title or higher Eulogies not unusual to the Eminencies of such Personages as they honored and protected Religion to transfer upon them the Honors that go along with it of what value in themselves it matters not so be the best it hath Or where it has nearer answer'd the thing it self Constantine himself has shew'd in what Nature and Instances in the Fourth Book of his Life wrote by Eusebius cap. 24. Vos speaking to the Bishops in iis quae intra Ecclesiam Episcopi estis Ego vero in iis quae extra geruntur And again Ibid. the Historian also speaks to the same purpose Episcopus quasi Episcoporum erat Constantinus Curam habuit ut sint pii both which amount but to thus much That Constantine's Episcopacy only consisted in his outward care of the Church and promotion of the Duties that belong unto her it reacheth not to the inward Power the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sacred Function or Office it self AND here now is the great Enquiry and § III this the main Case in Debate amongst us in this unhappy Age of ours Whether the Kingly and Priestly Offices and Charges immediately in their Natures and Constitutions imply and include each other Not that they agree in one design or more in some Externals but whether where the one is there the other as a necessary consequence is at the same time and by the same appointment existing and to which I am to answer in the Negative as to be a Priest has never inferr'd a Secular Power so nor to be a Prince the Spiritual For the full cleering of this point it will be necessary first to consider the Nature of Gifts Duties Offices and Power in general how far they include and infer one another how far each one in it self is attainable and from
good for the Crown it staid not at the Pulpit but went immediately to the Throne all manner of Dominion was bottom'd in Grace alone and their Saints were both the wisest upon Earth and had all Power were to Teach and to Rule and to possess the Earth All the links and contignations of Government were taken down or burst in sunder whether of the Father over his Child or Husband over his Wife or Master over his Servant or Sovereign over his Subjects or Priest over the People all were Christ's Freemen and to be Servants to none only the knack was found out at last that the King was to be a Priest when both King and Priest were first disabled and their Autority either in design or actually taken from them The Bible it self was then put into his hands with a Right to all Church-Offices when the Right to his Liege Subjects was denied him with a Power to make the Scriptures Canonical and to discharge all its Duties to lay limits by his Laws to Religion though a false one and it is not permitted openly to draw Men off from the Profession of it so Mr. Dean tells us in his Sermon when to govern his Subjects by Law is Tyranny and Usurpation So advantageously is this new Honor and higher Dignity that his entrance to the Priestly-Office placed on him and the consequence was only this both King and Priest was brought to a Morsel of Bread were brought to the Block the Saints in the Right of their Power cut off the Heads both of King Charles the First the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Father was against the Son and the Son against the Father as when the Sea-marks are removed the Walls Water-locks and Floodgates are broken down and pluckt up this greater present deluge of professed Atheism Prophaneness and Immorality is broken in upon us over-spread the face of our Earth in the natural course and consequence of it the Foundations are cast down and what can the Righteous do the Romanists will have their Pope to be a King because a Priest these will have their King to be a Priest and in effect no King and 't was only those that either first design'd or afterwards promoted the taking his Crown from his Head stuck this Feather in his Cap as in the late unnatural Rebellion § IV NOR are those more successful who found the Pleas to the Priesthood in the Unction of Kings or in that they are anointed at their solemner Inaugurations God Almighty meant nothing less when he said Cyrus Mine anointed nor do the outward Unctions of the Kings of Israel and Judah infer or prove any more the Priests were equally anointed as they and 't is no more to be concluded that a King by virtue of his anointing hath the Power of a Priest than that a Priest by his anointing hath the Power of a King which two Sacred offices every body knows were two quite different distinct things though in many things they united yet in several they did they might not it was Sacriledge on the one hand and Rebellion on the other to attempt it The Oyl that the Kings were anointed withal was made of the same Unguents that Moses had compounded to anoint both the Priests and the Holy Vessels and the Altar if we may believe De Marca in his second Preface to his Treatise De Concord c. and had its effects but as design'd and apply'd to each in particular and which suitably received thereby their several distinct Separations for differing uses had their peculiar respects and Services conferr'd upon them it did not imply all the Offices at once in the same either Thing or Person and it may be as well said that the Holy Vessels and Altar became Kings as that the Kings became Priests upon the alone general account of being anointed but admit it had been otherwise under the Jewish Policy and the King by his Unction had the full Extent and Latitude of Power and Offices conferr'd by the Ceremony of Oyl devolv'd and seated in him What is this to us in the Christian Church under another Head different Polity and several Dispensation or how doth it oblige us that our Kings must be Priests because the Kings of Israel were once so Surely no otherwise than it oblig'd the Jews that their first-born were to be either Kings or Priests or both because it was once so with their Ancestors and Predecessors and which is nothing at all unless to be a King originally and in its Nature included the Priesthood by a perpetual Force and Law never to be broken and which their own instances destroy and did not the design and frame of the Governments themselves forbid it for the Law of Moses is the foundation and direction of both Governments both Political and Ecclesiastical and which the Law of our Saviour is not Civil Power is it altogether and in every instance antecedent and independent to that Power which is from the Gospel the Law of Christ supposes it only adds by its Precepts of Justice and Virtue greater Awe and Reverence new Motives for Obedience and Subjection yet the particular very ill consequence could by no means be allow'd us to take and give Measures and Rules to the Powers and Offices of the Christian Church from the Pattern and Practice of the Jewish for then the Power and Extent of the Evangelical Priesthood must be such as Christianity will not bear nor any man in his wits claim for it the Power of the Priesthood among the Jews was mixed in some cases and the Priest and the Levite were in some instances civil Judges apart as betwixt stroke and stroke betwixt Plea and Plea c. Deut. 17. and the High-Priest in other Circumstances had no Jurisdiction at all but as elected a Member of the Sanedrim and which was at the choice of his Electors not by virtue of his Priesthood as such tell us that are skilled in their Customs and sure we are he was still to be consulted in the ordinary difficult Affairs of the Kingdom concerning Wars and Peace and gave his responses by Vrim and Thummim and which is so strenuously oppos'd as unfit for Christian Bishops and Church-men by those we have mostly to deal with in this point now under debate and which would be of worser consequence yet if apply'd unto Kings to have the Princes Power such only as had the Kings of Israel and Judah particularly according as is the Model we usually receive from these Men of their Government and is contended for as lapsed from Heaven for their Sanedrim is still described as an Autority foreign and independent from that of the Prince that could not question the King for his life but could lay lesser Punishments upon him if violating the Law And the great Selden himself is at a stand and leaves it to wiser heads than himself to determine whether the Sanedrim might whip their Kings or not De Syned lib. 2. cap. 9.
ask no Directions receive nothing of Autority from them Nor did this Autority thus limited to themselves cease with their Persons or was it translated and deferr'd to any other than of their own assignation by their own Hands and on their own Deputies and Successors the Bishops and Pastors of the Church in whose hands and whose alone it was by them left and there remained with a Power so to depute others and with command to be executed accordingly The very same Church Power I say though not in the same particular Circumstances avouch'd and attended in the same outward manner nor in every single act and effusion does it thus remain and is it to be executed upon all for Salvation and as Christ promised to be with them always to the end of the World and this will fully appear from the Church Records commencing where the Scriptures end from the Concessions of Emperors their Laws and Constitutions made in Church Matters SAINT Clemens Romanus an Apostolical § VII Person and one that wrote his Epistle to the Corinthians not long after the Schism in Corinth mentioned by St. Paul tells us That the Apostles being sent from Christ as from God and Preaching the Word of God through the several Regions and Cities made Bishops and Deacons of the elder Christians such as were the first fruit of their labours and whom they first converted being found sufficient in order to the Service of them that should believe to the bringing more into the Fold and reducing them to Christianity St. Ignatius his Contemporary in part in his Epistle to those of Smyrna commands them to follow the Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in his Epistle to St. Polycarp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That they take heed to him as God And again in his Epistle to Smyrna That nothing be done without him in Matters that belong to the Church and Salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the meaning is not ill express'd by the additional Pseudo-Ignatius whoever he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole Character whatever of their Image and Power God and Christ design'd to devolve and impress upon his Church whether as to the Government or Ministery of it are found in the Bishop He is the Person to whose Faith and Trust the People of God are committed and of whom an account is required of their Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he governs as Head and all Church Power and Business is to be translated within themselves as in the Apostles Canons wdich bear date about this time Can. 34.39 Irenaeus who trode pretty near their heels says that he can reckon up them that were Bishops instituted by the Apostles and their continued Succession to his days Lib. 3. Adv. Haeres cap. 3. Ed. Paris Habemus eos annumerare qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis successores eorum usque ad nos to whom and only whom the Gospel was committed Sine quibus nullo certitudo veritatis Ibid. And again Episcopis Apostoli tradidere Ecclesias that the Churches of God were committed to and intrusted with them Lib. 5. cap. 20. Origen if possible is plainer and distincter yet and in his Third Book against Celsus in so many express words distinguishes betwixt the Senate in the Church and that in every City Ed. Cantab. p. 129. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so again betwixt the Rulers and Governors of the Church and the Rulers and Governors of the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. And in his Eighth Book towards the end he declares a different Model 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from that of the Empire in every City for which and whose safety and success in his Wars he contends and prays for and which he owns and acknowledges with it a Government framed constituted and erected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the word which is God and which Government is the Church whose great King is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word and Son of God who has his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Governors still appointed resident and continued there ruling as he hath prescribed according to his own Laws and Dictates the Laws of the Empire being preserved inviolated by them Tertullian as plainly distinguishes betwixt the two Bodies in the Nine and thirtieth Chapter of his Apology against the Gentiles Corpus sumus de Conscientia Religionis Disciplinae unitate Spei foedere we Christians are a Body united in a sense of Religion under a different Discipline as well as hope altogether apart à Ministris corum Potestatibus à statu seculi from their Ministers and Powers and from the state of the World and tells us that Polycarp was made a Bishop in the Church of Smyrna by Saint John in the 23 Chapter of his Book of Prescriptions against Hereticks as also Clement over the Romans he returns to the Chairs of the Apostles which remained till his time in their Succession as the Authors of his Religion and 't is not from the Seat of the Empire but from Corinth and Phillippi from Ephesus and Rome he dates their Power and fetches their derivation Vnde vobis autoritas praestò est whence its rise and devolution And in his Fourth Book against Marcion cap. 5. Ordo tamen Episcoporum ad Originem recensus in Joannem stabit auctorem says that St. John is the Author of the Order of Bishops a Polity and Dispensation all along another thing from that of the Empire flowing from another fountain quite differing from and no ways depending upon it And 't is Tertullian's Argument in his Book De coronâ Militis that a Christian Souldier who fights in the Emperor's Camp and gives him his just Allegiance ought rather to lay down his Arms than wear a Laurel Crown on his Head though a mark of Favour from his Prince because relating too much to a religious Custom among the Ethnicks and he is no where commanded it in Scripture nor is it traditionally delivered to him by the Apostles or Bishops or Governors of the Church either in Precept or in Practice Quomodo enim usurpari quid possit si traditum prius non est quis denique Patriarches quis Prophetes aut Sacerdos aut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quis vel denique Apostolus aut Evangelizator aut Episcopus invenitur Coronatus Cap. 9. where though it was his mistake in accounting such a thing Matter of Religion as the wearing a Crown of Laurels upon the Commands of his Prince This is a different thing from that command of Licinius the Tyrant enjoyning all that would remain in his Camp to Sacrifice to Idols as in Eusebius his Church History Lib. 10. cap. 8. and which rather than do Christians ought not only to leave the Camp but lay down their Lives yet upon the mistake and supposure it is plain that he remov'd from the Secular Power all Matters of Religion such was to be received from Christ alone
from the Apostles and Bishops and succeeding Church-men and consequently we are thus to interpret those other places of this Father in his Works when speaking of the Emperor in these Expressions Illum commendo Deo Cui soli Subjicio Apol. adv Gentes cap. 33. quem sciens à Deo constitui lib. ad Scapulam Cap. 2. Colimus Imperatorem sic quomodo nobis licet ipsi expedit ut hominem à Deo secundum quicquid est à Deo consecutum solo Deo minorem sic enim omnibus major est dum solo vero Deo minor est Ibid. That the Emperor is subject to God alone as appointed by God that he is second to God less than God only that he is greater than all c. All these are to be understood in a limited sense suited to the present Subject he is then upon as to the Secular Government he being the fountain of all Temporals and God governs the World by him nor ought nor can any one say what does he as accountable to God alone who is alone above him But Church Power is of another Head or Species and 't is not derivable from him nor is he the less a Prince for want of it and it was it must be if rational and consistent with themselves the least in the thoughts of this or any other Father of the Church that has used these like Expressions to ascribe thereby Church Power unto him And therefore is it that in their Writings and Declarations and Apologies for their Loyalty and Obedience to the Empire as standing obliged in their Conscience and by their Christianity in all manner of Obedience to him yet it is with this reserve that they are withall to retain their Freedom and Rights as Christians and which they own and return to another fountain So Justin Martyr in his second Apology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with all joy and chearfulness we serve and obey you only the Worship of the alone true God we derive not from you So Tatianus in his Oration to the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If the King Commands us to pay Tribute 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Man wee 'l obey him in his Humane Laws Religion is still exempted So Athenagoras in his Embassy to the Emperor in behalf of the Christians declaring hee 'l refuse no Tortures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they fail in these Duties in a greater or lesser instance of them And those excellent words of Minutius Foelix are much to this purpose Quà m Pulchrum spectaculum Deo cum Christianus cum dolore congreditur cum adversus minas supplicia tormenta componitur cum strepitum Mortis horrorem Carnificis arridens insultat cum libertatem suam adversus Reges ac Principes erigit Soli Deo cujus est cedit cum Triumphator Victor ipsi qui adversus se Sententiam dixit insultat How Pleasant a Spectacle is it to God when a Christian encounters with Sorrow when he is compos'd against Threatnings and Punishments and Torments when with Smiles he insults over the noise of Death and the horror of the Hangman when he erects his liberty against Kings and Princes and gives place only to that God whose he is when with Triumph and a Victor he has the better of him who gave Sentence against him EVSEBIVS all along in his Church History § VIII as he sets down the particular Succession of the Emperors and Bishops so he represents and places them upon their two distinct Thrones So 't is said of Simeon in respect of his Diocese and Church-Jurisdiction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he was worthy of his Throne meaning his Episcopal Chair lib. 3. cap. 11. and of Justus his Successor in Jerusalem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he was placed on the Throne of his Bishoprick cap. 35. when entring upon his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Office of a Bishop is expressed in general cap. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 't is varied lib. 5. cap. 9. that his Administration or acts of his Episcopal Charge and Office to be performed to his People and accordingly the execution is expressed by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words that imply full Power Autority in the Bishop if they imply it in the Prince which have no other words to declare it to us by and particularly the Empire of Trajan is expressed by the very same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that very Chapter And this Hugo Grotius has observed Rivet Apol. Discuss pag. 699. and given one reason of it Omne corpus Sociale jus hebet quaedam constituendi quibus obligentur membra hoc jus etiam Ecclesiae competere apparet Actorum 15. 28 Heb. 13.17 ob hoc jus Episcopatûs Imperii nomine appellantun every body by virtue of its Union and Association has a right to constitute such Rules as do oblige its Members that this right does belong to the Church is apparent from Acts 15.28 Heb. 19.17 and for this the Right and Power which is annexed to Episcopacy is call'd by the Name of an Empire and this very Empire Power and Jurisdiction we have executed by the Bishop in part upon Philip who held the Roman Government and was newly come over to the Christian Faith he enrolled him not but by the Rules and Laws of the Church but upon Confession of his Sins and passing through the Order of the Penitents and which was submitted to by him Euseb Eccles Hist lib. 6. cap. 34. and the case is farther clear'd by our Historian lib. 2. cap. 27 28 29 30. in the instance of Paulus Samosetanus as to the distinct Power in Church and State and the extent of each he was Convict of Heresie and his Bishops Orders taken away from him by the Jurisdiction and Power of the Bishops in Council united who alone did give them and who alone could take them from him and placed another in his Bishoprick in the Church of Antioch But when Paulus Samosetanus would not go out of his Church-House their Episcopal Power reached not so far as to dispossess him of his Temporals 't is the Business of Princes alone to inflict Banishment or such outward Punishment upon Hereticks and we have Theodosius a Bishop blamed for his Persecuting in such like manner the Sect of the Macedonians in the Seventh Book of Socrates his Church History cap. 3. Church Empire or Autority reaches not hither in any degree or instance for this they appealed to the proper Head or Fountain to Aurelian the Emperor who was then their Friend though he continued not so long they asked the assistance of the World and that his Secular Arm might relieve them this he granted and adjusted it to the present Bishop consecrated thereunto and thus was this notorious Heretick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Power of the Prince is still called whether exercised in the things of the Church or of the State by the Secular Arm and Autority turn'd out
farther that he pretends to have the judicial Determination of Bishops but really manages and does all himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ib. and evidently again distinguishes between the work of a Bishop and the work of an Emperor he goes on and is more daring and positive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when any such thing was heard of from the beginning of the World that the Judgment and Decision of the Church had its Autority and Measures from the Empire or was ever any such Determination known at all many Church Decisions have been made but never did the Presbyters perswade the Emperor to any such thing neither did the Prince intermeddle with the things of the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. And all this is recorded by Athanasius of the Divine and most Excellent Hosius in that his Epistle Ad Solitarium c. Pag. 840 repeating there Hosius his Epistle to 〈◊〉 on the same occasion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who drew up the Nicene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one that was heard and submitted to by all his own words are these to the Emperor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Do not interpose thy self nor meddle with Ecclesiastical Affairs nor do you Command in these things but rather learn them of Vs to Thee God hath committed the Empire to Vs he hath deputed what is the Churches and as he that undermines the Government opposes the Ordinance of God so do thou take heed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lest forcing to thy self the things which are of the Church you become liable to as great a guilt for it is written give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things which are Gods It is neither lawful for us to have the Government upon Earth nor hast thou the Power of Holy things O King St. Jerome speaks of the evil Bishops only the Character is upon them De Ecclesiae Principibus qui non dignè regunt oves Domini as of Princes in the Church with Power of Jurisdiction in themselves in his Comments on Jeremiah cap. 23. Sacerdos est Caput the Priest is the Head an Original devolving upon others Comment in 1 Cor. 12. and upon Romans 13. Apostolus in his quae recta sunt judicibus obediendum non in illis quae Religioni contraria sunt the things of Religion are not to be subjected to Kings nor any in Autority under them And to this purpose he says again in Isai 1. Apostolos à Christo constitutos Principes Ecclesiarum the Apostles were constituted by Christ Princes of the Churches And the same is said in his Preface to the Epistle to the Galatians and particularly on Psal 44. Fuere O Ecclesia Apostoli Patres tui quia ipsi te genuere c. The Apostles O Church were thy Fathers that begot thee now because they are gone out of the World you have in their room Bishops Sons which are created of thee and those are thy Fathers by whom thou art governed The Gospel being spread in all Parts of the World in which Princes of the Church i. e. Bishops are constituted This Holy Father assigning all Church-Power to and in it self and if it be suspected whether these Comments on the Psalms be St. Jerome's own I have yet here repeated this passage out of them as most fully appearing his sense to whoso pleases to consult his Works especially his Commentary St. Augustine's Opinion we have already in part spoke of and he that will undertake an Enquiry will find him all along of the same Opinion I 'le only instance in the differences occasion'd by the Donatists and what Power the Empire assum'd to it self in those great and many Controversies and their Decisions related by him which he tells us is only to make outward Laws in defence of what appears to be Truth and says he it falls out sometimes Reges cum in errore sunt pro ipso errore contra veritatem leges ferunt that they make Laws against Truth themselves being in Error and good Men are only prov'd thereby as evil Men by their good Laws are amended Tom. 7. l. 3. Cont. Crescon Gramat cap. 51. they command that which is Good and forbid that which is Evil Non solum quae pertinent ad humanam Societatem verùm etiam ad divinam Religionem in things which belong not only to Humane Society but to Divine Religion he has Power to enquire into debates and to provide for Truth and Peaco by the Bishops to assign the Persons Time and Place Vt superstitionem manifesta ratio confutaret that Reason may gain upon Superstition and Truth be made manifest Collat. 1. diei 3. cum Donatist Nor was Cecilianus purg'd and set free but by Judiciis Ecclesiasticis Imperialibus by the Ecclesiastical as by the Imperial Judgment and Determinations Ibid. nor will it appear that the Powers of the Empire have concern'd themselves any farther in those quarrels than by abetting or discouraging by outward Laws and Punishments what was represented as Truth unto them and which the Church alone hath not Power to do either to award at first or after mitigate but by Prayers and Arguments and therefore the Civil Laws and Indulgences have been sometimes severer and sometimes too indulgent as Accidents or Truth over-ruled as is to be seen in his Third and Fourth Books ad Cresconium and when these Laws went too hard upon these Donatists and pinched their Faction too sorely then they cried out of Persecution denied the Empire this Power in Divine things and that they were to stand at no humane Judicature as is the way of all such Factions when themselves only persecute and invade and whose Insolencies and Rapines are at large told us by St. Austin in his Forty eighth Epistle and by Optatus in his Treatise against Parmenius the Donatist Hence that of Donatus lib. 3. ibid. Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesia What has the Emperor to do with the Church whom Optatus there sharply upbraids as well as reproves for it tells Donatus of his Pride and unheard of insolency in so doing in lifting up himself above him who is second to God alone Cum supra Imperatorem non sit nisi solus Deus who sits as God in all forensick outward Judicatures and no man can withstand him but Church-Power is still supposed a quite differing thing I mean that which our Saviour left immediately to his Church it falls not under this head of things 't is derived in another stream as the design of his whole Book declares nor is Optatus for this or any other like Expression to be thought to refer all Church-Power into the Empire than those other Fathers did using much the same Expressions and which is above observed and he in particular returns the rise and devolution of the Bishops of Rome to St. Peter by whose Successors it was then in Siricius the Bishop in his days in his Second Book against Parmenius and so St.
or some Historians their Creatures Men Ambitious and Industrious to keep and confine to themselves that Power which the present Circumstances and Necessities gave occasion even Necessity to Profess and Practice the Powers of the World being not become Christian and which though it bears no Objection as in it self for what ever of ill Church-men might design thencefrom sure it is this sort of Truth and Power relating to Christianity was designedly and professedly committed and intrusted in the hands of Church-men alone and by Christ himself with whom he has promised to be to the end of the world and always without any intermission and never to forsake them And 't is as certain again that this is an evil Machiavel design against all Religion in every instance of it thus professedly endeavouring to wrest it out of their Hands to lodge its Possession Care and Preservation elsewhere in the Laity or at the best in Kings and Secular Governors by the flattery of a new Honor and Prerogative cast upon them the easier to gain their assistance and with more Success to manage their main design Is it not now the common Discourse of the Many Religion and which is still by that sort of Men whose Design is to have no Religion at all complain'd of and lamented as decay'd and lost what can never be retrived or this done continued by Church-men whose purpose is only by their Pride and Ambition to usurp and inclose all into their own hands to have within themselves an Arbitrary Autoritative Absolute Rule and Governance over Mens Faith and Persons and the very title of a Clergy-man gives a suspition of either Unfaithfulness or Insufficiency 't is what is managed by the great Hugo Grotius That Religion is not to be entrusted with nor can it as it ought be promoted and propagated by the Bishops and Councils the Prince is alone capable of it though it is in his raw indigested youthful Book De Imper. Sum. Potest in Sacris and his Posthumous Work after all he then ran with the present Croud he was ingaged in as himself afterwards acknowledges and much certainly is to be attributed to those Untheological barbarous Proceedings in the Synod of Dort which was to be sure fresh in Memory if not actually on the Stage when he was in those his Meditations they allowing neither Humanity nor Argument to such as were Remonstrants whereof Grotius was one that is not of the Calvinistical Presbyterian both Faith and Faction and that in every Point as they required Deprivations Banishments were their Ordinary Punishment and the like Cruelties nay worse and more rigorous Proceedings which was by the French Calvinists at that time upon the same score and that too upon their own Brethren of the Reformation whereof Peter du Moulin was the Head and great Manager of which a bitter taste and such an act of Tyranny as no Story can Parallel is to be had in the Life of Episcopius upon these Reflexions in all likelihood it is that we find not only Grotius but those otherwise Learned and Ingenious Men on the Remonstrants side still to inveigh against Synods and the unfitness of Church-men to Preside and Rule where such controverted Cases are on foot to be debated and determined asserting the Prince as much the fitter Person Oppression makes the Wise man Mad. All which is to be seen of any that are Conversant in those Transactions particularly in the Epistles of those learned Men lately collected in one Volume and Printed at Amsterdam I shall therefore to take off the shew and appearance of this Objection upon what account soever it was made Vindicate the Integrity of true Church-men as well as farther assert this great Truth now in hand by adding to what has been said already the Publick Acknowledgments and Declarations of the Christian Emperors themselves That Church-Power thus removed from them is no injury to their Crowns and Jurisdictions thus seated and limited in the Bishops and Church-Officers only is no Usurpation on their parts 't is what is really existing in them CONSTANTINE the First Christian § XV Emperor continues the same style and owns the same Power in the Church which he found in it at his Conversion and receiving Christianity in his Epistle to Anulinus he says of Cecilianus the Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he is Chief and hath a Government as a Church-man in that Province over which Anulinus was placed by himself as a President in Seculars and enjoyns him that they that serve at the Altar be freed from all Publick Services in the State the better to attend it Euseb Eccles Hist lib. 10. cap. 7. he calls the Bishops 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Vita Constantini lib. 2. cap. 2. and cap. 46. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he writes to the Bishops as Governors having Jurisdictâ—on not in Secular Affairs that belongs to the Presidents of Provinces or the Praefectus Praetorio to whom he there directs them for assistance and this is yet clearer in that his known saying to the Christian Bishops when entertained by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 You are appointed by God as Bishops of those things which are within the Church I am appointed by God as a Bishop of those things which are without De Vita Constantini lib. 4. cap. 24. and what is meant in the Ecclesiastical sense of it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appears plainly by a like Phrase in the Tenth Canon of the Council of Carthage just now made use of by us where to disobey the Bishop is Deposition and if they be still turbulent in the Church and go on to Sedition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word but a little changed the outward Secular Power is to Chastise them i. e. by outward Penalties laid upon them the business and work of every Prince being to Defend and Protect the Church or if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be interpreted to relate only to the World i. e. those that are not Christians as some would have it and so the meaning is that Constantine's Province is to govern them which are out of the Church and no Christians the Bishops can take Cognizance only of such as are in her Arms and have submitted to her Discipline the two Jurisdictions are fully owned as a part and distinct and the Empire only appears a loser by the nicety because his right as from hence in Church Affairs and over their Persons is denied him Nor has David Blondel any such reason for his clamorous Exceptions against Rufinus in his Tenth Book of Ecclesiastical History Cap. 2. because he brings in Constantine speaking to the Bishops upon the occasion of some particular Quarrels that were amongst them and telling them Deus vos constituit Sacerdotes potestatem dedit de nobis quoque judicandi ideò nos à vobis rectè judicamur vos autem non potestis ab hominibus judicari that God had constituted them Priests and gave them Power of judging
only Regnante Christo and the Reign of the Empire is left out though it do no ways infer and prove that all Empire is originally in Christ both as to Spirituals and Seculars and that he that is his Succession the Church has the disposal of the Kingdoms of the World too Primarily and Originally in him as some zealous Parasites of the Roman Faith thence it seems have inferr'd and against whom the main Plot of D. Blondel in this his Book is laid and very well yet this it infers and evidently proves That our Saviour and his Succession the Church have been always supposed to have had a Kingdom in the World not to supplant and overturn to usurp and encroach upon but to bless that other of the World to render it Prosperous on Earth and by her holier Laws and Discipline to bring all to the Kingdom of Heaven when the Reign on Earth is at an end But this D. Blondel could not or would not see himself and therefore a thing too usual with him runs into the opposite extreme to his Adversaries is angry when this very Church-Power and its existence of which himself gives so evident a Demonstration is asserted solitary and not in the Empire as no ways flowing and included in its Constitution as the other will have no Empire but from and in the Church so hard a matter is it for some Men to contend for Truth and against the Church of Rome at once and as has above been observed but these Oversights if no worse are usual with him 't is like his ill luck in other cases § XVIII AND he that duly consults and considers the sundry Proceedings and Laws and judiciary Acts of the Empire about Church-Matters either as interspersed in our Church Histories or as Collected and United in the two Codes the Theodosian and Justinian in their several Laws Novels and Constitutions will readily grant all this and more that the Church and State the Worldly or Secular and Ecclesiastical or Spiritual Power were still consider'd reputed and proceeded on as quite distinct Bodies and Powers though both flowing from the same Original and Fountain yet as diverse as the Soul and Body with several Offices and Duties on each incumbent in different Channels convey'd and all aiming at the great and ultimate end the general advantage of Mankind and each individual both with their faces to the same Jerusalem but in several Paths and Determinations judiciary in order to it Hee 'l find that as the Church the Councils and Bishops were ever Conscientious and Industrious that they entrenched not on the Empire withheld not from it what was its due usurped not any thing was not their own paid all manner of Observances to Kings and Secular Governors in all manner of Duties as Prayers Thanksgiving Instructions Directions Admonitions Tribute Loyalty c. So again did the Empire preserve their Functions Persons and Estates give them Liberties Enfranchisements Protestations unless where Apostates as Julian where overmuch favouring Heresies as some time Constantius c. countenanced and provided for Truth and Holiness and sound Discipline according to the Rules Canons Directions Interpretations and Determinations given by the Bishops assembled in Council or occasionally otherways made and recommended unto them the Church still Petitioned and Supplicated the Empire when by the Affronts and Insolencies the greater Impieties and Obstinacies of the World the edge of their Spiritual Sword was dulled and blunted when Coercive outward Punishments alone could hope to prevail for Peace and Amendment of this we have several Instances upon Record as for the deposing Dioscorus in Evagrius his Ecclesiastical History l. 2. c. 4. in placing Proclus in the Episcopal Throne Socrat. Hist Eccl. lib. 7. cap. 4. which was immediately by Theodosius Maximinianus the defuncts Body being not yet laid in the Ground to prevent the Tumults of the People To this purpose we have the Case of one Cresconius a Bishop who left his own and invaded another's Church and upon a remand from the Council refusing to return the President of the Country is Petitioned and his Secular arm which alone has a Coercive Power over Mens Persons sends him back again according to the Constitutions Imperial Concil Carthag Can. 52. just such another Case as that of Paulus Samosetanus in the days of Aurelian the Emperor above-mentioned and the course of Proceedings we see is the same now as then both in Church and State as that Laws may be made to restrain such as were fled to the Church for refuge Can. 60. that the Riot and Excess be taken away on their Festivals which drew Men to Gentilism again by the obscener Practices and which were without shame and beyond Modesty Can. 65 66. that the Secular Power would come in eò quod Episcoporum autoritas incivitatibus contemnitur because the Power of the Bishops is contemn'd in the Cities Can. 70. ut Ecclesiae opem ferat to assist the Church against these Impieties so strenuous and prevailing Can. 78. as in the Case of the unrulier Donatists Can. 95 96. and the Thanks of the Bishops were given for their Ejection Can. 97. and the Emperor is Petitioned to grant Defensors to the Church Can. 10.109 and as the Church thus supplicated the Empire in these arduous Cases and when its assistance was wanting so on the other side did the Empire still advise with the Church when designing to make Religion the Municipal Law of the Empire to imbody it with the World under the same Sanctions either as to Punishments or Rewards to make it the Religion of the State also they still consulted antecedent Canons or present Bishops in Council or some Ecclesiastical Autority they created nothing anew gave the help of the World for Countenance Assistance and Confirmation to stablish what the Church had put its Sanction upon And those Emperors that designed to discountenance Christianity or set up some particular Heresie and stifle it in part or depose any great Church-men and some such there was they attempted it not but by the Clergy though of their own the Power as in themselves alone was not pretended to they had their own Synods and Bishops in order to it and what they did was done in their Names also and all this will readily appear to any one acquainted with the Canons of the Church and Laws of the Empire or if it seem too hard a task he 'l find it at least attempted to his hand and with Care and Industry reduced to a little room by Photius Patriarch of Constantinople in his Book therefore called the Nomo-Canon to shew the concurrency of the Laws and Canons the Canons still placed first as in course anteceding And in this sense only that of Socrates can be understood in the Proem to his Fifth Book of Ecclesiastical History 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reges viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So soon as Kings began to be Christians the things of the Church were managed and accomplished
and in these Church Debates only upon the forementioned ends and purposes to secure the common Reputation both of Men and Governors and to see that former Sanctions be not violated to judge as to Matter of Fact and what was Law and Canon before and that nothing destructive be admitted and imbodied into the Empire and which many times was deputed to the Bishops themselves as we have instance in the Comments of Jacob Gothofred in extravagans de judicio Episcopali ad finem Cod. Theodos l. 1. and to be sure the Empire never determined but by the Clergy in any thing else and the Enquiry was only this an Ordinavit Antiquitas that nothing thwarring was introduced and imposed Nor can Theodosius himself be supposed to have done any more from the Relation made of him by Socrates Hist Eccles l. 5. c. 10. or by Sozomen l. 7. c. 17. where he is engaged in Points of Faith and which is so much insisted on by those that resolve all Power into the Prince in the determining and composing all differences arising in Points of Religion Vid. Grotium bona fides Lubberâ—i 48. alibi Theodosius was an acute Man and pursued his own Satisfaction in those Points or Articles he made Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all he did upon his search was this he concurr'd in the same Opinion with the Bishops receiv'd their Reasons offer'd and allow'd of the Grounds they proceeded on and imbodied in the Empire the Decrees of the Council call'd by him at Constantinople upon the occasion of the Arians and other Business in the Eighth Chapter of that Book of Socrates And so again in Sozomen he gives out his Rescripts for equal Honor to be given to the Persons in the Trinity and declares those Hereticks which do it not and enjoyns Theophilus to follow the Nicene Faith for which the antecedent Church Canon is the rule lib. 7. cap. 4 5. 9. THE Laws of the Empire against Hereticks § XX are many and for the Rule of Faith and its Unity and against their meetings in the exercise of their Fancies they are turned out of the Publick Churches and expell'd the Cities and whatever favour hath been obtained for a Penal-mitigation by bribed Courtiers misrepresenting for such it seems there always was and will be the Grant is to be actually void the Houses they meet in are Confiscated they that have frequented them are Punished an Hundred Pounds and such as continue at them Fifty no Man is to read their Books they are all to be burned none is to Petition in their behalf their last Testaments are voided they are not permitted to Buy or Sell or Trade as do other Men all their Gifts Endowments and Revenues settled on their Sects are transferr'd to the Churches use Such of them as set up Schools and Teach are to be animadverted upon Vltimo Supplicio to be sure by a Punishment greater than others and they that learn of them are to Pay Ten Pounds No Lay-man that is an Heretick is to have or exercise any Government lest they be vexatious to the Bishops and Christians all the Moderators Governors and Under-Officers in Provinces that neglect to execute these Laws or permit them to be violated are to have a Mulct of Ten Pounds laid upon them No Civil or Military Power is to assist them in erecting their quasi Ecclesias falsly called Churches Speluncas fidei suae under the Punishment of Twenty Pounds of Gold He that entertains a Conventicle in his House if vilis of the Plebeians he is to be beaten with Clubs if an Ingenuous Person his Punishment is Ten Pounds and if they go from their Conventicles to Mutinies and Sedition 't is present Death and to such as frequent them t is Proscription of Goods with many more Penalties assigned Some greater and some less as was the temper of the Law-Maker and the apprehended Guilt as greater or less the Heresie of more or less danger in Church or State even to some as the Manichees their Children were not to inherit but then who and what these Hereticks and Heresies were what made a Conventicle or Schismatical Meeting what constituted this Rule of Faith and Unity this was not the work of the Empire nor did it pretend to be Judge and Decide She believed as did the Church determine whose Traditions and Confessions received Strength and Autority thereby the Civil Arm and Power concurring but the Catholique Faith is the Rule and Praedicationem Sacerdotum the Instructions of the Priests the Director Nor is any one condemned by the Law but such as are Strangers to and neglect the Church who are first condemned by her and 't is what Antiquity has ordained appoints and constitutes That Faith which St. Peter the Apostle Preached at Rome and which was then follow'd there by Damasus the present Bishop and Peter Bishop of Alexandria Nectarius of Constantinople Pelagius of Laodicea Diodonis of Tarsis Amphilochius of Iconium Optimus of Antioch c. Men led by the Apostolical Evangelical Discipline and Doctrine farther taught and recommended in the Four first Councils Determinantibus Sacerdotibus the Bishops there determining and the Exposition of Synods by the Imperial Autority and Laws called together Sacram Communionem in Ecclesia Catholica non percipientes à Deo amabilibus Episcopis Haereticos justè vocamus Justinian Novel 109. Praefat. The Heresie in its own Nature consists here when they unite and hold Communion out of the Catholick Church not receiving of it from God's beloved Bishops and so Schism is defined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 31. Apost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 6. Concil Gen. Constantinop when they despise and make Assemblies contrary to their Bishops So also Can. 31. Concil 6. in Trullo Can. 10. Concil Carthag and more expresly yet Can. 10. Concil Antioch and which we have occasionally made use of before if any Presbyter or Deacon separate from the Church contemning his own Bishop and makes a Private Congregation or Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in that 10th Canon Concil Carthag all which concerning Schism and Heresie and Conventicles with a great deal more may be seen at large and in every particular by whoso is conversant in the Canons and Church Proceedings and Determinations or which may be of more Autority with him at least not so lyable to Scorn and contempt to whoso pleases to read Cod. Justinian Tit. 1 2 3 4 5 c. Theodos 16 Tit. 1. l. 28. and in the several Titles and Laws with the various Novels and Constitutions treating expresly on these Subjects § XXI THERE are as many Laws and Directions Imperial concerning Ordinations the Person to be Separate and Consecrated to the Ministry of what Order soever whether Bishops Presbyters or Deacons perhaps many more as indeed they are very numerous giving Rules for Elections for the better discharge of their Duties providing against Symony for the daily Sacrifices and Ministerial Offices in the Liturgy and
Service for the People give Rules to the Bishops what Presbyters are to be Ordained inquires into and gives Cautions and Charge for their Manners for their Abilities that they forsake not their Priestly Office claiming the right of Investitures That no Church be built but the Bishop be first consulted for the maintenance of such required there to officiate That no Church be consecrated without the Bishop no Ideot or taken out of the number of those Qui vocantur Laici who are called Lay-men presently upon the entrance into Holy Orders ascend to an Episcopacy he gives to the Clergy Possession of their Churches and they are all in Deputation in their Ecclesiastical Courts from the Emperor and in Religious Matters he gives leave for the Collects or Meeting together confers many Priviledges on their Persons in order to the better performing of such their Offices that no trouble or obstruction be in Litanies and Laws are given for the manner of their Celebration takes care that they meet oft in Councils and Synods enjoyns them residence on their Cures He limits the number of such as are to be Ordained suitable to the Revenues of the Church that there be not an Impoverishment and Contempt thereby that none be Ordain'd but to a Title and in relation to particular Cures or as the present Exigence may require He exempts certain Persons forbidding the Bishops to give them Holy Orders as such as fly to the Church for Ease and Idleness to shake off their Secular Offices and Duty and be acquit of their Burdens that they may enjoy the outward Priviledges and Immunities the Clergy by the Bounty and good Grace of the Empire had granted unto them Such as are actually in Publick Offices to which thereby they become disabled and the State is endamaged As Captains Centurions c. whom he remands to their first station and hence some Laws we find that the tenues fortunâ the Poorer in the Church are only to be Ordained though perhaps with less Prudence and the reason was this because the Church enjoy'd great Priviledges and Immunities and the Rich too frequently ran to it to shelter and advantage themselves in this World a thing too common in our days and the like Laws might not be amiss amongst us in some cases when particular Men leave their Secular and Military Station for the Profit and Grandure of the highest Church-men he forbids that any Holy Offices or Ministerial Functions be usurped sine Sacerdote without a Priest appoints that every one first receive Holy Orders e're he attempts the Execution of the Publick Ministry with more of the like Nature and which are to be seen Cod. Justinian lib. 1. Tit. 2.5.14 Tit. 3.9.10.11.30.31.34.36.46.52 Cod. Theodos 9. Tit. 40.15.16.45.3 Cod. 12.104.115.121 Cod. 16. Tit. 1.3 Tit. 2.1.2.3.6.18.25.32 Tit. 11.1 Novel 3. cap. 1.2 and Novel 6.1.4.7 Novel 16.40.46.68 cap. 1.2.3 Novel 78. Novel 123. Novel 131. cap. 8.9 Novel 137. but then all this amounts to only what is said to be the Office of an Emperor Commonefacere Cod. Justinian l. 1. Tit. 3. to take care warn and see that all these things be done as they ought to be the Rule is antecedent and depends on another Authority I mean where 't is purely Religious and Policy alone ingages not The general Rule laid down and to be observed is this Ne fiant Ordinationes contra interdictiones legum Sacrorum Canonum Novel 12. cap. 12. that all Ordinations be made according to Law and the Holy Canons to the observation of that Rule Quam justi laudandi adorandi inspectores Ministri Dei verbi tradiderunt Apostoli Sancti Patres custodierunt explanaverunt Novel 6. Praefat. which the Ministers of the Word of God the Apostles and Holy Fathers have kept and explained The Emperor in his own Person never Pleads for or attempts the Sacred Action or Office of Ordination it self never yet laid any title to it and the Bishop upon his Ordination receives Secular Priviledges from the Emperor to be emancipated and made free from that Service which otherwise the Laws require of him by his becoming a Spiritual Father But the Ordination it self the Right of a Bishop is no where said to be or so claim'd from the Emperor Novel 8. cap. 3. and although it has been disputed only within this Hundred years at least it never reached any farther than the Whimsical Brains of some one or two now and then and what Point of Faith escaped such whether the Power of Ordaining has been in the Presbyter or in the Bishop only as a distinct Order and Superior to him and how the Votes and Concurrences of the People and in what degree of Necessity they are required unto it yet none ever asserted it to belong to any that was neither Presbyter nor Bishop yet Antiquity is altogether silent as to the Prince in this case the Church always removed nor did the Empire ever claim it this is still represented as the proper Work and Office of the Bishop whatever the Empire did in the case was by commanding the Bishop to Consecrate when such an one is designed for the Function by himself or assenting to the Election made by others but if any more and not of the like Nature the Church of God and all understanding Christians did still look upon it as not to be indured in any one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to act as a Priest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when never entitled to or partaking of the Priestly Power and it was never first conferr'd on him by any it has been adjudged 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 worthy of many Deaths as in the case of Ischyras in particular Socrates Hist. Eccles lib. 1. cap. 27. § XXII AND if we look into the Church censures the Animadversions and Punishments laid upon such as are unworthy their Christianity that high Calling wherewith they are called in Christ Jesus The case will appear the same as in Ordination in general great and solicitous was still the care of the Empire for the solemn just and due execution of these Powers a great many Laws and Constitutions were made in order to it several Cautions and Directions given that none be interdicted without a just Cause Cod. Justinian lib. 1. Tit. 3.30 That Excommunication be not for light Causes 39. 1. That no Man be excluded the Sacred Communion before Cause be shew'd and for which the Laws and Canons have commanded it and if any Excommunicates upon other accounts the Person Excommunicated is to be absolved and receiv'd again into Communion Novel 123. cap. 11. and this with the greatest reason in the World for the Prince is Custos Canonum he is the Keeper of the Canons and is to see that their Rules be duly executed Omni innovatione cessante vetustatem Canones Pristinos Ecclesiasticos qui usque nunc tenuere servari Praecipimus Cod. Justinian l. 1. Tit. 26. and 't is as his Province and Work so the
believe that every one that reads his Book is sworn to his Name and Words could possibly have produced them The Emperor only there takes care that Excommunication be according to the Church Canons suitably as Ecclesiastici hoc Canones fieri jubent in the Nomocanon the formal Power and Act is always supposed to be in and to be done by the Bishop or Priest if the Bishop or Presbyter Excommunicate otherwise than as the Canons enjoyn the Person so Excommunicated is to be absolved by another Bishop or Presbyter who has the inspection of them à Majore Sacerdote in the Novel and that Bishop or Presbyter that did the wrong is to be censured by the Bishop under whose Inspection or in whose district he is and lye under the Mulct at his Pleasure nor is there one word sounds that way that the Emperor did Excommunicate Nor can the Emperor with any more shew of reason be said to pass the formal Sentence of Excommunication by taking care and making Provision that it be done according to the Laws and Canons of the Church than he can be said to make Articles of Faith and determine in the high Points of the Trinity for which he appoints that the first Council at Nicea shall be the Rule and often enacts and resolves it shall be so explain'd and believed and professed accordingly as in that Council He may as well be said to make Creeds which he enjoyns to be done but by the Patriarchs and Bishops and the particular Faith to be professed by them or to Baptize for which Directions are given especially about Re-baptization and he judges him unfit for the Priesthood that does it Cod. Justinian l. 1. Tit. 6. Ne Baptismus iteretur he may no otherwise be said to Excommunicate than to obstruct Conversion or hinder Repentance and yet 't is the Imperial Edict against and Punishment upon Apostates Nè unquam in Pristinum statum revertentur nè flagitium morum obliterabitur Poenitentiâ Cod. 16. Theodos Tit. 6. l. 1. that they are never to return to their ancient state that the vileness of their Manners be never blotted out by Repentance intimating only the greatness of the Sin and the height of his indignation against them or that he did publickly officiate in his own Person in the daily Sacrifices because he takes care for a just Performance of the publick Liturgies and Services and when he declares against Oaths and Blasphemies that the guilt is not antecedent and from another Sanction Novel 78. and to put an end to these like instances that he Ordains in Person and makes Priests by whom so many Laws and Rules and Limitations and Qualifications are set and appointed as is above to be seen But as for this last instance Mr. Selden has found out so handsom an expedient for the Original of Holy Orders otherways and thereby renders them so accidentally trifling inconsiderable a thing that he answers his aim evacuates and baffles so effectually all Church-Power and indeed upon his Hypothesis so inconsiderable a thing it is that a Church-man would not desire it upon such terms much less is it a Prerogative fit for a King a Jewel for the embellishing the Crown Imperial so that he needs not contend to have this in the Magistrate as he doth the Church Censures He tells us De Synedriis lib. 1. cap. 14. pag. 569 570 571. and lib. 2. cap. 7. pag. 313 314 c. That Holy Orders has no more in it than an imitation of that particular School wherein St. Paul was educated under Gamaliel where it was usual for one that had arrived to a degree of Eminence above others as that of a Doctor to appoint and send out others under and after him And so St. Paul did in the managery of his Apostleship But did our Saviour also take this great Example of Gamaliel's School in his Eye when he sent forth his Twelve and Seventy or was it from his particular Education in some such place he took his Autority and Platform or did the Holy Ghost do the lâ—ke when placing Overseers in that Church which Christ had Purchased with his own Blood was not as the Purchase that of his own Blood so the Power by which he gathered and established it that All Power in Heaven and Earth first given unto him peculiar and extraordinary or did St. Paul himself say it was from Gamaliel's School or from the Will of any Man or from the Will of God he received his Apostleship himself and thereby had a Power to depute others as Timothy and Titus And surely unless his bare fiction of Story and Eutopian Plot must go for Truth and without any search and enquiry there can be nought in it to engage any assent or adherency unto it it is so precarious a begg'd thing that only those that deserve to be begg'd themselves can believe it and Mr. Selden doubtless pleased himself mightily to think how many fools it would meet with and he was sure of others of as ill a mind and design with himself to tread under foot the Ministry when it was down that it rise no more especially at that time when he wrote at least laid the contrivance of those his Tracts De Synedriis when the Sword of the Libertine alone bore rule and he took the advantage of it Nor has any one reason to believe that he bore better Will to the King than to the Church for he was a Member of that Rebellious Parliament of Forty Two and continued actually amidst them and bore a special sway in their Traiterous Actings and however his Pretence was That all Church-Power as from Christ was an Imposture and invading the Prerogative of the Crown it was in reality only to serve his Parliamentary Designs to take away the chief Support of the Crown that Church which mostly upheld it and 't was a sadder Sight yet to see it not only the usual fate of common Subjects but the Case of the greatest Prince then in Europe to be first stript of his Crown and Kingly Power to be made and publish'd a Bankrupt in the State lost as to his worldly Imployments and then made a Priest to have only the Power and Benefit of his Clergy remaining in and confirm'd unto him § XXIV THE sum of all is this The Empire it self never made any thing Law that related to the Church but what was first made Canon by the Church it self and those Powers always took their Direction from Church-men either in full Council or from the Practice of particular Churches or eminent Bishops of the Christian World and superadded their own Sanctions put under it their Secular Arm adjoyn'd their Autority to support and stablish them all those Directions to the several Patriarchs Exarchs Primates and Metropolitans were only to see their own Results at Councils practiced all the Edicts Laws Novels and Constitutions were first Church-Law and then the Law of the Empire receiv'd into the World and imbodied
for it Christianus nulli Inimicus praesertim Imperatori as Tertullian a Christian is an Enemy to no Man especially the Emperor whom he acknowledges as a Man immediately under God that receives his Power only from God nor hath any Man a Power above and beyond him to Obey and Serve him is his Conscience his Religion and he expects his Heaven his eternal Salvation by it and indeed Christianity is the great truly rational permanent Support of Kingdoms and Bodies Politick What favour Constantine shew'd the Christians was his real particular Interest and perhaps he could not have retain'd his Empire had not the Christian Bishops been of his side without their Aid and Assistance and as by them his Crown might be fixed the more firm and secure on his Head who yet gave him not his Original Right unto it for that was his upon other terms than his Christianity he prosessed nor did they add one cubit to his Power in this sense Dominion is not founded in Grace so did they receive from him his outward aid and assistance for the more due and advantageous execution of that Power they had but not from him they had exercised before he was Emperor though perhaps with less success by a Donation antecedent to his by a Right from Christ Jesus thus the Empire became their Nursing-Father to support and encourage but did not could not give their Power as Church-men unto them As God gave to the Empire the Government of the World so he gave to the Bishops the Government of the Church and which they were to use for the Empires advantage but might not use it against him And all this Constantine well knew and was highly sensible of as were his Succession that was Christian still acknowledging Church-Power from another hand nor was it in the arm of Flesh by favour or frowns as to its Power purely from above to extinguish or enlarge it I 'le conclude this Section and Chapter with that of St. Austin Ep. 165. Quia Constantinus 〈◊〉 ausâ—… est de causa Episcopi judicare eam discutiendam finiendam Episcopis delegavit And again Ibid. Imperatores non si in errore essent quod absit pro errore suo contra veritatem leges darent per quas justi probarentur coronarentur non faciendo quod illis juberent quia Deus prohiberet Religion as such falls not under the Determination of the Prince and if he gives Laws against Truth the Just will be both Tried and Crown'd in disobeying him Chap. 3. CHAP. III. The Contents Church-Power is a Specifick constituted by Christ in order to a Succession the erecting a new and lasting Government upon Earth a Community of divers Orders Offices Acts Stations every ways peculiar the Body of Christ Sect. 1. A Government to Rule and defend it self and Independent Sect. 2. The main Objection That it is against the Civil Power Common Sense and Experience confutes it The more a Christian the better Subject The Christians supported Constantine's Crown Sect. 3 4. They did not want Power to do otherwise nor consequently Integrity as is objected Sect. 5. To say they were Fools is more plausible to the Age but then the Empire must be so too who were equally ignorant of these destructive Consequences to their Government Sect. 6. The reason of the present Misunderstandings and that we do not see as the Ancients did because no Government own'd but that which is Temporal and outwardly Coercive Sect. 7. So 't was stated by an Anonymous Author 1641. All Power and Punishment was outward and bodily among the Jews and so it must be among Christians Sect. 8. So Mr. Selden allowing no Punishments but what are outwardly Coercive because none other as not under so nor before the Law Sect. 9. Erastus went the same way before him Sect. 10. And Salmasius and says the Apostles had no Power because without Whips and Axes Concludes against all Church-Power upon these terms and that he may surely take it from Bishops So does a French Reformer usually lose his Senses when running his Forehead against our Prelacy Sect. 11. Grotius is in this Error but oft corrects himself His Inconstancy is to be lamented He imputes it to his Education He fights with the very same Weapon against Church-Power in general the Jesuite does against the Supremacy in the Church of England Sect. 12. IT returns then with more force and strength what was laid down in the § I beginning of the foregoing Chapter That Church-Power is a Specifick a Constitution of its own originally from Heaven deliver'd by Christ to his select Apostles Men chosen from all other fill'd with the Holy Ghost for the Service of Mankind in the propagating Christianity to speak before Kings every where and in all Circumstances to declare and publish it a Power limited to their Persons to be retain'd within themselves and as no Heads but their own receiv'd it so no Hands but their own could devolve and conveigh it to others only as their own Prudence saw fit was it derived and in what measures and degrees they pleased as the World came into the Church Believers were made the Harvest grew great and there needed more Labourers to be sent forth into it a Power I say received for the use of others the advantage of Mankind in the Successions of it not for one single Purpose and Action as were several Commissions and Delegations both before and under the Law and one at the entrance of the Gospel viz. That given to St. John Baptist but to erect a new and standing Government and this to continue till the World is no more and then only is the Kingdom to be delivered up to the Father whose is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen And St. Clemens Romanus in his Epistle to the Romans and which place we had occasion to use before tells us That the Apostles receiving Commands and imbued with a full certitude by the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed by the Word of God with all fulness of the Holy Ghost they went out declaring the coming of the Kingdom of God and Preaching through the Regions and Cities they constituted Bishops and Deacons in order to those that should believe knowing by our Lord Jesus Christ that Contentions would arise by reason of the Episcopacy or Power of the Ministry and therefore having a perfect fore-knowledge as they constituted the fore-mentioned Bishops so they afterwards gave them Rules for Ordinations that others Approved Men might succeed in the Places of such as should die and execute such their Offices the Consult and Design was laid for future Ages also A Power and Autority framing and fashioning Believers into a Body not an accidental casual concurrency of People only but a Community well and duly associated every part proportionably fitted and put together increasing with the increase of God in which all things are to be done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 decently and in order as the Lord commanded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Clemens there goes on not without Reason and Rules 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where at appointed fixed seasons and hours Oblations and Holy Services are to be offered and performed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in what Place and by what Persons God has appointed that all things being religiously Performed and according to his Will they may be grateful and acceptable unto him where every Man has his Order and Station 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therein gives his Thanks to God or serves him in his Publick Worship expressed by that one principal Branch or Performance To the chief Priest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are his Offices appropriated to the Priest or Presbyter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a special Province is assigned and the Levites have their own Ministry incumbent upon them The Lay-man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is confined to his Laick Affairs a Body it is like to that of an Army and which this Apostolical Person there recommends to their Consideration where the Souldier is under the Captain 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how in order how in readiness and in all subjection executing Commands and Obeying where all are not Praetors or Rulers of Thousands nor Rulers of Hundreds nor Rulers of Fifties every one in his Station and Sphere discharges what of the King and Tribunes is enjoyned him where the great cannot be without the less nor the less without the great in which is a yielding a mixture and condescension and all becomes useful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. May then this our Body be kept whole and entire in Christ Jesus and every one be subject according to that Order in which by the Grace of God he is placed So that Apostolical Person goes on and so are his Prayers as well as Directions as is to be seen at large in that his Epistle A Collection Community or Body gather'd out of the World and so not of it as with a differing Head so by another infusion differing Laws diverse Offices for quite another end and with Powers for a present Peace which the World cannot give unto us Ye are my Body saith our Saviour and each one Members in particular his Body which is the Church ye are not of this World so Christ tells his followers again are neither the Subjects of it nor from its Powers receive neither Rules nor Measures by it § II AND surely then as a Body in and of it self so to Rule and Govern it self to execute its own jurisdiction to pass its own Laws and Sanctions to allot its rewards and penalties to receive and shut out to censure or remit to provide for a Succession in every thing furnished for self-existency and preservation in a word if there be a Church upon earth a body whose head is Christ and each Believer Members in particular if any thing like a visible Association the Rules and Laws and Reasons of all Associations in general enjoyn this nor can that Community be supposed such as is the Christian in particular to subsist under another live in dependency upon or by its concessions whose call and separation was on purpose to be another thing from it which had the grant for its being to reduce and recall in some Cases to gainsay and thwart it which is so fram'd and contrived as to be and increase under the severest of its frowns and the most raging Persecutions from those very Powers of this World which in its lay and make was to have the Kings of the Earth stand up and the Rulers to take Council together against it Our Saviour who knew all things who had the full design of his Father in his Head and before him knew also the several Accidents and Contingencies that would befall the Church and his Wisdom provided suitably he did not leave his Church as the Ostrich in Job did her young ones that every foot might crush and kill them nor did he Build upon those Sands either that every Wind which blows and Storm which descends could destroy her and which he must have done if founding his Church purely in Subordination to the secular Arm to the Wills and Passions of Princes which Experience tells us how various how mutable and disorderly they have sometimes been even the best of them has but the breath in his Nostrils and yet even the worst of them the greatest and a succession too of Tyrants has never been able to dissolve this Community to erase its Foundations To erect a Body solitary and alone without its own Laws and a strength that is singular to subsist and be Ruled by a Foreign Power and that is extraneous to it is in course to be swallow'd up throughly absorpt thereby And 't is again as bad or worse where every private Member is not obliged to such its own Constitutions and Jurisdictions this is Anarchy and Confusion which God cannot be the Author of the Society must on these terms equally dissolve and perish be as liable to Invasions as before Our Saviour therefore erected his Corporation independent to the Secular Power but dependent and in subordination as to its own Members and to one another and if any be unruly and do not submit to the Laws of their Body some of which are unchangeable and as the Sun for evermore others occasional and in the Prudence and Discretion of the present Governors Penal Laws Abstentions Interminations Excision it self is to follow the Church Censures most justly pass upon them nor ought they to have any benefit of that Body can they indeed if such disorders permitted which they so rent in pieces and which by such their Rebellions in course must decay be rendred unserviceable to themselves and others § III AND that this special Power is derived and thus limited to the Church is what as as the common reason so the common sense of Mankind must assent and submit unto it is notorious to the common Senses nor is there any one Demonstration carries more Evidence along with it 't is as plainly and legibly set before our Eyes as Christ Crucified was before the Eyes of the Galatians Gal. 3.1 upon the common Sense and traditional conveyance of Mankind as evidently seen from one to another by handing it downwards as those particular Persons who stood under the Cross did see and behold Christ distended and dying upon it and yet so foolish and bewitched were those very Galatians as to dissent from and make of none effect Christ Crucified unto them and there are of the same unhappy temper still amongst us that deny and exclude this Succession of Church-Power now and in whom to rectifie and undeceive By answering such Objections they produce in their own behalf is what I am in the next place to undertake Their grand Objection runs thus To assert a Church-Power independent and residing in differing Subjects from that of the State must be a restraint to
help it Sure it is they both acknowledged and abetted this very Church-Power and saw not these killing Consequents were aware of no such destroying aim upon themselves thought the Power of the Empire not one whit the less or their Persons to receive any abatement by it and yet Men of reputed Fame and Renown for all manner of Wisdom and Prowess in their Generations nor would they actually forego or but endure a lessening discourse of their Prerogative and particularly their Care and Provision in respect of Church-men was great and Eminent that no Damage return to the Crown upon any Pleas of Exemptions or Priviledges derived from them How severe they were in limiting them in their Ordinations we have already observed that by any Excessive Practice of that special Power acknowledged in the Bishops alone and still remov'd from themselves the State might not be weakned it being it seems too usual for Men of great Fortunes and sufficient Abilities otherways to Serve their Prince in his Wars or other Secular Imployments to come into the Church and receive Holy Orders only to exempt themselves for the advantage of those Freedoms and Immunities invested in the Clergy to crowd under the Church's Protection for Ease and Idleness And therefore the Bishops were forbad to Consecrate any such Persons and many other such like Restrictions are to be seen in the Imperial Laws and Constitutions I 'le instance in one or two of them As that the Jews when Criminal and under bad Circumstances turn'd Christians only for Favour and an easier discharge in the Courts of Justice were not to be received into the Church nor imbodied among the Christians Nor Servants and Debtors which fled to the Altar to avoid their Masters and Creditors and the Clergy that received them were first to be deposed and then to be delivered over to the Civil Power for farther Punishment Cod. 9. Theodos l. l. 1 2 3 4 5. And surely the Empire that was so Industrious and Vigilant to preserve from Church-incroachments such the Accessories of their Power and Government that the meanest of their Subjects be not oppressed by any such Plea or Charter much greater must be their severity upon that Body or Community if suspected in the Make and Constitution to strike at the Original Power it self to lay Limits and farther inconveniencies upon their own Persons and Actions to wrest the Government it self out of their hands to Countermand and Supersede with their Canons the most Sacred and Solemn of their Sanctions and Determinations And though Clergy-men as to every particular Person or some lesser Collection of them may not be altogether Innocent as to some attempts and incroachments upon the State through Zeal ill guided or incogitancy or some particular designed interest for who Pleads that they are all exempted from all faults and suitably strict Provision was made by the Imperial Laws to prevent or restrain or punish yet no one Law or but Provision was made that we read of against the Body of Christians themselves unless by the Heathen Power designing an Extirpation or their Power and Government as from Christ because not under such a Suspition its frame and make was such as designed for the Support but no ways for the Injury of the Empire The best and wisest of Emperors at the same time that they write to the Patriarchs and Bishops of the Church as its Supreme and Universal Governors and own'd and remonstrated their Power as from Christ Jesus alone yet reserved among their own Titles that of Pontifex Maximus the chief Priest as Mr. Selden according to his usual Industry has Collected several Inscriptions of theirs to this purpose lib. 1. De Syned c. 10. and by which Title if they meant the same he would have them to have done as it matters not now to inquire since the Church and Empire still gave and allow'd one another these Compellations interchangeably the Inference is strong on our side that they were not conceived to carry and imply any thwarting or opposition to one another and upon what account soever Julian the Emperor was so obliged by and tenacious of the Title we have reason to believe he did it not on this account to affront in others and ingross to himself Church-Power Antistes legis Christinae being the Title also in his days of the Bishop and so Bishops are still occasionally call'd by Ammianus Marcellinus an Heathen Historian of his time whose History is mostly made up of his Actions and Praises and may not amiss be called his Parasite as well as Historian nor can he be thought to give that to Church-men which in its execution carries so great an Opposition to the Prerogative of his admired Master But that which comes nearer is this when the Emperors submitted to the Laws of the Church as from God himself made them their Rule for their civil Sanctions disdained not to follow them gave them every Eulogy or Character that might declare them of an Heavenly stamp a Divine race and infusion as I have already shew'd yet did they not believe their own Laws and Sanctions the less from God by reason of it or of a lower Institution and suitably still expressed themselves in the Heads of their Laws the Forms and Preambles of their Constitutions in these following manners Quem ex coelesti Arbitrio sumpserimus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Justinian Code l. 1. Tit. 1.1.3 The Laws themselves are called Oracula Sacra absolute And then again Leges Sacrae Sanctio sacra Sacratissima Sacratissimae leges Judicium Sacrum Praeceptio Sacra Praeceptum Sacrum Sacrae literae Sanctionibus Consecratae Oraculum Coeleste Divales Sanctiones Divina Precepta Divino arbitrio Decreta Divalia Beneficia Divale Praeceptum Lex Divalis Divalia Scita Divalia Statuta all which and more he that will not Peruse in the several Laws may read at once Collected to his hand by the Excellent Jacob Gothofred 1. Cod. Theodos Tit. 1. Paratitlon Tit. 2. Paratitlon Hereby declaring the Laws both of the Church and Empire to come alike from God and to be equally Heavenly although by differing conveyances upon Persons of different Orders for particular diverse ends but both uniting in and serving the great End the Universal Good and Directions and Government of Mankind and yet each one to act in and keep its Sphere and Order and so independent and the Objection was not raised in those days just now recited nor was any thing like a thwarting suspected and which is now contended for nor indeed can their hitting and justling be otherwise supposed than can that be of the Orbs or that Dissonancy of the Spheres talked of the one or both must become Eccentrick be Perverse and Irregular the whole Universe be untuned in disorder and suffer by it as our own Experience has been a great Evidence of late and whether has lost more by it the King or the Priest is not easily determined though the Pretence was on
under it Thus he Mr. Selden who was Contemporary with § IX this worthy wight and Man of Sense and no question but his Confident engaged and succeeded him in the very same Cause and by the very same Motives and Arguments only he appear'd not in the World till Nine years after and so had the advantage of much time and was imboldned by the horrid Anarchy and dismal Confusion of it and by an incessant Industry of his own improv'd the Argument to a greater height of irreligion and audaciousness and contemptuously treads upon whatever is like a Church Power in any instance of it which his Friend was a little shy of who allows in Church-men a Power for Non-communion or Abstention in some Cases which though he 'l by no means call it Excommunication and acknowledges that Justinian did only command that the Bishop proceed against the Faulty by Excommunication Suspension Deprivation but Mr. Selden says with the greatest assurance and impudence it was his own judicial act with that truth we have already considered but his Argument and course of proceeding is all along the same and upon the supposition founded in the constitution and practice of the Jewish Church and which he proves by a vast reading and intolerable expence of Pains to have used only outward Bodily Penal Coercive Punishments whether before or after giving the Law in Sinai so he tells us it was with Adam and Cain the one upon his fall the other upon his murder both banished their Countries for it the Sword is the punishment for Murder Gen. 9.3 And they were to be stoned that came near the Mount at the giving the Law Exod. 19. And the punishment was only secular upon the violation of the Seven Precepts given to the Sons of Noah the uncircumcised was to be punished though not forinsecally yet by Gods own immediate hand and a particular judgment of the same nature was the Curse upon Meroz the punishment of Kore Dathan and Abiram nor do the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Anathema c. as used by the Prophets according to the Septuagint or other Greek Translations signifie any thing else nor are there used for Excommunication or afterwards by the Apostles as in St. Paul's delivering up the incestuous to Sathan c. and the Jews took up that Excommunication which was of later years exercised among them by special Compact with one another in the time of Captivity and for the present Exigence when the Temporal Power was taken out of their hands and which was no ways appropriated to the Priest or any other Order of Men either now under their Captivity or for the infliction of those other Punishments before or after the Law and what Excommunications were practised in the Apostles times and the first Century where by the way his great Master Erastus will allow of none in his Hundred Theses answered by Theodore Beza in his Tractatus Pius Moderatus de verâ Excommunicatione Christiano Magisterio was first Judaick in imitation of the Jews for there was none of the Christians for many years after our Saviour's Ascension which were not either Jews originally or Greek Proselytes and were accounted as Jews in common repute and members of their Synagogue and so used their Customs and Rights as before and of which this of Excommunication was one and so living among the Jews and call'd by the same Name when Caesar indulged the Jews and they had the liberty of their own Religion the Christians enjoy'd the Priviledges together with them and thus their Excommunication became Caesarean their Church Acts derived a Publick Autority from the Empire having none before but by private Covenant and by this Autority they held Presbyteries had Judicatures relating purely to their Religion and retained a Power to Punish under Death as did the Jews and if not thwarting the Laws Imperial and which grant of Favour though abated by succeeding Emperors they notwithstanding retained a Body and Union among themselves upon their own terms for Confederation till the days of Constantine and the Empire became Christian and then the Church being taken in to the State the Jurisdiction wholly became his as naturally annexed to the Crown and there to reside till all Autority and Power ceaseth This is the chief of Mr. Selden's Plot for the overthrowing the Power of Christ's Kingdom in the Polity Laws and Rights of it Lib. 1. De Syned cap. 3. 4 5 6 7 8. 11. and which has with much more advantage been very lately represented to the Age than I am able to do by a great and Learned Hand Dr. Parker Arch-deacon of Canterbury Nor needs there any thing more to be added for the satisfying the World of the vainer Attempts and undue Consequents there raised only the general Design of this Discourse engages that it be not wholly passed by and which otherwise could not be answer'd THOMAS Erastus Mr. Selden's great and § X admired Master though not licking and shaping his Beastly Abortive brood so throughly Missing in many things what the other has Hit upon yet in his forementioned Hundred Theses he urges much the same way as that because the Sword was the Punishment among the Jews so all Offenders of what Nature soever are by the Coercion alone of the Magistrate to be Corrected and the Christian Church is to go no farther than theirs did and the Civil Magistrate has all the Care of Religion that it is very difficult to conceive how there can be two Heads in one Body both to have right to Punish and Exercise Domination over the same Subjects still supposing no Power to have or that can have existency but that of outward Coercion And which Plea however it might be forced from him and seem necessary and makes a plausible shew of Truth in regard of Beza's Lay-Elders and the Consistorian Government of Geneva and in whose irregular Power he instances laying Penal Mulcts and outward Restraints as do the Civil Magistrates and the Consideration of which ran him upon this his as groundless Extreme Yet as to the Constitution and Practice of the truly Catholick Christian Church it has no Pretence or likelihood at all as will hereafter be made to appear CLAVDIVS Salmasius though he was § XI a Man very much if not altogether of Beza's Complexion yet is he not so ingenuous and true to their common Cause as was Beza in his Writings against Erastus for in his Apparatus to his Book De Primatu Papae a long rambling indigested tedious Discourse purposely made against the Divine Right of Bishops he there to pursue home his Design takes away all Church-Government whatsoever at the same rate of arguing And if he concludes any thing at all and which is not easily seen it is this That a Bishop is so far from having a distinct Power above a Presbyter solitary and apart from him that he has neither 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in general no
Capacities and Institutions and the gates of Hell are not to prevail against them and then surely special Commands and different Offences may be allowed there must be new Animadversions and Corrections Discipline and Punishments and these in such hands as is his Pleasure However to infer there is now no such things or in such a manner and such hands because never in the World before is hugely inconcluding nor do any Men that are in earnest or out of a Plot believe or declare themselves any otherwise obliged by such the forementioned Instances and Presidents whether in Law or Government any farther than the Parity of Reason and Correspondency of things enforce and engage and there would be mad work were it otherwise Only Mr. Selden and his Friends are it seems to be excepted who thus argue Adam and Cain for their Offences against God had a civil Banishment Achan's Body and all his Goods were a devoted thing for his Sacriledge Others were Slain or Stoned or swallowed up by the Earth for their greater Impieties Excommunication was not at all amongst the Jews for some time and since it was received only as a Compact among themselves to keep their People in awe and order when they were in Captivity and without the benefit of the Civil Magistrate and their Penal Laws to correct and restrain them And therefore there are not neither ought to be any other Punishments under the Gospel All the Anathema's Devotings Cuttings off Separation Abstentions Interminations Excommunications are nothing else The Primitive Christians without any Pre-obligation from Christ upon the same score entred into their Discipline and govern'd themselves also as they could while the Empire was Heathen because not capable any otherways to subsist keep their Body together and Protect it and which ceased when Constantine became Christian who took it all into his own hands managed it as occasion and as he pleased in whom by right alone it resided And the Argument is every whit as good as to Baptism and the Lord's Supper which were imitations of the Jewish Customs and that there is no more in either than was in their Baptizing and Washing when they made Proselytes or in their Cup of Blessing Drinking a Health Eating and Banquetting together and which must be in the Power of the Supreme Magistrate to cancel or continue at his Pleasure And much wider yet is a farther Conclusion of his in his Twelfth Chapter That there was no Excommunication at all amongst the Jews nor is therefore to be any among Christians because no mention of it in an old Jewish Manuscript Ritual which he has by him and there produces and the courses of Penance and Repentance are all Innovations because his Priest of Mahomet neither knew nor discovered any thing of it and which must be the alone Inferences from all his great Pains and Reading there shew'd to the World if there can be any at all And indeed had he not intended more to amuse the World with a bulk of Stuff and Reading as is his usual way and by a confusion of things first to confound his Reader the easier to impose upon him the usual way of all Hereticks as Tertullian has observ'd Adversus Praxean Cap. 20. Proprium est omnium Hereticorum pauca adversus plura defendunt posteriora adversus priora Scribis tanquam ad Croesum Pyrrhum Loxias as Marius Mercator of the Pelagian First to involve and entangle he would have omitted all these Impertinencies and gone directly to the Business As whether such a Kingdom was once erected Such Power was left upon Earth or not and this indeed he attempts but 't is in the After-Game the Bustle and Distraction And he does it only too in compliance with his own false Supposition He considers nothing of the Kingdom of Christ the Nature of his Commission it 's Power Reasons Design End and Reward he wrests particular passages of Scripture to his perverted purpose and I 'le bring as many Readings and Expositions with their tricks and turnings quite against him And particularly intermixes and confounds the miraculous especial Actions of the Apostles when inflicting Death and Temporal Punishments for the Testimony of their Commissions and terror to the present Offendor and warning to future Ages and which were to cease with that setled fixed Power of theirs design'd for a Perpetuity And his Mistake is as great in his numerous Instances of the Imperial Acts and their Constitutions of their Titles of Episcopus Episcoporum Summus Pontifex and the Application of them all which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and which is already shew'd The Power of the Church purely as such and which is alone the Subject of the Debate is entire and within it self supported and maintained but never invaded by the Titles and Acts Imperial Nor need all be let pass as for granted that he thinks himself so secure of as an unshaken Medium for his undue gathered Conclusion And certainly there was more than a Bodily Temporal Punishment in Adam and Cain a single Punishment was not all they had inflicted on or was intended to them there was a withholding something Spiritual too a Suspension at least of inward Strength and Assistances a turning out from some other outward Advantages and Enjoyments and which is imported by the turning out from the Presence of God and the change of the Earth was not the alone Deprivation And sure I am we have as good Grounds that it was more as Mr. Selden has produced to the contrary though his Enumerations are great and his little Autorities are many as indeed he does nothing but what is abundance in that Sense did the clearing the present Truth any ways depend upon it 2. That then which will be more considerable § II is this and which renders an evident account why all the Offences under the Levitical Dispensation were punishable only by the Civil Power and with Temporal Awards and by one and the same hand of Justice the distinction between Sins Spiritual and Temporal were less obvious or none and the Power of the Priesthood was not so distinct and apart and yet no necessity of the like Constitution in any one instance now under Christianity the principal reason of all I say seems to be this The great disparity betwixt the Jewish and Christian Body as to their particular Form and Constitution the Jewish Church was imbodied in the State in the design and frame of it and the Laws of both were one and the self-same Law of the Nation the Government was blended and so mixed together that is was all one Polity dispersed by the hands of the Priests and Levites and Judges of the Gates each had their original share and the so much magnified Sanedrim is allowed to be of the same Complexion or mixed multitude together and united for present Government And hence is it as Mr. Selden says very well That when a Conquer'd People and in Captivity under the Civil Government
of a Foreign Power and which consider'd not their Religion it had no Power to Protect it self and therefore by Compact among themselves they submitted to Excommunication A Politick accidental Contrivance of their own to keep themselves together The Offices of the Priests and Levites though appropriate and distinct as to some Acts and Powers yet not as to Government they as such were placed only in the Services of the Tabernacle the Temple and Altar And Grotius well describes them Judices erant de arduis Legis ut viri caeteris Eruditiores in Deut. 17.9 They executed the Offices of Judges as Men more Skilled and Learned than others it flowed not purely from their Priestly Delegation That Power came another way perhaps as Elected into the Sanedrim if there was such a continued Society for Government which from the Old Testament appears not however in use in the days of our Saviour And which makes me admire some Men among us who contend so much for the letter of the Scriptures and run down whatever is Tradition besides it and yet so much adore their magnified Sanedrim upon the alone talk of some Jewish Doctors which were but of Yesterday And it was a great Error in Theodore Beza and argued in him more Zeal than Judgment who in answer to this Part of Erastus in his forementioned Hundred Theses asserts the Jewish Church and State to have been two Bodies with different Powers for Judicature And who is followed herein by Matthew Sutcliffe De Presbyterio and others besides the very Stipulation and Compact betwixt Moses and Israel was for the Temporal Canaan upon Temporal Promises and Rewards the Milk and Honey and quiet Possession of it Nor did the Levitical Covenant as such engage for any more Whatever good things to come were expected by the more discerning part of them they receiv'd another way By accidental occasional Notices they saw in the Glass through the Veil in the Type and Shadow for so the Law was in the Plot and Design to be unto them or by the additional Advantages of the Prophets which God all along sent unto them whose Business it was at least a great part of it farther to reveal unfold and discover the End and Purport of the Law unto them and whose report was very hardly believed and consequently as were their Covenant and Indentment so were their Awards and Punishments In course they were to be Bodily and Temporal no wonder that Adultery was Punish'd by the Sword and they quite cut off from that good Land as it afterwards happened unto them So Saint Jerome speaks of the Jews Qui ob Praesentia tantum bona Legis praecepta custodiunt ut terrenae Foelicitatis longae vitae Praemium consequuntur Qui te ob praesentia tantum rerum promissa venerantur Ep. Damaso Tom. 4. who kept the Law only for the present Advantage for long Life and earthly Felicity and for the present Promises worship God And St. Clemens Alexandrinus Strom. 1. dividing the Law into Four parts he leaves out that Branch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which belongs to Morality and concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Letter or Historical part to be alone Nomothetical and to oblige as a Law And so we find this one Reason of that one Branch of the Law which consists in Sacrifices not excluding that which is Typical of it as a tryal of the Jews Obedience to God that the Blessing of the Covenant may be continued unto them Quâ Populum pronum in Idololatriam Transgressionem ejusmodi Officiis Religioni suae voluit adstringere Tertul. adv Marcion l. 2. c. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Martyr Dialog cum Triph. Jud. facilem ad Idola reverti Populum erudiebat Irenaeus l 4. c. 28. So St. Jerome l. 2. adv Pelag. Tom. 3. And in Jerem. 7.22 Isai 1.12 in Mat. 5. and all which are followed exactly by Grotius Comment in Exod. 15.26 in Mat. 5.17 Eph. 3.10 and De Veritate Religionis Christianae l. 2. Sect. 9. l. 5. Sect. 7. So that to speak to the whole at once the Disparity between the Jewish and Christian Government being every ways in the both Frame Practice and Reward so great the Inferences from the Jewish against the Christian cannot be due and just and must be also wide and inconsistent The Advantage by their Scheme and Objection as drawn up is on our side and we thence claim these following Conclusions which no Man as in themselves can deny though in their thwartings as to the Design of our Adversaries and compliance with ours they are bluster'd against and misrepresented § III THAT as the Levitical Discipline in its first make and design had only corporal Rewards and Punishments promised and inflicted suitably as the Command and Indentment was Carnal So the Body of Christ which is Spiritual hath its Rewards and Punishments which are Spiritual and like it self suitable to its Nature and Constitution and the Spiritual Commandment The earthly Magistrate or worldly Secular Power as call'd in Antiquity and which has been sufficiently already observ'd can have no first original share in the Churches Sanctions and Denunciations Administrations and Distributions because a Body in its frame independent in its design call'd out from the World capable of the World's favours but not of either a rise or dissolution by it And this Mr. Selden must submit unto upon the Supposition that the Church is a Body no body subsisting without its Laws as he learnedly argues and concludes soundly in his first Book De Synedriis and not to have Laws within it self but what are Arbitrary or borrowed from others is to destroy the Supposition and make it no Inclosure or Self-Community Or if the Levitical Polity does any ways relate to and infer upon the Christian as the Christian Church affirms it to do 't is as its Type and Shadow the Law being a Shadow of good things to come as the Author to the Hebrews speaks for though other Reasons are given or rather proposed only by the above-mentioned Fathers of the Church for the Sacrifical part of the Law and that it was given upon other Motives yet they exclude not that design which is Typical but suppose it in the first place and the principal purpose of the Law-giver was by Types and Shadows to represent the succeeding Gospel So St. Clemens Alexandrinus l. 7. Strom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the Sacrifices under the Law did allegorize or speak in other things our Worship under the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he speaks Ibid. the Sacrificing our selves or that we present our selves a living Sacrifice holy acceptable which is our reasonable Service Rom. 12.1 Mentem ipsam pro Sacrificio as Lactantius l. 5. Sect. 19. where the mind it self is the Sacrifice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Temperance Righteousness and Humanity is offer'd in Justin Martyr Apol. 2. Opima hostia Oratio de Carne Pudicâ De anima innocenti de spiritu
advantage the case is plain that there may be Mutatio Statûs as Mr. Selden expresseth it a change of the present Condition Capitis quaedam apud suos diminutio in his Description of Excommunication De Syned l. 1. c. 7. abatement of Priviledges in respect of that Body and which is not Death on any other Bodily infliction as he there explains it falls under no outward forcible Restraint for whatever was of this kind was annexed to their Excommunication by the Empire and is by Mr. Selden acknowledged not of its Nature Ibid. nor indeed in their Captivities could they execute it And this considered will abate what is so much objected against Church-Government that it cannot be at all because not as is the Secular sensible and coercing not outwardly forcing a compliance no such Penal Virtue and Efficacy that Men cannot choose but bow and submit unto it The loss of that Communion to which once imbodied suitable to the Advantages expected in or Peril incurr'd upon a disunion from it is Motive sufficient even coercively obliging to him who on rational and true Grounds closed with and submitted to the Association and this particularly to the Christian who imbodies for Eternity whose loss is Heaven whose Punishment is Hell if fully and justly cut off who believes that out of this Society Church or Collection of Persons there is no Salvation THAT God's particular Wisdom and Providence § VI did go along with the Jewish People in whatever they were to do or suffer and that all had a special Relation and Prospect to Christianity which was to succeed This appears more than probable it was in the Plot and Design to disenclose the Jews by degrees to lead them by steps and gradations without the Temple into the Church-Catholique to work them off from their Carnal Ordinances and Expectations and prepare the way for the coming of Christ and the Worship in Spirit and Truth to accomplish upon them with more case and facility and obviousness what was at first design'd for a full End and Period And that the Gospel might with less prejudice and more readiness be received at its Promulgation And we have several Instances of this kind both before all along throughout and the midst of the Levitical Dispensation Such as were not of the Descent of Abram were still taken in and Gentiles admitted to Salvation and not upon either the Levitical or Abrahamitical Compact or Indentment So Job in the Land of Huz So the Ninevites upon the terms alone of Repentance and Amendment Of the same sort were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Graecian Worshippers amongst the Jews call'd Proselytes of Righteousness known to every Body This was one great end why Christ sent his many Prophets early and late unto them to take them off from the Carnal Services to open and unfold the true and farther meaning of them and in what respect they were enjoyned That it was not the Sacrifice it self and burnt Offerings new Moons Incense and Oblations God then required but Purity Judgment and Humility to obey the Voice of God As is evident in every one of the Prophecies each of their Sermons and Discourses particularly Isa 1. Jer. 7. Micah 6. and the nearer they came to their end the more Zealous and Active were they witness the Prophet Malachy the last of all Unfathomable and undiscernible Providence save only in its Effects so order'd it that their Captivities are the greatest instances in this Nature they more sensibly and forcibly prevailed in order to it disinvested them of their Temple without which they would not have thought they could have lived one day and so led them by the same Necessity to that Worship and Service and Form of Government which in the Design and Appointment of God was to overspread the whole Earth and remain to the Restitution of all things Thus came it about that the Seventy and two Jews themselves Translated the Holy Bible into Greek the most known Language of the then civilized and learned Part of the World and which at some times to have done was Piaculous and what then this could more tend to the Conversion of the Gentiles This occasioned that Design of those Pious Persons Jesus the Son of Syrach and the Author of the Book of Wisdom whoever he was of drawing them off from Judaism and instilling the Gospel-Service and Obedience which was by and by to succeed and to be Eternal whose devout most Holy Pens taking the advantage of their present Captivity and forlorn State without their Pompous carnal Ordinances uncapable of the Temple Duties instructed and urg'd upon them that Religion which the Accidents or Contingencies of the World could not deprive them the Exercise of Neither time nor Place nor Person could obstruct the Performance true Holiness Obedience and Judgment to come and which alone would bring them Peace at the last And we may safely say That in these Moral Writings of theirs there is though not more of the Gospel yet it is more plain here and open and intelligible than in all the Books of the Old Testament beside what is there only in either Shades and Types the Mystical allegorical Sense or else upon the glance and by accident spoken is here with open face in the intent and purpose And I may speak it out That the Resurrection of the Body is so evidently Professed by the Mother of the Seven Sons in the Maccabees Cap. 2. v. 7. that the like was not done before it Sure I am not in the Levitical Law which is at the most but shadow'd there and even the wiser scarce saw and discern'd it and for certain a Sect there was among them those of the Sadduces that were Zealous for the Law and yet believed neither Angel nor Spirit nor the World to come so great Enemies to themselves to the early appearance of Christianity to a great Evidence for it against the Jews are they who refuse and reject this so huge an advantage of these Apocryphal Writings and that will not read them though Saint Paul did and hence made Evidence to his Auditors that the Resurrection in those days was believed Heb. 11.33 34 c. because the Evidence is less clear that they were indited by the immediate impulse of God as were the other parts of the Old Testament being Penn'd since the days of Malachy after whom we have no avouchment for any other Prophets and therefore call'd Apochryphal because thus hidden and obscure in their Original St. Austin Ep. 4. to Volusianus a great Contemner of Christianity among other Arguments of God's Power and Wisdom in the managery of it brings this for one Reproba per Infidelitatem gens ipsa Judaeorum à sedibus extirpata per mundum usque quaque dispergitur ut ubique portet Codices Sanctos ac si Prophetiae Testimonium qua Christus Ecclesia praenuntiata est nè ad tempus à vobis fictum existimaretur ab ipsis Adversariis Proferatur
World before but what was sensible outward and coercive and all Gospel-Power must be such or none a Plea to what is otherwise is a Cheat and Imposture And in answer to which I must here repeat in part what I have said in the beginning of the Third Chapter of this Treatise upon another occasion § XI THAT the Church is a Body but of a quite differing Nature a various Design and Constitution for another purpose according to that eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord Eph. 3.11 a Body but the Body of Christ framed and fitted alone according to the fulness of the measure of his Stature his Body which is the Church Eph. 5.23 an Association of People incorporated and united under him their Head in one Spirit one Lord one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all Eph. 4.4 5. growing up into him in all things who is the head even Christ Ephes 4.15 a Body that is to be visible subject to outward sense but 't is by an Holy Life and Religious Conversation that which Men are to see is their good works and glorifie their Father which is in Heaven and all grants to its Officers Power Means Ordinances are only in order hereunto the only change here design'd is the change of our vile Bodies that they may be like unto Christ's glorious Body according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself A Lordship there is but not over Kings and Scepters 't is Death and Sin Christ Jesus treads under his Feet only He is the Lord of the Sabbath invested with all Power in Heaven and Earth relating to God's Worship and Service his Adoration and Homage to appoint stablish and fix as he pleases for ever A BODY or Corporation with its different § XII Organs Parts and Members the Eye to see the Ear to hear and the Foot to walk with Parts more and less Honorable with diverse Gifts and Graces according to the measure of the Gift of Christ some to Govern others to Obey some to Preside others to Submit and be ruled by them Some of which Governors were to remain only for a time others to continue for ever as the Bishops Presbyters and Deacons Orders of Men instituted and invested by Christ not with an improper as some speak with abatement but with a true real Praefecture Power and Jurisdiction in the Church that sitting upon Twelve Thrones and Judging that Spiritual Grace and Investiture to be collated and so Promised in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the new Age or State beginning just after the Resurrection of Christ it is an Autoritative Paternal Power of Chastisements Discipline and Government to be exercised on all its Subjects each one that has given up his Name unto Christ that expects any benefit of the incorporation for the keeping them in some compass within the terms of a Peaceable Holy truly Christian Congregation As are the words of our Learned Doctor Hammond in his Treatise of The Power of the Keys Cap. 1. Sect. 1. § XIII AN Incorporation with differing Offices and Duties Powers and Capacities from any other in the World to be call'd out from others from the World or any Society in it and to unite in a diverse Association which has peculiar Laws and Rules even of Morality is not enough to specifie constitute and express the Church of Christ to signalize that Collection or Association which is Christian All believe and assent so far that there is such a Sect and Coalition of Persons as are called Christians in the World and is usually call'd a Church 't is Matter of Fact self-evident and not to be denied But this Body or Church is not known and acknowledged to have such means of Salvation such Power and Efficacy such Properties and Priviledges as the true Church of Christ implies and contains The name Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 belongs to Prophane as well as Ecclesiastical Congregations whether in Athens Corinth Alexandria or Jerusalem as Origen argues against Celsus lib. 3. but all have not the Powers Operations alike The Church of God is a Society as with differing Members and Offices Services and Obligations So to differing Ends with differing Gifts and Endowments For the perfecting the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying the Body of Christ Ephes 4.12 the building and raising them to Heaven in the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God Sciendum est illam esse veram Ecclesiam in qua est Confessio Penitentia quae peccata vulnera quibus subjecta est imbecillitas carnis salubriter curat as Lactantius Lib. 4. Sect. Vlt. Vbi Ecclesia ibi Spiritus Dei ubi Spiritus Dei ibi Ecclesia omnis gratia So Irenaeus l. 3. c. 40. that is the true Church where Confession is and Repentance with wholsome means to cure those Wounds and Sins to which the weakness of the Flesh is subject where there is the Spirit of God and all Grace as in the Armory of David those many Shields of the Mighty Divine Assistances and Remedies for Eternity Catholicum nomen non ex Vniversitate gentium Sed ex Plenitudine Sacramentorum as St. Austin relates of the Donatists well replying Collat. cum Donatist Tertii Diei the fulness of the Sacraments not the bare Coalition of all the Nations in the World makes the true Catholick Church And St. Austin himself says the same Ep. 48. Vincentio fratri where there is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first and second cleansing and Purgation the one the Effect of Baptism the other of Repentance In Sozomen's Church History l. 1. c. 3. Now these different Powers and Duties as distant from all others in the World besides so being diverse also as to themselves and in respect of one another according to the several Gifts and Relations these are either common to the whole each Member of the Association every Believer or else they are limited and appropriate to particular distinct Orders and Offices in the Body What Duties and Offices are common and what appropriate I am now to declare and explain § XIV AS Christians in common all of one Body and under one Head so had they one common Faith which every one Professed to which each assented and gave up his understanding whole and entire and which was a first instance of their Union as an Incorporation a signal Badg or Mark by which as a watch-word they were known to one another and distinguished from the whole World besides Now this object of belief and to which they declared their Adhesion was indeed Jesus the Son of God or Christ and him Crucified as delivered by Christ and the Apostles down unto them but because these Rules must be many and Instructions numerous as they are to this day as given in the Scriptures and every good Christian
used at their Enstalment There is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 none of those solemn Services of Prayer and Invocation of the Spirit of God as Ordination was performed with and is so related by Zonaras in Can. 1. Apost no imposition of hands devolving and collating a new real Power and which is done at the Consecration of a Bishop Primacies have been many times translated not only as to Places and which Bishopricks have been but as to Persons from one Person to another and that not by Deposition as when Criminal and which indeed cannot be call'd Translation a thing usual in the Church by way of Discipline but when the same Bishop abides in his Chair and his Episcopal Power with him only the Primacy removed and which could not be by any Power whatsoever it would be equally Sacriledge to depose a Primate or Metropolitan as it is for a Bishop to degrade himself into the Order of a Presbyter Can. 29. Conc. Chalced. the Metropolitan has no more Power from his Orders than has the Bishop only the Metropolitan's Jurisdiction is larger and under other Circumstances And therefore as we read of a twofold Ecclesiastical Audience in the Affairs of Religion the one before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishop of the City who himself is Judge The other upon Appeals before a Synod of Bishops united under their Metropolitan this latter is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a greater Conflux of Bishops The original Power is one and the same in both only Circumstances alter the course of Proceeding it may be the Bishops own concern and so he not so fit to be the alone Judge And which Proceedings of the Church whoso please may read more at large and therein what sense she had between the Bishop and his Primate in the Comments of Jacob Gothofred upon the Sixteenth Theodosian Code Tit. 2. l. 23. And 't is easily observable by such as are Conversant in the Acts and Determinations of the Councils and Bishops of the Church about the Subordination of its Hierarchy that 't is no where contended for but in the sense now mentioned as the same Original Power enlarged a Precedency of Power retained by the Apostles over all the Churches of their own first Conversion and Planting and particularly deputed by St. Paul to Timothy and Titus in Ephesus and Crete and which is a Platform still obliging in general and immutable admitting the Church to continue in that sense Catholick i. e. not to be limited again to one House or Congregation or even City and which may easily be granted where the Church under the like Circumstances is to be governed and that it did actually continue so all along downward 'T is as certain there was a Prerogative in those Churches in the Sixth Council of Nice whether Patriarchical or Metropolitical only the design of this Discourse does not now exact an enquiry and so Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History Lib. 5. cap. 23. there giving an account of the Convention of several Synods of Bishops in their respective Districts about the keeping of Easter and which was earlier than the Council of Nice as of Palestine Rome c. Tells us also how every Epistle ran in the Name of their particular Governor or Head as Theophilus of Caesarea Narcissus of Hierusalem Victor of Rome Irenaeus of France and Palmas of Pontus who as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did preside as the most ancient Bishop of the Diocess but as to the particular Seats of this Power and in which these Metropolitans did reside is not the thing any farther worth the considering then as the certainty of the Power as always actually in the Church is thereby made evidently known unto us and Palmas might have the Prerogative in that particular Synod whether for his Age or whatever else accidental Motive though not Amastris his Episcopal See but Heraclea was the constant Metropolis of Pontus as Vallesius there notes unto us the assignment of Places and of Persons Judicatures and Primates depends purely upon occasion and the present Circumstance and have been still appropriated and fixed either at the Discretion of the Clergy themselves and by the Laws and Canons Ecclesiastical and suitably the first and famous Council at Nicea in her sixth and seventh Canons confirms and settles those four first and known Primacies of Alexandria Rome Antioch and Aelia or Jerusalem as what before was received and submitted to in the ancient Practice and Usages of the Church and for which as not having any antecedent right but as bottom'd alone on the Church Sanction and Reception Peter de Marca contends De Concord lib. 1. cap. 3. and the Confirmation were by Canon were impertinent was the Right fixed antecedently inseparable and immutable So also the general Council at Constantinople Can. 2. appoints that no Bishop goes beyond the Bounds of his Diocese in his Ordinations or other Administrations c. or else this was done at the Discretion and Pleasure of the Empire when become Christian and that either by establishing in Law what the Church had pre-assigned as to those four great Churches just now mentioned Novel 135. or else by translating the See as Reasons and Motives appeared and were pressing Thus Justinianea Prima a City in Pannonia Secunda and after call'd Bulgaria was made a Metropolitan by Justinian the Emperor invested with all the Priviledges Pre-eminences and Jurisdictions in such the Provinces subjected to it as had old Rome because it was the Place and City of the Emperor's Birth and is therefore reckoned among those Churches which are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 govern themselves and are Independent by Balsamon in Can. 2. Constantinop all which Privileges did once belong to Firmium a City in Illiricum till the Civil Government remov'd to Thessalonica upon the inrode made by Attila King of the Huns and the Bishop there upon pretence of the chief seat of Government had it settled on him and so remained till this occasional removal by Justinian as is to be seen in the Preface to his 11. Novel and Nov. 131. cap. 4. And Theodosius Translated the Primacy from Antioch to Laodicaea because the People of Antioch in a Sedition overthrew and offer'd farther violence and contumely to the Statue of Flaccilla his Empress As Theodorit Eccl. Hist lib. 5 c. 20. so that 't is plain what first fixed and again removed these Primacies though for the most part they still went along with the Civil Government and the chief Seats of Judicatures and the Civil and Ecclesiastical Government was in the same place the both Canons of the Church and Laws of the State having respect thereunto Hence the greatness and transcendency of Rome in particular Cui propter Potentiorem Principalitatem necesse est omnem Ecclesiam convenire there was a Necessity that every Church went thither as the more Potent Principality as Irenaeus l. 3. Cont. Heres cap. 3. and to the same purpose St. Cyprian after him Pro Magnitudine sua
debet Roma Carthaginem precedere That Rome ought to have the Precedency of Carthage by reason of its greatness Ep. 49. and upon this occasion first contending which should be the greatest City great Controversies once arose betwixt the Bishops of Rome and Ravennas as we are told by Dionysius Gothofred in his Comments on the Eleventh Novel and whose Pleas of Autority and Jurisdiction not only over the Bishop of Ravennas but all the Bishops of the Christian World as the Universal Bishop of Christendom we are now to enquire into § XXIV WHAT is Pretended by those of the Roman Faith in the maintenance of this their universal Primacy seems to come short of that Evidence is required to settle an Article of Faith to fix an Order in the Church a continued Power and Successive Constitution immutable and for ever And all that can with any ground be challenged for the Bishop of Rome as what was in the best Ages of the Church will hardly amount to any more than an occasional particular Presidency or first Chair and which others have sometimes had no singular solitary Special Power connate and inhering but only such as by occasion of Business and particular Emergencies interposing and of meerly Ecclesiastical humane assignation for them to claim and urge it as the Successors of St. Peter seems very begging and places more in the Conclusion than appears in the Premises for it is no where evident either from St. Peter's Commission in general or from any other special Donation apart or at other times made by our Saviour that this particular Power beyond and above the other Apostles was deputed and made over unto him There appears no difference in their Call in general either in Words or Offices when first leaving all and enjoyn'd to follow him Nor was it otherwise in their after-Influences and Instructions they were all alike breathed upon at once receiv'd the same Autority to retain and remit Sins the Holy Ghost fell equally upon them all at once at the Feast of Pentecost there universally and visibly on their Heads in the face of all Nations and each one went out a Theopneust Independent and self-autoritative to Preach and constitute Churches they were only liable to be advised and directed and reprov'd by one another if occasion Vnde Petrus à suo posteriori Apostolo salubri admonitione correctus as St. Austin lib. 3. Cont. Gaudentium and St. Peter had a great share of the latter Nor was there any one of them more notoriously withstood to the face than he was in the Business of the Gentiles Cardinal Bellarmine solves all indeed would a single apposite reply and distinction do it a nicer exact stating the Question serve the turn and in which his accuracy must always be allowed Nor is there any Man in such cases that goes beyond him Caeteros Apostolos parem cum Petro potestatem accepisse sed ut legati extraordinarii Petrus ut Ordinarius Caput Successionis Controvers 3. Gen. de Rom. Pontif. Tom. 1. l. 1. c. 13. The rest of the Apostles received equal Power with Peter but as Embassadors Extraordinary Peter as Ordinary and the Head of the Succession theirs was only for the present Service during their Natural lifes or till recall'd by that same Autority that they received it from his to abide with his Person and descend in the Succession and from whence each influence and supply each instance of Church-Autority is to be derived throughout all Ages for evermore So that St. Peter's Power was more than the rest in regard only to the abode and during use of it But the bottom here is altogether sandy nor does he produce any thing that is Evidence for such the Privilege either to his Person or Succession Thou art Peter upon this Rock will I build my Church And the Confession preceding Thou art Christ the Son of the living God feed my Sheep His first Call if he had it and his being left to Posterity with his Name in the head of them cannot any one or all of them imply any thing like it to a rational considering Person These were occurring Discourses particular Applications and accidental such as in course must be supposed to fall in and to be where a constant Converse and so known a Design as was then on foot amongst them and the Contingencies of the World cannot be otherwise conceived of or adjusted That same is now the Confession of every Christian and to be sure was then of all the Apostles at least e're their Commissions were fully delivered and their Power deputed unto them The second Call might be as full and extensive as the first nor does the Precedency imply in its Nature any thing otherwise One branch or instance of the Church was first founded on St. Peter's personal Preaching and other Administrations and Church-Offices in which he officiated Acts 2. and the other Apostles in the same Way and Duties and Power did found and constitute others St. Paul had his Apostleship equally evidenced nor were its seals less notorious our Saviour might as particularly urge the Care of the Church to others as he did to St. Peter and we ought to believe nothing less then that he did that they all see to their Duty in feeding and governing of it He might have a differing Confidence in one above another as we are sure his love was unequal and that something might happen extraordinary in Discourse by Acknowledgment and Approbation all this may easily be allowed but that a Commission and Power more lasting a special Headship and Charge is hereby granted and seated for ever is hence to be inferr'd and in consequence follows none that understands a Syllogism or enquires into but obvious Inferences can submit unto it And therefore Estius abates a little in his Treatise on the Sentences Lib. 4. Dist 47. Sect. 9. and says Verè est Vniversalis Episcopus c. that the Bishop of Rome is truly an Universal Bishop if he be call'd Universal Bishop who has the care of the whole Church but if you understand a Universal Bishop Qui solus omnium Provinciarum Civitatum Episcopus sit sic ut alii non Episcopi sint sed unius Episcopi seu Pontificis sunt Vicarii who is Bishop alone of all Provinces and Cities so as others are not Bishops but Vicars of this one Bishop or High Priest then it is plainly to be denied that the Bishop of Rome is an Universal Bishop He seems to distinguish betwixt the Power of giving of Holy Orders and the Power of governing the Church the former he will not allow the Bishop of Rome to be singular in and apart from other Bishops Caput Successionis as Bellarmine will have him to be the alone Head and Fountain of Priestly Succession as if illegal and wanting when not derived from his Chair the latter he peremptorily affixes upon him and believes him alone invested with a Power Universal for the governing the
Priesthood is one and the same in all and this shall not be called the chief Priest and that a Priest less Perfect but all are equally Priests all equally Bishops as who all have equally receiv'd the Gift of the Holy Spirit the Metropolitan Bishop as having the first Chair with addition shall be called Bishop Metropolitan or which seems mostly apposite for a present Conclusion if any thing can be more than that which is already brought in the sense of those three Bishops Can 8. Conc. Gen. Ephes Whatsoever is nominated contrary to the Ecclesiastical Laws and the Canons of the Holy Fathers and which toucheth the common liberty of Christians is to be renounced and rejected § XXVII I shall now therefore resume what I have already laid down and prov'd at large that those of the Bishop are the full Orders every one instance of Power design'd for the standing lasting use of the Church is in his and consequently is he uppermost in the Church can there be no one branch or design of Power above and beyond him this his Power in some instances of it hath been by consent and for weighty Reasons moving intermitted and suspended in the execution as to the Persons of particular Bishops where the Church increased and multiplied into various Bishopricks and occasions grew and causes arose betwixt one and the other or sometimes arose in one alone and within it self which could not be heard and determined but by different Persons thus Metropolitans were constituted but with no new Power which was not in Episcopacy nor was there any new Consecration only so much devolved upon one for the occasional business An occasion of which we have in part set down by Hosius in the entrance of the Council of Carthage 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. if by chance an angry Bishop though such an one ought not to be is over-sharp against a Presbyter or Deacon or over-sudden care is to be taken for better satisfaction and he may appeal to a neighbour-Bishop who is not to deny him audience And that Bishop who first gave Sentence whether right or wrong is to bear the Examination and his Animadversions to be either confirmed or corrected as occasion or else the Bishop derives so much of this Power to the two Orders below him as the Presbyter and Deacon whose Power is more solemnly conveigh'd by laying on of Hands and Prayer and then conferr'd so fixing a Character indelible save only by that Power which devolved it and upon a succeeding Guilt and which for themselves to lay down and desert is Sacriledge and these sent out by the Bishop as is the Harvest great or small so more or less in number in subjection to and dependency upon him So that the standing Church Officers are these the Metropolitan which is only a Bishop with larger Jurisdiction and with the execution of a Power the Bishop has not and the naked Bishop with his Presbyter and Deacon in the ordinary course of officiating in order to Salvation and which three or some one or more of them as is the occasional Service are still to be present and in their spheres and courses according to their several proper Provinces and Offices as already described and particularized to attend and officiate in each Holy Assembly in every Congregation that is Publick and Christian where the Worship and Service of God is so performed as by the rules of the Gospel is order'd and appointed Thus Tertullian among the many absurdities of his time reckons up this Laicis munia sacerdotalia injunâ—unt the Lay-men undertake the Priestly office De Praescript cap. 41. the 〈…〉 the People united Sacerdoti suo to their Priest and a Flock with their Pastor Cypr. lib. 4. Ep. 9. that is no Church quae non habet Sacerdotem which has no Priest as St. Jerom. adv Luciferianos And he that reads over St. Austin's Sermon super gestis cum Emerito Donatist Episcopo Col. 631. will there find a great many Divine Services and all without acceptance and advantage because thus extra Ecclesiam without the Church no one belonging to the Priesthood there officiating for them The Church of God is either Episcopatus unus Episcoporum multorum concordi numerositate dâ—ffusus as St. Cyprian again speaks Ep. 52. that one Episcopacy diffused and overspreading the World in the Union and Concord of its numerous Bishops and these either make a general Council or are under their several Metropolitans and are the Church representative or else it is in Episcopo clero omnibus stantibus constituta as Cyprian again Ep. 27. Cum Episcopis Presbyteris Diaconis stantibus Ep. 31. in the Bishop and Clergy the Presbyter Deacon and Laity the latter expressed by the stantes the People standing without in the time of officiating according to the ancient Ecclesiastical Custom And so also Optatus lib. 1. adv Parmen Donatist speaks of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons and turbam fidelium the Believers in general Si tantummodo Christianus es hoc est non Apostolus Tertul. adv Marc. cap. 2. such as were Christians at large and not Publick Officers nor of the Priesthood and this as Members of a particular Church Parish or Congregation or however as relating to the publick Service of God to be discharged by all Christians and which cannot duly be perform'd without the Bishop in Person or in his Proxies by his Power lodged in the Presbyter or Deacon Thus he is called a Schismatick that erects an Altar without the consent of the Bishop Can. 3. Apost even though the Confession of Faith is otherwise sound If thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if thus dividing from and meeting against his Autority Can. 6. Conc. gen Constantinop the very Clergy themselves are not to administer in their Oratories without license had of the Bishop Can. 31. Conc. 6. in Trullo And to the same purpose is Schism again desined a recession from the Bishop erecting an Altar against an Altar Can. 13 14 15. Conc. 1 2. Constantin Can. 57. Conc. Carthag and Can. 6. Conc. Gangrens as the Church is there defined a Congregation of the Faithful with their Bishop so is it there peremptorily determined that the Anathema or Curse is due to those that privately and apart from these do convene and congregate themselves Nor is it Schism only but Heresie also so reputed by the imperial Constitution Sacram Communionem in Ecclesia Catholica non percipientes à Deo amabilibus Episcopis Hereticos justè vocamus We justly call them Hereticks that do not receive Communion in the Catholick Church from the Bishops which are beloved of God for as such they were then look'd upon and that more eminently than others in the then Christian account and it was the Bishop's common Epithete Deo amabiles Episcopi however the opinion and style of them is now alter'd Justinian Novel 109. Praefat. And now these Church-Officers being thus set out and enumerated what their peculiar
served God at all or let them consider with what Spirit it was they said the Lord's Prayer which St. Jerome says our Saviour taught the Apostles every day to repeat in their Liturgies Sic docuit Apostolos suos ut quotidiè in corporis illius Sacrificio credentes audeant loqui Pater noster qui es in Coelis c. Lib. 3. Cont. Pelag. versus finem § XXIX A second Instance peculiar and appropriate to Church Officers and which is not in the Body mixt and promiscuous is the Power of the Administration of the Sacraments viz. the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper together with that other Sacrament as 't is also call'd by the Ancients or Rite or Ceremony of Confirmation and which are and ever were administred by Men in Holy Orders and then and only then adjudged duely discharg'd valid and serviceable as all do agree that acknowledge either or both or all of them to be Christian Institutions As for that of the Lord's Supper that it was consecrated by the Bishop and from him by the Deacon delivered to the People 't is evident of Justin Martyr's second Apology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. the Bishop giving thanks i. e. having consecrated the Elements the Deacon distributed for the manner and virtue of Consecration did not consist in pronouncing so many words over the Elements as 't is weakly contended by some in the days that have been since but in the office of Prayer and Thanksgiving by the attractation of or some other signal appropriation to the Elements particularly applied unto them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 4. Conc. Carthag Verborum solemnitas sacra invocatio nominis signa institutionibus Apostolicis sacerdotum Ministeriis attributa visibile celebrant Sacramentum c. Cypr. de Baptism Christi ad initium the solemnity of words sacred invocation of the Holy Name and Signs added to the Apostolical Institution by the ministry of the Priests celebrate the visible Sacrament the visible part or thing it self is form'd and shap'd by the Spirit perfecting and crowning all and so in the forementioned place of Justin Martyr the action of consecrating is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nourishment thankfully receiv'd by Prayer and the action of consecration is expressed in Irenaeus lib. 1. c. 9. by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to give thanks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extending the word of invocation ibid. as Origen cont Cels lib. 8. and the same is in Ignatius before them all Ep. ad Smyrnenses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so general was it that the very Hereticks who usually ap'd it after the Church when to their advantage used this very way and 't is said of Marcus the Heretick and Conjurer that designing to delude his followers and represent to them an appearance as of Blood distilling into the Chalice and mock-Sacrament Simulans se gratias agere seu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod hodiè consecrare dicimus post longam invocationem purpureum rubrum apparere faciebat feigning to give thanks which is the Phrase for Consecration after a long invocation he made it look like purple colour and red as Pamelius gives the account Annot. in Tertull. cap. 4. cont Vâ—lâ—ntin num 32. and though the Presbyter do desist from Consecration in the presence of the Bishop Can. 13. Conc. Neocesar yet 't is in his Orders enabling him to it and either he or the Bishop are said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to give the Bread in Prayer as it is now in our Communion Book that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that immaculate Communion Can. 23. Can. 6 in Trullo And Zonaras in Can. 78. Apost says that a blind man or one without his right hand ought not to be ordained for how can he officiate in holy things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or handle the holy Elements or distribute to others of them I 'le only add what I find in Eusebius his History l. 7. c. 9. concerning one that was dissatisfied in his Baptism which he receiv'd from Hereticks and desired Catholick Baptism of one Dionysius a then present famous Bishop the words are these and give a good account of the offices of private Christians in those days The holy Bishop tells him he dares not Rebaptize him and that a daily and constant Communion with the Church will suffice for he that shall frequently hear Prayers and answer Amen with the rest of the Congregation who places himself at the holy Table there stands and reaches forth his hand to receive the holy Food who there very often receives it and is partaker of the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I dare not baptize him again but appoint him to go on and persevere in such his Religious Duties And the same is as notorious of the Sacrament of Confirmation This is sufficiently cleer out of St. Jerome adv Luciferian Tom. 3. that those which were baptized by the Presbyters and Deacons in lesser Cities Episcopus ad invocationem Spiritus Sancti manum impositurus excurrat for the invocation of the Spirit of God the Bishop runs forth or takes his Circuit and lays his hand upon them the only difficulty appearing is as to the Sacrament of Baptism St. Austin's Judgment is Laicus urgente necessitate possit baptizare Tom. 7. l. 2. cont Parmen cap. 13. a Layman if necessity urges may baptize And St. Jerome says the same adv Luciferianos and that it was in use in his days and the Practice being permitted in our Church made up a part of the Canvass betwixt Thomas Cartwright and our two learned Writers Archbishop Whitgift and Mr. Hooker as is to be seen in their Writings but the case goes farther in that of Athanasius who when a Boy and at play on the Sea-shore acted a Bishop and baptized such of his play-fellows as were not before initiated by that Sacrament and when examined by the Bishop and upon an after consultation with his Presbyters the Baptism was allow'd of Sozom. Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 17. The deep sense and apprehension they had of but one Baptism and the danger of being rebaptized which is branded by the name of Incest and Sacriledge and the Priest was to be deposed that did it as appears in the Imperial Laws provided in the case 16. Cod. Theodos and the great trouble that the Church of God had at that time occasion'd first by St. Cyprian and his Bishops pleading it upon the former usuage of the Church and afterward managed to the evil of a great Schism by the Donatists who followed St. Cyprian in his Error but forsook him in his Obedience who refused to make a rent in the Church upon the occasion as all Scismaticks do These Considerations might make them very careful and perhaps too nice how they admitted of Rebaptizations and which were only admitted in case of certain Hereticks who denied the Trinity Vid. Can. 47. Apost 49. Can. 9. Conc. Nic. 1. or else
as absolutely Autorative in it self and infallible in its Determinations as to make Truth but declarative only of what was Truth from the beginning as the best expedient on Earth to find it out and the alone Autority on Earth to pass Sanctions upon present appearance for present Settlement Peace and Unity every man had his liberty still entire and reserved for farther enquiries where he saw or suspected occasions but this to be proposed in the next Council 't was to be brought to the Apostles and Elders there whose Autority alone was to reject or admit it As to Publick Confessions what room and autority the Empire had and is always to have in these Councils is already declared Cap. 2. and though the Faithful or Believers at large many times had conflux thither and were permitted either for their diversion or private satisfaction or information yet no one ever passed his Vote judicially or concurred in the Power Legislative as has been above also shew'd ibid. This still goes in the Name and Power of the Bishops and Clergy alone as must appear to every one from the both first derivation of that Power and after-practice both in that Apostolical first Synod at Jerusalem and all other succeeding excepting such who on purpose set their Face against what with their Eyes they never did and will not see § XXXI A fourth instance of this especial appropriated Power is the exercise of Discipline Ecclesiastical and this either in fixing set Stations particular rules and orders of Duty and Performances upon such as were newly brought off from Heathenism become Penitents and Converts in order to the Kingdom of Heaven and Christianity or else in laying Punishments Penal Duties upon those who after their admission and undertaking Christianity when they had throughly known the ways of Righteousness been enlightned and tasted the good gift of God revolt and turn back again will not abide the terms of it by way of Penance and Satisfaction and this sometimes by corporal Punishments with a Power reserved for Indulgencies and Abatements a relaxation upon proficiency or non-proficiency under them placed in the power and discretion of the Bishop or Pastor for the best Antiquity is not at all shye in these terms and expressions she spake as she acted Thus in the Catholique Epistle of St. Barnabas set out by Isaac Vossius Sect. 1. ad finem Epistolae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he work with his hands to the purging away his Sins So Lactantius l. 6. Sect. ult Si quid mali fecerit satisfaciat that satisfaction be given for his evil St. Cyprian Ep. 50. gives an account of the Epistle he had received from Fidus his Brother who tells him how Therapius his Colleague did reconcile to the Church over-hastily Victor a certain Presbyter Antequam penitentiam plenam egisset domino Deo in quem deliquerat satisfecisset before he had completed his Repentance and satisfied God against whom he had sinned and for which St. Cyprian admonisheth his Friend that he do so no more ibid. And again Ep. 64. Satisfaction is what is required upon a sense of having sinned ut se peccasse potius intelligant satisfaciant to give all the instances were to spend too much Paper what is here brought may suffice or he that desires more may have it from the learned Hugo Grotius Rivetian Apol. Discuss Pag. 700. ed. Lond and all this placed in such as have the Keys of the Church whence they are to receive satisfactionis suae modum the measures of their Penance and Satisfaction as he there cites St. Austin no man was admitted into the Church of Christ but by degrees but as through so many Posts and Stations through which they were to pass 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 't is Can. 4. 6. 9. Conc. Ancyr and then to go on to that which is more perfect to be admitted to the Holy Communion the top instance of Devotion and Communion or be received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an oblation as 't is expressed Can. 7 8. ibid. for by the words of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. that holy Sacrament was by the Ancients still expressed Thus we read in the Church Story and Practice as remembred and referr'd unto but as not then instituted being antecedent and of more antiquity of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hearers only in the Church a set order of Penitents permitted only to hear the Word of God with the Hymns and Songs and Praises placed without the Temple and these were the lowermost form in order to something else to farther Duties as thus instructed and fitted for them and such as staid here and would only hear engage and incorporate no farther neither come to the Prayers nor the Holy Sacrament in the set Order and assigned Times for it were reputed as if they had not been initiated at all the Council of Antioch turns them quite out of the Church Can. 2. and by which rule what will become of the greatest part of our now adays professing Christians let them look to it or perhaps let such as preside over them have the government and power of Discipline in their hands Then we have the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as advanced to the publick Prayers next the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that came to the Sacraments See Can. 11. Conc. Nic. 1. together with the Scholia's of Zonaras and Balsamon and Can. 14. we have the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who it seems were those that were Auditors and more were Baptized as by the Scholia there appears and the same we find before this Council of Nicea Conc. Ancyr Can. 4 5 6. and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Demoniacks who had their distinct station Can. 17. Cum scholiis And these courses of Discipline we have alluded to in several places of Tertullian and therefore were extant in the Church very early Tertullian being sometime before any of these now mentioned Councils but most fully and at once of any that I have observed in them in his Book of Prescriptions Cap. 41. and which I shall therefore here repeat where he reproves and prestringes such those Hereticks he writes against for the perverting violating such this received customary Discipline Non omittaÌ„ ipsius etiam conversationis hereticae descriptioneÌ„ quam futilis quam terrena quam humana sit sine gravitate sine autoritate sine disciplina ut fidei suae congruenâ— imprimâ—s quis catecumenus quis fidelis incertum sit pariter adeunt pariter audiunt pariter orant etiam ethnici si supervenerint sanctum canibus porcis Margaritas licet non veras jaclabunt simplicitatem volunt esse prostrationem disciplinae cujus penes nos curam lenocinium vocant pacem quoque passim cum omnibus miscent nihil enim interest illis licet diversa tractantibus dum ad unius veritatis expugnationem conspirent omnes tument omnes seditionem pollicentur ante sunt perfecti
is forensick judicial and autoratative pronounced by those sitting on twelve Thrones in the Gospel the Church-Governors judging the Tribes of Israel Plenissimum imperium in domo Dei having a complete thorow Power in the House of God as Grot. in Apoc. 3.7 and all which thus on Earth by them transacted is bound and confirm'd in Heaven So 't is expressed by St. Cyprian à spe Communionis Pacis prohibendos esse 't is a prohibiting from the Hope and Communion of Peace so long as continuing in the Impiety or as the Church sense is given of it to us before him by Tertullian Apol. c. 39. Summum futuri judicii prejudicium si quis ita deliquerit ut à Communione Orationis Conveâ—ûs omnis sancti Commercii relegetur it is the greatest most certain Presumption and pre-occupation of the Judgment to come upon a Delinquent that is banish'd from the Communion of Prayer and Conventions and all holy Commerce Quodammodo ante diem judicii judicant So St. Jerome of the Priests Ep. ad Heliodorum spoken with some abatement of Expression but to the same purpose they in a manner judge before the Day of Judgment And if some Fathers in the Council of Ephesus refused Subscriptions to the Anathema's and Excommunications of the Nestorian Hereticks there condemned and rather turned the Sentence upon themselves in absenting from their Communion as Mr. Selden de Syned l. 2. c. 12. reports it from Acacius this argues only the great tenderness of these holy Men and how dreadful and tremendous the Ordinance appear'd unto them the same Blessing is denied only with a shew of more I had almost said foolish Pity and Love it returns at length to the same thing and with more weight and argument that such as are unruly and will not obey the Truth are to be turned out of the Church Communion even the most tender and affectionate to their Persons dare not congregate in holy Duties with them a Power in the Church which in course follows supposing it to be a Church admitting such the imbodying and incorporation that is here contended for what is natural in all other Bodies and Associations and which must be concluded in this without a great affront on the wisdom and foresight of the Institutor for otherwise it has not what is necessary for its Preservation nor can it subsist without such a jurisdiction over contumacious Offenders And indeed to allow in Church-men a Power for admission by Baptism and to enstate in Church Priviledges which none that own Christianity dare deny and to deny this power for Punishment and Correction upon the breach of the Baptismal terms and which how many among us that are zealous for the former do is what is as incongruous and inconsequential as any thing in the world as any thing in common apprehensions can be only men are rash and heady and do not throughly consider And it is as easily conceivable to men that give themselves a due liberty of thinking that the same Power in Heaven may equally concur with and ratifie what is done in Earth in the cutting off and due Exclusion from the Church upon breach of the terms on which admitted to it as at the first admission and when on those terms enjoyned the disadvantage as the Priviledge must be equally allowed nor is there any thing of thwarting more in the one than the other a branch of Discipline once executed only upon Lay-men the first Canons of the Church not permitting Excommunication to pass upon any of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 within the Order of the Priesthood these were to be deposed from such their high office upon Crimes committed 't was the other only was excommunicated when the offence was adjudged worthy of it and which in effect is but the same Punishment and the same inconveniencies attend the one as the other in their several Stations there was a deprivation to both the Clergy of his Ecclesiastical and the Laick of his Baptismal advantages it was not lawful to joyn in religious Duty with a Lay-man excommunicated neither with a Clergyman deposed as in the tenth and eleventh Canons of the Apostles § XXXIII THE next instance of Church Power that follows in the course of things is the Power of Absolution as of retaining so of remitting Sins they are both put together by our Saviour and of the same Donation and so firmly depend on one another that as relations of the first order they include one another and are inseparable A Power in the Church to shut out and not to readmit to cut off and not to reunite were a Power for Destruction only not for Edification and which the great Gospel design of Mercy and Salvation of abatement and remission cannot endure 'T is true Excommunication is as the last Sentence of the great Judge 't is the anticipation of it equally as firm and irreversible upon the persevering incorrigibly guilty as is from the Ancients in the foregoing Chapter observ'd but herein it differs from that last Sentence because inflicted as a Remedy and not only as a Punishment it leads by Hell gates for Heaven 't is on this side the Pit that its mouth be not shut upon us for ever 't is inflicted in order to Mercy and Remission which no Punishments from the Sentence of the great Judge are and this our Judgment 't is only then without mercy and irreversible like as is that when the Sinner perseveres as do those damned in the height of his non-repentance The formal act of Excommunication is expressed by St. Paul by a word which signifies to mourn and ye have not mourned i. e. excommunicated that wicked Person 2 Cor. 5.2 't is done with remorse and sorrow and rescinded again with joy those hands which cast out have arms wide open to receive again with Kisses and Embracings as it was with the returning Prodigal in the Gospel 't is a departure for a time that they may be receiv'd for ever by a sensible feeling of the loss to set a more value on the Blessing and therefore 't is not inflicted on those that are without as St. Paul 1 Cor. 5.12 do we not judge them that are within but them which are without God judgeth v. 19. ibid. and which were it only as a Punishment and but to aggravate or ensure their Damnation were it only a bare Cursing out of the Church as the licentious and Enemies to God's Discipline still slanderously report of it it were equally proper for both Sinners without as Sinners within but 't is quite otherwise an excision or cutting off only where formerly Members and which the act supposes in the bare expression 't is somewhat lay'd on those that have had once a sense of the benefit of the heavenly Association and have tasted of the good Gifts thereof and to teach them in the absence and deprivation that advantage they would not otherwise consider at least they set no value upon
so as acceptable to God our Saviour 'T is true this Duty is not with the same Circumstances performed as are the two former it requires personal local uniting and which if without the Permission of the Prince may be termed Sedition or Riot or if against his Commands Rebellion or whatever criminal Characters the present Laws put upon such like Conventions the first Christians therefore when under those harder Necessities by the severer Edicts of the Heathen Emperors went still to pray out of the Cities met before day and in the Woods and when discovered and impleaded 't was alone the great and tried innocency of both their Religion and Persons was their advocate and rescue as in the days of Trajâ—n the Emperor who occasioned particular search to be made into them and such their Assemblies or else they did it with more privacy abating of their Numbers in particular Meetings as less discerned or if discerned less offensive and obnoxious not so liable to jealousies of State and suspitions or if this did not do and gain a connivance as many times it did not they then became Martyrs and Suffer'd whether by Confiscation of Goods or Banishment of their Persons by the Prison or Death as they were appointed to it and engaged to undergo for their Faith it self and the Profession of Christianity there was no Pleas for exemptions of their Persons from such the Laws because Christians as if beyond their inspection and above their Punishments And St. Cyprian Ep. 7. blames particular Christians that when under interdict return'd home again without the leave of that Government by which exiled Et deprehensi jam non quasi Christiani sed quasi nocentes pereant as bringing guilt with such their Punishments on their Heads there was no other strivings or struglings in the Streets unless for their last Breath when upon the Racks and by other Cruelties As their case was every ways like that of the Prophet Daniel so was their behaviour too and the most open inhibition and most severe as to Penalties must not cease the daily Sacrifice and Praises of God Almighty they still own'd their Religion and their God its Author and so they did their Prince in his due Subordination praying with such their last Breath for him There was no Arms nor one Shield of the Mighty but Prayers and Tears and the late Field Conventicles and Rendevouzes of Rebellion were in those days unheard of THAT these Christians by a common Shot § XLI or Purse maintain'd their own Poor carries no more exception or opposition than do any other acts of Charity in what Body or Association whatever and of which this perhaps of the Christians was the most eminent that ever was in the World Charity we know falls under no other Law than that of St. Paul that every one give as his God has prosper'd him readily and of a willing mind nor is it can it be against any Law any ways blame-worthy when fixed on due ends and objects when design'd for and dispended on only the Poor and Indigent but when preferr'd to and justling out of doors acts of Justice and Equity when set up and practised against always necessary and immutable Duties and against which these Christians always provided their own Fulminations or Church-censures by way of Penance and correction still proceeded upon any defect or perverser design discovered and 't was their abhorrency and so ought the Secular Power to animadvert and proceed in its courses of Restraint Coercion Seizures Confiscations or whatever is the ways and Methods the present Government in such cases instructs and enables them to Though where the Church is in the Common-wealth as it is now that the Civil Polity is Christian this case cannot so usually fall out as it did before the days of Constantine a common maintenance being provided for such by Law and the case as to the general is now none at all § XLII NOR doth that other Publick maintenance of such as laboured among them in the Word and Doctrine carry in it self any more of Encroachment or Usurpation or but suspition of Danger on the Powers of the World then that other just now mentioned and which was their pure Charity and a thorow incapacity for subsistence otherways induced to it for this Contribution for their Clergy was purely voluntary what every one of his own motion brought in and lay'd at the Apostles feet was it not thine own and in thine own Power as St. Peter argues with Ananias on the like occasion no motives from Christianity tend to any thing of force or lay any outward Coercion as not to the Persons so nor on the Estates of any their Goods are equally their own as are all their other lawful Rights and Properties after their coming in to be Christians as before every man is to abide in that calling state or advantage as to this World in which he was called if not sinful 't was their own hands and hearts did offer and dedicate their Goods to the Service of the Church they still remain'd in their own Power and they might for any restraint as to their Profession or relating to any such particular Church Endowments use them as all men may their own to what end they please if not to the prejudice of their Prince or their Neighbour And so far were these first Christians and their Church Contributions and religious Enfeoffments from being suspected of bringing dammage or but any one incommodiousness to either that I do not remember any one thing like a charge of that nature drawn up against them for it though great Sums of Money were brought in to this purpose and the Church had great Possessions in the time of the Heathen Emperors and which the Empire confirmed sometimes to the Church by its Princely Edicts as Aurelius did in particular in the case of Paulus Samosetanus and which is above-mentioned or if at any time they were suspected as by their Apologies and Remonstrances in their own behalf it may be inferr'd and their Church-Houses and Gardens their Patrimony alone might be their Crime as what too usually falls out nor was they altogether free from violences as appears by the Restaurations made by Constantine at his Possession of the Empire and which is also above noted they then not only made publick such their Protestations but their Practice too to the contrary and which avouched and vindicated their innocency So Justin Martyr in his Apology to Antoninus for the Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we only Worship God Confessing Kings and Governors of Men and praying for them So again Athenagoras in his Embassy for the Christians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. and if it so falls out that we are accused as doing injustice to any more or less we refuse not to be punish'd we are worthy of it in the highest Nature And Justin Martyr again in his Epistle ad Diognetum speaks of the Christians in general 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
experienced the advantage of their Communion for a good while would be sensible of the loss be apprehensive of the sorrow and burden of it and that all Excommunications were not to take effect in the first times of the Church we have Origen for an example who when excommunicated by Demetrius with the assistance of other Bishops continued still a Presbyter and publickly associated as such And Vallesius annot in Euseb hist l. 6. c. 23. gives these two Reasons for it because his Sentence was denounced when absent and he had not legal Citations and it was not confirmed by the Bishop of Rome though to me a more probable reason may be given than either for the illegality of the proceeding and the no effect it had the ancient Canons of the Church still forbidding any one of the hieratical Order whether Bishop Presbyter or Deacon to be excommunicated Excommunication was the Punishment for the Laity the Clergies was Deposition nor were the Clergy subject to the other till removed from the Priesthood And certainly then much less can it be conceived in reason and as agreeable with the common courses of foresight and discretion that other things are managed in the Gospel with that this Ordinance should on such terms be instituted and put in execution as to reach Kings themselves and with less regard and consideration than to Persons in Holy Orders and be concluded more peremptorily and immediately to take effect upon them as if inconveniences and that over-ballance whatever the proposed advantage may be may not here be a consequent also Princes 't is true are equally subject to the Laws of Christ and his Church and they must come to Heaven in the same Path that the meanest of their Subjects do come in they are to be urg'd and taught publickly as are others and particularly in private and where due opportunity to be severely warned of but then upon a supposed failure to proceed to an open publick Exclusion this if in any one instance else ought first to be weigh'd and consider'd whether it be likely to have due effect to be for the good of the Church in general which his outward arm alone can protect and whether instead of reducing him as to his Person it may not much more harden him and especially since his Person falls under no farther Coercion than his engagements to Christianity lay upon him Examples of Kings are strangely influential and prevailing and whether a greater deluge of Prophaneness may not be let in by so doing or again whether the exposing him to shame and contumely would not withal expose his reputation to the contempt of his People and thus not only Religion and Morality but the outward Peace and Quiet of the Realm might be exposed to danger and the both Church and State be liable to inrodes and violence thereby we believe it to be what was appointed by God and supposed by our Saviour in the lay and frame of our Christianity that the Secular Power receive no abatement but on the contrary every of its Prerogatives be strengthen'd by its spreading over and reception in the World Since every other relation is to continue and be obliging so also must this of Kings which came into the World with the first is connate and coaevous with Paternity the Foundation was laid for both at once and Kings and Subjects are to remain so long as Fathers and Children the race of Mankind is on Earth continued and suitably to this first contrivance no sooner did the Empire come in to the Church and engage in Christianity but Emperors declared themselves and the Church joyfully receiv'd them for its Nursing Father and the Prince is the Supreme Governor there the Laws and Judicatures are the Kings and our Bishops give Citations in their own Names but by an antecedent Power derived from and by the Prince devolved unto them And the Bishops of old were so far from assuming to themselves any such outward Coercive Power as to make Citations of mens Persons to proceed by Court Process and Penal Mulcts that when they laid the Plot for Lay-Deputies Chancellors Commissaries Officials or whatever title they went under to sit in their Courts and give occasional Judgments for what private reasons I cannot tell but the pretended is this that it was less decent that they being Spiritual Persons should mingle themselves in Secular Affairs they could not constitute such their Deputies nor erect such an Order but by a special Grant and Seal from the Emperor a firm Argument that the Power was not originally theirs and they suitably supplicate him in order to it and he yields to their demand but gives a Caution that the Church be not dammaged thereby a thing in course to be suspected and perhaps the advantage the Church has since had that the Courts for her Justice are the Bishops and her Causes fall not immediately under a Secular Cognitor are so little and inconsiderable that though the first Piety and royal Indulgence is apparent yet the present benefit is hardly discernible at this day among us Vid. Cod. 16. Theodos Tit. 2. l. 38. and the Story is to be seen at large in the Commentaries of Jacob Gothosâ—red upon that Law And can we now with any shew of Reason suppose that in the design of our Saviour and the execution of Church Power no regard is to be had to the Prince and that Proceedings are to be alike as upon other Persons and promiscuously though all so far under the same Circumstances as equally Members of the same Association for Heaven Those rules of Policy which were contrived complyed with and submitted to in the first planting the Gospel seem not consistent with such an after-practice a Presbyter was not to be Excommunicated till first deposed and yet then shall each single Presbyter Excommunicate his Prince I do not say till deposed as was by the ancient Canons the Presbyter to be and then Excommunicated for that is what no Power on Earth can do and the Church of God never pretended to it 't was what she always abhorred but that the Considerations must needs weigh more and be much rather cogent that the censure go not out against a Prince and greater inconveniences must hence follow whatever they were the ancient Church did apprehend to be a consequent to the other and the common foresight of things could not also allow it The single Corinthian was Excommunicated by St. Paul when the whole Body of them each one full of iniquity had not the like Animadversions from him and what may not be connived at in him who is more than ten thousand and by which there is less Security that the edge of the censure will not be more abated and dulled thereby in whom is all Strength and Power in whose hand it is to expose all to the malice and violence of the Enemy to reduce the Church so near to the first state under the Heathens and which condition though it is
hereafter and he will suppose no Power to be but what is outwardly Coercive and for his two Reasons he gives they are no less apt and ill placed for that Duty and Obedience Christians are engaged in by St. Paul and suitably owe to their Doctors them that are set over them in the Lord reaches no farther than does their Commission which is only in order to Heaven and fear of Punishment in another World arises in a particular manner from their Rebellion and Disobedience to Princes this is one of the Sins is there to be Punished and for Church-mens being no less subject to Ambition and Ignorance than any other sort of men which he adds for another reason nothing in particular can justly be inferr'd from it because others are equally liable to them and which he does not deny CHAP. V. Chap. 5. The Contents The grand Objection out of Mr. Hobbes if these two Powers command the same Person at the same time inconsistent Performances it arises from that false Principle that all Power is outward Sect. 1. This infers equally against the Laws of God and which may and do sometimes thus interfere are as difficultly reconcileable with the State acts No Church Laws oblige against Natural Duty The Laws of Religion considered at large in order to a clearer solution Sect. 2. Mr. Hobbe's Rule will Answer all Consider what is and what is not necessary to Eternal Salvation Sect. 3. The same is the Rule of the Ancient Fathers Sect. 4. If Mr. Hobbes his Faith and Obedience be all that is Necessary 't is then easily determined because to obey only the Soveraign Sect. 5. Dr. Tillotson his Sermon of Love and Peace to his Yorkshire Countreymen not to be Vindicated from being herein of Hobbe's Judgment in what he Dissents from him No Church-Power since Miracles ceased according to Mr. Dean Sect. 6. The Gospel calls for Confession and Obedience in Opposition to though not in Contempt of Princes to the hazard of all So the best Christians the worst of Hereticks only Simon Magus Basilides c. did otherwise Sect. 7. For a full Answer the Laws of Religion are to be ranked under Three general Heads They are Arbitrary and Humane Arbitrary and Divine Necessary and Divine Sect. 8. Laws Arbitrary and Humane though never losing their Sanction yet cease in some Cases in the Execution As when the Empire gave Indulgencies beside the Canon Sect. 9. The Civil Injunction does not immediately oblige the Christian in these Cases The Church has her own Power never to be yielded up Ceremonies not the main thing Sect. 10. Not to be changed with our Clothes That Worship which is best not to be foregone only to yield to what is always Necessary The Case of the Asiaticks about Easter Sect. 11. Especially in our Church of England Sect. 12. Least of all are our Mutinies and Factions our even weakness a Ground for Change Sect. 13. Laws Arbitrary and Divine cease in some instances as to Practice the Advantage of Afflictions A good Christian always a good Subject the Empire still gave Rules and Limits in the Exercise of these Positive Duties Sect. 14. To submit and cease as to particular Practice upon the lawful Command of the Magistrate is not the Case in Doctor Tillotson's Sermon to give up the Institution to him If commanding a false Worship I am to withstand him 'T is no Hypocrisie though I go not into immediately and there Preach the same in Spain Mr Dean's unheard of Notion of Hypocrisie in what Case the Magistrate is serviceable to promote the Faith Sect. 15. The last sort of Laws both Necessary and Divine are never to cease in any one Instance or under what Circumstances soever either as to their Right or Practice I am never to do any one Immorality always to own and profess the Cross of my Saviour Sect. 16. The great Goodness of God in giving such a Subordination of Duties that the end of each may be answer'd in enjoyning nothing absolutely necessary to Heaven but what is in our Power that no Contingencies of this World can take from us our Eternity a Reward we can never miss of without our own Faults Sect. 17. THERE is but one thing now behind that § I seems to me to be considered as requisite for the cleering this Discourse and 't is in the case just now stated As suppose the Canons of the Church and the Laws of the State should really and actually stand in competition that they enjoyn and prohibit the same action at the same time or at least so as the designs of both cannot at once be served and complied with and which is easily to be supposed and must fall out where are two Soveraign independent Powers over one and the same Subjects This Mr. Hobbs aggravates as that Kingdom divided in it self and cannot stand it must necessarily distract a People and expose them to the greatest inconveniences 't is a dividing the Soveraign Power here is a Supremacy against Soveraignty Canons against Laws a Ghostly autority against the Civil two Kingdoms and each Subject to must obey two Masters who both will have the Commands observ'd as Law which is impossible This he places among his other effects of an imperfect institution is reckoned up and urged by him among the Infirmities of a Common-wealth nay more as what is against the Essence of it in the number of those things that weaken and tend to its dissolution Leviathan Part. 2 cap. 29. And all this as objected by Mr. Hobbs is easily answer'd and has been over and over again in this Discourse for it proceeds alone upon that false precarious supposition and pertinaciously resolv'd upon Principle of his and his other Friends above reckoned up as Erastus Selden Salmasius c. which have formerly perplexed the World therewith and still do in their Adherents That there is no Power but what is outwardly cogent upon mens Persons or Estates or Liberties working by sensible force and impressions no other Kingdom but what is of this World unless a Kingdom of Fairies in the dark as Hobbs ridicules it for thus he argues against Bellarmine and concludes his Enquiries all in vain whether the Power of the Pope of Rome ought to be Monarchical Aristocratical or Democratical because all these Powers are Soveraign and Coercive and consequently none of them can belong to him as from Christ Part 3. c. 42. And hence he argues on in the next Section For if the Supreme King have not his Regal Power in this World by what autority can Obedience be required of his Officers with abundance of the same almost every where But yet because there appears some shew of objection in the thing it self and it may fall under some doubt with a less but conscientious considering Person whether it be likely and also consistent with obedience to and the ends of Government that two such Powers both obliging should be erected over one and the same
Acts of Charity we know are to cease in respect of Acts of Justice nor does the Practice of Charity oblige at all but as qualified and in set Capacities every one is to give as he is able and yet both oblige in their kind and order and the engagement is always the same and perpetual the former is not null'd by reason of the present incapacity or doth it end with the Cessation as to Practice or hath the veriest Lazar a Charter thereby for inhumanity And upon the same account it is and the Parity of Reason that even particular Acts of the Positive Institutions and Worship of God give way to Obedience to Governors and when the common Political good of Mankind is engaged as I shall have occasion to instance farther hereafter Upon these accounts it is that the Laws and Magistracy are not to be affronted or contemned nor can the Magistracy it self subsist with the Church upon other terms Obedience is to be preferr'd before Sacrifice the positive Appointments even of God himself and much more may the Obligation cease and which created in us a Duty in Laws purely Humane and Ecclesiastical 'T is true these Powers did never yet clash or break out into publick Oppositions from the time that the Empire became Christian and so along in the best and flourishing Ages as is above observed the Empire still consulting the Church and her Canons were made Law or if otherwise and some particular Indulgences and Abatements there was as to Church Duties by good Emperors upon the score of their alone Imperial Power granted as some there was upon what rules of Policy and Necessity is not now needful to enquire and which we have reason to believe the Church never consented to and to be sure there was no antecedent Canon to go by yet we know this that the Church submitted and her Discipline was so far relaxed and abated thereby Constantine the Great was always a favourer of the true Catholicks and upheld and maintain'd them in each their Privileges and Immunities suffering no one Sect to advance above to oppress and invade them and yet he sometimes gave Indulgencies to all Sects whatever the Heathens not excepted and laid Penalties upon none because of their Religion and the Novatians in particular had again special favour when all other Conventicles were put down Euseb Hist l. 10. c. 5. De Vit. Constant l. 2. c. 59. Socrat. Hist l. 5. c. 10. and that they had their Churches in Rome it self and flourish'd there in many Congregations and with great Auditories Socrates also tells us till removed by Pope Celestinus l. 7. c. 11. and that most Pestilent Sect of the Donatists all along condemn'd by the Catholick Church was so long indulg'd by Constantine till incourag'd by his Mercy they brake out into Tumults and Seditions and the Empire was unsafe even shaken by them the Natural effect of all Schisms and there was a Necessity for recalling their Grants of Liberty as aso by their other continued outrages upon all that was Sacred and Separate whether Persons or Objects all which is to be seen at large in Optatus and Saint Austin especially Lib. 3. Cont. Cres con Donatist or he that desires an account of them more briefly let him read it given by Vallesius in his Treatise entitled De Scismate Donatist bound up at the end of his Eusebius Church History Now in these Cases the Church Power and Laws are to cease in part in the Execution though the right remains nor were they so exercised against these Schismaticks as otherwise they ought and would have been If God's Name cannot be glorified on Earth in that decent befitting reverend useful way agreeing with his Nature and Worship and our relations to him and the whole Earth be filled with his due Praise at once the Church Power and Laws which provide that it may are not to be stretched beyond those Designs for which she is endowed with a Power for Sanction nor can any Society suppose themselves obliged to promote by such means as God never put into their hands the holy Bishops therefore and good Christians of old praised God for the Liberties and Advantages they had in their own Persons and Congregations adorning their Professions by Zeal and good Works they could not remedy in others what Power and Laws which they had not did indulge and indemnifie them in Or if this by a Law he denied to themselves the Laws purely Ecclesiastical were never design'd nor urg'd so to oblige against the state as that the particular Practice is in the immutable indispensable Duties for Heaven and in such cases 't is only their equity reasonableness higher use and advantage in the Christian Worship is to be insinuated pleaded and perswaded unto Autority over mens Persons or Actions was never placed in Church-men nor has it any other influence or effect upon either than to exclude them the Kingdom of Heaven nor will omissions of this Nature and under the same Circumstances amount unto that nor can any man lose his Heaven for it it may be a Sin in such as with too much liberty or too little regard indulge or restrain or in such as too gladly accept of it to the neglect or abuse or contempt of the Service of God but there can be none in those where Necessity lays the force and the harder terms and obligations from the Powers of the World makes the intermission and Vacancies in the Performances § X TO say the whole and alone Power to make Church Laws and six Rules in God's Worship is in the Prince is against the supposal that the Church is an Incorporation by Divine Appointment with its own Laws and Officers a City within it self with its own Rules for Unity within its self and those that place all here and such there be and urge the unreasonableness of Separation upon the account of things indifferent because against the civilly established Polity of a Nation which has appointed their present use and observancy seem to make the terms for Unity and Compliance too wide as others do too narrow and the accidents of the World may occasion inconveniencies insupportable the very naming it is Scandalous that a Christian is originally engaged by his Profession to receive Rules in Holy Worship from an Atheist or a Mahumetan for such Persons may be and so then it must be upon these Principles 't is one thing to want what ought to be or what is most useful through an undue Administration of Justice and which my Religion may engage me to undergo and quite another thing to be antecedently engag'd in their Determinations Nor again on the other hand can the Church be supposed to ingage immutably and peremptorily by those Laws of her own though never so apt and useful to the Practice of which the Persons and other Advantages from the World are necessary and which she hath not in her Power as she is a Society of our Saviour's Institution
I would as soon cut out my Tongue as speak or cut off my Hands as subscribe for the abolishing or ceasing of it and that upon any other terms than the omitting God's Worship altogether or that my Religion it self is not retainable with it He that values God's Worship it self must in a due Proportion value that which comes so near to it or at least he apprehends so to do which is so congruous so decent and so advantageous to and in the Performance of it And as my Religion in general is to be preferr'd before all things so is that which seems most apt and best answering with and proportion'd to its discharge to be next in my thoughts and designs to retain and continue and in the next degree would I become its Advocate These Proposals then of Moderation and from these Persons break and are inconsistent in themselves there is a repugnancy in the terms and then surely not allowable with a thorow considering Person If I believe the Service Book in the Church of England the best and aptest Instrument of God's Publick Worship I am no more to forego and give it over than I can satisfie my self that the Blind and the Lame and wither'd in the Flock was acceptable to God of old then I may devote my Body to his Service under the Gospel and leave out the best Member of it that I have or give but half of my self unto him and the worser part too my Body without my Spirit the life and soul of it The Controversie about the precise Day on which Easter was to be kept was high amongst the ancient Bishops and yet the more considering of them all the while counted for it in the order of those things which in their first Nature are indifferent and it might be kept on this day or on that no peremptory fixation of God's supervening nor does indeed the limiting and fixing it to any time conduce so much to the ends of Devotion and the Service and Honour of God as many other instances now under debate do only Victor Bishop of Rome incited whether by Zeal or Ambition went too high limiting Church Communion to one set time for the observancy and did to be sure threaten Non-Communion with the Asiaticks upon their dissent from the Western Churches in it but yet the first indifferency and original immutability of the thing it self was not concluded by them a ground sufficient to lay aside or alter that Custom when whatever it was in the Bishop of Rome because below an antecedent Command in the Gospel whether Zeal or Ambition demanded it none farther from imposing on other Churches what was the alone particular Practice of their own or from censuring what was differing from them and none again more strenuous in defending and maintaining their own way and time they did not recede from what so great and contiguous a tradition of most holy Bishops and Autority even Apostolical had devolved they had immediately receiv'd from and transmitted to one another and all along in an unalterable Practice upheld and maintain'd and recommended and Rome's Universal Power had not then gain'd so much in the Church as to over-rule and constrain them all which is to be seen at large in the account given of it by Eusebius Hist lib. 5. cap. 23 24. I do not say that Apostolical Practice it § XII self in the like instances is immutable and always obliging for the present case of keeping Easter contradicts Apostolical Practice was on both sides and several other Actions and Synodical Determinations by the Apostles do not now oblige Christendom being occasional Decisions and Canons But this I say where the concern is not only the same but higher as in the Publick Service of God in our Church and which more neerly relates to God in his Worship and with equal heat its abolishment is endeavour'd as was the time of keeping Easter after the manner of the Jews by the Bishop of Rome when equally bottom'd on the same both Autority and Antiquity even to Apostolical for so the Asiaticks pleaded the Autority of St. Philip and St. John and the Malice and Industry of our Opposers cannot gainsay us I 'le add where every thing concurs to the procuring Reverence Piety and Devotion and in which case Calvin himself contends for Ceremonies in the Church of Christ when Christ is so illustrated by them Ergonè inquies nihil Ceremoniarum debitur ad juvandam â—orum imperitiam id ego non dico omnino enim utile illis esse sentio id modo contendo ut modus ille adhibeatur qui Christum illusâ—ret non obscuret Institut l. 4. c. 10. Sect. 14. and for us to abate of these Rites to change or lay aside our either times or ways of Worship because perhaps a Neighbouring Church is differing and requires or perhaps and which is worse demands it of us as the Church of Rome did of the Church of Asia this hath no Precedent of Example no rule of Religion to enforce us to submit to or comply with we have a President of as famous Apostolical a Church as the Primitive Story acquaints us with that is against it and that Church which so urges and requires of us savours too much of the present Usurpations of Rome not improbably first attempted in Victor their once Bishop § XIII AND much less is that Church to submit when the unruliness and disobedience of her own Members attempt the alteration when private Pets and open Ambition in order to engrossing Superiority and Rule in themselves stimulate thereunto as in our late pretended Reformations and which is at this day only without Arms but with the same virulency of Spirit carried on in our Streets when at the best the Infirmities but raâ—her the impetuousness and madness of the People promotes it this no reason can indure and yet it is the great and popular Plea for the nulling our Laws Ecclesiastical now among us when the rule bends to the obliquity the right Line warps and complies with that which is crooked both become disorder'd and perverse together and which is the misery of all no standard supposed to remain to reduce them When the Laws of the Church submit to that Extravagancy they are design'd to prevent or remedy and the only reason why they are to be no more is because every Man may and must do what seemeth him good in his own eyes their Will and Lusts and Passions must reign and give Laws this is the height of Anarchy and Confusion or farther and for which there is something more of shew and pretence because Pity may be a Motive to give up all to the weak and infirm that is to those of the least understanding and discernment for St. Paul has no other sense of a weak Brother or a weak Conscience then that which is more ignorant what is this but to place the Discretion and Government of the Church in the hands of Ideots and half
witted against the rules of all Policy that was ever heard of till now that the womanish part and such as are less able direct nay over-rule the more able and knowing and to pay our Obedience and Obligations hither to set up this sort of weakness as the rule their suggestions and demands for the Voice from Heaven is not with more seeming semblance to be compared to any thing in the World than to those most absurd Homages and Acknowledgments of the Heathens of old so ridicul'd and laugh'd at by the Primitive Apologists and first most holy Christian Writers which were made to Fevers and Agues to their slavish Fears and weaker Passions paying Sacrifices and Devotions to them who made Gods of Calamities and worshipped the vicissitudes and courses of evil Accidents adored the bad Genius Eumenides and the Furies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. the very Entrails and Ordure of the Beasts over-ruled in their Councils over-aw'd and over-bore them if defects be the rule then let the Monsters and Exorbitancies of Nature which have present Necessity enough to plead be the Patterns of the whole Creation let us take our Ideal knowledge of the Universe from its Wens and Excrescencies the contingencies and accidents of it and by the same rule we shall exclude God from its Government supersede his Providence as we do the Laws of the Church we may as well every one of us cut off our Legs and become Cripples in the Streets lay our selves in the High-ways and become Beggars as if the Sun in the Firmament was only then to be Copied as most beauteous and obliging when labouring and in an eclipse or the whole Earth in its due Posture when in a Paroxysm a Rupture and Consternation Surely these were not the infirmities St. Paul glorified in nor this that depressed dethroned condition of the Church of which the Ancient Fathers make so large Eulogies reckon up unto us so many advantages and though something has always been allow'd and abated upon such the like Exigent and unavoidable Necessity yet it was never on this manner carried on and improved to appear against and affront fixed and established Rules and Laws the particular Connivance or Exception did never cancel the rule but rather confirm and give new Obligations as the exception is said to strengthen in all cases and instances besides 't is the great end and design of Government to observe and animadvert where deficient to make stronger assist and enable where declining So was Job in the Land of Huz Eyes to the Blind Feet to the Lame enabling the Faculty and helping on in Duty and Obedience and this though to be the work of Prudence and Deliberation in applying the general Rule yet 't is the most deplorable condition when the rule comes quite over to the obliquity gives it self up to the defect its Guidance and Directions its Tyranny indeed and Depredations and which to prevent or redress to relieve and rescue from is its office On these terms no means are left for recovery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Disorder goes on to infinite all bounds and limits taken away 't is a running always down hill and the bottomless Pit is to be its last Post or Period perpetual horror desolation and confusion for ever more § XVII 2. THE Laws of Religion are those Laws of Christ and his Apostles instituted and ordained by them such are the two Sacraments generally necessary to Salvation Baptism and the Supper of the Lord such are the other Ordinances of the Gospel and the means of Grace as the Ministry in general with its appropriate distinct Powers and Offices all like those of the two Sacraments the general common ways and means to Salvation but all as Arbitrary in their Sanction and no ways reaching to an antecedent Right or Obligation and our Saviour might have appointed others or none had he so pleased He once made Eye-salve of his spittle and the clay in the Streets and other times cured with a word from his mouth so are they not absolutely and immutably necessary in the practice nor are the Rules and Laws of their positive after Institution such as indispensably to be practised under all Circumstances and Accidents and no other acceptance with God and access to Heaven the Christians of old banished to the Islands and the Mines as under the heathen Persecutions cannot be supposed always perhaps at any time in such their durance and slavery capable of it in any one instance much less in all and yet Afflictions are so far from being an hindrance in Religion that they are its greatest advantage or if these be not 't is because they are not duly made use of and improved And the Fathers of the Church still made use of this as their chief Topick or Common-place for Patience and Consolation to those poor Souls from the good and benefit came thereby unto them the greater devolution of help and assistance from the Heavens the greater reward and glory annexed Ambulatis in metallo captivo quidem corpore sed corde regnante praecessit disciplina sequetur venia Cyphr Ep. 8.77 haec pala illa quae nunc dominicam aream purgat à quo certamen edicitur nisi à quo corona et praemia proponuntur Ecclesia in attonito est tunc fides expeditior Tertul. lib. de fuga in persecut cap. 1. tota paradisi clavis tuus sanguis est speaking of the Martyrs lib. de anima cap. 55. and whom he places immediately in Heaven nearer to God himself excelsoque throno coruscans martyribus septus poem de ult judicio cap. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 1. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep. ad Smyrn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Rom. per dentes bestiarum molor ut mundus panis Dei inveniar as in that Epistle ad Rom. and which is cited by Ireneus lib. 5. c. 28. nor is the Church always secured against the like Obstructions in the best of her conditions and under the protection of those Governors that are Christian the usual contingencies of the World and which in course succeed so long as day and night succeed one another must make the intermission nor is the casualty to be avoided But then these do not intercept betwixt the Christian and his God no more than did the Mettals and the Thunder-claps the stake and the wild Beasts to those first Christians just now mentioned or should the case really be and which is so often feigned and not always to due purposes that Christians are alone in a Ship or cast on a desert Shoar where neither Bishop nor under Church-man and the Ordinances cannot as in the design of their institution be celebrated among them And surely then the commands of a Soveraign are to have some room in the like cases when in the due execution of that Power intrusted with him by God and a
more private her Majesty declares in Parliament this very same thing in her first year Cap. 1. Sect. 14. Provided also that the Oath expressed in the said Act made in the first year shall be taken and expounded in such Form as is set forth in an Admonition annexed to the Queens Majesties Injunctions Published in the first year of her Majesties Reign that is to say To confess and acknowledge in her Majesty her Heirs and Successors none other Autority than that was challenged and lately used by the noble King Henry VIII and King Edward the VI. as in the said Admonition more plainly may appear § XI KING James who is next comes up to the same Point and in his Proclamation before the Articles of Religion thus declares That We are the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and if any difference arise about the external Polity concerning Injunctions Canons or other Constitutions whatsoever thereunto belonging the Clergy in their Convocation is to order and settle them having first obtained leave under Our Broad Seal so to do We approving their said Ordinances and Constitutions provided that none be made contrary to the Laws and Customs of this Land That out of Our Princely Duty and Care the Churchmen may do the Work that is proper for them the Bishops and Clergy from time to time in Convocation have leave to do what is necessary to the settling the Doctrine and Discipline of this Church SO that I think no more need be said to § XII satisfie any reasonable Person that the King and the Church are two distinct Powers in the sense of the Statute Book or in Parliament Language nor do our Kings interpose in Religious Matters any otherways than to make Religion Law what the Church in Convocation determines and recommends as the Tradition of Faith as agreeing to the Holy Scriptures and the Collections of the Ancient Fathers and Holy Bishops therefrom and to the guarding it with Penalties to be inflicted on such as oppose and violate it just as the first Christian Emperors did Nor can our Religion since the Reformation be any otherwaies called a Parliament Religion then it might have been called so before where the same Secular Power is equally extended and executed as in case of the Lollards certain supposed Hereticks Subverting the Christian Faith the Law of God and the Church and Realm to the extirpating of them and taking care that they be punished by the Ordinaries II. Henry V. Cap. VIII and so before IV. Henry IV. Cap. XV. where the Laws are these None shall Preach without the License of the Diocesane of the same place None shall Preach or Write any Book contrary to the Catholick Faith or the Determination of the Holy Church None shall make any Conventicles of such Sects and wicked Doctrines nor shall favour such Preachers Every Ordinary may Convent before him and Imprison any Person suspected of Heresie An obstinate Heretick shall be burnt before the People And VI. Richard II. Cap. V. Commissions are directed to Sheriffs and others to apprehend such as be certified by the Prelates to be Preachers of Heresies their Fautors Maintainers and Abettors and to hold them in strong Prison until they justifie themselves according to the Laws of Holy Church And which is more remarkable in the II. and III. of this King Cap. VI. the choice or Pope Vrban is made Law and confirmed in Parliament and 't is by them Commanded that he be accepted and obey'd But does the Pope of Rome therefore return and owe his Autority to the Parliament of England how would they of Rome scorn such a thing if but insinuated and yet the Act of Parliament was in its design acceptable and advantageous to them they had the Civil Autority thereby to back and assist them as occasion and which might work that Submission to the present Election his Holinesse's Bulls could not do at least so readily and effectually That this Nation did always understand the outward Policy of the Church or Government of it in foro exteriori to depend upon the Prince a learned Gentleman late of the County of Kent Sir Roger Twisden Knight and Baronet has given a very satisfactory account to them that will receive any in his Historical Vindication of the Church of England in Point of Schism c. Cap. 5. practised by the best of Kings before the Conquest Ina Canutus Edward the Confessor whose Praises are upon Record in the Romanists account of them and the last a Canonized Saint and to which they were often supplicated by the most Holy Bishops Upon the same Grounds are we to laugh at their Folly or Madness or rather Malice when they taunt us with a Parliament-Religion which has only the benefit of the Government for its Protection and our Kings do but that Duty is laid upon them by St. Paul take care that under them we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty Christianity it self ever since Constantine's time may be as well reproach'd that it was Imperial or which is in effect the same Parliamental Since the Empire was Christian and defended it nay while it was Heathen for some particular Emperors upon some occasions have adhered to and protected it and that it had no other bottom than Reasons of State and a worldly Complyance and the lewd Pen of Baxter in his Prophaner History of Bishops c. Cap. 1. Sect. 37. gives the same account of the Church's increase under Constantine on the score of Temporal Immunities That a Murderer that was to be hang'd if a Christian was but to be kept from the Sacrament and do some confessing Penance c. for those Governors then assum'd the same Power in Religious Matters as have done our Kings since the Reformation as must appear to him that compares the two Codes Novels and Constitutions at large or if hee 'l not take that pains the Abridgment is made above with our Statute Book both which only take care that the Religion receiv'd and own'd in the Church and by Churchmen be protected and every Man in his station do his Duty in order to it if the common words in the Statutes carry the usual common sense and are to be apprehended by him that is not a common Lawyer and which the Author of these Papers does not pretend to be § XIII ONLY Mr. Selden inrodes us here again and comes quite cross too against us he tells the World other things That Excommunication in particular and then they may as well do all the rest is what belongs to the Parliament and which has actually Excommunicated and the Bishops are impower'd only by Parliament to proceed in the like censures and but by a Derivation from both Houses he says in plain terms that all Power and Jurisdiction usually call'd Church Power and Jurisdiction is originally and immediately from the Secular and this he thinks he has demonstrated from several Acts of Parliament to this purpose
all to his purpose but on the contrary are all against him himself has given so good an account of it that nothing needs here to be added but the recital of his own words whatever Power there is executed in the Church Semper à jure Anglicano civili temperatum est restrictum ut inde planè modos suos limites perpetuò receperit pag. 387. receiv'd modes and rules and limits by the Laws of the Land Prohibitions and Injunctions in order to a search and enquiry whether not destructive to the Prince to the Justice of the Subject and into the merit and demerit of the Cause or Person all follow as naturally as any thing in the World that in a Christian Kingdom where the Church is protected the Power of her Officers asserted and maintained its Acts and Executions assisted and abetted licensed and indulg'd in every thing that may be advantageous to the promoting this Power rendring it considerable and effectual as in the first design institution and purpose of it that the Prince do not wholly denudate and divest himself by his Grants and Concessions that the Church receive Rules back again and not act independently but with a regard to that arm which thus upholds her and 't is to be the care of a Prince that as not himself so nor his Subjects be burdned and oppressed with the vexatious proceedings of the Courts Ecclesiastical by Excommunications or otherways But then as to the force of Mr. Selden's Argument on this Concession I 'le only here use the words of Mr. Thorndike in his Treatise of the Laws of the Church Cap. ult pag. 394. But will all this serve for an Argument that there is no such thing as a Church in the Opinion of Christendom but that which stands by the acts of Christian Powers because they pretend to limit the abuse of it when as the very name of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the Title of those Books and those Actions is sufficient Demonstration that they acknowledge and suppose a right to Jurisdiction in the Church which they pretend to limit as the neither Church nor the rest of their Subjects to have cause to complain of wrong by the abuse of it And since Mr. Selden has here Pag. 387. instanced in the first Christian Emperors wee 'l accept of their both rules and limits Laxations and Temperatures as he calls it and who as they never attempted to Excommunicate in their own Power and Persons so neither did they obstruct or declare against in their Laws the Divine immutable Right and Precept of its Institution as is plainly made appear in my Treatise above about it and all that which Mr. Selden has brought to the contrary is only some shew of words and expressions which he has wrested to his purposes as he does here in our Statute-Book and that which he brings of the Rump Parliament Pag. 387. and that Excommunicationi Presbyterali retinacula repagula quae egride ritè ea nequiret diversimodò prudenter assignabant c. they gave Laws and Rules to the Presbyterian Excommunications in their Assembly at Westminster and which though not without some Arguments to the contrary were submitted unto and also of Geneva it self whose Church-Power was thus limited in its Proceedings by State-Rules and for the better Security of the Power all this proves nothing less than what he designs and produces them for for these are the very Men and particular Incorporations as to Faith and Discipline he instances in Pag. 325 326. who assert and defend Excommunication as subjected in themselves and instituted by the preceptive Command and positive Appointment of either Christ and his Apostles or of both and the Inference thence can be only this That a Subordination to the Christian State and submission to the Rules of Policy in the Execution for order and conveniency and the more effectually compassing the end of the Ordinance is not inconsistent as such with the Gospel-Institution it no ways invests the thing it self or Original Power in the State and that which the Assembly-men demurr'd upon when the Parliament laid their Restrictions in all Probability was not that it enterfeired with the Divine Right or encroach'd upon it but as inconsistent with that Omnipotent Power and Self-existent their aim was to erect in their Presbytery or Consistoritorian Seigniority made up of Lay and Church Elders as accountable to none but themselves or the Classis or Synod for the Proceedings of such their Parlour whether King or Parliament demanded it all being there but Subjects that were not by Election of that precise Order and Fraternity and as unlucky an instance he has brought above Pag. 320. out of the Parliament of Scotland III Jacob. VI. Cap. XLV that the Parliament did there Excommunicate also a thing so abhorring to the Kirk and every ways disagreeing to the both humour of those People and it s then present Constitution as reformed by Buchanan and Knox in the height of Calvinism that no one that valued the Reputation of his Book among but easie considering Men would have inserted such a Quotation and yet it serves as well as five hundred more do with which his Margin is all along stuffed § XVI THE next Reason given why there is no such thing as Church-Power distinct and apart but is derived from the Crown is because that Erastus his Works were Licensed by Autority and Printed in the days of Queen Elizabeth by John Wolfe the Queens Bookseller and it stands so Entred in the Booksellers-Hall at London to this day De Syned l. 1. c. 10. Pag. 486. to which I answer that every Book Printed by Richard Royston His Majestie 's now Bookseller and Licensed by Autority is not therefore to be necessarily the sense of the Autority of the Kingdom and the same Latitude was in Licensing Books in the days of Queen Elizabeth as has been since and the same liberty taken Nor is it cleer that the Book was really Licensed by Autority from what Mr. Selden says for the Entrance into the Booksellers-Hall only is that it was reported by Mr. Fortescue to be allow'd by the Archbishop of Canterbury 't is not said that the Archbishop's hand or the hand of any other in Autority was set to the License and Books are not usually Entred for the Press upon a Report that they are Licensed but when a Licence is really not to be had and the Bookseller contrives as good a Plea as he can for his false Entry and surreptitious Impression what is added that the Archbishop had the Book in his Study fairly bound and with a Golden Motto on the outside of it will not do because Heretical it was not fit for many other Studies than his and which is the only thing else urged by Mr. Selden that he Licensed it yet admit it was Licensed duly whether by those viri summi of the Ecclesiastical Order and great Statesmen who got the Copy of Erastus his Widow or of
Castelvetrus her second Husband as Mr. Selden suggests or by the Archbishop himself what is necessarily hence to be inferr'd I 'le here again give in the words of our always to be reverenced Mr. Herbert Thorndike of the Laws of the Church Cap. Vlt. Pag. 394. Neither is the Publishing Erastus his Book against Excommunication at London to be drawn into the like Consequence that those who allow'd and procur'd it allow'd the substance of what he maintain'd so long as a sufficient Reason is to be rendred for it otherwise for at such time as the Presbyterian Pretences were so hot under Queen Elizabeth it is no marvel if it was thought to shew England how they prevail'd at home first because he hath advanced such Arguments as are really effectual against them which are not yet nor never will be answered by them though void of the Positive Truth which ought to take place instead of their Mistakes and besides because at such times as Popes did what them listed in England it would have been to the purpose to shew the English how Machiavel observes they were hamper'd at home and for the like Reason when the Geneva Platform was cried up with such Zeal here it was not amiss to shew the World how it was esteem'd under their own Noses in the Cantons and the Palatinate § XVII I am now to shew the concurrency of our Doctors in the Church and who still go along with me and say the same thing that Church Power as such is not from the Civil Magistrate and his supremacy in all Causes and over all Persons infers it not an induction would be too numerous the Particulars being so many I 'le only instance in two the one is Thomas Bilson then Warden of Winchester and afterward Bishop there in his Book entituled The true difference between Christian Subjection and un-christian Rebellion perused and allowed by publick Autority and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth and for writing of which he had his Bishoprick the other is Robert Sanderson then the King's Professor at Oxford and after Bishop of Lincolne in his Book called Episcopacie as establed by Law in England not prejudicial to the Regal Power written in the time of the long Parliament by the special Command of King Charles the I. but not published by reason of the Iniquity and Confusion of the Times and since printed and dedicated to our present gracious Soveraign King Charles II. two Divines as they flourished in our Church at a great distance of time from one another so are they at as great distance for their Worth and Merit beyond the generality of the Divines of their times and by which as we have the advantage of their greater Autority as to themselves to which add That they acted herein as publick Persons by Autority appointed to write in the Name of the Church of England and in such Cases Men generally are more careful how they vent their own private Niceties and Conceptions so also have we a farther benefit hereby that this was and is the continued constant Doctrine of our Church and Church-Men from Queen Elizabeth to King Charles II. Bishop Bilson thus speaks part 2d pag. § XVIII 124. printed at Oxford It is one thing who may command for truth and another who shall direct unto truth We say Princes may command for Truth and punish the refusers this no Bishop may challenge but only the Prince that beareth the Sword no Prelate has Autority from Christ to compel private Men much less Princes but only to teach and instruct them these two Points we stand on pag. 125. 126. he tells the Jesuite the Prince is Supreme to establish those things Christ has commanded and so he all along shews it the design of the Oath of Supremacy against the pretended outward Jurisdiction of the Pope claiming as Christ's Vicar on Earth a coercive Power in order to spiritual things over the Persons of all Christians whatsoever whose Subjects soever and in whatsoever Causes even our Kings themselves And that it is no more thence to be inferr'd that Princes because supreme Governors over all Persons in all Causes are therefore supreme Judges of Faith Deciders of Controversies Interpreters of Scripture Appointers of Sacraments Devisers of Ceremonies and what not then if it should be inferr'd Princes are supreme Governors in all Corporal things and causes ergo they are supreme Guiders of Grammar Moderators of Logique Directors of Rhetorick Appointers of Musick Prescribers of Medicines Resolvers of all Doubts and Judges of all Matters incident any wayes to reason art or action We confess them to be supreme Governors of their Realms and Dominions and that in all Spiritual things and causes not of all Spiritual things and causes we make them not Governors of the Things themselves but of their Subjects we confess that her Highness is the only Governor of this Realm the Word Governor doth sever the Magistrate from the Minister and sheweth a manifest difference between their Office for Bishops be no Governors of Countries Princes be these bear the Sword to reward and punish those do not pag. 127. They have several Commissions which God signed those to dispense the Word and Sacraments these to prescribe by their Laws and punish by the Sword such as resist them within their Dominions pag. 128. That no Clergy-Man by God's Law can challenge an exemption from earthly Powers pag 129. Princes have full Power to forbid prevent and punish in all their Subjects be they Lay-Men Clerks or Bishops not only Murders Thefts Adulteries Perjuries and such like Breaches of the second table but also Schisms Heresies Idolatries and all other Offences against the first Table pertaining only to the Service of God and Matters of Religion pag. 130. as the Kings of Israel did who are the Christian Princes example pag. 132. and it is the duty of Christian Kings to compel from Heresies and Schisms to the confession of the truth consent of Prayer and Communion of the Lord's Table to compel Hereticks and Schismaticks to repress Schism and Heresie with their princely Power which they receive from above chiefly to maintain God's glory by the causing the Bands of Virtue to be preserved in the Church and the Rules of Faith observed pag. 133. this is the Prince's charge to see the Law of God fully executed his Son rightly served his Spouse safely nursed his House timely filled his Enemies duely punished and he tells the Jesuite if he grants this he will ask no more And these the causes and things that be Spiritual as well as Temporal the Princes power and charge doth reach unto or in the words of St. Austin that Princes may command that which is good and prohibit that which is evil within their Kingdoms not in Civil Affairs only but in Matters that concern divine Religion Cont. Crescon l. 3. c. 51. pag. 134. to page 145. and this or power of the like nature was what was claimed and used in causes Ecclesiastical which
Christian when he refused to give up his Church to the Arians denied the Emperor's power over truth and to determine in Doctrines The Emperor might force him out if he pleased neither might he resist the force his Weapons being only Prayers and Tears but the truth must not yield up to him and he give his consent or seem to do it by his own departure that the Arian Doctrine be there preached this was not then thought an Affront to the Magistrate and Law nor had St. Ambrose a Commission immediate from Heaven and abetted with Miracles or was he judged a hypocrite in so doing because he did not go and preach the Cause against Arius amongst the Goths and Vandals who subscribed to his Creed at their receiving Christianity though Mr. Dean of Canterbury tells us he that pleads Conscience and preaches it in England and does not go and preach it also in Turkey is guilty of gross hypocrisie pag. 203 213. We do not make them Judges and Deciders of Truth but Receivers and Establishers of it we say Princes be only Governors that is higher Powers ordain'd of God and bearing the Sword with lawful and publick Autority to command for truth to prohibit and with the Sword punish Errors and all other Ecclesiastical Disorders as well as Temporal within their Realms that as all their Subjects Bishops and others must obey them commanding what is good in Matters of Religion and endure them with patience when they take part with Error So they their Swords and Scopters be not subject to the Popes Tribunal neither hath he by the Law of God or by the Canons of the Church any Power or Pre-eminence to reverse their Doings nor depose their Persons and for this Cause we confess Princes within their Territories to be supreme that is not under the Popes jurisdiction neither to be commanded nor displaced at his pleasure pag. 215 216. There be two Parts of our Assertion The first avouching that Princes may command for Truth and abolish Error The next that Princes be Supreme i. e. not subject to the Popes judicial Process to be cited suspended deposed at his beck The Word Supreme ever was and is defended by us to make Princes free from the wrongful and usurped Jurisdiction which the Pope claimeth over them pag. 217. 219. Bishops have their Autority to preach and administer the Sacraments not from the Prince but Christ himself only the Prince giveth them publick liberty without let or disturbance to do what Christ hath commanded them he no more conferreth that Power and Function than he conferreth Life and Breath when he permitteth to live and breath when he does not destroy the life of his Subjects That Princes may prescribe what Faith they list what Service of God they please what form of Administring the Sacraments they think best is no part of our thoughts nor point of our Doctrine for external Power and Autority to compel and punish which is the Point we stand upon God hath preferr'd the Prince before the Priest pag. 223. touching the Regiment of their own Persons and Lives Princes owe the very same Reverence and Obedience to the Word and Sacraments that every private Man doth and if any Prince would be baptized or approach the Lord's Table with manifest shew of unbelief or irrepentance the Minister is bound freely to speak or rather to lay down his life at the Princes feet than to let the King of Kings to be provoked the Mysteries to be defiled his own Soul and the Princes endanger'd for lack of oft and earnest Admonition pag. 226. by Governors we do not mean Moderators Prescribers Directors Inventers or Authors of these things but Rulers or Magistrates bearing the Sword to permit and defend that which Christ himself first appointed and ordained and with lawful force to disturb the Despisers of his lawful Will and Testament Now what inconvenience is this if we say that Princes as publick Magistrates may give freedom protection and assistance to the preaching of the Word ministring of the Sacraments and right using of the Keys and not fetch license from Rome pag. 236. Princes have no right to call and confirm Preachers but to receive such as be sent of God and give them liberty for their preaching and security for their Persons and if Princes refuse so to do God's Labourers must go forward with that which is commanded them from Heaven not by disturbing Princes from their Thrones nor invading their Realms but by mildly submitting themselves to the Powers on Earth and meekly suffering for the defence of the truth what they shall inflict A private liberty and exercise of their own Conscience and Religion was not then thought enough if the Religion of a Nation be false and though autority do abet it nor would the Autority in Queen Elizabeth's days have own'd that Person asserting and maintaining of it though not stubbornly irreligious but only wanting information in so notoriously a known case of practice pag. 238. In all spiritual Things and Causes Princes only bear the Sword i. e. have publick Autority to receive establish and defend all Points and Parts of Christian Doctrine and Discipline within their Realms and without their help tho the Faith and Canons of Christ's Church may be privately professed and observed of such as be willing yet they cannot be generally planted or settled in any Kingdom nor urged by publick Laws and external Punishments on such as refuse but by their consents that bear the Sword This is that we say refel it if you can pag. 252. to devise new Rites and Ceremonies for the Church is not the Princes vocation but to receive and allow such as the Scripture and Canons commend and such as the Bishops and Pastors on the Place shall advise not infringing the Scripture or Canons and so for all other Ecclesiastical Things and Causes Princes be neither the Devisers nor Directors of them but the Confirmers and Establishers of that which is good and Displacers and Revengers of that which is Evil which power we say they have in all things be they Spiritual Ecclesiastical or Temporal the Abuse of Excommunication in the Priest and contempt of it in the People Princes may punish excommunicate they may not for so much of the Keys are no part of their Charge pag. 256. The Prince is in Ecclesiastical Discipline to receive and stablish such Rules and Orders as the Scripture and Canons shall decide to be needful and healthful for the Church of God in their Kingdoms It is the Objection indeed and undue consequence the Church of Rome makes against us and the Oath of Supremacy and which is urged by Philander in this Dialogue betwixt him and Theophilus or betwixt the Christian and the Jesuite pag. 124 125. That we will have our Faith and Salvation to hang on the Princes Will and Laws that there can be imagined no nearer way to Religion than to believe what our temporal Lord and Master list in the
those who abominate the natural and direct consequences are thence to be drawn where the Civil Power is return'd into the Mediator but it throughly answers their Expectations who contend to have their Prince a Priest too and would delight more to see him in his Rochet and at the Altar Blessing and Consecrating than on his Throne and with his Scepter sweying and governing his People and for which latter they believe themselves equally capacitated and enabled as he and their belief on these Grounds is well bottomed for Christ when ascending up on high gave no other Gifts to Men than what either enabled to the work of the Ministry and which alone were for peculiar Persons or what made Christians good and virtuous men only and which were to all promiscuous and common And had our Church in her Article given to Kings that only Prerogative they saw given to Aristotles Prince and which is extended to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also as is above shew'd to the things of Religion it had been the same though less popular and perswading I shall only add the Autority of Doctor Hammond in his Practical Catechism Lib. 2. Sect. 11. that Christ in his Sermon on the Mount medled not with the Fifth Commandment Though he were as God the King of all Kings and might have changed and disposed of their Dominions as he pleased yet he was not pleased to make any Alteration but to continue and settle all in that course wherein it formerly had been placed by God himself What he added to Moses in this Matter was only greater reverence and aw to the Father or Magistrate or Civil Power he left the Woman taken in Adultery and other Offenders to the ordinary legal course and would not upon any importunity usurp or take upon him any thing in that Matter and more considerate Papists as he goes on and tells us discerning this and yet unwilling to devest the Pope of his so long usurped Power have found it necessary to pretend another tenure for him and therefore style the Pope not the Vicar of Christ for that would give him no Power so much as of a Civil Judge but the Vicar of God whom he hath set up to be the Vicegerent of all the World The whole Discourse might not unfitly be here transcribed only 't is as it ought to be in every bodies hands BUT what if these Doctors were in the design § XXVII against us as we do not resolve our Faith into one Doctor or Bishop at Rome So neither do we into three or twice so many at home of what Order and Autority soever and which adds in it self just nothing to the Skill of a Divine nor is the Tradition of Truth broken by it And indeed there are so many Accidents in the World and with so great force upon Mankind so often influencing and over-ruling that Christianity in its particular Articles and sometimes the highest of them would be but in a bad Condition were it responsible for what every particular Doctor has said or wrote and which comes not up unto them whether out of a tenderness of Disposition a mistaken Zeal for Union and to reconcile Moderation and Comprehension a keeping present Peace or a design of working more effectually for the future or whether through a fear and impotency of Nature averse to and unable for Struglings wearied out by daily Provocations or a foresight of some Calamities foreseen and approaching and every one is not an Athanasius always undaunted or real misapprehension in the understanding or which is a thing very frequent upon the rise of an Heresie to set up for a middle way and which is as injurious to gratifie either lust in general or that itch of Ambition in particular and to become the Head of a Party whether out of peevishness or revenge or to magnifie their own Parts and Eloquence lead by the Autority of Names or by self-interest blinded by one or more of which ways errors and differences in Religion are either occasioned or started managed and pursued No sooner was his Master Justin Martyr dead but Tatianus grew Proud and puffed up with an opinion of being uppermost in the School turn'd Heretick Iren. adv Haeres cap. 31. l. 1. Basilides was a Master of luxury and was to do something extraordinary to disguise it as St. Jerone Tom. 3. l. 2. adv Jovinian and so was Marcion as Tertullian Prescript Cap. 51. and Lactantius tells us of several others who affecting the highest Order in the Church studying Honour and Greatness and sailing of it made a Secession from the Church not enduring Subjection Lib. 4. Sect. ult and so did Valentinus because he lost a Bishoprick Tertul. adv Valent. cap. 4. as did Aerius Novatius c. and Theodorit describes Hereticks in general ambitioni vanae gloriae mancipatos Eccl. Hist l. 1. c. 2. and Sozomen complains of a worser effect they have yet in God's Church Nonnullos in vias medias adigunt Eccl. Hist l. 1. c. 1. occasion the setting up somewhat like Truth which is not Truth when they write Irenicums and set up for Reconcilers make a hotch-potch of Truth and Falshood together a sure way to elude and baffle Truth and insinuate Error the abatement being still on Truth 's side and the Error is brought to become tolerable and which would not in plain terms have been endured but thus gets ground onward and so much of Truth is destroyed and erased to give place to the Falshood This was the most devilish Plot of Julian the Apostate by which he baffled Christianity he mixed his Paganism with it complied in many instances of its Performances that the less discerning might be the easier carried over to it a very ill consequence of Error mostly ruining Truth and mostly to be abominated the Ape is the more deformed because like a Man and is not one Tertullian turn'd Montanist in disdain of the Pride of the greater Clergy at Rome as inter fragmenta Tertull. and Hieron Catalog Script Ecclesiast no one stands fairer in the Church Story for Piety and Morals than Pelagius and he and his Scholars Julianus Celestius c. seduced many by it designed and perverted it to that alone purpose even Men of great Fame and Learning became thereby inclined to them as Sixtus at Rome John of Jerusalem Cyril in Egypt and Sulpitius Severus in France And particularly the Rich and Potent Women whom he strangely insinuated into by all manner of Flatteries Hypocrisies and Delusions and which generally are the Engines Hereticks have work'd by as in Church Story and for which Austin and Jerome sufficiently shrape him as an account is given at large by Joannes Garnerus the late Publisher of the Works of Marius Mercator Dissert 4. De Subscript c. Cap. 3. who was or who could be more stout and couragious for the Nicene Faith than was Liberius Bishop of Rome and which appeared in his behaviour all along particularly in his
any more the late two Printed Epistles from Paris I am sure do not But I cease here and return to my first Subject § XII ALL they can with any shew of Truth or Reason pretend for the People at Ordinations to have to do is only this to be Discoverers of the Evil and Witnesses of the Good Lifes and Conversations of such as are to be received into the Ministry this we find the use of them in Justinian the Emperor's days Novel 6. cap. 1. Vt dicat si noverit an Ordinandus conscius sit illicitorum de quibus inquisitio Publicê est facienda to declare what he knew of the Person to be Ordained and as enquiry shall be made of him Lay hands suddenly on no man neither be Partaker of other mens sins 1 Tim. 5.22 The meaning is that Timothy proceed not in the Execution of Church-Power or of his Episcopal Office but with deliberation upon a just search and enquiry a due information in all Circumstances that every thing be as it ought otherwise he partakes of the Sins are occasioned thereby and they are his own and their guilt adheres unto him Now though St. Paul's or St. Timothie's own knowledge of the Person to be Ordained by their nearer Relation stricter Converse and Personal Inspection might be satisfaction sufficient to themselves and no man can be so mad as to think such an Ordination to be invalid self-inspection and notoriety of the Fact has still been accounted Ground and Motive sufficient for Publick Proceedings but then this by how much it is more private so much it is less satisfactory to others and for the Evidence to come from abroad a Testimony from without is more agreeable and more clearing and of whom so properly as from the People the Neighbourhood as eye-witnesses of his Conversation And it was upon the common course of Proceedings what Saint Peter proposed before the Consecration of Matthias Petrus ad Plebem loquitur Cypr. Ep. 68. and which was to the People to the Believers all in common that out of those Men that accompanied them and was well known unto them all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them of which they were eye-witnesses whose Application of themselves to Holy Things and constant Industry made them sit for so high an Office an Apostle should be chosen Acts 1. That the Seven Deacons be Men of good Report and this attested by them that knew them e're the Apostles lay their hands upon them Acts 6. that Timothy be well reported by the Brethren Acts 16.2 And so again of the Bishop that he have a good report of them that are without i. e. Heathens 1 Tim. 3.7 and all which must be done suitable to the Converse he uses and as the Subject renders capable of it but that therefore the chief Interest should be in the People I now use the words of Mr. Thorndicke in his Book of the Laws of the Church pag. 154. is an Imagination too brutish Cannot the Apostles finding themselves to Ordain Persons so and so qualified for such and such Offices in the Church appeal to the People whom they acknowledge so and so qualified Cannot St. Paul afterwards provide that no man shall blame them in the dispensing the Power that they are entrusted with 2 Cor. 8.20 but a consequence must thereupon be inferr'd against themselves that they are commanded by God to refer the things concerning the Salvation of God's People in general as the Power of an Apostle the Order of a Deacon c. to the temerity and giddiness of the People Nor does all those bulky Collections made by Blondel for the Clergy and People being consulted in reality amount to any more In ordinationibus mos erat Plebem Clerum consulere mores merita Singulorum Communi Consilio ponderare Cypr. Ep. 33. Episcopum Collegarum Plebis testimonio Probatum Ep. 41. only to give Testimony to their Manners and Merit of which the Persons receiving it and to Consecrate and assign to such a People were always Judges Ad eam Plebem cui Praepositus Ordinatur Nothing was left to the People in appointing their Pastor he was only sent out in their Presence and what he brings out of the 68 Epistle of St. Cyprian is only more plain if possible and a fuller Evidence against his conceit the design of that whole Epistle being this That vitious Men be not received into the Church and admitted to attend at the Altar and to that purpose that no Ordination be made but in Publick Ne indignus obreperet that a full account may be taken of their Lifes and Conversations and that it be not Secundum humanam Praesumptionem upon Presumptions only but a full Evidence and this is most likely to be had from the People or those with whom they had lived and their Power there asserted Vel eligendi dignos Sacerdotes vel indignos recusandi cannot be allowed to amount to any more if consistent with the design of the Epistle nor can there be any thing in the People like the Power of a Judge to refuse or reject but as Informers and Petitioners by way rather of Prayer and Postulation upon the Plea of what Testimonies they could Produce or what Accusations they had against them and according to the Determinations of the Bishops that nominated and proposed him and who lay hands upon him is the Person fixed in his Station De Episcoporum qui in praesentia convenerant quique de eo apud vos literas fecerant judicio Episcopatus ei deferretur manus e◠in loco Basilidis imponeretur ibid. Ep. 68. Much more to this purpose is to be seen in Cyprian and all which is apply'd by Grotius to this purpose De Imper. Sum. Potest in Sacris cap. 10. sect 9. or rather and which Autority is much greater this Church Rule and proceeding in Elections and Ordinations of Bishops is to be seen in the Fourth Canon of the First Council of Nicea and which is there appointed to be done by all the Bishops of the Province or because all may not be capable of Convening by Three at the least the others sending their Suffrages and then to be Confirmed by the Metropolitan Where to be sure whatever of the Peoples concurrency or rather anteceding Testimonies was required the ultimate and alone Power is in the Clergy and 't is Balsamon's Opinion upon that Canon That the Canon was made purely in relation to the People to exclude them quite upon the account of the inconveniences they found by their Presence and which adds to what I have already observed That the Peoples concurrency in Ordinations is so far from being of their Essence and altogether requisite that it depended all along upon the Canons and Laws of the Church to approve or null them or if the Votes of the People did at any time prevail and over-rule it was upon special Accidents to avoid Tumults and
much as it is defended with his Epistles doth not seem to be any of the most probable cap. 6. Sect. 16. I have heard I confess of Doctor Owen's Preface to his Book of Perseverance and then to be sure he is with abundance of honor his second and to omit the other ill Adventures in that unlucky Book of particular Forms of Church-Government and which savour too much of Robert Parker's musty Vessel the Doctor is beyond measure unfortunate who having by a notorious Mistake urg'd the Autority of our whole Church representative in King Edward VI day 's to avouch his most false Assertion That Episcopacy is not necessary and immutable That the King's Majesty may appoint Bishops or not appoint them or appoint other Officers for the Government of the Church cap. 8. When he goes on further to prove this by the particular Autorities of our Doctors since as Whitgift Cozius Whitgift's Chancellor Lowe Hooker Bridges c. he is if possible more unlucky yet and his Mistake more shameful he not only transcribes every Quotation out of Parker's second Book De politeia Ecclesiastica cap. 39.42 and the very Book Page Chapter Section and Figures stand all in Parker's Margin as they are wrote in his Book and which is no great Matter but and which is the harder Fate he urges and appeals to them as his Autority that Episcopacy is mutable and of but humane assignation and which thing Parker all along there owns and declares was not these Doctors Opinions he upbraids and taunts them for asserting the contrary as contradicting themselves and putting Cheats upon others because they believe Bishops by divine Right and perpetually obliging 't is his Objection upon them that their own Principles will not bear them out in it This is the case these Doctors assert over and over again as they must do if agreeing with our Church and their own Subscriptions that the Scriptures are not a full and perfect Rule for Discipline and Government and there is still a Power in the Church to make Laws as occasion offers even to vary from Examples of Discipline and Government which has there been practised Parker thinks he has the advantage and concludes upon them that then the Government by Bishops is changeable also and which is sounded only on Scripture Example and who reply that though they can make Laws in some Cases and alter them as occasion yet in all they cannot though some Examples in Scripture do not yet others do necessarily oblige and the Examples they produce necessarily obliging are these Imposition of Hands in Ordinations that to impose Hands is appropriated to Bishops as the Apostles Successors The observation of the Lord's-Day The institution of Metropolitans c. and this very account Parker himself gives us as to these Instances and all which will readily appear to any one that reads over Parker l. 2. cap. 39 40 41 42. particularly cap. 42. Sect. 8. 9. and that consults farther than Titles and Margins And that this Power of making Canons and Laws for the Government and Discipline of the Church is one of the main Foundations of the Hierarchy and therefore Parker sets himself with might and main to oppose it This will be yielded to Doctor Stillingfleet 't was this alone by which the Courts Ecclesiastical kept them within some moderate Bounds nor did they break out into Rebellion and Schism till that Power was abated in the execution and which made the Bishops so odious to them but that Episcopacy it self is as Arbitrary in its original and occasionally only as are many Church Laws and in the Power of any order of Persons or any Person now upon Earth to alter or confirm it This Parker by arguing would willingly infer upon these Doctors from their own Principles but acknowledges they did not own contrary to their Principles this Dr. Stillingfleet every ways mistakes and reports out of Parker's ill gathered Conclusion and Objection as their both Principles Practice and so every ways defames them and I shall only propose it to the Doctors consideration whether some satisfaction may not ought not to be required of him for the injury he has done to so many Worthies of our Church hereby I can assure him it has been long expected and if it be not done suddenly he may believe the World ere it be much older will be particularly disinformed at present I shall return to those Doctors mentioned in the beginning of this Section and who are not yet freed from the Contumelies laid on them by Parker as these are from his though I do not question but I shall equally vindicate both § XXVI IT is an easie thing to make any Man 's Writing in a plausible shew to run thwart to and contradict themselves the occasion and Circumstances not considered and if particular Occurrencies be not abated for the worst of Heresies will thus shelter themselves under the best Autorities How largely and frequently do the Ancient Fathers of the Church speak of the Powers and excellence of Nature and Reason when disputing against the Gentiles when Apologizing for and recommending to them the Christian Religion Justin Martyr Apol. 2. goes so far as to say the wiser sort of the Greeks were Christians such as Socrates Heraclitus c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. because living up to the Rules of Reason but must not those be wide Arguings that say and some have said it the Fathers thought the use of Reason alone able to direct and assist us for Heaven when 't is the coming of Christ in the Flesh his additional super-natural Revelations of Grace and Truth those farther discoveries and assistances to Mankind is the occasion and general subject of their Writings and a belief of which is that they endeavor to bring the Greeks unto to make evident and rational to all Men when 't was only the particular application of an Argument they aim'd at and in the design is most true that every one so far as truly rational he is Christian Christianity is no new thing nor strange 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whosoever pursues Justice and Honesty and other commendable Actions suited to the universal eternal Rules of Nature is acceptable to God by this both the Jews under the Law and the Patriarchs and holy Men from the first Creation through the knowledg of Christ were saved as Justin Martyr disputes cum Tryphone Judeo and Eusebius has a whole Chapter to this purpose Eccl. Hist l. 1. c. 4. Every one that is read in that History knows that the great cry of the Arians against the Council of Nice was they were Innovators and a licentious Pen has of late managed and pursued it afresh Sandius hist Enucleata as using Words and bringing in Doctrines which were not either in Scripture or in the Writings and Determinations of the ancient Doctors of the Church when asserting and explaining the one substance or eternal Generation of the Son of God which though it
be in part a great untruth and both Athanasius Synod Nicen. Cont. heres Arian decreta p. 277 278. Ed. paris et Ep. de Synod Arimini et Seleuciae p. 889. Ep. ad ubique Orthodoxos c. p. 943. and Theodorit Eccl. hist l. 1. c. 5. 12. refer them to the Writings of the eminent Bishops and Doctors who lived an hundred and twenty years before the Synod of Nice and then used this Word Consubstantial in explaining the Divinity of the Father and the Son and 't is what Sandius in effect confesses only he thinks it for the dishonor of the Cause that all the Hereticks that were in the Church before Arius were Homousians hist Enucleat l. 1. and which in truth is only this the worst of Hereticks did not arrive to that height of impudence as to deny so received an acknowledgment in the universal Church Yet what Athanasius replyes upon Arius himself Tom. 1. disputat cum Ario pag. 134. making the Objection is a better answer here that what was in the Council asserted and declared was alwaies in the Scriptures by way of consequence and occasion was not given the Church till the rise and spreading of that Heresie for that particular and precise explication Heresies and Novelties must be and 't is the work of Councils to detect and determine against them but there would be mad work in the Church should that go for Innovation which an upstart Heresie forces the Church in new Terms to state and declare against and explain themselves thereby it must be declamed against as defective in Autority and Precedents because former Doctors had not sagacity enough the very Apostles had not Spirit of Prophecy enough to anticipate the Fictions of every Brain so to word it before-hand that the particular Heresie in its Nicety must be antidated and pre-abide upon Record bassled and contradicted He that reads over St. Jerome lib. 1. Cont. Jovinianum will find him there so urging Chastity as if Marriage it self was a sin and which that Father never design'd as his Opinion and Dailee confesses that he only speaks comparatively and is so to be understood as do and are to be many more of the Fathers cap. 5. de usu patrum though he will not allow it him in other Cases and when to serve his own particular Design of him I mean as to his Judgment of Episcopacy and will have his Epistle ad Evagrium and his Comments on Titus to the same purpose to be absolute and with no regard to those great even just Provocatious from the Bishops in preferring the Deacon before the Presbyters who as he well argues are of so much more Power and higher Order in the Church as that a Bishop is oft call'd a Presbyter in Scripture and Antiquity when so injurious were the Bishops to the Presbyters and so partial to the Deacons and indulgent that the Deacons scorn'd the Presbyters Order qui ignorantes humilitatem status sui ultra Sacerdotes hoc est Presbyteros intumescunt 〈◊〉 putent si Presbyter ordinetur Their nearer attendance on the Bishops Person and familiarity with him with other advantages attending occasioned that they found it an Injury to be promoted to the Presbyters Order as he tells us Comment in Ezek. cap. 48. and which together with the great superciliousness and insulting pride of John Bishop of Jerusalem exercized over him and giving some disturbance to his Monastick ease in the holy Land Ep. 60 61. something raised his spleen and in vindicating his own Order he spared not some little flourishes or Arguments abating of the Episcopate if thereby these indecencies might cease What effects all this had at that time we read not and that it was afterwards lookt upon by the Church as his alone Passion and particular Provocation we have all the reason in the World to believe it all ceased with his Person to be sure if not with the Passion nor do we find any one follower he had or is his Autority ever used against the solitary appropriated Power of a Bishop above a Presbyter 'till of late in these parts of Christendom who thence take the rise for their Schism and 't is the ground they stand upon for the battery and abolishing the whole Order and with-drawing their obedience and which to be sure St. Jerome never did nor attempted and herein they are particularly unlucky they beat down Bishops by St. Jerome's Autority to bring in their Schism and 't is the main Argument they still urge against them in the height of these Divisions and Distractions are now on foot in Europe and then too when they contend that St. Jerome knew no other occasion or use of Bishops but ad tollenda Schismata because Schisms and Divisions cannot be kept out of the Church but by them So that St. Jerome's Autority if any thing in their present Case must be against them and if complying with him they must for the present expedience submit unto Bishops whom they 'l allow to have acknowledged this necessity and usefulness of them what ever reasons else he saw for their institution and continuance 'T is that which Doctor Durel pleads for Arch-Bishop Cranmer that admitting him guilty of Erastianism and he did resolve the Power of the Keys into the Prince as Doctor Stillingfleet says he was and did his present Circumstances will plead much for him and the other Doctors of his time if of the same mind then with him he had been educated in many Errors with which the Church the whole Age at that time abounded and though a Reformation was on foot no wonder if in some Instances he was in the wrong 't was then their work to abdicate the Bishop of Rome and case him of that Primacy and usurpation he had exercised over this Church and it might so happen that in giving to the King what was his he abated too much of the Power of the Priesthood and the Church and which was hers and not to be given to any other and yet even this Error did he see at last acknowledged it to Doctor Leighton submitted to and subscribed the truth against it as the Dean of Windsor tell us he read it in Doctor Stillingfleet's Manuscript and in his presence And there is enough to be pleaded of this nature in the behalf of those inconsiderable Offers are made against our three eminent Bishops Whitgift Bilson and Bancroft and which will so thoroughly acquit them of the but suspition of Erastianism that the Bill must in course be flung out that is drawn up against them every one knows that is conversant in those their Writings whence Parker's Objections are taken The Point under debate was mostly very near altogether in King Henry VIII day 's betwixt the King and the Pope whether was supreme in the forensick outward Ecclesiastical Courts and Proceedings on the Persons of Men within this his Majesties Kingdom the Pope had usurped it for some time the King reassumes it Religion