contrary that needeth a Reply Cap. 5. he would prove the Angels to be Archbishops which if done would not touch our Cause who meddle not with Archbishops but onely prove that the full Pastoral or Episcopal Office or power of the Keys as over the Flock should be found in every particular Church that hath unum Altaere To prove Metropolitans again he tells us how that in Provinces we find Churches mentioned in the Plural number and in Cities onely a Church singularly not perceiving how hereby he overthrows his Cause when he can never prove that in Scripture many particular Churches are called A Church Diocesane or Metropolitan as united in one Bishop as our Diooesane and Metropolitan Churches now are Nay indeed though the Society be specified by the Government yet the Name sticketh in their teeth here in England and they seldom use the Title of the Church of Canterbury and York for the whole Province and they use to say the Diocese of Lincoln London Winchester Worcester Coventry and Litchfield c. rather than the Church of Lincoln London Coventry and Litchfield c. lest the Hearers would so hardly he seduced from the proper sense of the word Church as not to understand them His Proofs of the Civil or Jewish distinction of Metropolitans § 4 5 c. let them mind that think it pertinent But § 9. we have a great word that It may be proved by many examples that after this Image the Apostles took care every where to dispose of the Churches and constituted a subordination and dependence of the lesser on the more eminent Cities in all their Plantations Answ This is to some purpose if it be made good The first Instance is Acts 14. 26. 16. 4. and 15. 2 3 22 23 30. Not a word else out of Scripture And what 's here Why Paul and Barnabas are sent to Jerusalem from Antioch to the Apostles and Elders about the Question and were brought on their way by the Church and passed thorow Phenice and Samaria Chosen men are sent to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas Judas and Silas with Letters from the Apostles Elders and Brethren even to the Brethren of the Gentiles in Antioch Syria and Cilicia And when they came to Antioch they delivered the Letters and Paul and Timothy as they went thorow the Cities delivered them the Decrees to keep that were ordained by the Apostles and Elders that were at Jerusalem Doth not the Reader wonder where is the Proof And wonder he may for me unless this be it The Apostles and Elders were at Jerusalem when they wrote this Letter and thence sent it to Antioch Syria and Cilicia Ergo They established the Bishop of Jerusalem to be the Governour and Metropolitan of Antioch Syria and Cilicia The Apostle Paul went from Antioch to other Cities and delivered them these Decrees Ergo Antioch is the governing Metropolis of those Cities I think the major Propositions are Every City from which Apostles send their Letters to other Cities and every City from which an Apostle carrieth such Letters or Decrees to other Cities is by those Apostles made the Governing Metropolis of those other Cities What dull Heads are the Puritans to question such a Proposition as this But it is not given to all Men to be wise And we ignorant Persons are left in doubt Q. 1. Whether the Universal Headship or Papacy of the Bishop of Jerusalem be not of Apostolical Institution and that more than by one Apostle even by all of them that were then at Jerusalem Q. 2. Whether the Apostles did not this as they did other parts of Church-settlement by the Spirit of God and so whether it be not jure Divino yea by a more eminent Authority than the Scriptures which were written by parts by several single Men some Apostles and some Evangelists when this is said to be done by all together Q. 3. Whether Christ's Life Death Resurrection Ascension and sending the Apostles thence into all the World and not into the Roman Empire onely do not incomparably more evidently make Jerusalem the Universal Metropolis of the Earth and so set it above Rome which is but the Metropolis of one Empire Q. 4. Whether then an Universal Head of the Church or Vicar of Christ be not jure Divino and so a Jerusalem Papacy be not essential to the true Church and Religion Q. 5. Whether then all the Emperours Bishops and Churches that did set up Rome Alexandria Antioch and Constantinople above Jerusalem were not Traytors against the Universal Sovereign of the Church and guilty of Usurpation and gross Schism Q. 6. To what parpose this Sovereignty was given to Jerusalem which was never possess'd and exercised Q. 7. Whether Peter's being at Rome could alter this Church-Constitution and one Apostle could undo what all together had done Q. 8. Whether the Apostles carried this Metropolitical Prerogative with them from place to place where-ever they came And whether it did belong to the Men or the Place And whether to the Place whence they first set out or to every place where they came or to the place where they dyed Judge what is the proof of any of these Q. 9. When they were scattered which of their Seats was the Metropolitan to the rest or were they all equal Q. 10. If the Power followed the Civil Power of the Metropolitane Rulers whether Caesar did not more in constituting the Church-Order and giving power comparatively to the Metropolitanes than Christ and his Apostles Q. 11. Whether it was not in Caesar's power to unmake all the Church Metropolitans and Bishops at his pleasure by dissolving the Priviledges and Charters of Cities Q. 12. If it please any King or be the Custom of any Kingdom as it is in many parts of America that the Kingdom have no Cities or Metropolis whether it must have any Churches Bishops or Metropolitane Q. 13. Whether when Paul wrote his Letters from Corinth to Rome he thereby made the Bishop of Corinth the Governour of the Bishop and Diocess of Rome And whether little Cenchrea was over them also because Phoebe carried the Letter And did his writing from Philippi to Corinth subject Corinth to the Bishop of Philippi And did his writing from Rome to Galatia Ephesus Philippi the Colossians and from Athens to the Thessalonians and from Laodicea and Rome to Timothy and from Nicopolis to Titus and John's writing from Patmos to the Asian Metropolitanes produce the same effect Q. 14. If Paul's carrying the Letters from Antioch to other Cities proved Antioch the Governour of the rest whether when he returned from the other to Antioch again he made not the other the Governours of Antioch I am ashamed to prosecute this Fiction any further His following Citations from the Fathers I think unworthy of an Answer till it be proved 1. That these Fathers took the Metropolitane Order as such to be of Apostolical Institution and not in complyance with the Roman Government by meer humane
King will make every Market Town a City it shall have a Bishop And if he will make but one or two cities in a Kingdom there shall be but one or two Bishops And if he will make one City Regent to others that Bishop shall be so Thus Rome Constantinople c. came by their Superiority But Hierome telleth us the contrary that the Bishop of Tanais or any small City like our least Corporations was of equal Church-Dignity with Rome or the greatest 24. The same Council Can. 78. repeateth that All the Illuminate that is Baptized must learn the Creed and every Friday say it to the Bishop and Presbyters I hope they did not go every Friday such a Journey as Lincoln York or Norwich Diocess no nor the least in England would have put them to nor that the Bishop heard as many thousands every Friday as some of ours by that Canon should have heard 25. Anno 693. at a Toletane Council King Egica writeth a Sermon for them and therein tells them that Every Parish that hath twelve Families must have their proper Governor not a Curate that is no Governor But if it be less it must be part of another's Charge 26. Anno 756. Pipin called a Council in France whos 's Can. 1. is that Every City must have a Bishop And as is beforesaid every Corporate Town was a City 27. In the Epitome of the old Canons sent by Pope Adrian to Carolus Magnus published by Canisius the eighth Antioch Canon is Country Presbyters may not give Canonical Epistles but the Chorepiscopi By which it appeareth that the Chorepiscopi were Bishops as Petavius proveth in Epiphan Arrius And Can. 14 15. That No Bishop be above three Weeks in another City nor above two Weeks from his own Church Which intimateth that he had one single Church And Can. 19. That when a place wants a Bishop he that held them must not proudly hold them to himself and hinder them from one else he must lose that which he hath 28. The same Canons say Can. 94. If a Bishop six Months after Admonition of other Bishops neglect to make Catholicks of the people belonging to his Seat any other shall obtain them that shall deliver them from their Heresie So that 1. The Churches were not so big but that there might be divers in one Town 2. And converting the People is a better Title than Parish Bounds 29. It is there also decreed That no Bishop ordain or judge in another's Parish else it shall be void And they forbid Foreign Judgments because it is unmeet that he should be judged by Strangers who ought to have Judges of the same Province chosen by himself But our Diocesanes are Strangers to almost all the People and are not chosen by them See the rest Also another is that every Election of Bishops made by Magistrates be void yea all that use the Secular Magistrate to get a Church must be deposed and separated and all that joyn with him Also if any exact Money or for affection of his own drive any from the Ministry or segregate any of his Clergy or shut the Temple 30. A Council at Chalone under Carol. Magn. the Can. 15. condemneth Arch-Deacons that exercise Domination over Parish-Presbyters and take Fees of them as matter of Tyranny and not of Order and Rectitude And Can. 13. saith It is reported of some Brethren Bishops that they force them whom they are about to ordain to swear that they are worthy and will not do contrary to the Canons and will be obedient to the Bishop that ordaineth them and to the Church in which they are ordained Which Oath because it is very dangerous we all agree shall be forbidden By which it appeareth that 1. The Dioceses were not yet so large as to need such subordinate Governors as ours have Nor 2. Were Oaths of Canonical Obedience to the Bishop and Church yet thought lawful but forbidden as dangerous 31. A Council at Aquisgrane under Ludov. Pius wrote an excellent Treatise gathered out of the Fathers to teach Bishops the true nature of their Office which hath much to my present use but too long to be recited 32. Upon Ebbos Flight that deposed Lud. Pius the Arch-Bishoprick of Rhemes was void ten Years and ruled by two Presbyters Fulk and Hotho who were not then uncapable of governing the Flock but it is not like that they governed Neighbour Bishops 33. Canisius tells us of a Concilium Regiaticinum and Can. 6. is That the Arch-Presbyter examine every Master of a Family personally and take account of their Families and Lives and receive their Confessions And Can. 7. That a Presbyter in the absence of the Bishop may reconcile a Penitent by his Command c. Which shew that yet Dioceses were not at the largest 34. A Council at Papia Anno 855. order yet That the Clergy and People chuse the Bishops and yet that the Laity on pretence of their electing power trample not on the Arch-Presbyter and that Great Men's Chappels empty not Churches 35. Yea Pope Nicholas Tit. 8. c. 1. decreeth that no Bishops be ordained but by the Election or Consent of the Clergy and People When they became uncapable of the ancient Order yet they kept up the words of the old Canons 36. This is intimated in the old Canons repeated at a Roman Council Anno 868. That if Bishops excommunicate any wrongfully or for light Causes and not restore them the Neighbour Bishops shall take such to their Communion till the next Synod Which was the Bishop of the next Parish or Corporation and not one that dwelt in another County out of reach And Can. 72. Because the Bishops hindred by other business cannot go to all the Sick the Presbyters or any Christians may anoint them How big was the Diocess when this Canon was first made Who would give his business rather than Distance and Numbers and Impossibility as the reason why the Bishop of London Lincoln Norwich c. visit not all the Sick in their Dioceses 37. Anno 869 till 879. was held a Council called General at Constantinople The Can. 8. is Whereas it is reported that not only the Heretical and Usurpers but some Orthodox Patriarchs also for their own security have made men subscribe that is to be true to them the Synod judgeth that it shall be so no more save only that Men when they are made Bishops be required as usual to declare the soundness of their Faith He that violateth this Sanction let him be deprived of his Honour But these later instances only shew the Relicts of Primitive Purity and Simplicity more evidently proved in the three first Centuries 38. And he that will read the ancient Records of the Customs of Burying will thence perceive the extent of Churches Doctor Tillesly after cited affirmeth pag. 179. against Selden that The Right of Burial place did first belong to the Cathedral Churches And Parish Churches began so lately as now understood having no
probabiliter ex oblatione dare debebit The other Ed. saith Et cura probatio sit Episcopi We are content that the Diocess be as great as the Bishop will perform this for to examine all such dying men and give them the Sacrament or send it them after his distinct Examination VII Gregor Nazianz. Epist 22. pag. 786. To. 1. perswading the Church of Caesarea to chuse Basil for their Bishop sendeth his Letters to the Presbyters the Monks the Magistrates and the whole Laity And though I doubt not but by that time there were Country Congregations by this the magnitude of the City Church may be gathered where the whole Laity could be consulted and could chuse And Basil made this Gregory his chief friend Bishop of Sasimis a small poor dirty Town And yet Gregory himself it seems had in some near Village a Chorepiscopus with Presbyters and Deacons as in Glycerius his Case appeareth Epist Greg. 205. pag. 900 901. And Nazianzum where he plaid the Bishop under his Father two Bishops at once one in Title the other in Practice without Title was but a small Town VIII Basil an Arch-Bishop was so much against enlarging Dioceses and taking in many Churches to one Bishop that he taketh the advantage of the difference between him and Anthymius to make many Bishops more in his Diocess over small places yea it seemeth some places were so small as that they never before had any Pastors at all as appeareth by Gregory Nazianzene Epist 28. IX Theodoret tells us lib. 4. cap. 20. Hist Eccles that even in the great Alexandria the Presbyters and Deacons were all but nineteen when Lucius came to banish them to Heliopolis a City of Phoenicia which City had not one Christian in it By which it appeareth that even then under Christian Emperors Christianity was not received by the multitude when some Cities had not a Christian X. Theodor. ib. l. 4. c. 16. saith that when Eulogius and Protogenes the Presbyters of Edessa were banished to Antionone in Thebais they found the most of the people Heathens and but few of the Church yet had that little number a Bishop of their own XI Id. l. 4. c. 20. In Peter Bishop of Alexandria's Epistle wherein he sheweth such actions then done by the Soldiers in scorn of the Godly proclaiming Turpitude not to be named under the name of scornful Preaching as have been done by others lately among us it 's said of Lucius Qui partes lupi nequitia improbe factis agere impense studebat quique Episcopatum non consensu Episcoporum Oâ—thodoxorum in unum convenientium non suffragiis vere Clericorum non postulatione Populi ut sacri Ecclesiae Canones praescribunt So that great Patriarch himself was chosen Postulatione Populi as shewing the custom of all the Churches which beginning when the people were but one Congregation continued as it could in some degree when they came like a Presbyterian Church for even then it was no otherwise to have many Congregations XII Id. c 22. saith that Valens found the Orthodox even in the great Patriarchal City of Antioch in possession but of one Church which good Jevinian the Emperor had given them of which he dispossessed them And when they met afterwards to worship God at a Hill near the City Valens sent to disturb them thence And Cap. 23. Flavianus and Diodorus Presbyters Meletius the Bishop being banished led them to a River side where they congregated till they were thence also driven by the Emperor And Flavianus when he could not preach collected Mâ—tter Reasons and holy Sentences as Sermon-Notes for others to preach in the Gyâ—nasâ—â—â— Bellicum where they resolved to meet whatever came on it Then Aphraates a Monk taught them and when Valens told him that Monks must pray in private and not preach in publick Aphraates told the Emperor that he had set the House of God our Father on fire and troubled the Church and therefore he was called to its publick help to shew how far they obeyed a silencing Emperor By all which it appeareth that even then the Orthodox Patriarchal Church of Antioch was but one Assembly which met in one only place at once XIII Id. l. 4. c. 29. When Terenâ—ius the Emperor's victorious General being Orthodox was bid by the Emperor to ask what he would of him as a Reward he asked but One Church for the Orthodox and was denied it which intimateth their numbers XIV Dolicha where Eusebius made Maris Bishop was parvum Oppidum a little Town and infected with Arianism where an Arian Woman killed Eusebius with a Tile when he went to ordain Maris Bishop Theodor. lib. 5. cap. 4. XV. Euseb Eccles Hist l. 5. c. 16. tells us that Apollonius saith of Alexander a Montanist Bishop that the Congregation whereof he was Pastor because he was a Thief would not admit him By which it appeareth that his Church was but one Congregation And l. 7. c. 29. The Synod of Antioch say of Dionysius Alexandr that he wrote not to the person of Paulus Samosatenus but to the whole Congregation that is his Church And they say He licensed the Bishops and Ministers of the adjoyning Villages and Cities to preach to the People Which sheweth what Dioceses and Churches then were XVI Socrates l. 1. c. 8. tells us that Spiridion was at the same time a Bishop and a Shepherd And whether his Parish was one Church or many hundred you may easily judge when so holy a Man could spare time all the Week to keep his sheep XVII When Constans the Emperor affrighted Constantius to restore Athanasius Constantius craved of Athanasius that the Arrians in Alexandria might have one Church to themselves Athanasius told him It was in his power to command and execute but craved also a request of him which was that in all Cities there might also be one Church granted for them that communicated not with the Arrians But the Eastern Arrian Bishops hearing that put off the decision of both the Requests By which a willing person may conjecture at the quantity of the Episcopal Churches in those times XVIII Even in Ambrose's days the great Church of Milan was no greater than could meet in one Temple to chuse a Bishop And Ambrose was chosen by them Socrat. l. 4. c. 25. And Baronius in Vita Ambrosii ex Paulino saith pag. 9. Quod solitus erat circa Baptizandos solus implere quinque postea Episcopi tempore quo decessit vix implerent What then was all the rest of his work and how many Churches could he thus oversee And the Arrians for whom the Emperor made all that stir with Ambrose were so few in Milan that when the Emperor would have had one Church for them and could not get it by fair means or force Ambrose thus jesteth at the Empress and the Arrian Gothes Quibus ut olim plaustrum sedes erat it a nunc plaustrum Ecclesia est Quocunque foemina illa processerit secum
arbitrabatur And cap. 25. Cum ipso semper Clerici una etiam domo mensa sumptibusque communibus alebantur vestiebantur Yea he ordered just how many Cups in a day his Clergy-men with him should drink and if any sware an Oath he lost one of his Cups Through God's Mercy sober Godly Ministers now need no such Law By this it evidently appeareth that the Church which he and his Presbyters ruled was not many hundred but one Congregation or City-Church There being no mention of any Country Presbyters that he had elsewhere as far as I remember And when Augustine was dying the People with one consent accepted of his choice of Eradius to be his Successor Epist 110. pag. 195. To recite all that is in Austin's Works intimating these Church-limits would be tedious XX Epiphanius's Testimony I have before mentioned as produced by Petavius that there were few Cities if any besides Alexandria in those Countries that had more than one Congregation and particularly none of his own And Doctor Hammond trusteth to him and Irenaeus to prove that the Apostles setled single Bishops in single Congregations in many places without any Sub-Presbyters XXI Socrates l. 5. c. 21. saith The Church of Antioch in Syria is situate contrary to other Churches for the Altar stands not to the East but to the West Which Speech implieth that besides Chappels if any there was but one Church that was notable in Antioch while he calleth it The Church at Antioch without distinction from any other there XXII Socrates l. 7. c. 3. tells us a notable story of Theodosius Bishop of Synada who went to Constantinople for Power to persecute Agapetus the Macedonian Bishop in that City But while he was absent Agapetus turned Orthodox and his Church and the Orthodox Church joyned together and made Agapetus Bishop and excluded Theodosius who made his Complaint of it to Atticus the Patriarch of Constantinople a wise and peaceable Man who desired Theodosius to live quietly in private because it was for the Churches good May such causes oft have such decisions and Lordly troublesome Prelates such success By which story you may guess how many Congregations both Parties made in Synada XXIII Socrates l. 7. c. 26. tells us that Sisinnius was chosen Bishop of Constantinople by the Laity against the Clergy And cap. 28. Sisinnius sent Proclus to be Bishop of Cyziâ—um but the People chose Dalmatius and refused him And this custom of the People's Choice must needs rise at first from hence that the whole Church being but one Congregation was present For what Right can any one Church in a Diocess have to chuse a Bishop for all the rest any more than the many hundred that are far off and uncapable to chuse XXIV Sozomen's Testimony even so late is very observable lib. 7. cap. 15. who mentioning the differences of the East and West about Easter and inferring that the Churches should not break Communion for such Customs saith Frivolum enim merito quidem judicarunt consuetudinis gratia a se mutuo segregari eos qui in praecipuis Religionis capitibus consentirent Neque enim easdem traditiones per omnia similes in omnibus Ecclesiis quamvis inter se consentientes reperire posses And he instanceth in this Etenim per Scythiam cum sint Civitates multae unum dâ—ntaxat hae omnes Episcopum habent I told you the reason of this Rarity before Apud alias vero nationes reperias ubi Pagis Episcopi ordinantur Sicut apud Arabes Cyprios ego comperi He speaketh of his own knowledge No wonder then if Epiphanius be to be interpreted as Petavius doth when in Cyprus not only the Cities had but one Church but also the Villages had Bishops To these he addeth the Novatians and the Phrygian Montanists And let none think their instances inconsiderable For the Montanists were for high Prelacy even for Patriarchs as in Tertullian appeareth And the Novatians were for Bishops and had many very Godly Bishops and were tolerated by the Emperors even in Constantinople as good People and Orthodox in the Faith And Novatus was martyred in Valerian's Persecution as Socrates l. 4. c. 23. saith XXV Even Clemens Roman or whoever he was that wrote in his name Epist 3. sheweth that Teaching the People is the Bishop's Office and concludeth in Crab p. 45. Audire Episcopum attentius oportet ab ipso suscipere doctrinam fidei Monita autem vitae a Presbyteris inquire a Diaconis vero ordinem Disciplinae By which Partition of Offices it is evident that the Bishop only and not the Presbyters then used to preach to the Church and that the Presbyters though ejusdem ordinis and not Lay-Elders used to instruct the People personally and give them Monita vitae and that they were all in one Church together and not in several distant Churches XXVI Paul himself telleth us that Cenchrea had a Church and the Scripture saith They ordained Elders in every Church And though Downame without any proof obtrude upon us that it was under the Bishop of Corinth and had a Presbyter of his to teach them yet of what Authority soever in other respects the Constitutions called Clements or the Apostles be they are of more than his in this where lib. 7. cap. 46. in that old Liturgy Lucius is said to be Bishop of Cenchrea ordained by the Apostles XXVII Gennadius de viris illustr l. 1. c. 10. saith that Asclepius was Vici non grandis Episcopus Bishop of a Village not great XXVIII Saith Cartwright Four or five of the Towns which were Seats of the Bishops of the Concil Carthag which Cyprian mentioneth are so inconsiderable that they are not found in the Geographical Tables XXIX And faith Altare Damascen p. 294. Oppidum trium Tabernarum Velitris vicinum was a Bishop's Seat for all the nearness and smallness of the Towns And Gregor lib. 2. Epist 35. laid the Relicts of the wasted Church to the Bishoprick of Veliterno Castrum Lumanum had a Bishop till Gregory joyned it to Benevatus Bishop of Micenas and so had many Castra ordinarily Remigius did appoint a Bishop within his own Diocess when he found that the number of persons needed it Viz. apud Laudunum clavatum Castrum suae Dioeceseos Of Spiridion the Bishop of Trimithantis I spake before XXX Theoph. Alexand. Epist Pasch 3. in Bibl. Pat. To. 3. concludeth thus Pro defunctis Episcopis in locis singulorum constituti In urbe Nichio pro Theopempto Theodosius In Terenuthide Aisinthius In oppido Geras pro Eudaemone Pirozus In Achaeis pro Apolline Musaeus In Athrivide pro Isidoro Athanasius In Cleopatride Offellus In Oppido Lato pro Timotheo Apelles And the nearness and smallness of some of these sheweth the Dioceses small The same Theoph. Alex. saith Epist Canon Can. 6. De iis qui ordinandi sunt haec erit forma ut quicquid est Sacerdotalis ordinis consentiat eligat tunc Episcopus examinet
than one or two Churches 6. And what was the cause of this one or two like to touch the Bishops of the other Churches And what Cognisance was all Achaia like to have of the cause of one or two distant persons so as for them to rise up against their own Bishops 7. If it was not all nor many Pastors that were thus turned out as Clemens words import why should all Achaia be called seditious and blamed for it 8. Doth not the common Law of Charity and Justice forbid us to extend those words of reproof to a whole Province which cannot be proved to extend farther than to a single Church and principally toucht but one or two 9. I have before proved that Paul by the Saints at Corinth meaneth but one Church Therefore it 's like that Clemens doth so too 10. The Bishops and Deacons that Clemens speaketh of were set up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cum consensu totius Ecclesiae or as the Dr. will needs have it applaudente aut congratulante tota Ecclesia indeed with the good liking Pleasure or Approbation of the whole Church And shall we be perswaded that all the Cities and Countrey of Achaia were that whole Church which approved or consented to these particular Pastors that were put out Or that had Cognisance of them or acquaintance with them 11. He expresly saith pag. 62. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Church of Corinth for the sake of one or two moved Sedition against the Presbyters And why doth he never say it was the Church of Achaia 12. p. 63. He supposeth the Person Emulating to be a Believer of power in explaining Doctrine wise in judging of Speeches c. And would have the concern'd Person say p. 69. If the Sedition be for me and the Contention and Schisms I will remove I will be gone wither you will and will do what the People pre-determine of or command only let the Flock of Christ with the Presbyters set over them live in peace And is it like that the Flock that this Person must say so to was all Achaia 13. And p. 73. He requireth those that begun the Sedition to be obediently Subject to the Presbyters and not to their Bishop onely And is it like to be the Bishops of other Churches through all Achaia that this one or two is required to Obey and be in Subjection to I have given my Reasons to prove that these Presbyters were in the One Church of Corinth Compare his if you can find them to the contrary and Judge Impartially as you see cause Cap. 8. Hath nothing that concerneth us but the recitall of his grand Concession lest we should think that in Clemens days the great Bishop of Corinth or any in Achaia had any more Church-assemblies than one to whom he could do all the Pastoral Offices himself he thus concludeth § 9. Indeed mention is found only of Bishops with Deacons constituted in each City sometimes under the Title of Bishops sometimes of Presbyters there being no token or foot-step at all appearing of such as we now call Presbyters c. To which I wholly agree though not that there was but one Presbyter in Corinth Cap. 9. He is offended much with Blondel for reproaching Hermas and yet using his Testimony As if a Hereticks or an Infidels Testimony might not be used in point of History And § 14. he again cometh to his supposition of Bishops without Subject Presbyters as if it served his turn more than ours Cap. 10. About Pius words hath nothing that I find the cause concerned in Cap. 11. Is of little moment to us both parties have little that is cogent but velitations about dubious words Cap. 12. Is but about the sense of the word applyed to Ireneuâ— which Dr. H. taketh here and by many after to mean a Bishop and wonders that Blondel pleadeth for a parity of order from a common Name But it is not so much without reason as he maketh it For if Bishops and Presbyters were in the first times called by one Name and the highest Person in the Church then was ordinarily known by the name Presbyter and the appropriating of Bishop to one sort and Presbyter to another came afterwards in by such insensible degrees that no man can tell when it was it sounds very probable that it was the true Episcopal Power or the same Office and Order that was first commonly possessed by them to whom the name was Common And so much of Dr. Hammond's Dissertations wherein I must desire the Reader to note 1. That I meddle not with other mens Causes nor particularly with the question Whether one man in each Church had of old a guiding superiority over the rest of the Presbyters Nor yet whether the Apostles had such successors in the General care of many Churches such as Visiters or Arch-Bishops but only 1. Whether every Presbyter were not Essentially a Bishop or Governour of the Flock having the power of Keys as they call it in foro interiore exteriore both for resolving Consciences and for Church-order 2. Whether every particular Church which ordinarily communicated together in the Lords Supper and had unum Altare had not one or more such Bishops 3. Whether it was not a sinful corrupting change to bring in another Species of Presbyters and so to depose all the particular Churches and Bishops and set up a Dioâ—esane Bishop inâ—â—â—is ordinis with half Churches and half-Priests under him in their stead 2. And note That as it concerned me not to speak to all that the Doctor hath said so I have carefully chosen out all that I thought pertinent and of a seeming weight as to the cause which I mannage and have past by nothing in the whole Book which I thought an understanding Reader needeth an answer to There is yet the same Authors Vindication of his Dissertations to be considered But I find nothing new in them to be answered by me nor that I am concerned for the Cause in hand any further than to give you these few Observations 1. That again p. 5. he saith That by observing the paucity of Believers in many Cities in the first Plantations which made it unnecessary that there should by the Apostles be ordained any more than a Bishop and Deacon one or more in each City and that this was accordingly done by them at the first is approved by the most undenyable ancient Records 2. That p. 7. he again well averreth that the Jewish and Gentile Congregations occasioned several Churches and Bishops in the same Cities And p. 14. 15. That Timothy was placed by Paul Bishop of the Gentiles at Ephesus and S. John and another after him Bishop of the Jews Pag. 16. He thinketh that Timothy was Bishop of Ephesus or Angel when Rev. 2. was wrote Pag. 17. From Epiphanius he reckoneth above 50 years from the Revelation of John Rev. 2. to the writing of Ignatius's Epistles By which we may Calculate the time when the
for Chronology and History A few leaves of whose over-large Collections Dr. Hammond hath Answered as you have heard and given his reason for going no further because Blond extendeth the Ministerial Parity but to 140. But to us it is not so inconsiderable to see by what degres the Prelacy rose and to see it proved so copiously that even in after Ages the species extent and of Churches and the Order or Species of Presbyters were not altered notwithstanding accidental alterations And therefore I shall undertake to bring proofenough of what I now plead for from times much lower than 140 such as I think the impartal will rest satisfied in though interest and preconceived Idea's are seldom satisfied or conqueredly a Confutation CHAP. VI. That it is not of Gods institution nor is pleasing to him that there be no Churches and Bishops but in Cities or that a City with its territories or Country adjacent be the bounds of each Church SOme late most esteemed defenders of Diocesanes especially Dr. Hammond lay so great a stress upon the supposition that the Apostles setled the Churches in the Metropolitane and Diocesane order and that they did partly in imitation of the Jewish policy and partly as a thing necessary by the nature of the thing that even in Heathen Kingdomes when Churches are gathered in any Cities they must have a difference of Church power over each other as they find the Cities to have a civil power as you heard before from Dr. H. that I think it meet here breifly to prove 1. That it was not of the Apostles purpose to have Churches and Bishops placed only in Cities and not in Villages 2. Nor that Church power should thus follow the civil 3. Nor that a City with its territories should be the measure of the habitation of each Churches members The licet in some cases I deny not but the oportet is the question yea and the licet in other cases The two first are proved together by these reasons following 1. Christ himself our grand examplar did not only preach and convert Christians in Cities but in Country villages where he held assemblies and preacht and prayed yea in mountains and in Ships And though he planted no particular Churches with fixed Bishops there yet that was because he did so no where He performed all offices in the Country which he did in the Cities except that which was appropriated to Jerusalem by the Law and the institution of his last supper which could be done but in one place 2. There is no Law of God direct or indirect which maketh it a duty to settle Churches and Bishops in Cities only and forbiddeth the setling them in Country villages This is most evident to him that will search the Scripture and but try the pretended proofs of the late Prelatists for the vanity of their pretensions will easily appear They have not so fair a pretense in the New Testament for asserting such a Law as the Pop hath for his supermacy in Peter feed my sheep And where there is no Law there is no obligation on us unto duty and no sin in omission If they say that the Apostles did plant Churches only in Cities comprehending their territories I answer 1. They prove that they planted them in Cities but the silence of the Scriptures proveth not the Negative that they planted none in Villages 2. Nor have they a word of proof that each Church contained all Christians in the Cities with all the interjacent Villages 3. Much less that they must contain all such when all the Countries were converted and the Christians were enow for many Churches 4. Nor can they ever prove that the Apostles planting Churches only in Cities was intended as a Law to restrain men from planting them any where else Any more than their not converting the Villages or the generality of the Cities will prove that they must not be converted by any other Or than that their setting up no Christian Magistrates or converting no Princes will prove that there must be no such thing Whoever extended the obligation of Apostolical example to such Negatives as to do nothing which they did not 5. The reason is most apparent why they preached first in Cities because there is no such fishing as in the Sea They had there the frequentest fullest audirories And so they planted their first Churches there because they had most converts there And it is known that Judea a barren mountainous Coutrey of it self had been so harressed with Wars that there was little safety and quiet expected in Countrey Villages and the Roman Empire had been free from the same plague by such short intervals that as many people as could got into the Cities for all that know by experience what War is do know the misery of poor Country people who are at every wicked Soldiers mercy It was therefore among poor scattered labourers a hard thing to get a considerable auditory which maketh Mr. Eliots and his helpers work go on so heavily among the scattered Americans who have no Cities or great Towns because they can rarely speak to any considerable numbers Now to gather from hence either that Villages must have no Churches or no Bishops is an impiety next to a concluding that they must not be assembled taught or worship God 3. The reasons are vain and null which are pretended for such a modelling of Churches to the form of the civil Government and thus confining them to Cities For 1. There is no need that one Bishop be the Governour of another at all 2. And therefore no need that the Bishop of a Metropolis govern the Bishop of a lesser City or he the Bishop of a Village 1. God hath not given one Bishop power over another as meer Bishops As Cyprian saith in his Carth. Council none of us are Bishops of Bishops but Colleagues Dr. Hammond himself saith that the Bishops are the Apostles Successors and the Apostles were equal in power and Independent Annot. in 1 Tim. 3. c. p 732. Jesus Christ dispensing them all the particular Churches of the whole world by himself and administring them severally not by any one Oeconomus but by the several Bishops as inferiour heads of unity to the severalbodies so constituted by the several Apostles in their plantations each of them having 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a several distinct commission from Christ immediately and subordinate to none but the supreme donor or plenipotentiary Indeed if it be not Bishops but Archbishops or Bishops of Bishops which are the Apostles Successors in order over the Bishops as they are supposed to be over the Priests then such an order of Arch-Bishops is of divine right But not as Metropolitanes or for the Cities sake but as general Officers to take care of many Churches succeeding the Apostles 2. And that Apostolical succession is not the foundation of the Metropolitan or City power is plain 1. Because if the Bishop or Arch-Bishop be the immediate successors of
may end a Church by Wood and stone though the Country still have never so many Christians and when the City is gone the Church is gone 10. Yea it will be in the power of every king even of Heathens whether Christ shall have any Church or Bishop in his kingdoms or not Because he can un-city or dispriviledge all the Cities in his kingdom at his pleasure and consequently unchurch all the Churches 11. And by their way Christ hath setled as various Church forms as there be forms of Government in the world For all Dominions are not divided into Provinces under Prisidents c as the Roman Empire was In many Countries the Metropolis hath no superiority over the other City or the Country and so that will be of divine institution in one Country which will be a sin in others 12. Yea by this Rule many vast Countries must have no Bishops or Churches at all because they have no Cities as is known among the Americans and others must have but one Church and Bishop in a whole Country of many hundred Miles 13. And by their Rule all the Bishops of England are unbishoped and their Diocesan Churches are unchurched For 1. Some of them in Wales and Man have no Cities now called such 2. Others of them have many Cities not only Coventry and Lichfield Bath and Wells now called Cities but abundance of Corporations really Cities 3. And the Cities in England Scotland and Ireland have no Civil Government over all the Countries Corporations Villages of the Diocefe at all nor are they Seats of Presidents or Lieutenants that have such Rule so that our Dioceses are not modelled to the form of the Civil Government What subjection doth Hartfordshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire c. owe to the Town of Lincolne 14. By their model it is not Bishops and Metropolitans alone that are of divine right For if the Church Government must be modelled to the Civill the Imperial Churches must have had Officers to answer all the Proconsuls and Presects the Lieutenants the Vicars the Consular Presidents the Corrâ—ctors c. For who can prove that one sort or two oaly must by imitated and not others 15. They must by their rule set up in England an inconsistent or self destroying form For in many if not most Counties our Lord Lieutenants Deputy Lieutenants and Sherifs and most Justices dwell in Countrey mannors and Villages and not in Cities And so either Cities must not be the Seats of Bishops and Churches or else the Seat of Civil Government must not be the Seat of the Ecclesiastical If they say that Assizes and Sessions are kept in the County Towns I answer 1. So Church assemblies called Synods or Councils may be held in them and yet not be the Bishops Seat For they are not the Judges or Justices Seat because of Assizes and quarterly Sessions 2. The observation is not universally true Yea no Assizes or Sessions at all are therefore held in any Town because it is the County Town but because it is the convenientest place for meeting The choice of which is left to the Judges and Justices who sometimes choose the County-Town and sometimes another as they please As Bridgnorth in Shropshire Aleshury not Buckingham ordinarily in Buckinghamshire and so of others 3. And thâ—se County Towns are few of them either Cities or Bishops Seats As Buckingham Hartford Bedford Cambridge Huntington Warwick Darby Nottingham Sherwsbury Ipswich Colchester Lancaster Flint Denbigh Montgomery Merioneth Radnor Cardigan Carnarvon Pembrook Carmarthen Breeknock and divers others 16. This model of theirs is in most parts of the world or many quite contrary to the Interest of the Church and therefore forbidden by God in Nature and Scripture by that rule Let the end be preferred and the means which best serve it Let all things be done to edification For in most of the world the Rulers are enemies to Christianity and disposed to persecute the Pastors of the Church therefore they will least endure Ecclesiastical Courts and Bishops in their Imperial Cities and under their noses as we say Obj. The Romans did endure it Ans For all the ten persecutions the Romans gave ordinarily more liberty of Religion than most of the world doth at this day Bishops and Pastors are glad to keep out of the way of Infidel and Heathen Rulers And I think verily our most Zealous English Prelates would be loath if they had their language to go set up a Church and Bishops seat at Madrid Vienna Jngolsted yea at Florence Milan Ravenna Venice Lisbone Warsaw c. And if they must needs be in those Countries they would rather chose a more private and less offensive seat 17. I think that few Churches or Bishops in the world except the Italian if they are of the opinion now opposed by me The Greek Church is not For though for honor sake they retain the name of the ancient Seats yet they ordinarily dwell in Countrey Villages And so doth the Patriarck of Antioch himself often or at least Antioch is now no City of which he hath the name And Socrates and after him other Historians tell us that of old this practise varied as a thing indifferent in several Countries according to their several customes which had no Law of God for them and therefore were not accounted necessary 18. Our English Bishops have been for the most part of another mind till Dr. Hammond and others turned this way of late Not only Jeâ—el Bilson and many others have asserted that Patriarks Metropolitans and Primates and such like are of human right and mutable but few if any were found heretofore to contradict them And at this day many Bishops ordinarily dwell in their Country houses As the Bishop of Lincolne did at Bugden the Bishop of Coventree and Lichfield formerly at Eccleshall Castle the Bishop of Chester now at Wigan and so of others And I think that is the Bishops Seat where usually his dwelling is and not where a Lay-Chancellor keepes a Court or where a Dean and Chapter dwell who are no Bishops 19. There have as Dr. Hammond hath well proved been of old several Churches in one City one of Jews and one of Gentiles with their several Bishops and Clergy Therefore one City with its territories is not jure Divino the measure or boundaries of one only Church 20. If the Church Government must be modelled to the Civil then in every Monarchie or Empire there must be one Universal Pastor to rule all the rest as there is one King And in every Aristocracy there must be a Synod of Prelates in Church Supremacy and in every Democracy who or what But then the Papacy will be proved not only lawful but of Divine institution as the Head or Church Soveraign of the Roman Empire though not of all the world at Rome first and at Constantinople after And indeed I know no word of reason that can be given to draw an impartial man of Judgment to doubt
5. UPon the Review finding some considerable Evidences from Councils before omitted some shall be here added 1. The Roman Clergy called a Council at Rome Bin. pag. 158. c. saith that in the Interregnum they had the charge of the Universal Church and Cyprian wrote to them as the Governors of the Church of Rome when they had been a year or two without a Bishop And their Actions were not null 2. A Carthage Council with Cyprian condemn even a dead man called Victor because by his Will he left one Faustinus a Presbyter the Guardian of his Sons and so called him off his Sacred Work to mind Secular things Did this favour of Bishop's Secular Power Magistracy or Domination 3. How came the Carthage Councils to have so many hundreds in so narrow a room or space of Land but that every 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Corporation or big Town had a Bishop Anno 308. at a Carthage Council the very Donatists had two hundred and seventy Bishops And at Arles two hundred Bishops heard the Donatists Cause 4. The Laodicean Council decreed Can. 46. that the Baptized should learn the Creed and on Friday repeat it to the Bishops or Presbyters which implieth that a Bishop was present with every Church And Cap. 57. It is ordained that thenceforth Bishops should not be ordained in small Villages and Hamlets but Visiters should be appointed them But such Bishops as had heretofore been there ordained should do nothing without the Conscience of the City Bishop Which implieth 1. That every big Town had a Bishop 2. And Villages before 5. Epiphanius Haer. 68. pag. 717. c. saith That Peter separated from Meletius in the same room and as Meletius went to the Mines he made new Bishops and gathered new Churches so that in several Cities there were two Bishops and Churches Which implieth that they were Congregations for Personal Communion 6. The Nicene Council cap. 8. alloweth Rural Bishops then in use whom Petavius proveth to have been true Bishops 7. Greg. Nazianz. pag. 528. c. sheweth how Churches were enlarged and changed when the strife began between Mea Tua Antiqua Nova Nobilior Ignobilior Multitudine Opulentior aut Tenuior 8. After Lucifer Calaritanus ordained Paulinus Antioch had long two Bishops half being his Flock and half cleaving to Meletius 9. Nazianzen had in the great City of Constantinople but one of the small Churches the Arians having the greater till Theodosius gave him the greater And those Hearers he was Bishop over 10. A Council at Capua ordered that both the Bishops Flocks in Antioch under Evagrius and Flavian should live together in Love and Peace 11. Many Cities tolerated Novatian Bishops and Churches among them and oft many other Dissenters Which sheweth that but part of the City were one Church 12. The Council at Carthage called the last by Binius decreed that Reconciliation of Penitents as well as Chrisme and consecrating Virgins is to be done only by the Bishops except in great necessity For how many Parishes can a Bishop do all this and all the rest of his Office And when Christians were multiplied they that desired a Bishop where was none before might have one But else aliud Altare is again forbidden to be set up 13. Another Carthage Council decreeth Can. 15. That the Bishop have but vile or cheap Houshold-stuff and a poor Table and Diet and seek Authority or Dignity by his Faith and desert of Life Can. 19. That he contend not for transitory things though provoked Can. 23. That he hear no Cause but in the presence of his Presbyters else it shall be void that is sentenced without them unless confirmed by their presence Note this being a constant work required a constant presence and it is not a selected Chapter of Presbyters that is named And must those of many hundred Parishes dwell in the City or travel thither for daily Causes of Offenders c. Can. 28 30. Bishops unjust Sentence void and Judgment against the absent 14. A Council at Agathum Can. 3. saith If Bishops wrongfully excommunicate one any other Bishop shall receive him Which implieth that the wronged person lived within reach of a Neighbour Bishop's Parish For it doth not bind him to remove his Dwelling And leave to go daily twenty or forty Miles to Church is a small kindness And I have already cited Can. 63. If any Citizens on the great Solemnities Easter the Lord's Nativity or Whitsuntide shall neglect to meet where the Bishops are seeing they are set in the Cities for Benediction and Communion let them for three Years be deprived of the Communion of the Church So that even when Churches were enlarged yet you see how great a part of them met in one place 15. Divers Canons give the Bishop a third or fourth part of all the Church Profits And if those Churches had been as big as our Dioceses it would have been too much of all Conscience 16. A Synod at Carpentoracte decreed that the Bishop of the City shall not take all the Country Parish Maintenance to himself Which implieth as the former that his Country Parish was small 17. A Council at Orleance Anno 540. decree Can. 3. about ordaining a Bishop that Qui praeponendus est omnibus ab omnibus eligatur The Dioceses yet were not so large but that All met to chuse 18. So Concil Byzazen saith it must be By the Election of all 19. Another at Orleance Anno 545. saith No Citizen must celebrate Easter out of the City because they must keep the principal Festivities in the presence of the Bishop where the holy Assembly must be kept But if any have a necessity to go abroad let him ask leave of the Bishop Here is but one City Assembly and Individuals must be known to the Bishop and ask his leave to go abroad And Can. 5. saith A Bishop must be ordained in his own Church which he is to oversee Which implieth that he had but one Church and Country Chappels 20. Another Orleance Council hath the like deposing all Bishops that come not in by common consent And requiring them both in their Cities and Territories to relieve the Poor from the Church-House Let us have such Dioceses as the Bishop can do this for and we consent 21. A Synod at Paris Can. 8. says Let no Man be ordained a Bishop against the Will of the Citizens nor any but whom the Election of the People and Clerks shall seek with plenary Will None shall be put in by the Command of the Prince c. 22. King Clodoveus called a Synod at Cabilone which Can. 10. decreeth That all Ordination of Bishops be null that was otherwise made than by the Election of the Comprovincials the Clerks and the Citizens 23. The Const Trul. Can. 38. sheweth how the unhappy changes were made decreeing That whatever alteration the Imperial Power shall make on any City the Ecclesiastical Order shall follow it And so if the
Bishops and distinct from Cathedrals that they could not be there buried before they were built and in Being which saith Selden began in England seven hundred years after Christ here one and there one as a Patron erected it Selden of Tythes pag. 267. Yea in seven hundred he findeth but one of Earl Puch in Beda and in Anno 800. divers appropriate to Crowland and so after And it was the Character of a Parish Church to have Baptisterium Sepulturam pag. 262. So that before a Bishop's Church however called had but one place that had Baptisterium Sepulturam Yea long after that Parishes had very few Members in most places so long was it e'er the People were brought to Christianity And they were then as our Bishops make them now not proper Churches but Chappels of Ease Selden ibid. pag. 267. tells you that Ralph Nevil Bishop of Chichester and Chancellor of England requested of the King that the Church of Saint Peter in Chichester might be pulled down and laid to another Parish because it was poor having but two Parishioners Sure it was never built for two Persons But it 's like many were Heathens Or if not so then in the Years 700 and 800 they were so Though Master Thomas Jones hath well proved that the Brittish Churches were far extended before Gregory sent Austine and that our Bishops and Religion are derived from them Even at Tours in France in the days of Saint Martin notwithstanding all his Miracles the Christians were not so many as the Heathens at least till one publick Miracle towards his later time convinced some CHAP. VI. The same further confirmed by the Ancients I. EUsebius Demonstrat Evangel pag. 138. saith When he considered the Power of Christ's Word how it perswaded innumerable Congregations of Men and by those Ignoble and Rustick Disciples of Jesus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 numerosissimae Ecclesiae were constituted not in certain unknown and obscure places but erected in the most famous Cities Rome Alexandria and Antioch through all Egypt and Lycia through Europe and Asia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Villages and Countries or Regions and all sorts of Nations By this it appeareth that Villages had Churches then II. Though of later date consider the History of Patrick's Plantation of Churches in Ireland who is said himself in his own time to have three hundred sixty five Churches and as many Bishops and three thousand Presbyters as Ninius reporteth Not only Thorndike taketh notice of this but a better Author Usher de Eccles Brit. Primord pa. 950. And Selden in his Comment on Eutychius Origines Alex. pag. 86. from Antoninus and Vincentius thus mentioneth it Certe tantum in orbe terrarum tunc temporis Episcoporum segetem mirari forsan desinet quisquis crediderit quod de B. Patricio Hibernensi Antoninus Vincentius tradunt Eum scilicet solum Ecclesias fundasse 365. totidemque Episcopos ordinasse praeter Presbyterorum 3000. Qua de re consulas plura apud praestantissimum virum Jacobum Usserium c. So that here was to every Church a Bishop and near ten Presbyters No Man will doubt but the Bishops themselves were taken out of the better sort of the Laity and the Presbyters of the second sort and all below many private Christians now among us And were there three hundred sixty five Cities think you in Ireland Yea or Corporations either It 's easie to conjecture what Churches these were III. All History Fathers and Councils consent that every City was to have a Bishop and Presbytery to govern and teach the Christians of that City and the Country people near it which is but a Parish or Presbyterian Church For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth in the old common use any big Town yea little Towns that were distinct from Country Farms and scattering Villages so that all our Corporations and Market Towns are Oppida and such Cities as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signified Therefore even by this Rule we should have a Bishop to every such Town 1. Crete was called Hecatompolis as having an hundred Cities as Homer saith it had And what kind of Cities were those Which were to have an hundred Churches and Bishops in a small Island 2. Theocritus Idyl 13. de laudibus Ptolem. vers 82. saith that he had under his Government thirty three thousand three hundred and thirty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cities And if so they must be as small as our Boroughs if not some Villages certainly he had not above twice the number of Cities eminently so called that Stephanus Byzantinus could find in the whole World in his Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 3. He that will peruse and compare the Texts in the New Testament that use the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above sixscore times and see Grotius on Luk. 7. 11. c. shall soon see that the word is there used for such Towns as I am mentioning if not less IV. Sozomen lib. 5. cap. 3. tells us that Majuma which was Navale Gazae being as part of its Suburbs or the adjoyning part but twenty Stadia distant was because it had many Christians honoured by Constantine with the name of a City and had a Bishop of their own And Julian in malice took from them the honour of being a City but they kept their Bishop for all that It had the same Magistrate with Gaza and the same Military Governors and the same Republick but was diversified only by their Church-State For saith he each had their own Bishop and their own Clergy and the Altars belonging to each Bishoprick were distinct And therefore afterward the Bishop of Gaza laboured to subject the Clergy of Majuma to himself saying that it was unmeet that one City should have two Bishops But a Council called for that purpose did confirm the Church-Right of Majuma V. Gregory Neocaesariensis called Thaumaturgus was by force made Bishop of that City where all the Christians were but seventeen at his Ordination such was the Bishop's Church And when he had preached and done Miracles there till his Persecution there is no mention of any Presbyter he had with him but of his Deacon Musonius that fled with him Though when he died he left but seventeen unconverted And when he had converted some at Comana a small Town near him he did not set a Presbyter over it and make it part of his own Diocess but appointed Alexander the Collier to be their Bishop and that over a Church who were no more than met and debated the Case of his Election and Reception See Greg. Nyssen in Orat. in Greg. Thaumat Basil de Spirit Sancto cap. 19. Breviar Roman die 15 Novemb. Menolog Graec. VI. Concil Nic. Oecum 1. Can. 13. decreeth that every one that before death desireth the Sacrament was to have it from the Bishop One Ed. in Crab saith Generaliter omni cuilibet in exitu posito poscenti sibi Communionis gratiam tribui Episcopus
may add as to the former Evidences To. 5. Serm. 52. pag. 705. when he had shewed that in the Church there must be no division he expoundeth it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui seipsum ab hoc conventu sejunxerit So that the Assembly was the Church and not a thousandth part of the Church only See more of the Churches feasting together in Baronius ad an 57. pag. ed. Plant. 543. to spare me more labour about this VI. Another Evidence of the Limits of the ancient Churches is that which I oft mentioned in the particular Testimonies that every where all the People either chose or expresly consented to their Bishops and they were ordained over them in their sight And this no more could do than could meet in one place and one part of a Church hath no more right to it than all the rest The Consequence is evident And for them that say that it was only the Parishioners of the Cathedral Church that voted I answer Now Cathedrals have no Parishes and heretofore the Cathedral Parish was the whole Church The Testimonies fully prove that it was All the Church or People that were the Bishop's Flock And for some hundreds of Years there were no Parishes in his Diocess but one and therefore no such distinction Pamelius's heap of Testimonies and many more for the matter of fact I have already cited And however some talk now to justifie the contrary course of our times it is so clear and full in Antiquity that the People chose their Bishops at first principally and after secondarily after the Clergy having a Negative Voice with them and their Consent and Testimony ever necessary even for eight hundred Years at least that it would be a needless thing to cite any more Testimonies of it to any versed in the Ancients Papists and Protestants are agreed de facto that so it was See Cyprian lib. 4. Epist 2. of Cornelius lib. 1. Epist 2. of Sabinus and lib. 1. Epist 4. Euseb Hist lib. 6. cap. 29. tells us that Fabian by the People was chosen to succeed Anterus And Cyprian saith it was Traditione Apostolica vid. Socrat. lib. 4. cap. 14. lib. 2. cap. 6. lib. 7. cap. 35. Sozomen lib. 6. cap. 24. lib. 8. cap. 2. of Chrysostom lib. 6. cap. 13. vid. Augustin Epist 110. Theodoret Hist lib. 1. cap. 9. in Epist Concil Nicaeni ad Alexandr The Bloodshed at the Choice of Damasus was one of the first occasions of laying by that custom at Rome And yet though they met not so tumultuously they must consent Leo's Testimony I gave you before with many more Theodor. lib. 5. cap. 9. of Nectarius sheweth that Bishops were then chosen Plebe praesente universa fraternitate as Cyprian speaketh of Sabinus So the Concil Parisien even an 559. But for more plentiful proof of this see M. A. Spalatens de Rep. Eccles lib. 1. cap. 22. n. 10. lib 6. cap. 7. lib. 3. cap. 3 n. 12. c. Blondel de Jure plebis more copiously and de Epis Presbyt Bilson perpet Govern cap. 15. lib. of Christian Subjection oft And it is to be noted that when the People's Confusion had made them seem uncapable any longer to chuse 1. This was long of the Prelates themselves who by that time had so far enlarged their Churches that the People were neither capable of doing their ancient Work and Duty nor yet of being ruled by the Clergy aright 2. And when the People were restrained from the Choice by Meetings and Vote the Magistrates in their stead did undertake the Power 3. And when it fell out of the People's hands into Great Mens the Proud and Covetous who could best seek and make Friends did get the Bishopricks whereupon the Churches were presently changed corrupted and undone 4. And the sense of this moved the few good Bishops that were left to make Canons against this Power and Choice of Princes and great Men decreeing that all Bishops obtruded by them on the Churches should be as none but be avoided and all avoided that did not avoid them And the Roman and Patriarchal party cunningly joyned with these honest Reformers to get the Choice out of the Magistrate's hands that they might get it into their own and so Christ's Church was abused among ambitious Usurpers The Decrees against Magistrates Choice of Bishops you may see Can. Apost 31. Decret 17. q. 7. c. siquis Episc Sept. Synod c. 3. Decret 16. q. 7. Oct. Synod c. 12. Act. 1. c. 22. Decret 16. q. 7. Nicol. 1. Epist 10. Epist 64. with more which you may find cited by Spalatens lib. 6. cap. 7. pag. 675 676 677. And it is to be noted that though still the Clergy had a Negative or first Choice yet when they procured Charles the Great who was to rise by the Papal help to resign and renounce the Magistrates Election he restored the Church to its Ancient Liberties as far as enlarged Dioceses and ambitious Clergy-men would permit it His words are these Sacrorum Canonum non ignari ut in Dei nomine Sancta Ecclesia suo liberius potiretur honore assensum ordini Ecclesiastico praebuimus ut scilicet Episcopi per Electionem CLERI POPULI secundum statuta Canonum de PROPRIA DIOECESI remota personarum munerum acceptione ob vitae meritum sapientiae donum eligantur ut exemplo verbis sibi subjectis usquequaque prodesse valeant Vid. Baron To. 11. n. 26. Decret Dist 63. c Sacrorum Where note that 1. he includeth the People of the whole Diocess 2. And doth this as according to the sacred Canons So that for Men to dream that only the Parishioners of a Cathedral Church which had no proper Parish or the Citizens only were to chuse is to feign that which is contrary to notorious Evidence of Law and Fact as well as of the reason of the thing For where all are the Bishops Flock and chuse as his Flock there all the Flock must chuse and a parcel can claim no privilege above all the rest VII The next Evidence is this In the first Age it is very fairly proved by Doctor Hammond that there were by the Apostles more Bishops and Churches than one in many Cities themselves And if one City had more than one Church and Bishop then much more many distant places in Towns and Countries That one City had more than one he sheweth by the distinction of Jews and Gentiles Churches As Peter was appointed chiefly for the Jews and Paul chiefly for the Gentiles so he sheweth it very probable that at Rome Antioch and other places they had several Churches And thus he reconcileth the great differences about Linus Clemens and Cletus or Anacletus And especially on this reason that they had not the same Language And indeed when in great Cities there are Christians of divers Languages it is necessary that they be of divers Congregations