OF THE SUBJECT OF Church-Power In whom it Resides It s Force Extent and Execution that it Opposes not Civil Government in any one Instance of it Nec sic tamen quamvis novissimis temporibus in Ecclesia Dei aut Evangelicus nigor cecidit aut Christianae virtutis aut fidei robur elanguit ut non supersit portio Sacerdotum quae minimè ad has rerum ruinas aut fidei Naufragia succumbat sed fortis habilis honorem divinae Majestatis Sacerdotalem dignitatem plenâ timoris observatione tucatur Cypr. Ep. 68. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodos Imperator apud Theodoritum Eccles Hist lib. 5. cap. 18. By SIMON LOWTH Vicar of Cosmus Blene in the Diocess of CANTERBVRY London Printed for Benj. Tooke at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1685. TO THE READER 'T IS now full two years and upward since that huge din and noise Pannick almost and universal has been in London and elsewhere occasioned by this Treatise and it has with a forcible hand by threats and awes from thence to this day been either with-held from or in the Press insomuch that thô actually conceived and come to the Birth there wanted strength to bring forth my purpose is not to make much Apology in its behalf it comes abroad of Age natus cum barbâ as the Jews say of Esau after a course of Studies upon full Thoughts and a thorow Consideration though hastened as thus digested by a Sermon I met with Preached by John Tillotson Doctor of Divinity and Dean of Canterbury and is to speak for it self and if upon a due perusal the usefulness and seasonableness of the Subject matter together with the integrity of the Collector and which is here professed will not avouch it what can or why should I say any more I am content to fall and shall submit I do not pretend to be the best Composer in the World or above the reach of an Aristarchus and so let the Hypercritical and over-nice pick a Quarrel with it if they please I hope the best and that as in those fears called Pannick and where the Jealousie and Passion is vehement and subitaneous so here the Grounds on which some have already excepted against it will appear rather assumed than real an effect only of the Imaginative faculty and which is many times dismal till by reason corrected 'T is that which St. Jerome urges and aggravates against John Bishop of Jerusalem in his Epistle ad Pammachium adversus errores Johannis Hierosolymitani that when accused of the Errors of Origen and Arius and was expected to have Purged himself he Preach'd only against the Anthropomorphites a certain sort of obscure ignorant Monks who out of a Rustick Simplicity believed God to have the Parts and Members of a Man accordingly as spoken sometimes in Scripture who influenced none and perished within themselves I may here safely conclude my self secure against such an impertinency and indiscretion the Adversary I now engage against is neither ignorant nor obscure his repute for Knowledge is the same as his Conspicuity and that is with Absolom and his Fathers Concubines on the House top in the sight of all Israel and the Sun has passed both Press and the Pulpit and is now in each almost Gentleman's Parlour and Tradesmens Shop and in the Mouths of all Men and he were to be wished to be less in our Divines Studies And after those hotter Controversies in these Western Parts of the Christian World As whether Church-Power be originally lodged in the Person of the Bishop of Rome or in all and each of the Bishops of Christendom or in each single Presbyter or as the less considerable in every Believer 't is now concluded to be purely Secular men roundly and making no Bones run away with it and no more than the Prince's Pleasure is to be enquired after nor are any Persons or Functions to be accounted Sacred in order to the things of Heaven but by his Separation or is there any visible Power on this side Heaven but by his collating Nor is the Subject trivial or inconsiderable and without influence upon Mankind 't is that Christ Jesus had a Power all Power in Heaven and Earth once given him of the Father for the bringing Souls to Heaven this very Power first in him after descended to his Apostles and from them to their Succession the Bishops and Pastors of the Church and is to remain in and with them and their Persons apart and separate from all other Power Government and Jurisdiction till the end cometh and this Kingdom is delivered up to the Father so long is it to be visible and in force under what frowns and oppositions soever thô the Kings of the Earth stand up and the Rulers take Council against it And this is all I here represent to the World and which not by any Publick Autority God be thanked the case is not so with us but by a set of Men has been thus opposed and who seem to be somewhat whatsoever they be it matters not to me I have always learn'd Obedience but 't is to them that are my Governors but who are these neither shall I give place by Subjection to them no not an hour so peculiar is my case in an Age of Liberty when the Statute for Printing is expired and the Government has not thought fit to re-enforce it when every Sect and Party Scribbles and Publishes and a Treatise purely and solely stating and defending our Religion established by Law is brow-beaten and a total Suppression is to the utmost endeavoured I know they say 't is not the subject in general but my Animadversions upon the two Deans Doctor Stillingfleet and Doctor Tillotson they set themselves and contend against and pray how does this mend the matter or is not these Mens Zeal for the Church of England bulky and active to the purpose when its issue is this that the Names and Writings of two particular Men and which must be in so much less esteem and as false as they discountenance and are against our Church and whose Tenents so far as here impleaded they dare not openly Plead for must be untoucht and uncanvassed or else the state of the Church not medled with its Power and Autority be diminish'd and exposed by others by who so pleases and no Man defend it it is not to be duly and fairly represented to the World for their Information or Instruction unless there be an exempt and indemnity to such those two to thwart and oppose it as they shall think fit or give themselves advantages thereby from their Party and such their Autorities stand unquestioned as in Capital Letters to affront and confute all so soon as Published the Proposal must be both ridiculous and unreasonable at once or how can any man undertake to make but this one instance at present to vindicate our Church from Erastianism and that her Reformation did not enstate all Church-Power even in Edward
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
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
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 Beza'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 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 favour 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. HAVING produced the chief and first § I Arguments and Autorities that are depended upon and urged in this Controversie an Answer to some of which I have already prevented others fall in pieces of themselves to an easie Capacity the rest I shall indeavour to refute in these following Conclusions and which will tend much to the cleering the whole Subject and I 'le begin with the first and great Error of Mr. Selden and his other Friends and which is laid down and insisted on as the Foundation of the whole ensuing Fabrick We are told that all Punishments both before and after the giving the Law in Sinai from Adam to Christ were bodily and outwardly Coercive and inflictive the distinction of Sins Spiritual and Temporal was not then known nor was there any such different Regiments and Governors in regard to them the Sword punish'd Adulteries as well as Burglary And therefore 't is so still under the Gospel by the Institution of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ nor was there a Jurisdiction separate and apart relating alone to Spiritual Church Affairs designed or erected by him An Inference granting the truth of the Premises surely as wide as their keenest Adversaries can wish it to be and the Consequence had been every ways as due and firm in respect to the Law given by Moses that there were never any such Levitical Rites and Ceremonies given from God by him such a Polity erected because nothing like it that we know of was given to Adam in Paradice nor is there one Rule Law or Direction since given to his Succession the Patriarchs in particular but upon the same force and account must still be exemplary nor ought there can there be any institution that is diverse from them received if a distinct Power from all the World before him be admitted and allowed in Moses the Servant much more in Christ a Son over his own House by whom God hath spoken to us in these last days as in times past he did to the Fathers by the Prophets whom he appointed Heir of all things by whom also he hath made the worlds who is the bright Image of his Person upholding all things by the word of his Power Heb. 1.1 2 3 4 5 6. who had greater Autority more full and larger Instructions and Commission and more signally evidenced to the outward sense of Mankind than any Prophets or Messengers of Gods had before who had all Power in Heaven and Earth committed unto him both spake and acted as never Man did And in the same peculiar manner did he gather and stablish and six his Church or Body upon Earth and at his going away into Heaven send down his own Gifts in the face of all Nations at the Feast of Pentecost erected his own Kingdom appointed his own Officers assign'd his own Members influenced them by his own Spirit governed them by his own Laws associated them in his own Method and nothing of it was of this World He made a new Covenant stablish'd on better Grounds incouraged with better Hopes and Promises instituted new Ordinances made new Seals and Conveyances gave new Liveries and Pledges that were diverse a Government to last for ever till the restitution of all things with a respect to nothing future but Heaven and all this absolute in it self and independent abstract and separate from any or all the Powers and Associations in the world beside complying and yielding to no one Circumstance Exigence or Necessity whatever so contrived and ordained that as himself her Head so the Church his Body and every Member in particular hath life in it self derived only from him their own Powers and
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
penè Voce Amen Cantatur Halelujah That Amen which is answer'd and Halelujah which is Sung with one almost Voice throughout so many Nations Lib. 2. adv Literas Petiliani Donatistae super Gestis cum Emerito Episcopo So Athanasius in his Apology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How Decent and Holy is it to hear in the House built for Prayer the People say Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one sound and consent there mentioned Carmen Christo quasi Deo dicere Semet invicem saying a Hymn to Christ as God in courses with one another As Pliny lib. 10. Ep. 97. and is referr'd to by Tertullian in his Apology 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Singing back again to one another in St. Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praying betwixt one another Ep. 63. Ad Clericos Neocesariensis Ecclesiae in amoibeunis and alternate Responses The Priest Parat mentes fratrum dicendo sursum Corda ut dum respondit Plebs habemus ad Dominum As St Cyprian upon the Lord's Prayer preparing the Minds of his Brethren saying Lift up your hearts and the People answering We lift them up to the Lord this the great and common constant Service of the Church of God The usual manner of old in the Performance of it and an earlier Pattern we have yet as to the Substance of it So soon as we meet with a Church gathered the Holy Ghost descended and those Thousands Converted by St. Peter Acts 7. he there opens to them the Scriptures they receive the Word and are Baptized they go on and continue stedfast in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and Prayer attend the Holy Communion Praising God Poetically extolling of him And thus became Peter in the letter of it a Rock a first Stone or principal Pillar in the Church or People of God § XVII BUT then besides their Publick Worship of God did this Union into one Body or Corporation farther express and oblige the Members in their Duties and Services to one another in the Supplies and Assistances of all its Members whose either special Offices and Imployments in the Service and Support of the Church Body or Association rendred uncapable of undergoing the Cares and Offices of the World for the providing themselves sustenance suitable to their Office and Quality in the Trades and Imployments of it for the Body of Christians though a Collection and Incorporation for Heaven yet is to remain its due time and abode upon Earth and to subsist whil'st on Earth by the usual and lawful courses of it it does not therefore immediately receive Food from Heaven or else whose unavoidable Want and Poverty by the unaccountable disposal of things and the many Contingencies of this mutable state here lays before them in their Streets and High-ways in the rode to this Jerusalem also as Objects of Pity and Commiseration Relief and Charity for their Saviour has told them That the Poor you must always have with you and to them belongs the Kingdom of Heaven And this is to be done and is the general Duty of the whole Body and each Christian there in particular not only by the tenure of the special Charter from God and it is imply'd and made up and required in the Donation it self but by the common course and Laws of things no Body can subsist without it it must run to Decay Degeneracy and Contempt either through want of Instruction Order and Government on the one hand or by Idleness Destitution and Distress on the other and those weighty Reasons and Motives which engaged freely of their own choice no outward force compelling as in the Associations of the World in order to Governance and Subsistency to unite in God's Service it then necessitates that such ways and means be used here as in the sustaining other Societies and this upon the same Consideration and Motive as they believe it useful to be of such the Association and in Communion with one another especially where the force of the World enjoyns no other Provision as it did not till the Government became Christian and the World came in to the Support of the Church for which our Saviour did and must in reason provide upon failure otherwise Religion can no longer subsist then as the civil Empire pleaseth § XVIII AND first this general Care always extended and was made for such as labour'd among them in the Word and Doctrine such as attended the Altar and ministred in Holy Things and this not only to the maintaining their Persons but to the maintaining them in order to their Function and consequently in supplying them with all Utensils and whatsoever else was then thought necessary for the due and more solemn Performance of the Worship of God and the maintenance of his Service This is that St. Paul so much Pleads for and with so great earnestness and weight of Argument 1 Cor. 9.1 2 3 4 c. and tells them plainly That if he be an Apostle as he most certainly is to them who are the Seal of his Apostleship in the Lord then he hath a right to their Estates Have we not Power to eat and drink Have we not Power to lead about a Sister or Wife and to forbear working Who goeth to warfare at any time at his own Charges Who planteth a Vineyard and eateth not of the Fruit thereof or who feedeth a Flock and eateth not of the Fruit of the Flock Do ye not know that they that minister about Holy things live of the things of the Temple and they which wait at the Altar are Partakers with the Altar So hath the Lord ordained that they which Preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel And this the Church-men had not as Stipendiaries and Salary-men but the Believers brought in of their Goods and laid them at the Apostles feet which made a Common Stock or Bank to be at their Prudence in the disposal call'd the Lord's Goods and in relation to this Common Stock or Bank in the hands of the Apostles in which every Christian upon occasion had a right it is said That all things were common among these first Christians in the Book of the Acts for that no one had Property besides cannot be believed and the fault of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they did not bring all they had and lay it at the Apostles feet reserved nothing of their Estate to themselves but this was their guilt they kept part back and said it was the whole their lying to the Holy Ghost otherwise it was their own and they might have reserved to themselves what of it they pleased Now these common Gifts and common Purse as it was first intrusted with the Apostles so upon their failure did the trust descend and remain with the Bishops their Successors who distributed to the Necessities both of Churches and Church-men their Officers and Attendants as occasion required a competent Portion whereof was set apart and reputed their own Persoanl Goods
Psalmists Door-keepers all Ecclesiastical Officers but not in the same Catalogue So in St. Clemens Alexandrinus Strom. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these three of the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon are the whole Progression and several Orders and Ascents in the Church-Ministry These those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the degrees of the Priesthood as Zonaras in Can. 8. Apost Omnes gradus Sacerdotales as 't is in the same words in the last Canon of the first and second Council at Constantinople and which that Canon provides that every one must go through that becomes a Bishop The Bishop Presbyter and Deacon are opposed to the Laity and placed in the number 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of such as preside in the Church Can. 1. Conc. Antioch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these are fellow-workers in the Ministry as in the Council call'd against Paulus Samosetanus Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 3. And again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Life of Constantine Lib. 2. Cap. 46. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socrat. Eccl. Hist l. 1. c. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 58. Conc. 6. in Trullo None in the Order of Lay-men may deliver to themselves of the Divine Mysteries or Administer in Holy things the Bishop Presbyter or Deacon being present where the Publick Offices of the Church are again limited to these three St. Jerome places them in Superioribus ordinibus Ecclesiae in the higher Order of the Church Comment in Ep. ad Tit. Cap. 2. in the same Language runs the Imperial Laws as are plain and obvious in the Theodosian Codes especially with the Notes and Commentaries of the Learned Jacob Gothfred the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon are the Sacerdotalis assumptio one or all of them 16. Cod. Tit. 5. Lex 5. 52. and are called Primi the First in respect of the Readers Door-keepers c. ibid. Tit. 2. l. 24. and as Gothofred explains it And the same is again l. 41. and he calls them Primi Clerici the first of the Clergy ibid. Tit. 8. l. 13. and Justinian after him speaks the same Novel 6. c. 1. and all this is expressed by our Judicious Mr. Hooker and call'd the Power of Orders Degrees of Order Ecclesiastical in which there are three Degrees Bishops Presbyters and Deacons distinguished from Services and Offices in the Church as Exorcists Readers c. in his Preface to his Ecclesiastical Polity at the end of the seventh Section and in his Fifth Book seventh and ninth Section § XXI THIS Power and Jurisdiction though confined to these three Orders yet is it not given to each alike and in the same degree of Autority whatever is in the Nature of the Church Priesthood is in one of them but every one has not all that is in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there were degrees one above another in the Priesthood to the highest of which every one was not suffered to arise in Justinian Novel 6. Cap. 6. our Saviour himself did not confer all Power alike upon all that he chose for his special Service nor did the Apostles or their Successors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hic dici videtur qui in Ecclesia sublimiorem caeteris consecutus gradum ut Apostoli erant consecuturi post eos Episcopi as Grotius in Lucae 22.26 the Ruler or greatest there mentioned by our Saviour seems to be such who had gain'd a higher more sublime degree in the Church such as the Apostles were to have and after them the Bishops In the Church are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above-mentioned in Clemens Alexandrinus Progressions and Promotions from one Order to another as from Deacons to Presbyters and from Presbyters to Bishops Sacerdotes secundi in honore Ecclesiastici gradus Hieronimus Comment in Jerem. 13. the Presbyters are second in the Honor of Ecclesiastical degrees And so in Ezek. 48. and Sacerdos primus ordo in Sophoniam c. 3. the Bishop is the first Order Sacerdos being a word applied to the Bishop or Presbyter as occasion as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 includes the whole of Church-Power as is above-noted and applied as occasion to each of the degrees Optatus in his first Book against the Donatists mentions besides Lay-men which have no Power in the Church or any one degree of the Priesthood Tertium Secundum Sacerdotium apices Principesque omnium Episcopos the Third and Second Priesthood and the top and chief of both the Bishops As Eusebius still expresses the Ministry in general by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is already at large observ'd So his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those of the second Throne or Order are Presbyters Eccl. Hist lib. 10. Cap. 39. the Presbyter is major Sacerdotio then the Deacon hath more of the Priesthood Hieronimus ad Evagrium Tom. 3. Presbyter Proximus gradu ab Episcopis Presbyter secundi ordinis Sacerdos a Presbyter is next in degree to a Bishop a Priest of the Second Order so all along in the Phrase of the Imperial Laws Cod. Theodos 5. Tit. 3. Cod. 12. Tit. 1. Lex 121. Cod. 16. Tit. 2. l. 7. Tit. 5. l. 9. Constantine the Holy Christian Emperor writes to Chrestus Bishop of Syracuse that he would take with him to a certain Synod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 two of the second Throne or Order two Presbyters Euseb Eccl. Hist lib. 10. cap. 5. in a word this is the current voice and distribution of all Antiquity as might be shew'd more largely or were it the design of this Discourse to treat of the Three Orders particularly as the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon are Primi Clerici the first Clergy in respect of the Readers Singers c. for the word Clérus or Clergy is applied to all Ecclesiastical Officers in general as well Reader c. as Presbyter c. among the Ancient Writers so among the Primi Clerici those Three which are first Summus Sacerdos qui est Episcopus the Bishop is the First there as in Tertullian de Baptismo Cap. 17. his is Maximum Sacerdotium in Lactantius Lib. 4. Sect. Vlt. Sacerdotii Sublime fastigium So Cyprian Ep. 52. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 10. Conc. Sardicenf his Power is the greatest and topmost most full and comprehensive of all and all Power in Heaven and Earth now abiding in the Church and purely relating to Church Affairs and the bringing Souls to Heaven in the ordinary course and known appointments is it fixed and so far limited in the Person and Office of the Bishop by Christ and his Apostles as that from and only from him is this Power to be transferr'd and transmitted as is the Harvest and common Need in the particular devolution and distribution of it a great part of this is still given by the Bishop to the Presbyter an Order or Station in the Church for the Service of Souls invested with a large share of the Priestly Power at his Ordination or Deputation to it but comes short of the whole is limited to particular Instances and
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
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
the Civil Power or that Power of the State to erect an Autority against it because not of and under it that Prince cannot be said to be Supreme if a differing Power within him To be Supreme is to be above all there must be no Power apart from his who is the Supreme if so he is not Supreme This they urge with a great deal more to the same purpose and is the Stone that the great Hugo Grotius stumbles at in the entrance to his Treatise De jure Summarum Potestatum in Sacris and which occasions so many more falls he has all along in that Discourse it being stuffed with inconsistencies to it self throughout and no wonder when bottomed on so false a Principle that the Power of our Saviour is an Usurpation on the State nor does one absurdity go alone A Suspition upon Church-Government that has not the Honor to be new 't is as old as our Saviour in the Flesh and Herod we know started it against him so soon as Born in the World and his Title as King was known unto him for this he sought to kill him when an Infant and the little Children in Bethlehem were barbarously Murdered hoping the Babe Jesus might have died in the croud distrusting if he escaped he would have supplanted him of his Kingdom Nor did his Apostles after him escape the Suspition and Censure and yet our Saviour all along his life-time upon Earth and notoriously at his death still clear'd himself of the Aspersion asserting and maintaining his Power and Kingdom delivered him of the Father that All Power in Heaven and Earth and so did his Apostles too retain and exercise the same Power and with the same Innocency Nor do I doubt but to Vindicate his Body the Succeeding Church still claiming the like Power and that to every rational considering Person to each one that with Herod has not a design and believes it his interest to kill our Saviour to blot out his Power and Name and Memory on Earth § IV AND indeed to pass by the particular Answers to the Objection which will follow in course upon our Procedure the Objection must fall of it self to any one of common sense that exercises not his Enquiries more about Tricks and Phrases to wheedle delude and carry on his own particular Plot and Party then about that which is notorious Matter of Fact certain Truths and realities One thing I know that whereas I was blind I now see a Man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed mine eyes and said unto me Go to the Pool of Siloam and wash And I went and washed and I received sight He put clay upon mine eyes and I washed and do see This was the Answer of the Man that was born Blind and cured by our Saviour John 9.11.15.25 and this great notoriety to common sense baffled all the Malice and Purposes superseded all their trifling Enquiries designed to obscure the Power and Miracle of our Saviour's working that mighty Cure upon him as whether it was done on the Sabbath Day the Person was a Sinner c. and the same common sense and notoriety of Matter of Fact will be our Evidence and Avoucher in this our particular Case also and is the alone Answer we need to give in able indeed to baffle whatever the Skill of an Objector can lay or whatever inconsistencies the wit of Man may urge against us Can any even a Pharisaical race of Men ill-natur'd and Perverse give out and believe That that Body of Christians their Bishops and Governors should Assert and Maintain a Kingdom and Jurisdiction upon Earth destructive to that of the Empire or Secular by whose breath they in their Persons professed to subsist for whose Persons and Government and the Prosperity of both they always Pray'd and in the first place as by whose Influences they were to live Godly lives in all Godliness and Honesty whose Battels they fought whom they Honoured with all the titles of Power and Majesty and Magnificence whom but to think Evil of to Curse in their Hearts in their Bed-Chambers much more openly to Defame and speak Evil of was their Sin and Irreligion whom they acknowledged upon Earth as under God alone and to God alone accountable for all their Actions and Designs nor could any Man say what doest thou And all this they still Remonstrated and Publish'd to the World under the deepest sense of Religion and Zeal with the most solemn Protestations as in all their Apologies Defences and Writings does appear who made it a term of their Communion to Serve Support and Assist the Emperor to shew themselves Faithful and Just and Conscientious towards him equally as to serve their God and Saviour as to say their Prayers for themselves and live Righteously and Soberly in the World and the contrary was a just occasion for their Censures an Intermination upon the Offender who too often died under their Tyranny came peaceably to the Stake neither accusing nor reviling as under the stroke of God himself sealing with their Blood such their Obedience Nor in all our first Church-Story do we find the Catholick Christian engaged in any thing like a Plot or Council against his Governor his either Person or Power much less an open Rebel against him when either an Heathen or Heretick and his professed Persecutor for an Heretick has been no less Cruel than an Heathen and when to make up the Charge by their Malice as in the particular case of Athanasius accused as designing against the Empire by the Arians and Meletians to be accused was his great trouble to be under the Suspition of so foul a Crime being otherways able to acquit himself and so he did and indeed so generally received a Truth was it that a Christian could not be a Rebel or attempt any thing upon the Empire So much was it concluded of the Essence of his Profession that when his Enemies thought effectually to blemish and make him appear no Christian they libell'd him as a Rebel the more and the better a Christian the more did his Prince confide in him and 't is very well urg'd by our Adversaries that Constantine did look upon them as his great Support and Preservers nor could the Empire in all Probability have been continued to him without their Aid and Fidelity and for which his Favours and Temporalities were deservedly large unto them but this is their Error when they tell the World that all Church-Power was then and is still continued upon this score and by the alone favour of Princes IF it be said that all this was the effect § V alone of common Prudence and usual Wisdom they thus provided for their interest the Security in general of their both Religion and Persons and which all Wise Men do in the first place take care of they were wanting both of Power and Opportunity to do otherwise and had it not been so the Hypocrisie had ceased they had both appeared and
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
any sin in not receiving the Doctrines of Christ All which is to be read with more to the same purpose in his Leviathan Part 3. cap. 42. Of Power Ecclesiastical NOR are they less out of the way when § XXXVII arguing that this Power of the Church must of necessity clash with that of the State and oppose the Soveraignty of Princes for there is no outward Execution in a form of justice can be supposed as from Christ whatever of that Nature is is from the other secular Fountain till Christ Jesus appears himself at the Day of Judgment no Personâ—l compulsive Summons from him till to that great Bar and all earthy Power and Dominion and Magistracy is to submit and appear to his Jurisdiction because to be at an end to be deposed by God himself ripe as a sheaf of Wheat lay'd up in the Barn with its due just and designed Period and Completion and then this Kingdom of Christ also shall be delivered up to the Father that God may be all in all they are both as to continue upon Earth so to end together but neither destroying one another and the alone Council and Pleasure of the Almighty makes the dissolution and which as the sense of the Primitive and first Christians is cleer by the account that is given of the Kindred of our Saviour in the above-mentioned place of Eusebius of the constant course of their Tribute out of the assiduity of their labour and lower condition in the World they pay'd unto Caesar no one relation to Christ as not of the Flesh so nor of the Spirit either as Men or Christians giving but any shew of Title unto the Government that is Civil or of exemption from any one Tax or Imposition by that Government laid upon them a Truth that has been opened illustrated and deduced down through this Discourse and in some competent measure so as to satisfie upon a rational enquiry and it may be farther cleer'd up and rendred more easie and convincing yet to a due understanding if the several acts and offices of this Body the Church be resum'd again in their distinct Considerations and it will farther appear that these Powers as they never have in Matter of Fact so in their Nature and Constitution they do not any ways impinge upon much less silence and depose any ways justle with and usurp those Powers that are Secular let us run them over as in their order already set down § XXXVIII THE first instance of their Union and Association is in their Articles of Faith joyning and consenting together in this belief that Jesus is the Christ and which makes the Christians a Sect sever'd distinct and apart from all others The sum indeed of all the Gospel as Mr. Hobbs with great industry and pains does collect and prove and 't is what is own'd by him as reconcileable with our obedience to the civil Magistrate be he Christian or Infidel for their Faith is internal and invisible as he goes on and tells us they have the license that Naaman had and need not put themselves into danger for it Leviathan Part 3. cap. 43. or admitting farther and which Christianity surely obliges to that publick Professions of this Faith are to be made and for this the several Creeds as the Apostles c. were drawn up open Confessions of them were made and Subscriptions to them to the incurring of danger from the Civil Power they only hereby engag'd themselves to suffer to dye and become in that signal manner Martyrs and Witnesses for and of them at the stake but never so to oppose as to rebel in the defence and maintenance of them there was nothing there believed and professed or from any other Obligation or Contract that did engage them so to do THEY next covenanted against Sin and § XXXIX Iniquity Murder Fraud Perfidiousness c. and was of old and is still a particular Act of this Christian Body or Association as in the Covenant at Baptism nor is any one any farther a Christian than he performs it and this cannot by Malice it self be termed a covenanting against the Prince or his Power None are indeed and throughly good Subjects but such as are good Christians thus vow and pay Evil manners abate of a just sense and Conscience of Justice and Honesty the Prince cannot have of such men so full a security of their due and true Allegiance and Fidelity to him why should they be more true to him than they are to their God and besides they expose the Government to his Wrath and Vengeance And 't is not upon this account the late Solemn League and Covenant was adjudged by the publick Autority of the Nation to be injurious to the State as ingaging to Repentance and to be burnt by the common Hangman § XL A farther instance of this Association is an assembling and joyning together in the Publick Service of God in those offices of Christianity which belong to all in common as in the Duties of Prayer Praises Lauding with one Mouth and Praising God for all his Mercies to Mankind and to themselves in particular this is a Church Office which must endure so long as the Sun and Moon as there is a Church a Body or Collection of men upon Earth professing Christianity if Publick Prayers and Praises cease the Church the People of God must cease particular Christians may be confined and incapacitated in the Performance and where one is though with Jeremy in the Dungeon or where two or three are met together God will be with them but the daily Sacrifice cannot wholly be abolished till Days and Nights are no more should I say they are to be longer and to remain in Heaven it were not amiss to be sure the Praises will and why not the Prayers so far at least as a signal acknowledgment of our dependency upon God the Perfection of that State and full growth we there arrive unto does not invest us with any of those first and nearest of God's attributes and which are therefore call'd incommunicable as peculiar to his Essence and particularly those of Self-existency and Independency his Autarchy and All-sufficiency and which Duties if discharged as required by God on Earth imply and enjoyn our acknowledgment and obedience as to our God so to our Prince in his distinct relations to us and that by all the ties and obligations the performance of so solemn a Duty as Prayer and Praises are can lay upon us least found perfidious Hypocrites and unfaithful to our God as all that are false to their King in the long run will appear so to God Almighty the very Form and Nature of our Prayers and Praises run so that therein we are first to Pray and give Thanks for Kings and there and in that most solemn manner own them 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3. a Rebbel cannot say his Prayers at all but in the very action publish himself a Rogue if saying them as St. Paul has appointed