duty and when they cannot be done without a publick acknowledgment of some great errour or sin before admitted n See the Proclamation of K. Edw. 6. for the authorizing an Uniformity of Common-Prayer Wherefore such Concessions are not properly admitted without great reasons moving thereunto because of the publick honour of Laws in them concerned Lest also the frequent change of publick Laws encourage the mutable vulgar in their common unreasonable levity and desire of Innovation Lest well-setled Order and the common Peace be disturbed and lest good men be discouraged in their regular obedience therefore Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moderation doth not in such like Cases encourage alterations especially when there is no end of gratifying such sick phancies and where it is not agreed between the parties complaining what they would have relieved This would be to expose the dignity of the Church and of Constitutions setled by such long prescription to the scorn of every bold dissenter which can have no other effect but to encourage them in their Schism and heap contempt upon our selves when we prostitute Law and authority to such affronts Vnless our dissenters had the humility and the honesty to confess they had been mistaken and were now resolved to go as far towards the repairing of breaches as their Consciences could allow and did propose a clear Scheme of what they would submit to and on what terms they would again enter into the Communion of the Church then I am confident such candid dealing would find an entertainment beyond what they can justly hope for o Modest Survey of Naked Truth CHAP. III. Of Moderation with respect to the Church of England § 1. What is to be understood by the Church of England § 2. The Moderation of our Church frequently confessed by her Adversaries sometime truly sometime upon design but most often our Church is reproached and opposed for her Moderation by each sort of Adversaries § 3. From the joint opposition made against our Church by her Adversaries on either hand is taken the chief inartificial proof of her Moderation § 1. TReating of the Moderation of the Church of England some will not be ashamed to ask what is meant by the Church of England a V. Reasons for the necess of Reform p. 3. 'T is pretty odd that in a setled Church as ours is such a question should be so confidently made as it is by some who while they ask it may be members of it if they please But because this Treatise is so immediately concerned in this question I shall make the answer more clear from all exceptions if I come thereunto by some steps The Church in general is a select Society that is of such as are called out of the World to the worship of God b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coetus evocatorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex Strom. l. 7. This Society is either that invisible Company of all the faithful throughout the World who are inwardly and really holy known unto God Or is the Society of those who confess Christ before men and by this visible profession of the true Faith have right to the Sacraments and other priviledges of their spiritual Community especially those which are a necessary and publick sign before God and Man that such do confess Christ Jesus For God who is the alone searcher of hearts hath left only this presumption for the rule of mortal men that the visible profession of the Faith should give right to the outward priviledges of the Church without granting which even the true members of the invisible Church could never communicate in any outward Society which all that call themselves Christians are oblig'd to do and therefore the nineteenth Article of our Religion begins thus The visible Church is a Congregation of faithful people c. In every moderate Constitution as I show ours is the Rule obtains Every one is presumed to be good till the contrary appears in a lawful manner Wherefore that visible Company of faithful people who here under the Dominion of our Sovereign Lord the King call themselves Christians and profess the Faith of Christ which he defends They are the Church of England c Hooker 's Eccl. Pol. l. 3. §. 1. For as the main body of the Sea being one yet within divers Precincts hath divers names so the Catholick Church is in like sort divided into a number of distinct Societies every one of which is termed a Church within it self so the name of Church is given betokening severally as the Church of Corinth Ephesus England and the like d Multas quidem Ecclesias tamen unam modò unaquaeque intra seipsam cum universali adeoque cum omnibus ejus partibus servat Catholicam unitatem Forbesi Iren. l. 2. c. 20. But to come to the head of the exception which commonly is this If the Church be a Congregation of faithful people as the Article defines the visible Church How comes the determination of the Convocation the Orders of the Bishops to be lookt upon as the appointments of the Church which are also governed by the will of the King What of all this is the Church of England In answer hereunto let such take notice that the people among us do bear as great a part as they ought in what is constituted in our Church whether they will own it or no For where the consent of the people is not actually required it is either included in the Laws of the Land by which they are governed or in the will of the King to whom beside his own power over the Church in his own Kingdoms which is very great in many Cases they have made over their right e Refertur ad universos quod publicè fit per majorem partem ff de reg ju ad sect refertur whatever it is themselves and frequently by their Ecclesiastical Governours they also consent to what is constituted in the Church For we must remember what our Article expresseth That the Church is a Congregation of faithful people as it there follows according to Gods Ordinance We must also remember that the Church in its beginning did not form it self neither did it ordain or appoint its own Rulers For Christ gave some Apostles Pastors Teachers Eph. 4. 11. 1 Cor. 12. 28. Yea they had their power given them somewhat before the Church was formed Mat. 28. 18 19. to shew that they were not to depend upon the people for their power Whatever voluntary condescensions were made by the heads of Ecclesiastical Communion in the tender beginnings of the Church to oblige them more firmly in their Christian Fellowships yet all rights of Administration of the spiritual power of the Church did always properly belong to the Rulers of the Church within their own limits So S. Ignatius Cyprian f Cum Ecclesia quae Catholica una est connexa cobaerentium sibi invicem sacerdotum glutine
Christ which of themselves are sufficient motives to Religion and make the same proceed from the most free and most suitable and noble principle that can be of affection and thankfulness to God § 13. Because an Oath is an act of Divine Worship in which we solemnly invoke God as a witness to what we swear It is but proper here to take notice of the Moderation of our Church in what relates to Oaths 1. Our Church doth in the 39. Article of Religion excellently declare and in the Homily against perjury at large prove The lawfulness and benefits of swearing for causes necessary and honest and for the ending of controversy and sets forth also the sore danger of perjury 2. Our Church doth at large testify against customary and unnecessary Swearing and the mentioned Homily declares the danger and vanity thereof Both these purposes of the Homily are briefly contained in the 39th Article Thus As we confess vain and rash Swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his Apostle So we judge That Christian Religion doth not prohibite but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth in a cause of Faith and Charity so it be done according to the Prophets teaching in Justice Judgment and Truth In a few lines also of the Homily our Church seems fully to determine the whole Controversy which our Sectaries have rais'd concerning Swearing When Christ so earnestly forbad Swearing it may not be understood as though he did forbid all manner of Oaths but he forbiddeth all vain Swearing and forswearing both by God and by his Creatures as the common use of Swearing in buying and selling and in daily Communication to the intent every Christian mans word should be as well regarded in such matters as if he confirm'd his Communication with an Oath for the truth is as Theophylact writeth no man is less trusted than he that useth much to swear Beside the practice of the Gentiles to swear by Creatures the Jews had fallen into that Custom which gave our Saviour and St James occasion to forbid such S. Mat. 5. 34. S. James 5. 12. kind of Swearing which also was in use among the Manichees as St Augustine notes x Jurabant saepissimè nulloque mentis scrupulo per Creaturas c. Faust 22. Seeing then all Swearing by the Creatures is counted by the Homily Vain-Swearing It can be deemed no other to swear by the y V. Catechism Trident Blessed Virgin or by Saints or their reliques since they have no delegated power to know our hearts or to punish Perjury At the solemn Inauguration of the Emperour he saith I swear unto God and S. Peter c. When any enter into a Monastery they say I vow unto God and to the Blessed Virgin and to S. Dominic or some other their particular Saint 3. Concerning the matter and obligation of lawful and unlawful Oaths we may hear our Church excellently advising and declaring Therefore whosoever maketh any promise binding himself thereunto by an Oath Let him foresee that the thing he promiseth be good and honest and not against the Commandment of God and that it be in his own power to perform it justly and such promises must men keep evermore assuredly But if a man at any time shall either of ignorance or of malice promise and swear to do any thing which is either against the Law of Almighty God or not in his power to perform let him take it for an unlawful Oath Of an unlawful Oath the same Homily determines in the Case of Herod That as he took a wicked Oath so he more wickedly performed the same These full and just determinations of the Church might be fitly commented on by what Bishop Sanderson hath writ of the obligation of Oaths especially in his third Prelection and may very justly also be applyed to the Case of the solemn League and Covenant which sufficiently justifies the abjuration of the Covenant as it is required in the Act of Uniformity 4. Our Church lays a great charge and weight on the words of the Prophet Jeremiah Ch. 4. V. 2. Thou shalt swear in Judgment Truth and Righteousness Whosoever sweareth let him be sure in his Conscience That his Oath have these three conditions z Homily against Perjury which also are mentioned in the 39th Article and largely insisted on in the Homily All which do sufficiently testify against the Equivocations and mental reservations which the Jesuits allow and defend which is a most notorious artifice of deceit a great profanation of the divine name and contrary to the nature and end of Oaths And that we may observe how rightly our Church judgeth of the Power of the Pope or of any other in rescinding and dispensing with lawful Oaths a Vi. Duo brevia Pontisicis Ro. 1. dat 1606. 2. dat 1607. contra juram Fidel. in R. Jac. Apologiâ yea dispensing with men aforehand to make unlawful Oaths and Vows as in Marriages within the degrees Levitical b Apol. of certain Proceedings in Courts Eccles p. 2. c. 2. p. 18. The sixth part of the Homily against wilful Rebellion speaking of the Bishops of Rome discharging the Subjects of the Kings of England of their Oath of Fidelity to their Soveraign Lord as particularly Innocent III. to King John calls it fitly A feigned discharging of their Oath and fealty and a vain cursing of the King Which practices of the Popes rely upon two Principles of the Church of Rome 1. That the Pope hath an absolute and Oecumenical Authority over the whole World and that all Oaths are to be taken with a reserve of his pleasure and that he hath the sole power to declare and dispense in what relates unto them 2. That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks which Doctrines are published in the Books of the Famous Romanists neither prohibited nor animadverted on c Nullo modo Fides servanda Haereticis etiam Juramento firmata Simanca In interpreting Oaths as our Church doth not encourage any loose sense that the taker by any evasion may collude the design of the Law so also our Church rejects such rigid interpretations which force the words to a severe sense but where a fair and easy construction may be made by the natural interpretation of the words which is agreeable to truth and justice and may secure the intention of Superiours such a construction our Church is ready to allow of and encourage d Vi. Q. Eliz Admon V. Article 37. 5. The general Oaths enjoined or defended in our Church are but few and those for great causes appointed and with great Moderation framed As 1. The Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy The necessity and Moderation of which hath been largely expounded in the Apology of King James and others d See the Admonition of Q. Eliz 1559. of the Oath of Supremacy Nunc mitius ac moderatius substitutum est Sander de Schism Angl. p. 149. since which the
the Bishop remits the guilt of Sins the Prince compels the Bishop exhorts he governs by Necessity but we by Counsel So it is in the Injunction of King Edward the 6th 1547. unto those who have the Cure of Souls They ever gently and charitably Exhorting and in his Majesties Name strictly charging and Commanding c. So in the 3 d. Canon 1640. the sacred Synod earnestly intreats and exhorts the Reverend Judges c. § 2. As our Church doth lawfully assert her own Spiritual Power entire and inherent in the Church so she hath always exercised her power in all Subordination to the Right of Princes * V. Institution of a Christian Man p. 49. V. Homily of Obedience And constantly acknowledging that whatsoever Power beside Spiritual the Church or its Church-Men have she receives the same entirely from the favour of our Kings wherefore our Bishops have exercised no Jurisdiction in foro Externo within this Realm but such as hath been granted unto them by the Successive Kings of England Neither have challenged †Non enim dominandi cupidine imperant sed Officio consulendi nec principandi superbiâ sed providendi misericerdia S. Aug. de Civ D. c. 14. any such Jurisdiction belonging to them by any inherent right or title in their Persons or Callings but only by emanation and derivation from the Royal Authority Now the regular exercise of a derived Power is so far from destroying or any way diminishing that Original Power from whence it is derived as that it rather confirmeth and establisheth the same ¶ Bishop Sanderson of Episc not prejudic to Regal Power Wherefore the Institution of a Christian Man calls The Power of Orders a Moderate Power subject determined and restrained § 3. As the Interests of the Kingdom and Church are excellently accommodated in our Constitution of Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws under one Supreme Governour so the Moderation of the Church hath tempered her self very justly between those pretences on one hand who have insisted on their Pleas of Spiritual Right to the real diminution of Soveraign Power And those on the other hand who resolve the exercise of all the inward Power of the Church into the sole will and arbitrary power of the Civil Magistrates according to Erastus and the Leviathan-Author who thus delivers himself The Monarch hath authority not only to Preach Pag. 297. which perhaps no Man will deny but also to Baptize and Administer the Sacraments of the Lord's Supper and to consecrate both Temples and Pastours to God's Service Wherefore our 37 Article declares We give not our Princes V. Canon 1. 2 36. V. Q Eliz. Admonition the Ministring either of God's Word or of the Sacraments which thing the Injunctions set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testifie but that only Prerogative which we see to have been given always to all godly Princes in Holy Scriptures by God himself that is that they rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal Which Article of our Church is agreeable also to the judgment of some Bishops concerning the King's Supremacy in the Raign of King Henry the 8th Other places of Scripture declare the highness and excellency of Christian Princes Authority and Power The which of a truth is most high for he hath Power and Charge generally over all as well Bishops as Priests as other The Bishops and Priests have charge over Souls within their own Cures power to minister Sacraments and to teach the Word of God To the which Word of God Christian Princes knowledg themselves subject and in case the Bishops be negligent it is the Christian Princes office to see them do their duty Which sheweth Ex MSS. Dr. Stilling-fleet V. Collect. of Rec. Hist of Reform l. 3. p. 177. that Objection against the Oath of Supremacy is groundless which supposeth that the King is therein made not more a Political than a Spiritual Head of the Church * V. Camdens Eliz. p. 26. 39. Bishop Bramhal to M. Militier p. 37. V. Instit of Chri. Man p. 50. Which the Kings of England have constantly and openly disavowed to the whole World renouncing all claim to such Power and Authority Tho the regulating and ordering that Power in sundry Circumstances concerning the outward exercise thereof in foro externo the godly Kings of England have thought to belong to them as in the right of their Crown and have accordingly made Laws concerning the same even as they have done also concerning other Matters appertaining to the Religion and Worship of God § 4. Which being well considered we have great reason to observe and extol the excellent and pious Moderation of our Kings of England who never challenged to themselves the exercise of the pure Spiritual Power of the Church but left it entirely to the Bishops as the lawful Successors of the Apostles Which more fully appears from the Proclamation in the 13th Year of King Charles the First of blessed Memory according to the Certificate of the Right Reverend Judges under their Hands July 1. 1637. Wherein it was declared That Processes may issue out of the Ecclesiastical Courts in the name of the Bishops c. The Censures also of the Church are confirmed by the Law of the Kingdom * 1 R. Ellz. c. 2. And the behaviour of the Church to the King sheweth the same Exemplary Moderation For the Ecclesiastical Censures are with all due subordination to the Supreme Power secular used Because all external jurisdiction coercive is by Law declared and by the Clergy acknowledged to be wholly and entirely derived from the King as the sole fountain of all Authority of external jurisdiction whether Spiritual or Temporal within this Realm In other Matters tho the substance of the Power it self be immediately from God and not from the King as those of Preaching Ordaining Absolving c. Yet are they so subject to be inhibited limited or otherwise regulated in the outward exercises of that Power by the Laws and Customs of the Land as that the whole execution thereof still depends on the Regal Authority * Bishop Sanderson l. praedict p. 32 33. Altho then the Church knoweth it self to be a Society in its own nature distinct unto which the 19 Article most properly refers yet as very often now it is the unspeakable happiness of the Church to be entertain'd within the Protection of Supreme Powers secular so however the Church of England very justly declares for the Right of Kings to be preserved Inviolable as well as the just Power of the Church and the real Interest of the People Yea all these Interests with that of Religion in the first place our Church with great Moderation and Wisdom preserves entire and distinct All which among the Romanists and other Modellers are miserably confounded or destroyed § 5. Other Sects among us do some way or other deny the King's Supremacy
in Matters Ecclesiastical either claiming a power of Jurisdiction over him or pleading a privilege of Exemption from under him The Papists do it both ways in their several Doctrines of the Pope's Supremacy and of the exemption of the Clergy The Presbyterians claiming to Ibid. p. 42 43. their Consistories as full and absolute Spiritual Jurisdiction over Princes with power even to Excommunicate them if they shall see cause for it as the Papists challenge to belong to the Pope And the Independents exempting their Congregations from all Ecclesiastical subjection to them in as ample a manner as the Papists do their Clergy whereas the English Protestant Bishops and Regular Clergy as becometh good Christians and good Subjects do neither pretend to any Jurisdiction over the Kings of England nor withdraw their subjection from them but acknowledg them to have Soveraign power over Can. 1. 1640. them as well as over their other Subjects and in all matters Ecclesiastical as well as Temporal Which considerations verifie what hath been often formerly declared Namely That whereas now we are governed by Canon and Civil Laws dispensed here by 26 Ordinaries easily responsible for any deviation from the Rule of Laws conceive should we be exposed to the meer Arbitrary Government of a numerous Presbytery who together with their Ruling Elders will arise to near forty thousand Church-Governors among us they with their adherents must needs bear so great a sway that they will not easily be reducible and not consistent with Monarchy And for the Title of Divine Right those of the Episcopacy rather purposely decline the mentioning of it as a term subject to mis-construction Or else so interpret it as not of necessity to import any more than an Apostolical Institution and is pleaded by them with more calmness and moderation and with less derogation from Regal Dignity than by any other of the three § 6. As the most excellent form of Government in our Kingdom most graciously and bountifully protects the Church so the Church doth all she can to acknowledg the favour by asserting our Monarchy which is but truly performed in Canon 1. 1640. if we throughly consider the same Since then there hath been spread abroad an Insinuation that the said Canon did immoderately extol the Divine Right of Kings as if no other Form but Monarchy could in other States be lawful or of God's Ordinance because the Canon saith The most High and sacred Order of Kings is of Divine Right I may have leave to vindicate the same with all submission where it is due Where I conceive the words the most High and sacred Order of Kings may be justly and reasonably interpreted First and especially of Monarchies and also of All those Supreme Powers under what Form or Name soever they are called in such places as they are lawfully Constituted Which doubtless are as the Canon proceeds The Ordinance of God founded in the Primitive Laws of Nature which Supreme Rulers are often exprest by the general Name of Kings And because of the Pre-eminence and Excellence of Monarchy above all other Forms the Denomination of the Order of Supreme Powers may not improperly follow the more noble and excellent part Especially in a Kingdom where that is our only lawful Form it is properly and truly so affirmed that the High and sacred Order of Kings is of Divine Right as being ordained of God Himself which just interpretation of the Canon is according to our Homily * V. Homily of Obedience Take away Kings Princes Rulers and Magistrates Judges and such Estates of God's Order and no Man shall ride or go by the way unrobbed Blessed be God that we in this Realm of England feel not the horrible Calamities which they undoubtedly suffer that lack this godly Order c. Which the same Homily expresseth by the Name of Kings or other Supreme Officers that is the Higher Powers as ordained of God And that the Canon means no other by the Denominations of Kings may be fairly gathered out of the following words of the Canon wherein ¶ V. 39 Articles 37. with excellent Moderation in opposition to the Usurpations of the Church of Rome and other Sectaries what is there set down is most true of all Rightful Supreme Powers secular § 7. The Moderation of our Church doth not favour any Doctrines or Practices which are prejudicial to the safety of Humane Society in general or this or any other Rightful State or Kingdom in particular It doth no where pretend to remit the Divine Laws or dispense with Oaths or transfer the Right of Kingdoms but leaves them without any imminution or change as it finds them * Apol. Eccl. Anglic. §. 67. But ¶ Homily of wilful Rebellion 5 part p. 374. after that ambition and desire of Dominion entred once into Ecclesiastical Ministers and that the Bishop of Rome being by the Order of God's Word none other than the Bishop of that one See and Diocess and never yet well able to govern the same did by intollerable ambition challenge not only to be the Head of all the Church dispersed through the World but also to be Lord of all the Kingdoms of the World he became at once the Spoiler and Destroyer both of the Church and of the Christian Empire and all Christian Kingdoms as an Vniversal Tyrant over all In so much that * Pag. 380. There is no Country in Christendom which hath not been over-sprinkled with the blood of Subjects by rebellion against their natural Soveraigns stirred up by the same Bishops of Rome ¶ Pag. 383. Would to God we might only reade and hear out of the Histories of old and not also see and feel these new and present Oppressions of Christians rebellion of Subjects c. being procured in these our Days as in times past by the Bishop of Rome and its Ministers †Pag. 382. by the ministery of his disguised Chaplains creeping into Houses c. * Pag. 361. What a Religion is this that such Men by such means would restore may easily be judged Contrariwise our Church of England requires all of its Communion to give the King such security of their Allegiance and Fealty as may be a sufficient security to his Government Which security V. Homily of Obed. part 2. is with great Moderation exacted in our Realm Nevertheless Pope Vrban 8 in the Year 1626 by his Bull bearing date May 30. forbad all Roman Catholics to take the Oath of Allegiance And since the happy Restauration of his Majesty when several of his Subjects of the Papal profession offered by Oaths wherein the Supremacy is wholly wav'd to assure their Duty and Obedience the Pope and his Agents look'd upon this Overture as an Apostacy from him that is from the Christian Faith and persecuted all those who were concerned in the Proposal * Diff. between the Church and Court of Rome p. 30. of which see the Controversial Letters and
copulata S. Cypr l. 4. Ep. 9. Hierom and others of the Fathers fitly call the Church a Company united to their Pastor For the Administration of the power of the Church cannot belong to the body of this Society considered complexly but to those Officers in it whose care and charge is to have a peculiar over-sight and inspection over the Church and to redress the disorders in it Wherefore the Church is not improperly exprest by the Clergy which may be justly counted the Church representative that as S. Cyprian saith Every act of the Church may be governed by its Rulers g Vt omnis actus Ecclesie per praepositos suos gubernâ—tur S. Cypr. Ep. 27. For when we speak of the Church making Laws we must mean the governing part of the Church * Duâ— dub l. 3. ch 4. p. 589. In the form of Church Policy presented to the Parliament in Scotland 1578. by Andrew Melvill h V. Spots Hist l. 6. p. 289. it was agreed That sometime the Church was taken for them that exercise the spiritual Function in particular Congregations More certain it is that the Form of Christs Church is that outward disposition and order of superiour and inferiour communicating mutually to the conservation of the whole body and the edification and encrease of every member thereof Eph. 4. 15 16. Col. 2. 19. And in those things which concern the outward form and manner of Government in a National Church where the King is supreme in all Causes and over all Persons many matters necessarily and properly belong to the disposition of the supreme Power the people exhibiting their consent by the King upon these and the like good Foundations The third Canon declares the Church of England a true and Apostolical Church and the ninth Canon declares the same the Communion of Saints as it is approved by the Apostles Rules in the Church of England upon which account the Authors of Schisms in the same Canon are censured and the 139th Canon of the Church concerning the Authority of National Synods doth thus declare Whosoever shall affirm that the sacred Synod of this Nation in the name of Christ and by the Kings Authority assembled is not the true Church of England by Representation Let him be Excommunicated and not restored till he repent and publickly revoke that wicked Error § 2. Having now explained what is meant by Moderation and what by the Church of England we may more intelligibly proceed in justifying the Moderation of the Church of England of which some inartificial proofs may be premised The first of which may be the Confession and acknowledgments of our Adversaries on both sides Yea if the scattered Concessions which have been made by our Adversaries at sundry times and upon divers occasions should be gathered together in a bundle there is scarce any judgment or practice or constitution of our Church but hath been acknowledged sometime by some or others of them as reasonable and moderate Yea there is scarce any extravagance among themselves but hath been also confest and decryed by several of their own Communion so great is the force of truth upon the minds of men at some times when they are in a free humour to disclose themselves and it might make a very pleasant and useful Collection to have these well gathered and set together particularly they have in their lucid intervals acknowledged the Moderation of our Church sometime as really convinced thereof Notwithstanding saith one who left our Communion De Cressy 's Exomolog c. 9. the English Church hath been more moderate and wary than publickly to pretend to such a private spirit and by consequence hath left a latitude and liberty for them in her Communion to renounce it as many of the most Learned among them have done Another of them speaks thus of the Church of England k Conference between a Prot. and a Papist 1673. p. 6 7 8. I believe her Moderation hath preserved what may one day yet much help to close the breach betwixt us We observe that she and peradventure she alone has preserved the face of a continued mission and uninterrupted Ordination Then in Doctrines her Moderation is great In those of greatest concern hath exprest her self very warily In Discipline she preserves the Government by Bishops but above all we prize her aversion from Fanaticism and that wild error of the private spirit with which it is impossible to deal from this obsurdity the Church of England desires to keep her self free She holds indeed that Scripture is the Rule of controversy but she holds withal That it is not of private interpretation for she is for Vincentius his method But I see that moderate counsels have been discountenanced on both sides Others of the same denomination have appeared to acknowledge the Moderation of our Church but it is manifest they have done it upon design using that acknowledgment only as an Art either to Proselyte some uncertain ones of our Communion or else to divide us thinking by their publick owning our Moderation thereby to render us more odious to those of another immoderate extreme Yet the generality of both extreme adversaries join together in reproaching us for this Moderation and by their immoderateness in so doing do also justify the Moderation of our Church Thus do the great Bigots of the Church of Rome and the rigid Disciplinarians and other Novellists in their zeal count all merciful Moderation lukewarmness l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Med. 12. Wherefore these apply to us what the Spirit said to the Angel of the Church of Laodicea m Vid. Mr. Henderson 's 1. 2d. Paper Collegium Laodicensium est senatus Moderatorum hominum Brightman in Apocal. c. 3. p. 105. Antitypum est nostra nimirum Anglicana ibid. p. 101. Rev. 3. 16. Because thou art lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spue thee out of my mouth reproaching commonly our Moderation by the name of neutrality and want of zeal n Cesset igitur Anglia Medietatem suam quae mera neutralitas est sub titulo prudentiae moderationis palliare potiâ—â— serve resipiâ—ce Parker de Eccl. Pol. l. 1. c. 25. and when some temperate interpretations have been offered the Romanists o Scio enim ejusmodi Modificationes ubi aliquid temperatum offerebatur nihil aliud esse quà m Satanae dolos c. Ep. c. Bellarm ad Archipresb Anglic. they have received them with invidious reflexions lest any of their Company should be won over to us by the Moderation of our Church In the mean while none persue the Church of England upon this account so much as the rigid and severe of either extreme the hot heads among the Romanists with their Anathema's and the other Zelots with their Curse ye Meroz Whereas the learned men of other reformed Churches have not only observed frequently and admired the Moderation of our Constitution as Dr Durel in his View of the Reformed
measures namely leave to determine their particular actions according to the general Rule of Holy Scriptures and sometimes of Prudence where other Laws are not given to determine their Liberty And indeed this Article of the sufficiency of the Scriptures and the use of them as a Rule is the very dividing point at which those of the Separation on either hand leave our Church and her Moderation at once For those who are ready on one hand to receive all Traditions which the Church of Rome can offer with affection and reverence equal to the written word of God so that as it is in our Homily c Homily of good works 3 d. Part. The Laws of Rome as they said were to be received of all men as the four Evangelists No Moderation can contain the extravagancies such belief leads them to On the other hand to accept of no appointment for outward order and government in the Church or Kingdom but what is set out in the express word of God for the direction of every particular action under pretence of defending Christian Liberty is verily so gross and unreasonable a Pharisaical confining it that this principle is the first Sanctuary of ignorance and disobedience in most of our Separatists who under an immoderate pretence to Religion and the honour of Scriptures really offer great abuse and disservice to both as it is a real abuse to a person though of honour to give him Titles which do not belong to him so it is an occasion to Atheists and prophane persons captiously to detract from the true perfection of Holy Writings when they find attributed to them such Titles as are false and imaginary We must take heed saith the judicious Hooker d Eccles Pol. l. 3. §. 8. lest in attributing to Scripture more than it can have the incredibility of that do cause even those things which it hath most abundantly to be less reverently esteemed On this foundation of our Churches Moderation in what she judgeth concerning the perfection of Holy Scripture both the Protestant and the Christian Religion is established For as Bishop Sanderson saith e Pref. to his Sermons The main Article of the Protestant Religion is The Holy Scriptures are a perfect Rule of Faith and manners so the very mystery of Puritanism is That no man may with a safe Conscience do any thing for which there may not be produced either command or example in Scripture § 3. We are to note the Moderation of the Church in her judgment of the letter and sense of Holy Scripture and in the use of such consequences as are duly drawn from thence Whereas the Romanists 1. look on the letter of Holy Scripture but as so many dead and unsensed Characters f Richworth's Dialogues J. S. Sure-footing of variable and uncertain signification g Niâ— Cusâ—nus Card. Ep. 7. ad â—â—hem 2. They make the sense of Scripture entirely depend on the Authority of their Church h V. Concil Trid. Sess 4. Decret de usu S. Scr. 3. They presume the Church of Rome only can make authentick all the Books of Holy Scripture i Nullum Capitulum nullusque liber Canonicus habetur absque illius authoritate Greg. 7. Dict. 16. in Concil Rom. and by her sole Authority is to determine which are to be Canonical 4. They will not allow the clear consequences of Scripture to prove any matter of doctrine k V. Discourse upon a Conference Apr. 3. 1676. In these as in many other instances our Sectaries generally agree with the Romanists 1. They also make the Holy Scripture a dead Letter without their interpretation 2. In making the sense which they vouch to be the Word of God 3. Such Scriptures as seem to serve their turn they allow others they reject 4. The clear consequences from Holy Scriptures against them they cast by as only the results of carnal reason Between these two opposers of Holy Scripture at present there appears this difference instead of an external infallible Interpreter on one side the other sets up the witness of their own private spirit for an infallible interpreter also When time serves They that make the difference can compromise it Amidst these extremes observe we the Wisdom and Moderation of the Church of England 1. It gives all due honour to the Letter of Holy Writ referring her self and her Sons chiefly to the Originals l V. B. of Homilies passim Caeterùm in lectione D. Scripturarum si quae occurrerint ambigua vel obscura in V. Test earum interpretatio ex fonte Hebraicae veritatis petatur in N. autem Graeci codices consulantur Reform Leg. Eccles de fide Cathol c. 12. using all care in keeping the Letter of Holy Scripture and preserving the Originals and setting them forth correctly and translating them as faithfully as may be 2. The sense of Scripture our Church accounteth chiefly as Scripture viz. The Word of God therein The mind of God being thought by our Church to consist not in words but in sense For is the Kingdom of God words and syllables m Translators of the Bible Pres 3. The clear consequences in Scripture are in our Church accounted a good proof in matters of doubtful Doctrine Whatsoever is not read therein nor proved thereby is not to be required saith our sixth Article Wherefore Mr Chillingworth n Chillingworth 's Pref. § 28. did not without reason thus declare I profess sincerely I believe all those Books of Scripture which the Church of England accounts Canonical to be the infallible word of God I believe all things evidently contained in them or even probably deducible from them o Simpliciter necessaria Rex appellat quae vel expressè Verbum Dei praecipit vel ex verbo Dei necessaria Consequentiâ vetus Ecclesia elicuit Rex Jacobus ad Card. Perr § 4. In our Church no one Version nor more are made equal much less superiour to the original Nothing is declared authentick but what is judged truly and originally so Although the Church of Rome hath declared the vulgar Translation to be only the authentick Scripture p Conc. Trid. Sess 4. Decr. 2. according to which all points in Question are to be decided and though the same in our Church hath been convinced by sundry learned men of some imperfections yet wherein it is most faithfully performed the innovations of Popery even from thence may be sufficiently manifested Other ancient Versions and Translations which have been of Holy Scripture our Church is so far from rejecting or undervaluing that it hath made great use of them and doth constantly acknowledge their usefulness and doth esteem them according to their antiquity and the approbation they have had in the Church of God Yea in the worst of our late times when the true Church of England was most of all accused of Popery and opposition to the Scriptures then were sundry learned and religious Sons of the Church diligently
employed in defending and illustrating the Holy Scriptures in the admirable Edition of their Originals and their most famous and approved Versions Although our Sacred Polyglot Bible hath no more escaped its Prohibition at Rome q Indice librorum probibitorum Alexandri 7. Pontif. Max. jussu edito Biblia Briani Waltoni Angli cui Titulus c. than it did the feeble assaults of some others here at home 2. Whereas the Church of Rome will not allow Translations ordinarily to be made into the vulgar tongue r Prohibentur Biblia linguà vulgari c. Monition general Reg. 5. cum Indicâ— libr. prohib Alex. 7. P. V. Concil Trid. Sess 22. Can. 9. unless in a particular policy to serve some extraordinary occasion as when the Doway Translation was admitted as they tell us because of the importunity of Hereticks And when such Translations are unwillingly made they are not suffer'd without particular Licence Å¿ Non sine jacâ—ltate in scriptis habita Reg. In l. Concil Tâ—id obtained under the hand of the Bishop or Inquisitor by the advice of the Confessor which some call a Prudential dispensing of Scripture t V. Pref. to the Doway Bible Yea such Faculties of licensing sometimes in shew of Moderation are granted to the Bishops as was done by Pope Pius IV. but soon after they are recalled again very strictly which was performed by P. Clement VIII and also by P. Paul V. in a very smart Breve dated 1612. u The Translators of the Engl. Bibl. to the Reader So much are they afraid of the light of the Scripture that they will not trust the people with it no not as it is set forth by their own sworn men no not with the licence of their own Bishops and Inquisitors The Church of England from time to time hath taken a just care to have the holy Originals rendred into the common Language that all Gods people may be enriched more and more in the knowledg of God as Epiphanius tells us the ancient Church had its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Interpreters of the Divine Books and therefore the Translation of the Holy Bible in English hath by the Command of Authority had its several reviews and its Translation also into the Welch or British Language hath been ordered in the fifth year of Queen Elizabeth 3. Whereas in the Translation of the Holy Bible many have attemper'd their Versions to their own private and particular sentiments as is notoriously done in the English Translations at Doway and Rhemes and as Grotius x Inter multa quae fidei nocent hoc non est minimum quod versionem quisque attemperat ad suas sententias sua cuique Deus fit dira cupido hoc vero non est Idola sacere imò semet collocare in templo Dei Gro. Animadv ad Artic. 32. hath charged Beza and Piscator and others for inclining their Translations somewhat to their particular suppositions and opinions and as King James at the Conference at Hampton-Court noted the same of the Geneva Version The Moderation of the Church of England hath been such even beyond the care of all kind of Elective Philosophers that she appears sincerely to have espoused the Truth it self without any Dowry y Veritas sine Dote Herbert de Verit. of interest and affection to opinions The more gross was the calumny of Gregory Martin to our Translators of the Bible It is evident you regard neither Hebrew nor Greek but only your Heresy Whereas our Church hath followed no particular Versions but wisely consulted the others then extant which could come to the Translators hands as they themselves testify and enumerate in the Preface to the Bishops Bible the better to enable them to attain the true sense of the Original Not making a second hand Translation such as the Rhemish which was but a Translation of the vulgar yet avoiding also as the Translators of our Bible themselves profess On one side the scrupulosity of the Puritans who leave the old Ecclesiastical words and be take themselves to other as when they put washing for baptism and Congregation instead of Church as also on the other side we have shunned the obscurity of the Papists in their azymes tunike holocausts prepuce and a number of such like yet such is the further modesty and Moderation of our Church it doth not assume to her self to have perfected or made absolute her labour herein but owns it such as may be made more consummate upon further light and experience § 5. Between the extremes of those who on one hand keep the Holy Scriptures from the vulgar as doth the Church of Rome and on the other hand those who account the Scriptures fit only for the vulgar as many of our Sectaries who think themselves already so perfect as to be above consulting the word of God as they call it without them The Church of England according to an excellent Moderation commends unto all of her Communion even to the vulgar a diligent hearing and reading the Holy Scriptures z K. Edw. 6. Inj. 1547. Q. Eliz. Inj. 1559. as appears in sundry places of the Homilies more particularly in the first Homily which is a fruitful exhortation to the reading and knowing of Holy Scripture That man saith the Homily a Homily 1. is ashamed to be called a Lawyer Astronomer Physician Philosopher that is ignorant in the Books of Law Astronomy Physick Philosophy and how can any man then say that he professeth Christ and his Religion if he will not apply himself to read hear and know the Books of Christian Doctrine b The Collect for the second Sunday in Advent Inter Libros prohibitos non habet Ecclesia Anglicana Libros sacros à Deo profectos Rex Jacobus c Severi Homines centum circiter Bibliorum editiones prohibent proscribunt Bened. Turretinus 1619. And though the people by daily hearing of Holy Scripture read in the Church should continually more and more encrease in Christian Knowledge yet it is intended and required that especially the Clergy and Gods Ministers in the Congregation should by often reading and meditating on Gods word be stirred up to Godliness themselves and be more able to exhort others and confute the Adversaries of the Truth as we observe from the Preface concerning the service of the Church and at the beginning of the second part of the Homilies there is a particular Admonition to all Ministers Ecclesiastical That they above all others do aptly plainly and distinctly read the Holy Scriptures § 6. For the governing our reading of Holy Scriptures whereas before the Reformation the Godly and decent order of the ancient Fathers was broken d Pres of the service of the Church and neglected by planting in uncertain stories and legends so that many Books of the Bible were but begun and never read through Now the order e Preface concerning the Service of the Church for Prayer and
Religion than the Holy and Divine inspired Scriptures with Melancthon and the Church of England I wish all Doctrines of Faith were brought to us derived from the Fountain of Scripture by the Channels of Antiquity otherwise what end will there be of innovation And thus our King James of Happy Memory did declare in the words of St Austin That what could be proved the Church held and observed from its first beginning to those Times That to reject He did not doubt to pronounce to be an insolent piece of madness So that the counsel and judgment of the Church of England seems to be moderated according to the Sentence of St Hierom in his Epistle to Minerva My purpose is to read the Ancients to prove all to hold fast what is good and never to depart from the Faith of the Catholick Church and conformably King Charles I. h His Majesties fifth Paper to Mr. Henders My Conclusion is That albeit I never esteemed any Authority equal to the Scriptures yet I do think the unanimous consent of the Fathers and the universal practice of the Primitive Church to be the best and most authentical Interpreters of Gods word For who can be presumed to understand the Doctrine and practice of the Christian Religion better than those who lived in the first and purest times Wherefore i Of Heresy §. 14. Dr Hammond reckons it among the piè Credibilia that a truly general Council cannot erre § 3. And because the Catholick Church is and hath been so much divided and the Monuments of the ancient Church Universally accepted do contain but a few determinations Therefore the Church of England moderately remits her Sons to the first four general Councils as in the 28th year of K. Henry 8. k Fullers Eccl. Hist ad An. 1536. it was Decreed That all ought and must utterly refuse and condemn all those opinions contrary to the said Articles contained in the three Creeds contained in the four Holy Councils that is to say in the Council of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon and all other since that time in any point consonant to the same So in the Institution of a Christian Man set forth 1537. and approved by the Convocation 1543. 't is there said A true Christian man ought and must condemn all those opinions contrary to the twelve Articles of the Creed which were of a long time past condemned in the four Holy Councils that is to say c. Isaac Casaubon also in the name of King James to Cardinal Perron saith l Primo R. Eliz. c. 1 The King and the Church of England do admit the four first Oecumenical Councils and following the judgment of the Church the Law of the Kingdom doth declare m Dicimus Ecclesiam Britannicam adeò venerari Concilia generalia ut speciali statuto caverit nè quisquam spirituali jurisdictione praeditus praesumat censuras suas Ecclesiasticas aliter distringere vel administrare aut quicquam Haereticum pronunciare quod non à scripturis Canonicis quatuor Conciliis generalibus aut alio quocunque Concilio pro tali judicatum fuerit J. B. de antiq libertate Eccl. Brit. Thes 4. That none however Commission'd shall in any wise have authority or power to order or determine or adjudge any matter or cause to be Heresy but only such as heretofore have been determin'd ordered or adjudged to be Heresy by the authority of the Canonical Scriptures or by the first four general Councils or any of them or by any other general Council wherein the same was declared Heresy by the express and plain words of the said Canonical Scriptures or such as hereafter shall be ordered judged or determined to be Heresy by the Court of Parliament of this Realm with the Clergy in their Convocation Thus the authority of the four first general Councils are placed by our Church in the superiour order of Tradition forasmuch as Spalatensis according to St Austin n A plenariis Conciliis tradita Quarum est in Ecclesiâ salubrâ—â—ima authoritas S. Aug. Ep. 118. speaks of such Councils they have obtained a wholsom authority because from the Apostolick Declarations faithfully received they have explained the Holy Scriptures and beside because they have been approved by the Universal Church which with great reason contradicts what Curcellaeus p Curcell Rel. Christianae Instit l. 1. c. 15. hath delivered to depreciate the honour even of the first four Oecumenical Councils So that Mr Cressy in Answer to Dr Pierce might very well cite the Protestant acknowledgments of the Authority of Councils as that of Ridley Acts and Mon. p. 1288. Councils indeed represent the Vniversal Church and being so gathered together in the name of Christ they have the promise of the gift and guiding of the Spirit into all truth To the same purpose are named Bishop Bilson Hooker Potter c. Instead of all these he might have owned if he had pleased the judgment of our Church it self giving all due honour to general and Provincial Councils whose wholsome Decrees she hath accepted and imitated Yea our Church maintains the right of Provincial Synods taken away by the See of Rome q Tertullianus veneratur Provinciale Concilium quasi esset Oecumenicam assentiente sc universali vel iis decernentibus secundùm universale quomodo fit repraesentatio totius nominis Christiani virtualiter tota Ecclesia Neither is this honour diminisht by the further Moderation which our Church hath shown in not taking those for Councils or general Councils which are not such as neither the Council of Florence nor Lateran nor of Trent and we know that our Articles though they are very moderately framed are many of them directly oppos'd to those of Trent being in those points of Doctrine wherein the Church of Rome hath departed from the Catholick Church and made her Doctrines of design more than truth the unjust conditions of Communion A truly free and general Council we look upon as the best expedient on Earth for composing the differences of the Christian World if it might be had but we cannot endure to be abused by meer names of Titular Patriarchs but real Servants and Pensioners of the Popes with Combinations of interested parties instead of general Councils r Dr. Stillingfleet's first Part of an Answer c. 284. When Pope Paul III. call'd a Council then to be held at Mantua and King Henry VIII refusing thither to send He defended his Protestation in a Letter to the Emperour and other Christian Princes 1538. In which the King declares t Acts and Monuments p. 11â—2 Truly as our Forefathers invented nothing more holy than general Councils used as they ought to be so there is almost nothing that may do more hurt to the Christian Faith and Religion than general Councils if they be abused to lucre to gains to the establishment of errors And verily we suppose that it ought not to be called a General
not required of any Lay-person whatsoever meerly in order to his Communion with our Church Although the Church of Geneva l A quibus discedere neque Ministris nequeâ—ivibus liceret Beâ—a in vita Calvini urgeth subscription not of the Ministers only but the people m Extet forma quaedam Doctrinae ad quam omnes Episcopi Parochi jure-jurando astringantur ut nemo ad munus Ecclesiasticum admittatur nisi spondeat Calvin ad Angl. Protect There is perfectly another reason why subscription is required of all who receive the priviledge of degrees in our Universities and in Case of factious Appellants n Canon 98. who are inhibited unless they first subscribe and especially of the Ministers of the Church o Discrimen latum est inter verbi Ministros plebeios homines quos Ministri informant Testis enim est historia Ecclesiastica non per plebeios sed potiâ—s per Clericos introductas esse haereses Schismata Forbesius in Irenico l. 2. c. 12. namely because she may be as secure as she can of them to whom she commits so great a trust in the instruction of the people Wherefore of them who are entrusted with the Ministry of the Church it is required that they disavow all obligations and opinions to break the Peace of the Church and that they assent to the use of those things which are for the unity of Christians in this Kingdom among themselves which is no more than the Law of Nature hath granted every Society which the Church hath in all Ages practised and which our Adversaries themselves did use For the p Vi. Disc of Toler Sect. 13. Presbyterians required a subscription to their solemn League and the Independants had their Church Government Therefore in that our Church takes all the security she can by Sponsors at Baptism and by subscription of Ministers is a proof of her wisdom and great care of her own especially among us where the Ministers of the Church have blessed be God another Tenure than in Holland during the precarious pleasure of their Pay-Masters Beneficed men among us having a Freehold and not to be turned out but in a legal way upon great cause deserving Neither is subscription required by our Church of its Ministers unless they can do it willingly and ex animo nor unless they can with freedom of mind assent and consent to the uniform practice of the Church This if they cannot do with a quiet mind they are left free by the Church to enjoy a laical indulgence which is very large and exceeding bountiful As for dissatisfaction or weakness what said King James q Conference at Hampton Court How long will such Brethren be weak Are not 45 years sufficient r Qui decennali disciplinâ nondum usqueâ—o prosecerunt ut tam faciles in Theologiá quaestiones intelligant non possunt apti esse ad sustinendum onus pastorale in Eâ—clesiâ Dei Forbes Iren l. 2. c. 12. to grow strong in Some of them are strong enough if not Head-strong But I wonder there should be such earnest Recusants to subscription of the followers of Calvin among us whenas he to the English Protector writes thus 'T is fit to look after the desultory humour of them who would have too much lawful to themselves The door is to be shut to curious doctrines and one expedite means for that purpose is if there were a summary of doctrine received of all which all may follow in Preaching to the observing of which all Bishops and Parish Priests may be bound by an Oath that no one may be admitted to any Ecclesiastical Office unless he first engage that he will keep inviolate that consent of Doctrine And so for Catechism And as to a Form of Prayer and Ecclesiastical Rites I very much approve that there be a constant Form extant from which it may not be lawful for the Pastors in their Functions to depart in regard of the simplicity and unskillfullness of some and that the consent of the Churches among themselves may more certainly be manifest Lastly to prevent the desultory levity of those who affect Novelties And in his Epistle to Farellus Å¿ Calv. Ep. 87. Calvin writes It always prevail'd in the Church which was decreed in ancient Synods That those who would not be subject to the Laws of Common Discipline should be dismissed from their Function § 4. The very frame of the Articles shews the great Moderation and Wisdom of the Church they being propounded on purpose so as to avoid unnecessary controversy propounded not with a Laodicean indifference or lukewarmness in what we ought to contend for t Parkers Eccles Pol. l. 1. c. 25. as some charge our Church with It is not meant here or elsewhere by Moderation such a Latitude which Bishop Taylor saith u Ductor Dub. l. 3. â— 4. §. 23. hath something of craft but very little of ingenuity which can only serve the ends of peace and external Charity or a fantastick Concord but not the ends of truth and holiness and Christian simplicity It is not meant here as if our Articles were framed like the dubious Oracles of Delphos that the Subscribers might understand them which way they please like a shoe for every foot as if they were to deceive by ambiguous terms x Conference at Hamp C. p. 15. The Judicious Bishop Sanderson y Pax Ecclesiae p. 52. in his directions for the Peace of the Church lays down this as the first That particular Churches would be as tender as may be in giving their definitions and determinations especially where there may be admitted a Latitude of dissenting without prejudice done either to the substance of the Catholick Faith or to the tranquillity of the Church or to the Salvation of the dissenter In which respect the Moderation of the Church of England is much to be commended and to be preferred not only before the Roman Church which with unsufferable tyranny bindeth all her Children upon pain of Damnation to all her determinations even in those points which are no way necessary to Salvation but also before sundry other Reformed Churches who have proceeded further than this Church hath done It is a sufficient proof of the sincerity of our Church if what it hath declared and intended to declare hath a true clear and certain meaning and her Articles do surely conduce to peace if it appear all agree in the true usual literal meaning But in respect of what is not intended to be declared by them z King Charles I. Declaration 1630. published with the Articles If even in these curious points in which the present differences lye most men of all sorts take the Articles of the Church of England for them then may be infer'd what the Right Reverend Bishop of Chester hath said a No necessity of Reformation of the Doctrine of the Church of England 1660. This rather gives a Testimony of
the great Wisdom and Moderation of the Church which in points doubtful and controverted hath propounded only that which no sober man can make matter of doubt or subject of controversy As in the 16th Article 't is said Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost Now certainly this is in it self a most sound certain infallible plain and perspicuous Doctrine and being so the want of liberty to interpret one term of it deadly sin cannot render it doubtful for interpret it which way you will either all sins are deadly or say all sins are not deadly it will be equally true that every deadly sin is not the sin against the Holy Ghost In the like manner whether we may fall from grace totally and finally which hath a great doubt Without any question After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from grace given of that there hath never been any question In the third Article of Christs descent into Hell b Compare the Articles of K. Edw. 6. 1552. and those of 1562. The Church purposely hath waved all the Controversies thereof and plainly propounded the Article c Hujus Articuli verum genuinum sensum neque Apostoli â—â—â—dideruâ—â— neque Ecclesia definivit Rem itaque credimus modum nescimus Archiep. Spalat l. 7. c. 12. §. 125. In the 17th Article there is not one word of the horrible decree of absolute reprobation rather in the close of the Article there is a wholsome caution against extreme curiosity Furthermore we must receive Gods promises as they are set forth to us in Holy Scriptures and in our doings That will of God is to be followed which is expresly declared to us in the word of God and in the Homilies our Church d 2d Part of the Homily of falling from God takes notice of some who Hearing the loving and large promises of Gods mercy and so not conceiving a right Faith thereof make those promises larger than ever God did c. So evident is it that the Church of England was intent on Peace and Edification of her Sons Wherefore the Articles of the Protestant Church in the Infancy thereof were drawn up in general terms foreseeing that posterity would grow up to fill the same meaning that these holy men did prudently discover that differences in judgment would unavoidably happen in the Church and were loth to unchurch any and drive them off from an Ecclesiastical Communion for petty differences which made them pen the Articles in comprehensive words to take in all who differing in branches meet in the root of the same Religion e Historia quinque articularis Part 2. Ch. 8. So that I think the modest survey of Naked Truth f p. 4. did not fly one jot too high when he saith It cannot be denied but the Articles of our Church were compiled with the highest discretion and Moderation that ever was used by un-inspired men so that it is a most unreasonable charge on the Church of England to say she has tyrannically imposed many unnecessary conditions on her Members in point of Faith and Doctrine so large a Scope is left in our Church for mutual charity and the enquiries of the studious Bishop Bramhall was far from one of those which some called Latitudinarians yet he saith g Fair Warning Ch. 1. If it were not for this Disciplinarian humour which will admit no Latitude h Sunt ergo res aliquae ita comparatae ut benignam sibi interpretationem suo quodam jure concedi postulent quae sc non sit interclusa verborum angustiis sed cum quodam ut Ciceronis verbo utar Laxamento liberior De Juram oblig prael 2. §. 8. in Religion but makes each nicety a fundamental and every private opinion an Article of Faith which prefers particular errours before general truths I doubt not but all reformed Churches would easily be reconciled Wherefore in such points which may be held diversly of divers men salvâ fidei compage I i Chilingworth Pref. §. 28. would not take any mans liberty from him and humbly beseech all men that they would not take mine from me k Non per difficiles quaestiones nos Deus ad beatam vitam vocat S. Hilar. l. 10. de Trin. Sunt quidem nonnullae quaestiones è curiosis inquietis hominibus excitatae etiam doctis piis viris negotium faciunt in his ea Moderatio adhibenda c. Spalat de officio pii viri And here I think the Judgment of l Jur. praedest p. 21. Bishop Andrews may fitly be repeated as most agreeable with the Moderation of our Church I truly ingenuously confess I have followed the counsel of St Austin These mysteries which I cannot unfold I admire them shut and therefore for these sixteen years since I was made Priest I neither publickly nor privately have disputed nor Preacht of them and now I had rather hear than speak of them And truly since it is a slippery place and hath on either side its Precipices and since these places of St Paul are always esteemed among those which are hard to be understood and many of the Clergy are neither fit to explain them nor many of the people can be idoneous hearers I would e'ne perswade silence enjoin'd on both sides and truly I judge it more expedient that our people be taught to seek their Salvation in the plain way of a holy and upright life than in the hidden paths of the divine Counsels into which too curious inspection use to cause giddiness in their Heads and mists before their Eyes § 5. In persuance of the same design of the Church for Peace and Moderation it is very proper here to mention the seasonable and wise Declarations and Injunctions of our Kings of England to Preachers and all others to keep them within the bounds of the same peaceful Moderation In the Injunctions of King Edw. VI. 1547. Of Sermons It is injoin'd That they shall purely and sincerely declare the word of God and in the same exhort their hearers to the works of Faith Mercy and Charity especially prescribed and commanded in Holy Scripture In Queen Elizabeth's Articles for Doctrine and Preachers They are admonished to use sobriety and discretion in teaching the people namely in matters of controversy and to consider the gravity of their office and to foresee with diligence the matters which they shall speak to utter them to the edification of the Audience King James Jan. 18. 1616. sent instructions to the Universities That young Students in Divinity should be excited to study such Books as were most agreeable to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England and bestow their time in the Fathers and Councils and Schoolmen Histories and Controversies and not to insist too long on Compendiums and Abbreviations making them the ground of their study August 4. 1623. In his Letter to the Archbishop Whereas divers
young Students by reading of late Writers and ungrounded Divines do broach many times unprofitable seditious and dangerous Doctrines to the scandal of the Church He injoin'd That none under a Bishop or Dean do presume to preach in any popular Auditory the deep points of Predestination Election Reprobation or of the Vniversality Resistibility or Irresistibility of Gods Grace But rather confine themselves wholly to those two Heads of Faith and a good Life which are all the subject of the ancient Sermons and Homilies That no Preacher of any denomination whatsoever shall presume to fall into bitter invectives and undecent railings against the Persons of either Papists or Puritans but modestly and gravely when they are occasion'd by their Text free both the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England from the Aspersions of the Adversaries King Charles of Blessed Memory set forth with the Articles a Declaration 1630. wherein he required thus In these curious and unhappy differences which have for so many hundred years in different times and places exercised the Church of Christ We will that all further curious search be laid aside and these disputes shut up in Gods promises as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scriptures and the general meaning of the Articles of the Church of England It is to be wisht that all the Directions concerning Preachers in the several Kings Reigns since the Reformation were Imprinted on the minds of all the Clergy and others especially His present Majesties Directions Dated October 14. 1662. Which among other great reasons inducing were set forth because of the extravagance of sundry young Divines who took upon them in their popular Sermons to handle the deep points of Gods Eternal Counsels and Decrees and other fruitless controversies serving rather to amuse than profit the hearers which is done for the most part and with greatest confidence by such persons as least understand them Therefore they are admonisht not to spend their time in the search of such abstruse and speculative notions However that they presume not positively and doctrinally to determine anything concerning the same And for the edifying the people in Faith and Godliness That they in their ordinary Sermons insist chiefly on Catechetical Doctrines wherein are contained all the necessary and undoubted verities of Religion declaring withal unto their Congregations what Influences such Doctrines ought to have into their Lives and Conversations and stirring them up effectually as well by their Examples as their Doctrines to the practice of such religious and moral duties as are the proper results of the said Doctrines as Self-denial Contempt of the World Humility Patience Meekness Temperance Justice Mercy Obedience and the like and to a detestation c. And because these licentious times have corrupted Religion in the very roots and foundations That where there is an Afternoons Exercise it be especially spent either in explaining some part of the Church Catechism or what may conduce to the Exposition of the Liturgy and Prayers of the Church as occasion shall be offered The only cause they grew into contempt among the people being this that they were not understood The subscription for University Preachers in the University of Cambridge keeps its Subscribers within the same bounds and by the way I may note the Moderation and Excellent temper of our Vniversities at this time Having known for many Years together in Cambridge there have seldom been disputed in our Schools those Controversies which in the Age before did so much divide both Foreign Churches and ours and also our Vniversities themselves of our other Vniversity I am assured the same from my most Reverend Diocesan the Lord Bishop of Lincoln Having mentioned our Vniversities I conceive a very proper proof of the Moderation of our Church of England may be taken from the general practice in our Universities those noble Seminaries of the Church where among the Theses which are disputed in the Divinity Schools commonly one is given to assert our Church against the Romanists the other to defend our Church against other Sectaries The care of very many of our Bishops hath been also the same as may appear from one of their Exemplars of Subscription I have set it down in the Margent m Ego Curatus cui licentia praedicandi verbum Dei concedenda est sacras literas purè sincerè tractabo easque prudenti simplicitate populo exponam nec in sermonibus meis de rebus jam constitutis suscitabo Controversias nec spargam contentiones neque innovationem ullam doctrinâ vel Ceremoniis suadebo V. 1. Vol. Episcopii praes Praevorstii de concionibus because of its excellent use In the Instructions of King James 1618. to the Divines He sent over to the Synod of Dort One was That they should advise the Ministers of those Churches that they do not deliver in the Pulpit to the people those things for ordinary Doctrines which are the highest points of Schools and not fit for vulgar capacity but are disputable on both sides and that they carry themselves with that advice moderation and discretion as became them c. After all these great Testimonies of Moderation in our Church it is proper to mention what we meet with in the Pacific Dr Hammonds Discourse of Gods Grace and Decrees § 24. This I suppose the reason both of our Churches Moderation in framing the Article of Predestination and of our late Kings Declaration in silencing the debate of the Question For if by these methods the Church could but have prevailed to have the Definitions of the several pretenders forgotten All men contenting themselves as our Article prescribes with the Promises of God as they are declared in Scripture the turmoil and heat and impertinence of disputes had been prevented which now goes for engagement in Gods cause And blessed be God the design of the Churches Moderation and of our Gracious King the Churches Moderatour and Governour hath thus far had excellent effect in the Church and our Universities that for a long time there hath been a great silence from that noise and learned squabble which sometimes formerly disturbed the Churches Peace so that now we may be more at leisure without prejudice and passion to review and admire the wise and excellent determinations of our Church § 6. To shew how well the Controversies of the late Age have been moderated by our Church might deserve a just Treatise by it self But our Church seems to observe the same advice which King James gave to the Divines going over to Dort 1618. In case of opposition between any over-much addicted to their own opinions their endeavours should be that certain Positions be moderately laid down which may tend to the mitigation of heat on both sides Our Church throughout hath done the same thing as might be instanced at large in the Controversies between us and the Romanists and between others also Indeed the Articles and especially the Homilies do copiously and
are innumerable arguments which convince us of the certainty of the Divine Testimony in the matters we have received yet such is the Moderation of our Church she doth not require every one in her Communion necessarily to know and receive all the reasons of certainty which are and may be given nor yet to rely on one to the neglect of another but leaves us to be satisfied according to the means and opportunities which we have abundantly offered unto us justly supposing there are so many reasons perswading the truth of what we believe that some are convinced by some others by others as the Providence of God disposeth things 3. Our Church no where makes infallible certainty of assent a necessary condition of Faith it being sufficient to make our Faith certain if our Rule be infallible and that applyed with moral evidence that is such an evidence as we can have of things and actions past as is sufficient to guide and govern our manners and behaviour Some of late have contended with very ill success that an infallible certainty of assent is necessarily wrought by demonstration and what they love to call scientific Evidence in every Believer which doctrine of J. S. is condemned by his Adversaries even of Rome p Animadv P. Talboti Arch. Dubl in Prop. 2. p. 54. as the pith of Manicheism because it lays this burden on the Church or an Oecumenical Council evidently to demonstrate its own infallibility If destroying the first foundation of the Roman infallibility were all we might dispense with that inconvenience as it renders their motives of credibility insufficient which before the doctrine of infallibility is received used to be the only way they had to recommend the Church of Rome to the approbation of Proselytes but to affirm that all certainty of Christian Faith is generally wrought by such demonstration in case that doctrine proves false the consequence is If Christian Faith have no other certainty Christianity it self is left uncertain in its very foundations Others there are who deliver that an infallible certainty of assent wrought only by the immediate extraordinary operation of the Spirit of God is necessarily in every true Believer Now though our Church doth as much as any can do own the necessity of Gods Grace and holy Spirit to prevent assist and follow us especially in what concerns divine matters yet our Church is not so bold with the Holy Spirit of God to affirm that such an inward testimony of the Divine Spirit working together in our Spirits an infallible assent is so necessary to assure us of the certainty of Faith and of the authority of Holy Scriptures and of the truth of other Doctrines in question as without which we could have no such belief as is required to Salvation Which precarious presumption tends to render useless all those sufficient evidences we have of Divine truth by the gracious means which God hath appointed ordinary in his Church and whereas the assertors of this extraordinary spirit exclude all other means of real certainty as insufficient such a Doctrine being false must needs tend also to overthrow all Christian Religion Such is the sad consequence of the Doctrines both of Dr I. O. and Mr I. S. in making though on differing grounds an infallible assent necessary to a true belief They agree together also in the injury they do Christian Religion by traducing our Faith as a probable fallible humane natural Faith which are the very words they q V. Dr I. O. Reason of Faith p. 72. Mr I. S. Faith Vindicated both unite in to expose our belief to contempt which is grounded on such evidences as God hath abundantly afforded us to assure us of the truth of his Divine Testimony Which evidences especially in matters of Faith necessary to Salvation since they are so plain and certain Our Church hath always held needless such an infallible guide as the Romanists would impose upon us And for the same reasons that we do not expect any new Revelations nor any ostentation of new miracles necessary to a true Church or true Faith they being superseded by the ordinary means of Faith which are sufficient for the same reasons we cannot presume to expect much less to make necessary to every true belief such extraordinary illapses of the Divine Spirit which makes those who only think they have it think themselves only infallible And thus we may discern how many are led to Popery by the way of Enthusiasm For it is usual for those into whose head Enthusiasm is flown to reel from one extream to another 4. To preserve us from these uncertainties among the very many reasons which we have from rational and moral evidence whereby the truth of the Divine Testimony is confirmed to us abundantly Our Church owns no one greater since the miraculous gifts than the testimony of Gods Church now and in all Ages since Christ and his Apostles time because of the sundry Evidences also which confirm to us the truth of the Churches testimony All which amount to more than high probability for as r â— Lomini Hiâ—l Consul haeres Blacklo P. 2. c. 4. §. 5. Lominus tells J. S. Probability on one side doth not exclude probability also on the opposite side but the reason of moral evidence and certainty doth exclude any probability on the contrary part and that so manifestly that only grievous ignorance and pertinacy can incline a man thereunto § 9. As the Moderation of our Church allows us to be reasonably satisfied of the certainty of our Faith much more are other doctrines so propounded to those of our Communion as not to render useless their own reasons and judgments Notwithstanding our Church doth sufficiently vindicate her own just power and the authority of what she testifies and determines Article 20. 34. c. and by her Canons requires a just submission All care being also taken by the Church to prevent error and dissentions and wresting the Scriptures Canon 34. 49. 139. Yet all is performed among us with a most excellent and golden mean And in that nothing in our Church is determin'd contrary to truth nor the judgment of the Catholick Church nor right reason the Church of England can the better allow her Sons their right to search examine and discern what they must approve Which Bishop Davenant and Bishop Bramhall and some others understand by their judgment of discretion though the word sounds not so pleasing to some Religious Ears because it seems by the use of the phrase in English to incline private persons to a power of refusing what the Church rightly determines which is not to be allowed For as the suffrage of our Church hath been constantly unanimous with that of the Apostle We can do nothing against the truth but for the truth much more ought private persons to be bounded thereby if the Apostles and the Church are The Moderation of the Church will appear the more remarkable if we
disposition to swallow all Poysons and are liable to the guilt not only of their first solitary error but all which are consequent thereon whereas those who use a sober examination after they are convinced of one error will be more cautious of others and the truth they come to of choice and judgment is also more praise-worthy and more tenible I should swell this head into too great a bulk if I should enumerate the sundry places wherein our Blessed Lord and his Holy Apostles did stir up and provoke the industry of the Christian Disciples to search discern prove try examine what they received lest at any time they were seduced by false Prophets The same admonitions and method have the ancient Fathers of the Church persued Both which would be endless here to recite Indeed all sorts of perswasions of men seem to confess the necessity of first convincing the reason and judgment of what is to be received as truth And therefore the Romanists use so many motives of credibility to induce belief of their Church in which if once the Proselyte is caught they serve him as the Chaldees did King Zedekiah after they had taken him Captive they put out his Eyes c Caeco judicio imperata facere quantumvis ea blasphema sint atque impia Apol. Eccl. Anglic. §. 138. 2 Kings 25. 7. Where indeed the mystery we are sure is certainly declared and delivered by God there we ought to captivate not only our imaginations but our reasons to the obedience of Faith not staying for a connexion of the parts of the Proposition to be believed by Scientific evidence which Mr Sergeant makes his Sure-footing But where we are not assured of the matter of fact of the Divine Revelation nor otherwise understand the reasons for such an assent No one can put off humane nature so far as to believe what they please d Nullus credit aliquid verum esse quia vult credere id esse verum nam non est in potestate hominis sacere aliquid apparer◠intellectui suo verum quando voluerit Picus Mirandula Indeed it is the great honour of our Church that it doth not testify nor require attestation unto any thing but where some good reason why we do so is sufficiently manifest which right as she maintains toward others so she vindicates the same to her self namely of examining what is offered to her under the venerable name of the Catholick Church and if need be of reforming any abuses or errors within the bounds of its own Discipline and so separating the pretious from the vile which power of examining Doctrines being forbid by the Church of Rome to her Sons seems to prevent the first occasion and means of Reformation e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Eutychianis inter Athanasii opera Consulatur integer Tractatus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and renders her even incorrigible in her errors and corruptions and remaining so irreconcilable But some do Object That if we allow a right of private judgment it will be a direct means to establish among us an enthusiastic private Spirit which will rely upon its own judgment to the despising all others and if all may use a private judgment why may they not follow it and profess it Then you open a Window to all Divisions and Heresies and render the Church useless and all her Guides We Answer It is one thing to use our Faculties of discerning in a discreet manner which includes all due Reverence to all those instruments which God and the Church have given us for our direction and conduct and another thing to rely on our own prudence to wrest the Scripture to our own sense as the Council of Trent f Nemo prudentiae suae innixus S. Scripturam ad suos sensus contorqueat Conc. Trid. Sess 4. Decr. 2. speaks which the Church of England first of all detests Article 20. Every private person being here required to hear and obey the publick reason of our Church Which being also clear and true can allow the being searcht into and for that purpose she desires but her Sons to open their own Eyes Wherefore the sober use of our own faculties ought not to be called a private Spirit which judgeth according to the general notices of Truth and Good and the common sense of Mankind and the judgment also of the Church such a Spirit is the Candle of the Lord. Not an evil Spirit nor a Spirit of Innovation nor Dissention nor a Spirit of Pride nor Temptation as many of the Church of Rome blazon it As for the growth of Schisms and Heresies from the use of such a private judgment as the Church allows Which Objection was anciently made against the Christian Religion as of old by Celsus to Origen l. 3. Unto which was answered That where any thing was received which was very excellent such differences were common as among the Philosophers and Jews so among Christians but These now who make the Objection generally those of the Romish Communion yet know that though they carry as well as they can an outward shew of unity to their people they have as great divisions as any are And though indeed the corruption of good things is greatest by the abuse of ill men This ill consequence through the Vice of some ought not to take away the common right of all no more than the contentions which arise from the Laws should be thought to render them dangerous to be proclaimed The Christian Religion of it self is sufficient to keep all from error or vice if all men would comply with its wholsome and pacific Decrees as Arnobius g Quòd si omnes omnino salutaribus ejus pacificisque decretis aurem vellent accommodare paulisper non fastu supercilio Luminis suis potius sensibus quà m illius Comminationibus crederent universus jamdudum orbis mitiora in opera conversis usibus ferri tranquillitate mollissimâ degeret in Concordiam salutarem incorruptis foederum sanctionibus conveniret Arnobius l. 1. long since hath delivered And the Church in observance hereof doth procure her own Peace as much as may be in that all are bound not to publish their private sense to the detriment of publick Peace and by her Censures hath a power of repressing publick Dissenters and in case of doubt arising our Church wisely sends the parties so doubting to their Superiours h Preface concerning the Service of the Church And whereas Gods true Religion is but one the profession of which Article 19. and no other Article 18. is absolutely necessary to the being of Gods Church and therein to our Salvation Blessed be God in our Church there is abundant care taken of Gods Holy Religion both by the Laws of the Kingdom and Church for the instruction and government of its members unto edification and peace and every one may be satisfied in his Conscience and Judgment of the Religion he professeth Yet This
Christian people Let Archbishop Laud be heard for once by those who have doubted his judgment in this matter l Archbishop Laud §. 16. Num. 31. I ever took Sermons and do still to be the most necessary Expositions and applications of Holy Scripture and a great ordinary means of Salvation To the same purpose Hooker's Eccles Pol. l. 2. § 22. Neither hath the Church of God ever had any where more useful practical and judicious Preachers than those who with the Church of England have thus ingenuously and equally judged of the use and necessity of Preaching on one hand esteeming its real use and benefit on the other hand not judging it the chief exercise of Religion and the worship of God nor allowing that for the hearing of a Sermon which spends its Life in its Birth as Mr Hooker saith the Prayers of the Church should be slighted neglected or mangled m In concione solâ totum fermè Divini cultûs ritum collocant non tales erant antiquae piae Synaxes Ar. Spalat l. 7. c. 12. At the Conference at Hampton-Court the Bishop of London humbly desired his Majesty That there might be a praying Ministry among us it being now come to pass that men think it the only duty of Ministers to spend their time in the Pulpit I confess saith he in a Church newly to be planted Preaching is most necessary not so in one long established that Prayer should be neglected I like saith King James your motion exceeding well and dislike the Hypocrisy of our time who place all Religion in the Ear. At the very dawning also of the Reformation Preaching was also especially useful and few were exercis'd therein and had a right skill therein which made the Institution of a Christian man set out 1537. because of the difficulty thereof say Surely the office of Preaching is the chief and most principal office whereunto Priests or Bishops be called by the authority of the Gospel though by Preaching there might be meant the Annunciation of the Gospel which is done by lively reading of the Scriptures and in sundry other Ministerial Offices Wherefore in the Church of England we have the lively Oracles of the Holy Scriptures declared and read among us n Coimus ad divinam Literarum commemorationem Tert. Apol. We have Catechising and Expositions on the Church Catechism We have also excellent Homilies too much despised for their plainness yet the same which Bucer o Quid illi qui non sustineant audire erectis animis cupidis tam breves easque tam salutares Homilias totas Censura M. Buceri magnify'd as short and wholsome Sermons not only for the help of non-Preaching Ministers but withal a pattern and as it were a boundary for the Preaching Ministers as King James hath it in his Directions 1623. of which how modestly and moderately doth the Church her self speak in its 35. Article That they contain a Godly and wholsome Doctrine necessary for these times We have also the Lives and Counsels of the Church's Ministers which are living Sermons too p Vereor nè pancae extant inregno vivae conciones Calv. Ep. 87. So that among us we have all sorts of Preaching if the commonness of it did not make it despised Great care also is taken for other Sermons too q Canon 45 46. Rubrick after the Nicene Creed Yea our Church hath used all possible means that the Preaching of her Ministers may be useful and as they ought to be as appears from the exhortations which are made at the Ordinations of Bishops Priests and Deacons and the subscriptions which are made before the Bishops which are also incomparably enforced by r V. librum quorundam Canonum 1597. Can. 50. C. 54. Q. Elizabeth's Articles for doctrine and Preaching 1554. their Majesties directions from time to time as hath been instanced Ch. 6. § 5. Notwithstanding many are of the mind with those in Scotland who esteemed the Directions of King James to Preachers to be Limiting of the Spirit of God ſ Spotswood History of Scotland ad an 1622. What would they have thought of the Proclamation of King Edw. VI. which inhibited all Preaching throughout the Kingdom that the Clergy might apply themselves unto Prayer The Copy of which Inhibition is in Fuller's Church History t Fuller 's History Ec. ad an 1548. 2 Ed. 6. In the Preface to the Directory we see the Prelates accused for the crime of making Preaching inferiour to the Common-Prayer which charge contains a fallacy like that of a complex Interrogation For our Liturgy doth not exclude but suppose and require Preaching and doth contain in its daily Offices sundry sorts of real Preaching beside Among professed Christians ought Preaching to contend with Prayer either as to the necessity of it or dignity when Prayer is our duty to God immediately and doth suppose people already instructed In the Notes on the view of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Law u P. 3. Ch. 4. §. 3. it is very well concluded All this while we should not detract any thing from Preaching considering our selves to live under a State so maturely composed and so throughly advised and setled in the Faith it would be expected that we should so far moderate our opinion of Preaching as that our magnifying thereof may no way tend to the discredit or disadvantage of most necessary Prayer Our Church doth not admit to the Office of Preaching any but who are ordained and licensed thereunto Yet our Church doth allow such kind of Sermons as we call in the Colleges Common places for the training up of Candidates in Divinity and for their tryal of skill before competent Judges The Moderation in our Church is further known in that among us its Ministers are not expected nor do they endeavour to take the people in their Preaching by mysterious non-sense or by storm and sensible noises and uncouth tones and grimaces whereby a tumult and confusion is rais'd in the animal passions scaring weak people almost out of their wits and common sense just as the Valentinian Hereticks x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist l. 4. used hard words and thundring noises in their Conventicles to cause astonishment in the people y Nihil tam facile quà m vilem plebeculam indoctam concionem linguae volubilitate decipere quae quicquid non intellexit plus miratur S. Hier. ad Nepotian Ep. 3. Our design is otherwise by a rational and sober surrender of their minds to gain our Hearers to truth and goodness Whence it follows that among such as Mr Hooker well notes z Eccles Pol. l. 5. §. 2. The vigour and efficacy of Sermons do grow from certain accidents which are not in them but in their maker his gesture his zeal his motion of body inflexion of voice c. Here it is not improper also to justify the Moderation and good reason our Church hath for the distinction it hath
Churches Moderation The Ceremonies of our Church are but very few and those of great antiquity simplicity decency and clear signification hardly to be wrested to the prejudice of inward piety wherefore they are neither unprofitable nor burdensome of which they are charged in the Preface to the Directory Our Church avoiding extreams on one hand of the Church of Rome a Concil Trid. Sess 7. Can. 13. whose Ceremonies are so cumbersome for their number b Quia ad aures ipsorum totius sermè orbis justissimae querelae pervenerint de moderandâ corrigendâ onerosâ multitudine quorundam rituum Chemnit Examen ib. p. 34. that they make no end of commanding and forbidding till they come to the other extremity of moroseness of which humour St Austin c S. Aug. Ep. 118. in express words complains Religion which God in his mercy hath made free with few and clear Sacraments is made more burdensome than ever was the Jewish Wherefore our Church is most careful lest by any excess of Ceremonies Religion should be any wise obscured and by outward and sensible things the minds of people should be diverted to the neglect of what is inward and spiritual Therefore our Church in its Preface of Ceremonies why some be abolished complains That the excessive number of Ceremonies was so great and many of them so dark that they did more confound and darken than declare and set forth Christs benefits unto us On the other hand our Church avoids that other kind of superstition of those that consider not the frame of men nor the use and experience of having some Rites for comeliness and edification d V. Pref. to the Liturgy and for exciting Piety and Devotion in the publick worship of God Let me for the sake of those who rather will accept such a truth from Mr Perkins e Reformed Catholick 7. §. of Traditions repeat his words We hold that the Church of God hath power to prescribe Ordinances Rules or Traditions touching time and place of Gods worship and touching order and comliness to be used in the same and in this regard Paul 1 Cor. 11. 2. commendeth the Church of Corinth for keeping his Traditions and Acts 15. 29. the Council at Jerusalem decreed that the Churches of the Gentiles should abstain from blood and from things strangled this Decree is termed a Tradition and this kind of Traditions whether made by general or particular Synods we have a care to maintain and observe these Caveats being remembred f Ritus pauci numero sine sumptu minimè graves Grot. in Cassand Artic. 15. 1. That they prescribe nothing childish or absurd to be done 2. That they be not imposed as any part of Gods worship 3. That they be severed from superstition or opinion of merit Lastly That the Church of God be not burdened with the multitude of them And indeed a worthy instance of the prudent Moderation of the Church of England is that in her reformation from Rome she hath delivered her self from such an Endless g Europae Speculum p. 3. multitude of Superstitions and Ceremonies enough to take up a great part of a mans life to gaze on and peruse a huge sort of which are so childish and unsavoury that as they argue great silliness and rawness in their inventors so can they naturally bring no other than disgrace and contempt to those exercises of Religion wherein they are stirring Yet after the fashion of a modest and prudent Matron though our Church doth not appear tawdry drest with too great a variety of ill placed cost yet doth she endeavour always to appear discreet and comely in her attire On purpose retaining some Rites in respect to the practice of the antient Church and to vindicate her self from the imputation of moroseness and not to side with the other extreme of those who in the exercise of their Religion affect carelessness and neglect of any good Form The Church of England doth retain some Ceremonies in her Offices thereby also to vindicate real Christian Liberty namely the publick liberty of Gods Church one part of which as Bucer in the beginning of the Reformation well noted is for the Church to chuse its own Rites and also to vindicate the Liberty of private Christians who by the Orders of the Church have their choice directed for their own edification and the better order of Divine things For Diversity of Ceremonies in divers Churches do serve to testify the Christian Liberty and doth greatly conduce to teach the true judgment of Ceremonies namely that all men by this diversity may understand That those things which are not delivered in Holy Scripture are not necessary to Salvation but may be altered as the time and circumstance of edification doth require h Sprint's Necessity of Conformity in case of Deprivation p. 115. It a Forbesius in Irenico l. 1. c. 7. Harmon Confess p 194. Which reason of them though it hath been frequently repeated yet hath not sufficiently been taken notice of by those who pretend to be such Assertors of Christian Liberty who fall foul into another servile and unquiet sort of Superstition Yet when we consider the horrid stiff superstition of such Precisians whom the Moderation of the Church of England in point of Ceremonies doth affright We cannot think them so moped but others appear to have run into a greater excess of madness when we behold the exceeding number of Ceremonies and observances which the Roman Rubricks appoint in their Rituals Missals and Pontifical c. We may bless our selves who within the Communion of our Church are freed from such a bondage more grievous than the Jewish especially since their Rites many of which are so ridiculous and trifling i Vi. Pontificale Rom. de Ecclesiae Dedicatione p. 237. Vi. Rituale Rom. in absolvendo excommunicatum jam mortuum c. k Quando primò Clericis barbae tondentur dici debet Pontifice sedente cum mitrâ Antiphona Sicut Ros Hermon c. Pontificale p. 550. are not only approved but required by the Council of Trent under the pain of Anathema l Conc. Trid. Sess 7. Can. 13. and that for surer notice repeated in the first page of their Ritual Wherefore as Plutarch well saith of Religion it hath its place between contempt of divine things on one hand and superstition on the other So the Moderation of our Church is excellently tempered to keep Christians from Enthusiasm in one extreme and from what some call Rituality on the other m D. H. Mori Ethic. c. 5. p. 105. Of our Churches care in this last particular Bishop Taylor thus endeavours to satisfie some Consciences There is reason saith he to celebrate and honour the wisdom and prudence of the Church of England which hath in all her Offices retained but one Ritual or Ceremony that is not of Divine Ordinance or Apostolical practice and that is the Cross in Baptism which
same with hath been much encreased by the extravagant practices of the Church of Rome in their Benedictions 1. To make way for their Exorcisms antecedent to their Benedictions they seem to suppose worse of Gods Creation than they need as if the Devil had such interest and possession in the salt and water and what else they commonly exorcise Sometimes they are as prodigal of their Blessings as at other times of their Curses imprinting thereby a servile and superstitious dread upon the minds of men whereby they suck no small advantage 2. By their multitude of Ceremonies they seem unavoidably to confound the People and divert their minds from the true author and cause of blessing How many Crossings and sprinklings with Holy-Water Incensings Exorcisms variety of actions of the Bishops and Priests frequent shifting of Vestments many utensils and materials do they make requisite Whereas the Church of England doth in a modest and solemn manner make use of that Commission it hath to dispense by its Ministers the Divine Blessing in the name of God because the less is blessed of the greater Heb. 7. 7. Being 1. Very careful to make her people plainly sensible from whom the Benediction by Prayer doth proceed 2. Our Church doth carefully declare the Divine Promises as they are made that the people may take more effectual care to be duly qualifyed for the Divine Blessing 3. Our Church doth not hold any Mediator for the Divine Blessing but what God hath appointed neither Saint nor Angel but only Jesus Christ our Lord. 4. Our Church doth rightly suppose its Ministers have authority given them to declare and pronounce the Divine Promises of blessing with the conditions of receiving the same and that they have a special Commission given them to pray for Gods people and bless them as the Priests under the Law had Commission to bless the people in the name of God Numbers 6. 22. Deut. 10. 8. 1 Chron. 23. 13. Which practice had nothing Ceremonial in it and peculiar to the Law Wherefore Christ put his hands upon the little Children and blessed them S. Mat. 19. 13. and Commanded his Apostles and Ministers to bless his people S. Mat. 10. 13. S. Luke 10. 5. and without all contradiction the less is blessed of the greater Heb. 7. 7. Wherefore for the dignity of the Episcopal Office the Church doth especially delegate that Power and Commission to her Bishops for Confirmation with imposition of Hands and in Ordination of Ministers c. Neither do our Religious Kings in our Church refuse the Benedictions of the Churches Ministers either as Christians or as Kings at their Coronations Yea our Church indeed ascribes more to Blessing and Prayer than the Church of Rome doth for by Blessing and Prayer our Church holds the Bread and Wine in the Holy Eucharist to be Consecrated which the Roman Priests do not till those words be pronounced Hoc est enim Corpus meum And here I cannot but add what the Archbishop of Spalato truly observed of the constant and ordinary blessing at Meals in England according to pious and Christian practice Blessings saith he y 〈◊〉 Erâ— Sâ—areâ—◠〈◊〉 §. 2â— and thanksgivings at the Tables of the Nobility Gentry Clergy and Laity at no time and upon no occasion omitted I never saw with such Religion and Piety performed as in England Yea among those of the Church of England the laudable Christian Custom is maintained of Parents blessing their Children and of Childrens humbly asking their Parents blessing whereby the authority of the Parent is maintained and each are put in mind of their respective obligation The same laudable custom is used to our Bishops To which may be added that the laudable Customs commonly in use in our Church as they are few which are generally received so are they such as are very suitable to this Moderation here commended But the Church z Canon 42. 36. 10 declares only such Customs to be laudable which are not contrary to the word of God or the Prerogative Royal. § 10. As the wisdom of our Church doth account it a reasonable service to offer up our Bodies a holy and acceptable sacrifice in the worship of God So she requires such reverend and becoming Gestures as are proper to betoken the awful thoughts of our minds Wherefore at our Prayers we are injoined meekly to kneel upon our Knees and at the Absolution also and repeating the Ten Commandements and at receiving imposition of hands because the same are accompanied with Holy Prayers and at our receiving the Holy Supper of our Lord the same being the most suitable posture to testify and promote our Humility our Thankfulness and our Reverent Worship of God To express also our Joy and praise of God as at the Psalms and to witness our stedfast and resolved and solemn profession of our Faith as at the Belief we use the posture of standing and also at the Gospels to express our outward Reverence to the Holy Scriptures especially because they generally contain the actions and words of our Blessed Saviour But in tender regard to the weakness and infirmity of many Christians such is the Moderation of our Church she alloweth sitting at the longer Lessons and Sermons and at the Epistles in accommodation to the reasonable ease of people after their long kneeling before § 11. Of that respect which is due to Churches and places for the Divine Worship and Service our Church hath determined according to great Moderation and Truth Keeping the middle way between the pomp of superstitious tyranny and the meanness of fantastick Anarchy a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 §. 27. Moreover saith the Homily the Church or Temple is counted or called holy yet not of it self but because Gods people resorting thereunto are holy and exercise themselves in holy and heavenly things Wherefore though our Church is most religiously careful that the incommunicable honour due unto God be attributed unto no Creature else yet because the inward honour due to God ought to express it self as well outwardly as it can therefore whatsoever is appropriate to the peculiar service of God our Church requires should be used with such a difference and distinction as may set forth our due and singular Reverence of God It is easy to note how the extreme of superstitious curiosity hath crept into the Church of Rome in so much that it may well vye with the Jewish for multitude and niceness of observances a just Volume would not contain the curious scruples of their nice observances in their Vestments Consecrations Sacramental Rites and indeed in the whole carriage of their religious devotions but surely I fear these are not more faulty in the one extreme than many Christians are in the other who place a kind of holiness in a slovenly neglect Who are apt to higgle with the Almighty and in a base niggardliness pinch him in the allowances of his Service b Of Holy decency in the worship
all other matters referring to that Sacrament and all the other five Sacraments also in every thing referring to Faith and Doctrine and Rites agree in heart and confession of mouth with all things received in the Roman Church and all the decrees of that Council made or to be made exhibiting all duty to the Pope as the universal Bishop of the Church c. Such gainful and advantageous bargains will they be sure to make for themselves and the keeping up their usurpations before they will allow any concession or mitigate any extreme rigour in their most unwarrantable practises or they will not fail to annex such conditions as shall render their concessions ineffectual § 2. The Doctrine of Transubstantiation which the Church of Rome receives as an Article of Faith absolutely and simply necessary to Salvation and propounds it to be received by all under a terrible Anathema y Conc. Trid. Sess 13. Can. 2. is by our Church plainly denied as contrary both to Holy Scriptures and all testimonies of venerable antiquity and as a doctrine liable to grievous consequences z V. Hist. Transubst à Jo. Dunelmensi which judgment of our Church may appear to them that peruse our Articles 28 29. Order of Communion Rubricks Homilies several Statutes of the Land particularly the late Statute wherein is provided that all that are in office do declare that they do believe that there is not any Transubstantiation in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper or in the Elements of Bread and Wine at or after the Consecration thereof by any person whatsoever yet such is the accurate Moderation of the Church of England in avoiding one error it runs not into other extremes for in the Office of the Holy Communion in the Church Catechism in the Apology for the Church of England is asserted the real presence a Archbishop Vsher's Serm. 18 Febr. 1620. of Christ in the Sacrament according to Scripture and the judgment b Patres dehortantur à quaestione 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hâc piâ Moderatione si Rex Eccl. Angl. utuntur quae invidia R. Jac. ad C. Per. of the Church of God but the particular mode and manner thereof any otherwise than that it is spiritual mystical and sacramental the Church of England according to the same Rule and practice of the Catholick Church doth not too curiously pry into or search See Ch. 5. § 6. § 3. As the Church of England doth earnestly and passionately invite and expostulates with those of her Communion to frequent the Holy Sacrament as in the exhortations before the Holy Communion in the Conclusion of the Homily of the place and time of Prayer and in Q. Eliz. Articles for Doctrine and Preaching all Ministers are required to excite the people to often and devout receiving the Holy Communion c V. Librum quorundam Canonum 1571. Jam vero singulis mensibus coenam celebrari maximè nobis placeret Calvin Ep. p. 452. and in Colleges and Collegiate Churches the Holy Communion is required to be administred every Sunday unless there be reasonable cause to the contrary d V. Rubr. 4. after H. C. Canon 23. V. Rubr. 8. after H. C. Canon 21. 1003. Rubr. 8. after H. C. and on the first or second Sunday of every month So also the Church of England doth lay its general Command according to great Moderation in requiring every one thrice at least every year to Communicate e Qui in nataii D. Paschate Pentecosle non Communicant Catholici non credantur Conc. Agath Can. 18. well tempering her Injunction in accommodation to the necessity of the Age between the earnest practice of devotion which was in the Primitive Church f Quando Domini nostri adhuc calebat cruor fervebat recens in credentibus fides S. Hieron ad Demetr Ep. 8. when they commonly Communicated at least every Lords Day and Festival and between the remissness of the Church of Rome g Dolemus tantam Christianorum incuriam ut semel tantùm in anno sumant c. Concil Rhem. 1583. which expresly requires all of her Communion to celebrate but once every Year h In Pentecoste rarior est Communio ideo fortasse Concilium Tridentinum hoc tempore nuptias solennes fieri permisit C. Bellarm. de Matrim Sacram. l. 1. c. 31. and the followers of the Directory who for many years together lamentably neglected the administration and participation of the Eucharist i V. Coena q. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V. S. Eccl. Angl. Vindic. c. 3. as beside our own memory Mr Prin often testifies and the History of the Times soon after the Reformation tell us of some who from adoring the Elements fell to contemn them wherefore there issued out a Proclamation k Fuller's Eccl. His P. 387. concerning the irreverent talking of the Sacrament § 4. As our Church offers the Holy Eucharist only to those who have given due testimony of their knowledge and Christian belief in having been confirmed by the Bishop l V. Rubr. after Confirm Injunctions of King Edw. 6. Canon 29. So it requires that none be admitted Godfathers or Godmothers at Christening or Confirmation but such as have received the Holy Communion Yet because S. Paul remits every particular Christian to a Self-examination without any order either to Minister or Lay-Elder to exclude any from the Holy Communion upon their Examination therefore the Moderation of our Church is such it doth not depress adult Christians below the order of persons first to be Catechiz'd requiring them to such rigid Examinations as have been sometime used like the auricular Confessions of the Romanists among which Examiners of the adult Professors the being of a party hath been too often the note of preparation for their Church Communion Neither doth our most moderate Church judge any uncapable of the Sacraments whom she judgeth not unworthy of her Communion m Homily of the Sacrament We must take heed saith the Homily lest of the Memory it be made a Sacrifice lest of a Communion it be made a private eating Wherefore as the redemption of our Lord is offered to all that do not wilfully reject so great grace so is the Holy Communion in our Church to all that are not unfit to receive it And such as are the Church is not wanting to admonish and forewarn n V. Exhorta and Admon before the H. C. and takes all due care to provide against their intrusion as the general corruption of mankind now doth admit according to the Rubrick and Canon o Canon 26. concerning Notorious Offenders On which Bishop Andrews his note was Our Law will not suffer the Minister to judge any man a notorious offender but him who is so convinced by some legal sentence § 5. Our Church of England doth not admit any private Masses p Conc. Trid. Sess 22. Can. 8. 39 Artic. 31. Hom. of Sacr. which in
admonitions of the Church of which her Ordinals most particularly give an account After their Ordination also Of the Exemplary behaviour of the Clergy our Church hath taken all the care that may be see we for instance that excellent Canon No Ecclesiastical Person shall at any Canon 75. time other than for their honest necessities resort to any Taverns or Ale-houses neither shall they board or lodg in any such places Furthermore they shall not give themselves to any base or servile labour or to drinking or riot spending their time idly by day or by night playing at Dice Cards or Tables or any other unlawful Game but at all times convenient they shall hear or read somewhat of Holy Scriptures or shall occupy themselves with some other honest study or exercise always doing the things which appertain to honesty and endeavouring to profit the Church of God having always in mind that they ought to excel all others in purity of Life and should be examples to the People to live well and Christianly under pain of Ecclesiastical Censures to be inflicted with Quomodo inquiritur in excessus defectus Ministrorum Verbi V. de Polit. Eccl. Anglic. c. 6. p. 322. severity according to the quality of their Offences whether it be to suspension deprivation deposition or other greater censures as is the demerit To the same purpose have been sundry Articles and Injunctions and Laws of the Land and Rules of the Church * V. Librum 9. Canonum V. Articulos pro clero Canon 33 34 35. 1603. 39 Article 26. very express At the Ordination of Ministers 't is asked them Whether they will be diligent to frame and fashion themselves and their Families according to the Doctrine of Christ and to make both themselves and them as much as in them lieth wholsom Examples and Spectacles to the Flock of Christ Lastly All Promotions of the Church are distributed so equally that any Son of a Layman in the Kingdom otherwise fitted is capable of the highest Eminence in the Church In her Canons restraint is made of Plurality of Benefices Canon V. Articulos proclero 41. with indulgence only in cases extraordinary requiring * also convenient V. Bishop Sparrows Collections residence and hospitality and every one's discharge of their Functions In case of lawful absence that a just and conscientious supply be provided Always letting the People see that they do not seek their own Profit Promotion or Advantage more than the profit of the V. K. Ed. 6. Injunction Souls they have under their Cure or the Glory of God Of the Effects of these Orders if any enquire Beside the judgments of other Churches that the Clergy may not be the only Judges in this case such may consider what the great Verulam hath witnessed That scarce any Church since the Primitive Times hath yielded in like manner of years a greater number of famous Writers excellent Preachers grave Governours and the most and chiefest of them of holy and good Life And the famous University of Oxford in answer to the Petition of the N. C. 1603. replied To stop the Mouths of those that traduce us for a dumb Idol-Ministry There are at this day more Learneâ— Men in this Kingdom than are to be found in all Europe Which must not be imputed for Vanity since the Apostle when his Ministry was reproached defended his godly boasting Which premised Bishop Hall may be allowed to speak for the Clergy of the Church of England What Christian Church under Heaven saith he in so short a time yielded so many glorious Lights of the Gospel so many able and prevalent Adversaries of Schism and Antichristianism so many eminent Authors of learned Works which shall out-bid time it self Let Envy grind her teeth and eat her heart The memory of these worthy Prelates shall ever be sweet and blessed 3. If all this care of the Church hath not its absolute and entire effect which when it hath not is much lamented according to the sincere desire and intent of the Church As also Nec hac Culpae est Christiani nominis si simulator religionis in vitio sit S. Hier. Ep. 4. that the Laws of Christ have not that effect upon all Christians as they ought Our Church in the mean while must be acquitted while according to the condition of the things she hath used her best care and endeavour and if the practices of Men always cannot her Laws must bear her out * Delictum personae in detrimentum Ecclesia non debet redundare Reg Ju. Wherefore very reasonable was the Injunction of Queen Elizabeth That for defaults which people find in Ecclesiastical Persons They are not to detain their Dues §. 15. 1559 to requite one wrong with another but to call for reformation thereof at their Ordinaries and other Superiors who upon complaint and due proof thereof shall reform the same accordingly Now of thousands who are apt to complain of the Clergy how few take the right course to rectify any thing If any are vitious among us we protest against their practices and are Advocates for none in what is evil but leave them to answer for themselves before proper Judges Being sure it would be a happy World if right Principles in the understanding and a conformable practice could always go together but it is an ordinary practice whose Doctrine they cannot confute their Life endeavour to bring into hatred * Cum Viderint Doctrinam nostram non posse rectè accusari maluâ—runâ— in mores nostros in vehere Apol. Eccl. Angl. § 53. It may be added According to an excellent Moderation are also the Ages appointed of them who are to enter into holy Orders †V. Preface to the Ordinal Canon 33. Artic. proclero § 3. Our Church maintains and preserves those Orders of Ministers in the Church Bishops Priests Deacons 39. Articl 36. which are truly Primitive without the additional Train which the Church of Rome makes necessary even seven kind of Orders suitable to their number of Sacraments and with much the like necessity that the followers of the Geneva Government appoint their Lay-Elders The power of Orders consisteth partly in preaching the Word and other Offices of Public Worship common to Bishops with other Ministers partly in ordaining Priests and Deacons admitting them to particular Cures and other things of that nature proper to them alone The Power of Jurisdiction is either internal in retaining and remitting sins in the Hoc malè habet quosdam immoderatiores reddi jurisdectionem restitui politiam Ecclesiasticam Ph. Melanct. ad Camera Court of Conscience common to them also for the substance of the Authority tho with some difference in the Degree with other * Of Episcopacy and Regal Power Bishop Sanderson p. 33 34. Ministers Or External for the outward Government of the Church in some parts thereof peculiar to them alone The Government of the Church according to these
Orders in its own Constitution hath an excellent temper between an Ecclesiastical Monarchy which the Church of Rome asserts in making it self the Mother and Mistress of other Churches and its Bishop Supreme Monarch over all the Bishops and Churches and between such Democracy and Populacy as is held in the Independent and Presbyterian parity * Retiâ—emuâ— ex singulis regiminibus exquisitam temperaturam J. A. Comenius Moravus de ord Eccl. apud Bohemos In our Government by Bishops succeeding the Apostles which also was Aristocratical they having all a fulness of Order and Power among themselves ¶ Omnes Episcopi ejusdem meriti ejusdem sacerdotii S. Hier. ad Evagr. a succession of Pastours our Church doth not refuse because derived for a time in the same Chanel with the Roman Bishops After the same manner saith Bishop Jewel we are chosen invested confirmed admitted if they were deceived in any thing we succeeded in their Place not in their Error Of the real Moderation of our Episcopacy Mounsieur Amyrald may speak for us because of many he may more readily be heard The Bishops of the Amyraldi Irenic p. 196. Church of England because they neither acknowledg the Authority of the Roman Pontif nor do they assume to themselves any right or power over the Consciences of Men nor over the Truth of Christ and in all other things they most earnestly maintain the same Doctrine with us against the Errors of the Papists Cavendum ne Scyllae fugâ in Carybdi incidamus Neve rigor nimius Vatinianum in Episcopos odium eò imprudentes adigat ut veters Ecclesiae dicam scribanius Sam. Bochart Ep. 8. ad Episc Winton Anabaptists Socinians and others We think therefore in somethings they are to be born with if there be any thing in that Order which doth not altogether suit to our Humour § 4. As our Church doth not approve of the Roman Tonsures Rasures Vnctions in the imitation of the Jews so she hath cast out of its form of Ordination all those superstitious Rites used in the Church of Rome Neither hath any of her Consecrations * Instit of a Chri. Man 1537. any thing that is of it self Superstitious or Vngodly ¶ 39. Articles 36. Yet so moderate is our Church toward the Church of Rome That 1. It allows it to have not only the Essentials of a true Church but of Ordination also 2. Although it hath only the Ancient and Apostolical Rites of Imposition of Hands and Prayer and accepts of the form of Ordination used by our Lord as most suitable and best Nevertheless it doth not hold all those Ordinations void which have been made in some other form of Words 3. It imitates the Moderation of the whole Catholic Church in being against the Rebaptizing of any who have had the Essentials of Baptism And also against the Re-ordination of those who keep the Essentials of Ordination and of such Churches where Bishops cannot be had we use all Moderation of Judgment * Bishop Bramhal's Vindicat. p. 29 31. Yet where our Constitution requires Ordination by Bishops it is at liberty not to make use of their Ministry who peremptorily refuse the Ordination of our Bishops ¶ Non opus est Reâ—pub Eocive qui parere nescit M. Curius Valer. Max. l. 6. c. 3. Neque Ecclesia opus est iis qui spretis Episcopis suis c. V. Vindic. S. Eccl. Angl. c. 6. Or who would in a settled Church and Kingdom set up a Church Government in opposition to the Bishops who ordained them before § 5. Our Church doth endeavour to preserve to its Bishops Priests and Deacons all due Honour and regard sutable to their several Ministries and Orders Having the right of a Revenue which is for the most part a convenient provision for its Clergy above some others of the Reformation Yet not only below the Pompousness of the Roman Church but much inferiour in proportion to the Provision God made the Priests and Levites among the Jews As our Church observes an excellent Moderation in reference to things peculiarly devoted unto God equally abhorring Idols and Sacrilege And whatsoever is sanctified to the peculiar Service of God our Church Orders should be used in a sutable manner So in reference to Persons consecrated to the holy Service of God a worthy care is taken by the very constitution of our Government in Kingdom * 1 R. Eliz. c. 2. ¶ 8 R. Eliz. c. 1. and Church to secure their Office and Persons from such contempt as might render their Religious Performances more useless and unprofitable to the Church and might discourage the worthy industry of those who should devote themselves entirely to a Function so honourable in it self King Edward the 6th and Queen Elizabeth enjoyn'd that Whereas many indiscreet Q Eliz. Injunction §. 28. Persons do at this Day uncharitably contemn and abuse Priest and Ministers of the Church yet for as much as their Office and Function is appointed of God The King's Majesty willeth and chargeth all his loving Subjects that they use them charitably and reverently for their Office and Administration sake especially such as labour in setting forth God's holy Word And for the more remarkableness of the Moderation of our entire Constitution may be considered what Dr. Heylin makes out at large in his Treatise for undeceiving the People in point of Tithes 1657. Never was any Clergy maintained with less Charge to the Subject than the established Clergy of the Church of England No Man paying any thing of his own toward the Maintenance of his Parish-Minister but his Easter-Offering § 6. Because our Church asserts to its Ministry all just Effect See Art 33. It makes the power of the Keys not only Declarative and Doctrinal but Authoritative of which more in the next Section of this Chapter Yet our Churchmen do not boast as some of the Church of Rome do often of a Power Ascendant over the awful Presence of God and the glorified Body of Christ in Heaven as if they made him corporally and immediately present in the Eucharist upon their secret pronouncing of Hoc est enim Corpus meum * V. Missale Rom. Neither doth our Church of England ascribe to the power of Priests the bringing Spirits out of Purgatory in their Suffrages for the Dead Nor doth our Church hold any true Propitiatory Sacrifice for Dead or Living to be offered up in the Mass because that would derogate from the sufficiency of Christ's Priesthood Neither De Sacram ord can 1. doth it define its Priesthood by the action only of such a Sacrifice as doth the Council of Trent § 4. Our Church behaves it most moderately between the two extremes of those who slight all due Penance and of those who explain it differently from the true nature of it The Council of Trent declares it of necessity by Divine Right for every one of both Sexes once a Year
with the like the Articles of K. Edward 6. call Blind Devotion There is not consecrating and reconciling Church-Yards with so many Ceremonies and opinion of Efficacy and Necessity as in the Church of Rome ¶ V Form of Consecration of Churches Bishop Sparr Collect. 1675. The Bells which sound at Funerals among us are not appointed for any Superstition †Centum gravam 50. or to drive away Spirits from the Grave And because by Death all are made equal therefore all have the same Office for Burial All amongst us are deposited in the same general place of the Earth * Redditur Terrae Corpus ita locatum quasi operimento Matris obdusitur Cic. de leg l. 2. In other Circumstances Respect and Distinction is permitted according to the Custom of the Country and the condition of the Person deceased The Moderation of our Church is the same with that of the Christian Religion as it also leaves all Nations to their proper Usages and doth not oppose any Civil Laws or indifferent Customs of this or of any other Kingdom As it is observable That God himself tho he forbid the People of Israel ¶ Lev. 19. 28. Deut. 14. 1. to cut themselves or make any baldness upon themselves for the Dead or printing any Marks upon themselves which were the practices of that Idolatrous Nation Yet in such ancient Customes they had those which were Innocent referring to the manner of their Burial were permitted the same notwithstanding they had them from the Egyptians and other Heathen Nations Whereunto even also the Burial of our Blessed Lord Jesus was Conformable of which it is Recorded †John 19 4â— They took the Body of Jesus and wound it in Linnen with the Spices as the manner of the Jews is to Bury Among whom as hath been noted * Bishop â—earson on the Creed notes on Expos Art 4. there was a kind of Law that they should use no other Grave-clothes Notwithstanding it is all one ¶ Tabésne Cadavera solvat Aut rogus aut refert Capit omnia tellus Quae genuit coelo tegitur qui non habit urnam to our Bodies whether they are deposited in Linnen or in Woollen with Spices or without in the Earth or in any other Element whether we lie in S. Innocent's Church-yard where the Bodies soon consume or in the Sands of Egypt where they last longer or under the Moles of Adrianus And if the Minds of some seem uneasie in relation to one way of Burial more than another it convinceth us how great Tyrants Custom and Imagination are and perhaps in no Instance can it be confirmed more than in the late alteration referring to Burial Concerning which St. Austin's Comment might be of use †S. Aug. de Doct. Chr. l. 3. V. de civita Dei l. 1. c. 13. The Evangelist saith he doth seem to me not in vain to have said As the manner of the Jews is to Bury for so unless I am deceived he admonisheth in such offices of Piety which are exhibited to the Dead The Custom of every Nation is to be observed Wherefore our Church of England always leaves the Government of the Kingdom to have its Reasons to it self in what it appoints Instructing her Sons also how little soever the Matters are from thence to receive the greater honour of Obedience And because at so solemn a Providence as is the death of our Friends if some well-disposed Persons finding their Minds then more lifted up to the desires of Heaven and become more mortified to the World would take an opportunity of seriously commemorating the Death of our Lord who by Death overcame Death and opened the Gate of Heaven unto all Believers Therefore there is a brief peculiar appointment for the Celebration of the Holy Supper of the Lord at Funerals * Peculiaria quaedam in funeribus c. R. Eliz. V. Bishop Sparows Collections appointed 1560 with a Collect Epistle and Gospel which bears a part of the Reformed Liturgy which here is taken notice of as a proof how refined every part thereof is from Romish Superstition The like Instance of Inoffensive Moderation may be the public Office appointed by Q. Elizabeth for the Commemoration of Benefactors which is used in our Colleges and Vniversities which doth testify what worthy care we have of the memory of the deserving tho deceased and also doth shew how much purged these honourable Offices are from Superstition CHAP. XII Of the Moderation of our Church in what concerns the Power of the Church § 1. The Moderation of our Church owns the Power of the Church to be only Spiritual § 2. All other Power which Ecclesiastical Persons receive is readily acknowledged entirely depending on the favour of our Kings § 3. The Interests of the Kingdom and the Church are excellently accommodated in our Constitutions which is not done in other Models § 4. The pious Moderation of our King 's preserving their own rightful Supremacy and leaving to the Church the exercise of their Spiritual Power acknowledged by our Church § 5. The just Right of Kings shamefully invaded by other Sects pretending Divine Right Concerning which Claim the Moderation of our Church observed § 6. The dutiful Moderation of our Church in asserting Monarchy The first Canon 1640. justified § 7. All Interests of Humane Society especially of Subjects Allegiance in our Church abundantly secured which is not done by those in separation from her § 8. The Ordinances of our Church are framed with great Mildness and Moderation § 9. The same compared with the mild Obligation which Cardinal Bellarmine pretends the Church of Rome lays upon those of her Communion § 10. Sundry Instances of our Church's great regard to Equity § 1. THe Church of England always hath confessed That the Power of the Church is only Spiritual and Ministerial for the Head the Authority the Conversation of the Church is in Heaven Hence it is that the Appointments of the Church are not called Laws but Canons or Rules by which the Moderation of the Church rather leads than compels Yea In matter of Canons the Bishops and Clergy do but propound such Constitutions as they think useful and when they have done send them to his Majesty who perusing and approving them puts Life into them and of dead Propositions makes them Canons so are they the King's Canons not the Clergies * Bishop Hall's Remains p. 430. And the Inflictions Ecclesiastical the Church her self doth not call Punishments but Censures for Temporal Punishments are for Vengeance Spiritual for Discipline ¶ Bishop Lany on 1 Thess 4. 11. The Temporal Judg except he be Supreme in many things cannot pardon the Ecclesiastical Judg cannot but pardon upon Repentance as our Church doth express it self in the Canons if the Offender revoke that his wicked Error To this purpose St. Chrysostom †St. Chrys Homil 4. in Isaiam speaks The King remits the guilt of Bodies
S. Ambros Offic. l. 2. c. 27. Wherefore those who in the execution of the Church-Discipline abuse the most excellent Temper of the Church in the Constitution of her Laws under the pretence of Ecclesiastical Authority verily they most of all deserve the Churches Rod and the dire point of her Anathema Let it be considered said Bishop Taylor †Ductor Dub. l. 3. p. 259. how great a reproach it is to Ecclesiastical Discipline if it be made to minister to Covetousness and to the need of Proctors and Advocates The more shame for the over-easie denouncers of that Censure that inflict it for every trivial commission without consideration whether or no repented of or that use this soveraign Recipe unadvisedly for any other end than reforming of the Prophane ¶ Doctor Hammond of the Keys c. 5. §. 18. Where this Discipline is duly exercised if it hath not that effect as it might and ought much may be imputed to the immoderate refractoriness of the Recusants among us who are so devoted to their Wills that they have rendred our Discipline more useless than it would be Yet sundry abuses referring hereunto our Canons have endeavoured to redress § 6. But there is a Moderation in Moderation it self ¶ Solertèr cavendum ne dum moderatius custoditur virtus humilitatis solvantur jura regiminis S. Greg. M. pastor cur par 2. c. 6. Wherefore it is one great Commendation of the Moderation of the Church of England and her Supreme Governours when the Case hath required their Moderation hath been necessarily and conveniently governed because of the danger thereof otherwise For God used Samuel as a Messenger against Eli for his excess of Indulgence to his Sons 1 Sam. 3. 13. And yet Samuel himself seems scarce free from the very same fault concerning his Sons 1 Sam. 8. 3 15. And this Indulgence occasioned the change of the Civil Government as the former was the loss of the Priesthood * Iram benignitas mitiget benignitatem zelus exacuat ita alterum condiatur ex altero ut nec immoderata ultio plasquam opertâ—t affligat nec iterum frangat rectitudinem Disciplinae remissio Greg. M. l. 4. Epist 55. Moderation is confessed an excellent Vertue and much to be desired but then it is in a subject capable of it wherein there are extremes and excesses to be moderated as certainly there is in all our passions there it is proper Only this Caution Bishop Lany â—n 1 Thess 4. 11. is to be observed in Lenity that it be such as may win Men into the Church not such as may secure and encourage them to stay without Yet Lenity and Gentleness is so good a Vertue that I am loth to cast Water upon it or seem to temper it But for Men of moderate Opinions I am at a loss to know what they should be for Moderation there cannot be but between Extremes Now what extremes are there of Opinions in a settled Church unless the Church be one Extreme and the Schismatick another And then the Man of moderate Opinions is he that is part Church-man and part Schismatick Possibly they may bestow that good word Moderation upon such as care little to observe the Law themselves or to require it of others But if the Law it self be too rigorous in God's Name let it be amended and not left to the arbitrary power of others to do it for that is known to be a remedy ten times worse than the disease * Bishop Ward Nov. 5. 1661. Praestat vivere ubi nihil licet quà m ubi omnia There is no Cruelty so great as that of Laxness of Government nor any Tyranny in the World like the rage of Subjects let loose and the little finger of Licentiousness is harder than the Loins of the severest Laws and strictest Government § 7. Yet our Church hath not recourse to the Secular Arm but upon urgent and good occasion When the Spiritual Power of the Church cannot have all the effect which it ought to keep Men in order for their own good and the common peace of the Kingdom and the Church the supreme political Governour hath right to restrain and animadvert on Hereticks and Schismaticks that the Contagion may not spread as doth a Cancer and that the disorder in the Church may not influence the disturbance of the Kingdom therefore when great Reason moves the Church is glad when the Civil Power will be friend it so far as to defend and protect it in its Office and sometime to render the same effectual to enforce a common and public Order even by the Laws of the Land For * Institu of a Christian-man p. 46. It is out of all doubt that the Bishops and Priests never had any Authority by the Gospel to punish any Man by Corporal Punishments and therefore they were oftentimes moved of necessity to require Christian Princes to interpose their Authority and by the same to reduce the Inobedient to the good Order of the Church § 8. Wherefore it is not improper here to take notice of the wrong notion which the Romanists and other Separatists have entertain'd not only of Moderation but of Persecution As if every Spiritual Censure of the Church or Punishment of the Magistrate for the greatest inconformity and disorder and breach of the Peace of the Church and the Ecclesiastical Orders of the Kingdom was Persecution when indeed it is but defending the Faith and the society of the Faithful that is the Church Which is the noblest Privilege of Christian Princes and the most worthy execution of their Power Yet herein the immoderate Calumnies of our Adversaries appear more grievous that upon any execution of this Power the Offenders instead of accusing themselves and being reconciled to the Lenity of the Church and the Preserver of its Laws They accuse at one blow the whole frame of Government of direful Persecution as if they had erected some terrible Tribunal of Inquisitors which our Church doth most of all abhor and doth declare against punishing even Heretics as such only with Death much less those who are falsely branded with that name which is the cruelty of the Romish Inquisition And the Moderation of our Church hath no other Punishments but what are just and proper to convince such and reduce them and secure their own but indeed if Heretical and Erroneous Persons cause a Schism and Division and make a breach upon the Churche's Peace If the Christian Magistrate restrain or punish such they do but as in the Ancient Church the Christian Emperours have done as when St. Austin * Insectamur vipotestatis secularis Haereticos non quia fidem deseruerunt sed quia illi Catholicos usque ad necem persequuntur St. Aug. Ep. 50. was forc'd to call upon the Imperial Arm for defence of the Church against those kind of Donatists call'd the Circumcelliones 1. The Romanists set up this cry of Persecution and the other Separatists
of Men. § 1. In that Vniversal Concord which our Church hath maintained with all so far as lawfully and usefully it may § 2. Her protesting against unsufferable Abuses well consisting with her Moderation and Charity § 3. Our Church leaveth other Churches to the use of their liberty and vindicateth that use mutually § 4. Her especial Moderation and Charity toward the Greek Church § 5. Our Church's Modesty and well-becoming Behaviour toward other Churches and their mutual affection unto Ours § 1. THe excellent temper of our Church is abundantly justified in that Universal Concord and Friendship it desires to maintain with all so far as may be done lawfully Our Church separates indeed as far as is possible from all that is vile and impure making her self as is the Church a Society distinct from Jews and Gentiles and by her Censures doth separate from those that are inordinate and in her own defence keeps her self from complying with sinful and unjust conditions of Communion Yet with the whole Church throughout the World and every part thereof to whom her Communion is not displeasing Our Church in desire and endeavour doth maintain all inward and outward agreement she can * Odia restringi favores convenit ampliari Reg. juris in affections and behaviour also so approving her self that it is manifest she unwillingly differs from any and no more than needs must Thus the 30 Canon of our Church Nay so far was it from the purpose of the Church of England to forsake reject the Church of Italy France Spain Germany or any such-like Churches in all things which they held and practised that as the Apologie of the Church of England confesseth it doth with reverence retain those Ceremonies which do neither endamage the Church of God nor offend the minds of sober Men and only departed from them in those points wherein they were fallen both from themselves in their Ancient Integrity and from the Apostolical Churches which were their first Founders Episcopal Divines saith Bishop Bramhall * Vindication p. 30. do not deny those to be true Churches where Salvation may be had § 2. Neither did our Church of England ever yet oppose it self to any lawful Ecclesiastical Authority which yet is inseparably of the Essence of Schism but on the contrary according to a singular Moderation * Ecclesia Britannica quâ est perpetuò in omnes Christianos singulari moderatione Christianâ dilectiene c. De Antiq. lib. Eccl. Brit. Thes 4. and Charity it doth open its Bosom to every genuine Son of the true Catholic Church of what denomination soever For it is one thing for any to frame to themselves a diverse Congregation and Religion separate from and opposite to the Universal Church as anciently did the Donatists and another thing not to communicate with some particular Persons and Places in some unwarrantable usages and that under express protestation from whence was occasion'd the moderate and innocent Title of Protestants †V. Cluverium Calvisii Chron. ad An. 1529. for protesting against the Edict at Worms which was for restoring all things as they were without Reformation By which Protestation all scandal of Schism is taken away and desire of reconciliation is publicly testify'd not as of absolute necessity but for the sake of Catholic Unity by which Protestation a right is vindicated from the usurpation of the Church of Rome who fondly calls her self not only Catholic but the Mother and Mistress of all other Churches by which she makes her self a public invader of common Ecclesiastical Right § 3. In Matters of Ecclesiastical Freedom The Church of England leaves always other Churches to their liberty and vindicates their right to the same * V. D Durell's View of the Reformed Churches As other Reformed Churches leave us to our liberty and vindicate the same Article 34. It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one V. Homily of Fasting or utterly like for at all times they have bin diverse and may be changed according to the diversities of Countries * Distant inter se linguae sed linguarum distantiae non sunt Schismata omnes linguâ ad uâ—am fidem S. Aug. in Joan. Times and Manners Every particular National Church hath Authority to ordain change and abolish Ceremonies or Rites †Pref. of of the Church the Cerem In these our doings we condemn no other Nations nor prescribe any thing but to our own People only According to the practice of S. Cyprian clearing himself to the African Bishops Judging none nor removing any from the right of Communion if they think somewhat diverse from us For which S. Austin * Cujus charitas non solâ—nt illius temporis Christianis sed etiam posteris ad medicinalem notitiam signatur S. Aug. de bapt l. 1. c. 18. commends S. Cyprian And as Tully †Ita dissensi ab illo ut in disjunctione sententiae conjuncti tamen amicitiâ maneremus Orat. pro provinc Consul spake of himself with relation to Caesar I so dissented from him that in the difference of our Opinion however we remained entire in our Friendship Of this mind also was St. Austin in matters of different Observances as to Times of Fasting and Days of Communicating All this saith he is matter of liberty and no practice is more worthy a grave and prudent Christian than to act so as he sees the Church doth unto which it happens he comes and as the Society doth in which he lives * S. Aug. Ep. 118. Ep. 86. And in these Matters of which the Holy Scripture appoints nothing expresly the Custom of the People of God and the Institutes of our Superiors are to be held for a Law Of which if we have a list to dispute and to disprove others for their different Custom there will arise endless Contests M. Amyrald * Galli Anglorum câ—tibuâ— libentissimè intersunt Eucharistiam ex eorum more participant Episcopis sese subjiciunt Angli pariter c. Amyraldi Irenicum p. 351. well observes the friendly moderation of the English and French Protestants when they are in each other Countries they readily join themselves with the Communion of the Churches they are in Yet such is the abundant Moderation of our Church That to Merchants and Strangers of other Churches are permitmitted their several Congregations and Churches And all Aliens of the Reformation have by Act of Uniformity an express provision made for their enjoyment of their own way of worship at the pleasure of his Majesty which is real proof that Conformity doth not prejudice Trade * V. Mod. Pleas for Comprehen answerd p. 210. ¶ Omnibus notum est quà m elementèr patiantur peregrinorum Ecclesias Ceremoniis ritibus uti diversis ab Anglicanâ Ecclesiâ Saravia de div grad Min. c. 24. And this tender care of other Churches Liberty which the Church
and others that do not hold with them they do very much hazard their right and title to the said Catholic Church as much as by any thing CHAP. XVI Of the Moderation of the Church of England in her Reformation § 1. The Reformation of our Church as it had just grounds and was by just Authority so it was managed with due Moderation the Idea of our Reformation having bin impartial § 2. The whole manner of it so far as concerned our Church was with great temper § 3. She separated from the Romish Errors not from their Persons any more than needs must § 4. Our Charity exceeds that of the Church of Rome which denys Salvation to all who are not of her Communion § 5. The Preparation of our Church to submit to the Church Vniversal saves us from Schism § 6. The Reformation of our Church was the more Christian because not fierce but well governed § 7. Albeit the Moderation of our Church seems to have enraged her Adversaries yet because of this Moderation our Church is the better prepared to survive Persecution § 8. The Moderation of our Church in her Reformation was founded on Rules of absolute Justice as in sundry great Instances is made to appear § 1. THe moderate and orderly Reformation of the Church of England Bishop Bramhall well calls the Terror and Eye-sore of Rome * Answer to the Bp. of Chalcedon p. 244. because of 3 Conditions of a lawful Reformation well agreeing thereto viz. Just Grounds Sufficient Authority Due Moderation 1. Just Grounds Under which head I shall not take too large a compass to illustrate the Moderation of our Reformation either from the manifold Usurpations and Corruptions of the Church of Rome at that time nor from the invidious task of looking into the extreme Rigors of any other Models of Reformation Neither is it here necessary to reflect more particularly on Matters of Fact historically relating hereunto which have bin copiously set forth by a multitude of Writers both Ecclesiastical and Civil which abundantly justify this Reformation both in its Causes and Proceedings clearly manifesting how this Church was justified therein from the unjust conditions of Communion which the Church of Rome peremptorily insisted upon 2. That it might have Just Authority the said Reformation was manag'd by the Guides and Governors of the Church and was confirmed by Supream Authority and so in every particular was as legal as any Reformation could or ought to be as doth sufficiently appear from Matter of Fact recounted in the Histories and Monuments thereof Wherein the Princes acted their parts and the Clergie theirs they calling together the Bishops and others of the Clergie to consider of what might seem worthy Reformation and the Clergie did their part for being called together by Regal Power they met in a National Synod of 62 and the Articles were agreed on and were afterward confirmed by Acts of State and Royal Assent * Arch-Bp Laud §. 24. Any Reformation otherwise than Regular is as much against the Principles of our Church as any one can wish and had the Doctrine of our Homilies bin well regarded it might have prevented much mischief consequent on later Reformations Lest any Persons upon colour of destroying Images make any stir or disturbance in the Common-Wealth it must always be remembred that the redress of such public Enormities pertaineth to the Magistrates and such as are in Authority and not to private Persons In the Homilies against wilful Rebellion is set forth at large the sufficient reason of our Church's Reformation viz. the Intolerable Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome To the same purpose * Angli necessitate dirâ cogente secessionem fecerunt Casaub ad C. Per. the Apologie of the Church of England doth express it self more largely than need be repeated We did nothing rashly or insolently for the sake of any worldly pleasure or advantage but upon great advice and deliberation we shook off a Yoke which we had no obligation to endure †Postermò ab illo decessimus cui obstrecti non eramus ejusque jugum ac tyrannidem excussimus Apol. Eccl. Angl. §. 150 159 160 c. The Church of England did but behave her self as became a free Church enjoying the Rights of a Patriarchal See according to the Rules of the Universal Church it reformed it self when it had high need For as King Henry the 8th said in his last Letter to the Pope Better is it in the middle way to return than always to run forth head-long and do ill 3. The Due Moderation of our Reformation will appear if we consider 1. The Idea or Form of our Reformatation was neither taken from Luther nor Calvin as the Romanists love to speak of us * Impia mysteria instituta ad Calâ—ini praescriptum Bulla Pii 5. contra R. Elizab. Calvinicas aliquot deprecationes substituit De Schism Angl. p. 165. In illis Angliae legiâ—us quae alios actus Sacrilegos ut Participationem Calvinianae coenae similes Communicationes in eorum ritibus praecipiunt Suraii Def. l. 6. c. 11. nor from any other but from the Holy Scriptures according to the use of the Primitive Church which were only its measures according to which our Church practis'd the part of the Elective Philosopher and chose what she thought most agreeable among the rest she seemeth to come nearest the Augustan Confession and the Consultation of Herman Arch-Bishop of Colon which was also set forth in English 1548. Among others that have reformed their Churches I have often saith Saravia admired the wisdom of those who restored the true Worship of God to the Church of England who so temper'd themselves that they cannot be reproved for having departed from the Ancient and Primitive Custom of the Church of God and that Moderation they have used that by their Example they have invited others to reform and deterred none * Sarav Desins Praef. * Ea omnia sublata sunt quae nimium onerosa operosa sunt Lud Capel inter Thes Salmur 6. Between those who were loth to bid adieu to their Ceremonies and others whose Reformation had no bounds our Godly Reformers compiled the excellent Model of our Liturgie in so moderate and well-temper'd a Mode as neither part had Alliance of D. off c. 1. just cause to think themselves agrieved †So that the Church of England appears faithfully to have practised the same counsel which P. Gregory the Great gave unto Austin the Monk when he was sent over into England From all Churches chuse whatsoever things are Pious and Religious whatsoever things are Right and being gathered into one bundle commend them to the Minds of the English for their use ¶ B. Greg. Epistol ex registro l. 12. indic 7. For having laid their Ground that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation Artic. 6. They do upon that * Huic Basi Reformationem Britannicam niti
Factions how prone are they and sequacious 13. Both the Romanists and Sectaries to serve their turn upon occasion cast off the use of Reason wherein God hath made it a Guide Therefore they both reproach our Faith as a humane probable natural fallible Faith the one because we will not receive Oral Tradition and the like Uncertainties the other because we do not think an immediate extraordinary testimony of the Spirit necessary to assure us of the certainty we have of our Faith of the Truth of Holy Scriptures to afford us also our words in Prayer and the assurance of our Salvation 14. The Superstitions of the Papists are notorious and also of our Sectaries and so many they are not here to be numbred If Superstition be going beyond all measure their humour is to keep no Measure nor order but to heap one superfluous thing upon another and then they think God is pleased because they are Many of them account it a sign of Grace and the favour of God and matter of greatest Conscience not to hear or use Common Prayers nor any decent Rite or Practice required by the Church The Romanists invoke Saints of uncertain Sanctity Many of the Separatists call those of their own Party the only Saints and judg them to have the right to judg the World and in the mean time to rule it if they cannot do that they must censure what is done by others 15. The Romanists and our Enthusiasts are very much the same in their Pharisaical Humour described at large and reprehended by our Saviour Mat. 23. 4. To name only Their binding heavy Burdens and grievous to be born and laying them on Mens shoulders As the Romanists add twelve Articles to their Creed a wondrous number of Ceremonies to their seven Sacraments Not to mention more of their loads of Injunctions their Festivals their Auricular Confession their Vows their Scourgings and Fastings and Penances which they lay upon the Poor when the Imposers do not touch them with one of their fingers or with wetting the least of them they can get themselves an easy Dispensation Doth not the same Pharisaical Spirit possess many who make the Peace of the World and the Church depend upon their peculiar Doctrines Who make all they can think it a sin to come to Common-Prayer to kneel at the Sacrament to be Baptized according to Order of the Church to pray in a Form to wear a Surplice Instead of making broad their Philacteries and enlarging the Fringes of their Garments they have had another sort of Superstition in wearing their Hair in a precise cut somewhat like the tonsures of the Romanists some will not wear a Riband Others not Starch in their Bands nor pull off their Hat 16. The Council of Trent makes the Intention of the Priest necessary to the Sacraments Many of the Separation make the Spiritual Grace of the Minister absolutely necessary for the Peoples receiving benefit from the same 17. Both the Romanists and the Separatists use much the same kind of Arts to blast their Adversaries The Romanists have their Legends and Fables just so our Separatists love to pick up Stories of Bishops and the Clergy and to patch them together in enmity to our Church with these they keep up the humour of the People who entertain them with good things I wish such would remember what in Levit. 19. 16. the command is Thou shalt not go up and down a Tale-bearer among thy People which the Ghaldee Paraphrase interprets Non comedes Placentas in Populo tuo Thou shalt not go up and down among the People pacifying thy Appetite eating of their Delicates and to please them again tell tales of Governors * Apud Anglos est simile genus Hominum quoscirculatores Itali vocant qui irrumpunt in Convivia c. Erasm Eccles l. 3. 18. Most of our * Ineptè nobis tribuis Catharorum nomen cùm Cathari suos habuerint Episcopos quos nos omnes sublatos ex omnibus Ecclesiis optamus Altar Damasc p. 367. Separatists are highly against the Government in the Church by Bishops and in the Covenant the same is ranked with Superstition Heresy and Schism Even so the Jesuits who are the great Exalters of the Pope's Supremacy declare commonly against Bishops as if the source of all Disorders came from Bishops contending for their Jurisdiction which say they makes so many small Popes thus the Jesuits argue †V. C. Palavicini Hist Conc. Trid. l. 1. c. 25. Then it will follow that the Pope cannot dispose of things belonging to their Jurisdictions and then the Pope may be opposed by these Bishops which may be a ready way to overthrow the Papacy So that the Controversy who hath the Jurisdiction which belongs to Bishops in common nay who have such Jurisdiction by Divine Right is driven between the Court of Rome who challeng it to the Pope and other Consistories among us in Division from our Church Wherefore in opposition to Bishops the highest Papalins talk most of the Sovereign Power of the People because they hold the Interest of the Pope to be upheld by their veneration And by the Interest of the Jesuits for many years of late the Popish Faction in England have bin with-held from having any Titular Bishops And most of our Separatists would be glad there were no other thus in their opposition to Bishops they agree 19. Both the Romanists and Separatists extreamly agree in their Principles against the Civil Magistrate According to that of Bishop Lany * Serm. on 1 Thess 4. 11. The Papists and Presbyterians hunt in couples against the King's Power and Supremacy 'T is admirable to see how the Common-Wealths Men in the times of the late Rebellion received their Principles from the Ancient and Modern Writers of the Jesuits and other Papists and still agree with them in most of the Republican Doctrines and Tendencies of them to the like Practices Both the Papists and the others infringe the Authority of the King in Ecclesiastical Matters within his own Dominions Both deny the Right of Kings to call Synods and Ecclesiastical Convocations Both hold that Kings may be put out of all Ecclesiastical Communion Both deny the Supremacy of the King one attributes it to the Pope originally the other to the People And the same Arguments which the Pope useth for his Supremacy over Kings the Disciplinarians use for establishing their Soveraignty the one exempts all the Clergy from the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Magistrate and the other Disciplinarians in Scotland have now a long time endeavoured to have their Ministers exempted from the Punishments of the Civil Governour The pretence of the King's Authority against his Person was hatched under the Roman Territories and was made use of in the Holy League of France * Chr. Loyalty l. 2. c. 1. V. Fowlis of Pop. Treason◠c. The Rules for making a King become a Tyrant and then ceasing to be a King that it may
his History of Pretended Saints Ch. 3. which other observable Testimonies notoriously do verify Arch-Bishop Whitgift frequently traced their footsteps in the dust they themselves raised I am persuaded saith he †Def. of Answ to the Admon p 349 that Antichrist worketh effectually at this day by your Stirs and Contentions whereby he hath and will more prevail against this Church of England than by any other means whatsoever These Divisions the Character of a Carnal and Unspiritual Temper the Learned Mede ¶ V. Medes Life §. 44. p. 30. rightly judged At once weaken and dishonour the Protestant Cause and occasion the grand Enemy to triumph who seeing much of his Work done for him by those who would seem most averse from him while they bite and devour one another claps his hands saying Aha Aha our Eye hath seen it so would we have it The Lord-keeper Puckering spake of the unquiet Puritans in Queen Elizabeth's time who pretended to be at War with the Jesuits yet by their separation they did join and concur with the Jesuits in opening the door and preparing the way to the Spanish Invasion King James in his Letter to the Assembly of Perth * Dat. Aug. 25. 1617. took notice how many of the Discipline shook hands with the upholders of Popery King Charles I. of blessed memory declared truly It is possible that a Papacy in a multitude may be as dangerous as in one Bishop Sanderson in his excellent Preface to his Sermons saith It hath bin observed that where the Jesuits have bin most busy other Factions have bin most Insolent and that those who have lived in those Countries where there are the most rigid Presbyterians there are the most zealous Romanists for saith he they help together to pull down the same form of Government Our present Lord Bishop of Lincoln †Popish Principles c. p. 78. takes notice of the favour the Papists had under Oliver Cromwel and the freedom from the punishment of the Penal Laws more than ever they had before under King Charles the Martyr No Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy was pressed upon them our Liturgie and Common-Prayer were taken away so that there was no way then to discover or legally convict a Popish Recusant Notwithstanding the same Oliver in a Speech to one of his Parliaments 1654. Sept. 4. * V. Mr. Fowlis Hist of pretended Saints p. 13. profest that he could prove by witness that they had a Consistory and Council that ruled all the Affairs in England And in the Year 1647 when the King's Cause was at the lowest ebb then the Romanists by approbation of the Sorbon Doctors were ready to give such full satisfaction and assurances of their fidelity to the Civil and Political Government in the Kingdom whatsoever it shall be †P. Walsh p. 522. Which they refused to do when by the Moderation of the Government they had a Convocation permitted them for that purpose at Dublin since the re-return of his Majesty Then the Roman Leviathan had a fine time to play his Game and to sport among the People which are like many Waters Then they laid their fruitful Spawn of Divisions in the Church as well as Dissention in our Kingdom As Arch-Bishop Laud most truly on the Scaffold declared The Pope never had such an Harvest in England since the Reformation as he hath now upon the Sects and Divisions that are amongst us 3. The same experience which our Church and Nation hath had of the Conspiracy of the Sectaries and the Romanists at least in event other Churches and Nations have also observed * V. Lib. Ecclesiast p. 10 11. As in Switzerland the Anabaptists were animated by the Papists And in Bohemia some furious Divines carried on the Pope's Interest A Jesuit who suffered at Strasburg confest that he was one of the thirty Jesuits who was employed to be Agents for the Roman Cause in the late German Wars †V. Mr. Fowlis Hist of our pretended Saints p. 12. And Crucius ¶ De Doctr. Jesuit l. 4 in his Speech as we have it in Hospinian saith We are sent into Germany not only or chiefly that we might be Teachers and Preachers and Schoolmasters in the Schools and Churches but that we use all means that the Protestants do not encrease that we may join our mutual Endeavours Strength and Arms that more easily we may root them out And for our overthrow if they are our Incendiaries as it is believed we may say with reference to them what Pliny in his Natural Philosophy speaks of the nature of things considering their Principles and the Fires which break forth out of the Caverns of the Earth It is the greatest wonder of all that every day All things are not in a conflagration * Excedit profecto omnia miracula ullum diem fuisse in quo non cuncta conflagrarent Plin. Hist Nat. l. 2. c. 107. 4. That sundry of our Separation have bin thus acted hath bin often among us in fact deprehended together with the Confessions of those who have bin both Actors and acted by them Which is matter of such known discovery that it needs no repetition here Yea of this sometime they have suspected one another for one of the Independent * P. Sterry 5 Nov. 1650. Brethren said The same Spirit saith he which dwells in the Papacy when it enters into the purer form of Presbytery as fuller of Mystery so is fuller of despite and danger †Inter finitimos vetus atque antiqua simultas Juven Satyr 15. In the late Morning Exercise against Popery one saith ¶ Serm. 4. p. 103. The Papacy together with their Religion have had a Party and kept up an Interest among the Protestant Churches But because the Dissenters love to have it thought that those of our Church are more guilty herein as there seems to be insinuated Therefore § 11. Unto all this if any object and tell us of the Advice of Cardinal Allen to the Persons who undertook to reduce Ireland again to Popery Among other things they should apply themselves to the Conformists and possess them with the Factiousness Disobedience and Disorders of the Nonconformists that so they might be provoked to spend their fury on each other to their mutual ruin We answer We hope that the Church of England and her right conformable Clergy have bin so setled by the establishment of our Church as not to have had their Principles corrupted by Popish Influence As appears 1. from the constant and stout opposition which Popery hath had from the Fathers and Sons of our Church And 2. in that the many surmises of the contrary have proved upon the test very notoriously foolish and false Let any of them prove our Principles and Practices such as we are able to do theirs to serve the real Interest of Rome 3. Let them know that those who have bin most violently slandred as favourers of Popery
Body and by being dissevered from the Body how it is possible they should retain Communion with the Head of that Body God only knows to whose infinite Mercy we leave them It is seriously and heartily to be wished that the Duty and Benefits of Communion with the Church were duly considered by all and the many more grievous Mischiefs of Schism than have bin here mentioned and in reference to our Church of England in particular as certainly her Moderation is a great aggravation of the Schisms which are so I suppose it a most true observation and deserves the common consent of all That the only Reason why our Church is not more generally embraced and admired is because the Purity of its Doctrine the Sobriety of its Devotion the Moderation of its Discipline the largeness of its Charity are not impartially and calmly examin'd and more generally understood Wherefore we wish that by God's Grace working love in all the hearts of those who do not understand consider so much they would yet consent to what the Peaceful and Holy Nazianzen declares in one of his Orations of Peace Thus saith he I resolve it is not good to be more indifferent than is meet nor too hot either through levity to be carried about with every one nor by disorder to separate from all when the manifest things of wickedness require our compliance then we are to contest with Fire and Sword rather than partake of their Leven But when only a suspicion of evil seizeth on our minds then Moderation and Condescention are more advisable rather than make a separation from others we relate unto as Members Wherefore let us embrace each other and be sincerely one and imitate our Blessed Mediatour who by his Blood hath reconciled all things and made peace Let us say to our Common Father Behold thy Sons gathered into One. Unto which I must add what the same Father from those Dissentions which were in the Church did conceive namely a great dread lest thereby Antichrist * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should come upon them on suddain taking advantages of their Discord It would be well if modest and quiet Persons could at length be convinced of the happiness of having and holding to a Rule †Pulchrum est tenere mensuram officii S Ambros offic l. 1. c. 10. And what a blessing it is to have every thing for their Spiritual use so readily and so well prepared to their hand and admit which we are in no wise forced here to affirm that sundry Orders might be much better Nevertheless whereunto we have already attained let us walk by the same Rule let us mind the same Thing 3 Phil. 13. In Matters of Indifferency the best way of cementing the ¶ Fracturam verò ligamen astringit cum culpam disciplina deprimit sed gravius scissuram sentiat si hanc immoderatiùs ligamenta constringant inter haec solicit a circumspectione providendum ne aut districtio rigida aut pietas sit remissa Greg. Mag. de cura past in part 2. c. 5. Fractions is unite the Parts in the Authority for then the Question is but one namely Whether the Authority shall be obeyed or not * Lib. of Prophec §. 17. Me thinks the Interest of the Christian Religion to free it from so great a scandal the Honour of the Kingdom and their Native Country and the Laws and the private Interest of themselves and their Families where greater Interest and Engagement with a Party and Prejudices do not hinder should prevail at length with more to embrace the Reconciliation of the Church which the best and wisest every-where have done convinced of the Moderation of our Church and the rest remain so divided and shattered among themselves only united by their common prejudice against the Church having had their mouths over and over stopt by solid Arguments and a palpable demonstration of their falsities and incongruities which have bin posted up to the World to their unanswerable conviction or else they have bin laught out of their ridiculous follies by them who have had a laudable art in so doing * Ingenuo culpam defigere ludo Persius Sat. 5. § 4. And indeed since the Church of England suffers so exceedingly between such extreme Adversaries which hath bin a great proof of her great Moderation no wonder if such as desire to maintain the even tenour of uniform Principles partake of the same hard measure with our Church †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thucyd. Wherefore for our calmly defending what is real Moderation we may surely expect to be accused as immoderate and to be suspected by either extreme of the number of their opposite Adversaries against which chance perhaps there is no Remedy Wherefore the sincerity of our Purpose and the goodness of our Cause we hope will support us For it is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and the Servant as his Lord Blessed be God we have yet the advantage of so excellent a Reformed Church on our side So the worthy Translators of the English Bible in their Epistle to King James comforted themselves If on the one side we shall be traduced by Popish Persons or if on the other side we shall be maligned by self-conceited Brethren who run thâ—ir own ways and give liking unto nothing but what is framed by themselves and hammered on their Anvil we may rest secure supported by the truth and innocency of a good Conscience For my own part I profess my self a lover and admirer of true Moderation and I hope I have observed the due measures of it * Moderatus sum Ipse mihi quantâ—â—â— licâ—it non quod Ipâ—â— de â—oâ—is â—erueâ—inâ— sed quid nostros Homines decedâ— spectavi Suâ—liv pref de Monach. in what I have writ with relation to either extreme And hâ—re I crave leave to repeat the dying words of the right Reverend Bishop Sanderson and to use them solemnly as my own As I do profess that I have lived so I desire and by the Grace of God resolve to die in the Communion of the Catholic Church of Christ and a true Son of the Church of England which as it stands by Law established to be both in Doctrine and Worship agreeable to the Word of God and in the most material Points of both conformable to the Faith and Practice of the Godly Church of Christ in the Primitive and purer times I do firmly believe Led so to do not so much from the force of Custom and Education to which the greatest part of Mankind owe their particular different Persuasions in Religion as upon the clear evidence of Truth and Reason after a serious and unpartial examination of the Grounds as well of Popery as Puritanism according to that measure of understanding and those opportunities which God hath afforded me and herein I am abundantly satisfied that the Schism which the Papists on one hand and V. Bishop Sanderson's
last Will. Walton in his Life the Superstition which the Puritan on the other hand lay to our charge are very justly chargeable on themselves respectively It is the Church of England in its legal Constitution which I defend and not the Assertions and Practices of particular Persons Neither have I undertaken to commend the Church in all her equal Constitutions nor shewn all the Proportions and Instances of her Moderation neither have I illustrated the same from all the extremes and immoderate extravagances of other Professions in Religion which would have bin a boundless and an infinite task But if I have made out this excellent Vertue to be truly conspicuous in our Church If I have fairly wrested out of our Adversary's hands that glorious Calumny in which so many have cheared and vaunted themselves in their fond Hopes strange Demands and very dismantled Confidences That our Church is devoy'd of all true Moderation I am sure I have done reason to our most indulgent Mother to defend her from the imputation of unjust Rigour which our Church justly disdains as in her 8th Canon Whosoever shall affirm that their pretended Schismatical Church hath a long time groaned under the burden of certain Grievances imposed upon them by the Church of England let them be Excommunicate § 5. But whereas some forward to censure will be apt to judg of our justifying the Moderation of the Church as an endeavour to prevent any Reformation or Union such may consider That admit our Superiors should think fit to remit or at any time change any thing in our present Order The so doing doth not necessarily infer that our Constitution is not very moderate as it is For Concessions which are for the future ought not to be an accusation of the Church in what is past But may our sins never bring upon us such a wretched condition of the Church when every one shall judg he hath a right to think and speak in Religion what he pleaseth * In liberâ Repub. unicuique sentire quae velit quae sentiat liberè dicere Tractat. Theologo Pol. Unto this state of things or unto Popery those hasten us whether they know it or no who are in no wise satisfyed with the Moderation of our Church How far our present establishment may be any way moderated to compass a more general and lasting uniformity we hope if ever there should be occasion God will guide our Governors to determin but I am sure as the present Moderation of the Church is most justifiable so I suppose the change may more easily be allow'd when ever the generality of Dissenters shall be agreed and resolv'd of their own Reasons among themselves In the mean while if any will undertake to disprove the Proposition which this Treatise principally doth ovince Namely That the great Moderation of the Church of England doth rightly argue those who are in separation from the same to be the more unjust and guilty in their Schism * Et refellere sine pertâ—nacâ—â refelli sine iracunâ—iá paraâ—i sumus Tuscul 9. l. 2. I hope such will menage their Exceptions with respect to the Rules of Moderation especially as they have bin laid down in the second paragraph of this Chapter Neither I conceive is it enough to excuse their Schism nor to render our Church so immoderate as not to be communicated with for any to give some Instances which according to some Judgments they would have otherwise since it is most impossible to have any constitution of things free from all manner of exception and also against the most perfect things great enmities may be raised for want of equally considering the Principles Rules and Ends for which those things were established Neither is it enough to except against what is faulty in particular Persons when the same is no vice of the public Constitution Sure then it may be judged a very unreasonable manner of sundry sorts of Men answering such Discourses as pinch them namely by catching at some little scattered parts of the Skirts and Margent of the Cause Or when they cannot by unbiassed Reasons have victory in their Contest then they readily fall off to Personal Matters which in no sort tend to the Merits of any Cause and by these methods they hope to buoy up the Party which is the main thing they generally aim at § 6. Such was the Moderation of our Church when she had any hopes to reduce any of the Romish Profession unto our Communion she left out of the Public Litany that Clause From the Tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestible Enormities Good Lord deliver us Yet it may be very proper now to make the same our Petition here adjoining thereunto another seasonable Prayer of Isaac Casaubon's O Lord Jesu preserve this Church of England and give a sound mind to those Nonconformists who deride the Rites and Ceremonies of it * Faxit Deus ut ad sanâ—orem mentem redeant Amen Lud. Capellus Thes 51. Salmur de moresis in Angliâ And since I have named the Learned Casaubon 't is most suitable here also to add some of his words to King James * Exercit. in Baron Ep. Dâ—d Sir You have a Church in these Kingdoms partly so framed of old and partly by great labours of late so restored that now no Church whatsoever comes nearer than yours to the form of the Primitive flourishing Church having taken just the middle way between those that offended in excess and defect In which Moderation the Church of England hath obtein'd this first of all that those very Persons who envyed her happiness yet by comparing one with the other have bin compelled to praise Her As for any of those who think it their Interest to decry the Moderation of our Church We wish first that the Roman Church would once take advice of her own Cassander * De nimio â—â—origore aliquid remâ—â—â—ant Ecclesiae paci aliquid concedant Consult ad Artic. 7. To remit of their immoderate rigour and hearkning to the Admonitions of Pious Men would set themselves to correct manifest abuses according to the Rule of Divine Scripture and of the Primitive Church from which they have swerved And that those of the other extreme would practise the Counsel which * Vt vos ultra modum rigidos esse nolim ita rursus altos monitos esse cupio ne sibi in suâ inscitiá nimis placeant Ep. 200. Calvin gave the English Brethren at Frank fort As I would not saith he have you beyond measure rigid so again the rest I desire they will be advised not to please themselves too excessively in their own ignorance * Offâ—â—sions suae modum statuere nesciunt nam ubi Dominus clementiam exigit omissâ illâ totos se immoderatae severitati tradunt Calv. Inst l. 4. c. 1. For I suppose that according to the best Reason it may be made out very probable that as the overthrow of Popery may as probably be wrought by the growth of its own rigour and immoderate claims as any way we can imagin †Inde exitium imminere Pontificiâ— imperio A. Sall. votum prâ—pace so if any thing in the mean while endanger the Protestant Reformed Interest it will be the immoderate behaviour of those of the Separation in their Schism against our Church Between both taking auspicious hopes from the Moderation of our Church We trust its Constitution being most Primitive will be also most lasting ¶ Eâ— demùm tuta est potentia quae viribus suis modum imponâ—t Val. Max. de Animi Moder l. 4. c. 1. in the esteem of the Church Universal and in the approbation of wise and good Christians And while our Church continues thus moderate it must needs argue the Separation which is from it to be the more unequal and sinful For the same Moderation which exonerates the Church of England from the guilt of Schism with respect to the Romanists doth aggravate also the Schism of other Separatists and however some dissenting Brethren while they remain drencht in their Tinctures will not be forward to acknowledg the Moderation of our Church yet we are assured that nothing would more tend to bring People in love with happy Peace and blessed Order nothing would contribute more to the quieting Mens Minds to reconcile all Parties and to accommodate the most and greatest differences which are among us than a right and full persuasion of the excellent Temper and Constitution of our Church I cannot close a Treatise of the Moderation of the Church of England more properly than with some of the mild and pathetical Soliloquies of our late Blessed Martyr King Charles I. Most merciful God stir up all Parties pious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 §. 19. 16. Ambitions to overcome each other with Reason Moderation and such self-denial as becomes those who consider that our mutual Divisions are our common Distractions and the Vnion of all is every Man's chiefest Interest Keep Men in a pious Moderation of their Judgments in Matters of Religion Give us wisdom to amend what is amiss within us and there will be less to mend without us Evermore defend and deliver thy Church from the Effects of blind Zeal and over-bold Devotion Glory to God in the highest on Earth Peace Good Will toward Men. FINIS