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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	christian_a	church_n	communion_n	2,479	5	8.9287	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85088	Two treatises The first, concerning reproaching & censure: the second, an answer to Mr Serjeant's Sure-footing. To which are annexed three sermons preached upon several occasions, and very useful for these times. By the late learned and reverend William Falkner, D.D.	Falkner, William, d. 1682.; Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.; Sturt, John, 1658-1730, engraver.	1684 (1684)	Wing F335B; ESTC R230997	434,176	626

Faith c. 24. n. 3. to promote and protect the profession of the Gospel and to take care that men of corrupt minds do not divulge Blasphemies and errors inevitably destroying the souls of them that receive them But in other cases such as differences about the waies of the worship of God they say there is no warrant for the Magistrate under the Gospel to abridge Christians of their liberty And when the Declaration of Faith in the Congregational Churches was the same with that of the Presbyterian Assembly except in such things as they thought fit to alter there were several things in the Chapters concerning liberty of Conscience and the Civil Magistrate there were divers expressions relating to the power of Secular Rulers in matters of Religion which they expunged Among others this was one (d) Assemb Confes c. 23. n. 4. It is his the Magistrates duty to take order that Vnity and Peace be preserved in the Church and all corruptions or abuses in Worship and Discipline prevented or reformed and all the Ordinances of God duly setled administred and observed And these things give intimations of disliking any Uform establishment of a setled Order in the Church confirmed and fixed by the Sanctions of the Secular Authority as a standing Rule to which the Members of the Church should conform themselves And one of their chief Writers hath declared himself against this with more than ordinary fierceness much exceeding the bounds of Christian sobriety which I think is but a mild expression for such violent words as if this were a grand part of Antichristianism He says (e) Dr. O. Of Evang. Love c. 3. p. 43. those who by ways of force would drive Christians into any other Vnion or agreement than their own light and duty will lead them into do what in them lies to oppose the whole design of the Lord Christ towards them and his rule over them Now to call the enacting any Uniform rules of Order and the establishing them under any Penalties the opposing the whole design of Christ and not only so but the doing it as much as in them lies as if this were equal to the persecutions of the Christian Name by the most furious of the Pagan Emperours is an expression which will easily appear to speak great passion but litle or no consideration 4. And not long after we are told among other things that for Christians (f) Ibid. p. 44 45. by external force to coerce or punish those who differ from them upon account of various apprehensions relating to the Worship of God or of any Schisms and divisions ensuing thereon is as foreign to the Gospel as to believe in Mahomet and not in Jesus Christ And now whither are we come and what do we hear or read that the care of Governours and the use of their Authority to maintain the peace and Union of the Church and the due order of Divine Worship and Service should be made to be parallel to the renouncing Christianity and imbracing Enthusiasm Surely this is such a speaking evil of Dignities and even for their pious care and zeal as Michael the Archangel durst not have undertaken But as all pious Princes under the Old Testament took care of the due order and establishment of Religion by their Authority and when the people did amiss as to worship in high-places or were guilty of other miscarriages in Religion this is in the Scripture charged as a fault upon the Prince and they were commended when they kept up a right method of Religion and particularly when they pulled down the high places I suppose it may be said by some that these high places were prohibited by the Divine Law but they ought also to consider besides what might be otherwise said that Schisms and Divisions are also plainly prohibited by the commands of God and the worshipping in high places was a sort of Schism And under the New Testament the power and duty of Rulers is declared to be for the punishing evil-doers and the praise of them that do well If therefore the disobeying the Divine precepts in a case where piety and charity thereby becomes neglected the interest of Religion weakened its friends grieved its enemies incouraged peace undermined and the glory of God hindred all which are contained in unwarrantable Schisms and Divisions I say if this be evil-doing the Secular Ruler is not only warranted by the Christian Doctrine but is obliged in duty to God duly to indeavour by his power to put a check thereto And this is that which the most pious Princes have been sensible of and careful to perform as appears by many Imperial Constitutions and practices and the Laws of other Kingdoms 5. But it is more particularly asserted by those of the Congregational way that a particular Congregation hath by the Institution of Christ such a power within it self that there is no other Ecclesiastical Authority whether of any more extensive part of the Church or of any Synods or of any other Superior Ecclesiastical Governour which hath any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over such a Congregation or the members thereof To this purpose they in New England declared (g) Answ to Q. 3. We do not know any visible Church of the New Testament properly so called but only a particular Congregation And they who met in the Assembly at the Savoy declared (h) Of the Instit of Churches n. 6. besides these particular Churches there is not instituted by Christ any Church more extensive or Catholick intrusted with power for the administration of his Ordinances or the executing any Authority in his name And herein this more general Assembly seem not to allow so much as some of them had before granted that against an offending Church persisting in its miscarriages (i) Apolog. Narrat the Churches offended may and ought to pronounce the heavy Sentence of renouncing all Christian Communion with them until they repent And concerning Synods and consequently the Canons of Councils we are told that (k) Of the Inst of Ch. n. 26. in Cases of difficulty and difference they allow Synods to consider and give advice but they are not intrusted with any Church-power properly so called or with any Jurisdiction over the Churches themselves to exercise any Censures either over any Churches or persons or to impose their determinations on the Churches or Officers And they of New England particularly denying any such Authority to Synods or Councils declare that (o) Answ to Qu. 18. Church Censures of Excommunication or the like belong to the particular Church of which an Offender is member out of the Communion whereof a man cannot be cast but only by his own Church Now from all this it is manifest that this is a great Principle of Independency that every particular Congregation and all the members thereof are exempt from all Superior Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction nor is there any higher Church-Authority appointed by Christ to which they ought to be

their former Communion they themselves become a distinct particular Congregation and thereby are under no Superior Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction nor can they be authoritatively censured by any and by this open separation they according to this principle are become a particular distinct Church and the Schism is healed and by being parted into two distinct Societies there remains no longer any such division as there was before in one Congregation which is Schism but by going further asunder and separating from one another they are in a wonderful manner brought to Unity in two opposite Congregations And thus by the late rare inventions of men which have been unknown to all former times the rending things asunder and breaking them in pieces are the new found methods to make them one But such a way of Unity if it can please some singular fancies will appear monstrous to the generality of mankind 11. That these notions and practices are great promoters of discord and division is not a bare speculation but hath been manifested by sufficient experience In Amsterdam the separate Communion of the Societies of Mr. Johnson and Mr. Ainsworth under Brownism and in Rotterdam the like of those of Mr. Bridge and Mr. Simpson proceeded upon this principle And this very principle of Independency helped many forward in this Kingdom in our late times of discord to set up new parties of Anabaptists Seekers and other Sects many of which were the off-sets of fermented Independency and its adulterine off-spring And the sad and lamentable relation of the Bermudas Islands called the Summer Islands is also very considerable where after this Congregational way was there undertaken the rejected part are said to have neglected all care of Religion and the gathered or separated part to have run on in dividing till they in a manner lost their Christian Religion in Quakerism And thus many have made a further improvement than the asserters themselves allowed of the allowed liberty for them who (q) Instit o Chur. n. 28. are in Church-fellowship as they call their way to depart from the Communion of the Church where they have walked to join themselves with some other Church where they may injoy the Ordinances in the purity of the same 12. Wherefore this notion of Independency would misrepresent the Christian Society and the Institution of Christ as if whilst Unity was earnestly injoyned therein the state of this Society should be left without that Order and Government which is necessary to preserve it For under this model the Church would be as far from an orderly and regular state as an Army would be when every several Troop or Company were left wholly to themselves and their own pleasure allowing some respect to be had to the conduct of their own Captain and inferiour Officers but not owning any Authority of any General or higher Commander than what is in their own Troop Or it might be somewhat resembled by the state of such an imaginary Kingdom where every Village in the Country and every Parish in a City should have such a chief power within themselves that there should be no appeal for justice to any higher Court nor any other power to punish them but what is executed by themselves If such things as these were put in practice they would not only hinder the serviceableness and usefulness of such an Army or Kingdom if it could be allowed to call them so but here would be also wanting the beauty and comeliness of Unity and Order and a door opened to frequent discords and dissentions 13. Secondly I shall consider their gathering Churches as they call them out of those who were Christian members of the Church of Christ and entring them into their Societies by a particular Covenant made to and with a private Congregation and pretending this Covenant to be the main ground and true way of the establishment and Union of a Church The value they set upon this Covenant may appear from the declaration of the Churches in New England who say (r) Apol. for Ch. Cov. p. 5. First That this is that whereby a company of Christians do become a Church it is the Constitutive form of a Church Secondly This is that by taking hold whereof a particular person becomes a member of a Church And though they frequently speak so fairly to such Christian Churches as do not admit this special Covenant with a single Congregation only as to declare their owning them to be true Churches yet all this cannot well be reconciled with this principle And therefore those of this way in England at their publick meeting speak more openly and more consistently with their own notion when they declared (Å¿) Of Instit of Churches n. 23. every Society assembling for the celebration of the Ordinances according to the appointment of Christ within any civil Precincts and Bounds is not thereby constituted a Church and therefore a Believer living with others in such a precinct may join himself with any Church for his edification But since this in truth is a separating members from that which really is a true part of the Christian Church the Presbyterians truly declared that (t) Pref. to Jus div Regim Eccles gathering Churches out of Churches hath no footsteps in Scripture is contrary to Apostolical practice is the scattering of Churches the Daughter of Schism the Mother of Confusion but the Step mother to Edification But I must acknowledge that the present practices of this party also looks as if they had now laid aside this opinion 14. But this Congregational method doth suppose that Baptized Christians are not obliged by any Church-relation they are already in to Communicate with any particular Church or part of the Christian Church when the natural consequence of the Unity of the Christian Church will be to lay an obligation upon all its members to Communicate with that regular part thereof within whose Precincts they reside And this new notion gives a larger discharge to multitudes of Christians from the duties of Communion than the rules of Religion will allow until they shall enter into such a particular Covenant which is not only unnecessary but unwarrantable also as will hereafter appear And there seemed too much reason for that complaint of the Presbyterians by the Provincial Assembly as they stiled themselves that the removing the Parochial Bounds would open a gap to thousands of people to live like Sheep without a Shepherd and instead of joining with purer Churches to join with no Churches and in a little time as we conceive say they adding in the Margent as our experience abundantly shews it would bring in all manner of profaneness and Atheism And whilst they unwarrantably declare the fixed state of our Church to be such that Christians are not obliged to hold Communion therewith and thereupon both themselves depart from it and teach others to do the like it deserves to be more seriously considered by them than hitherto it hath been how this

dividing principle and practice can be justified before Christ himself For if Christ will say to them who neglect to express kindness and respect to the rest of his members In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me Matt. 25.45 May not they fear lest they hear the same who rashly and unjustly cast contempt reproach and disrespect upon that Church which he owneth as his and disown and reject its Communion 15. But this which they call gathering of Churches by taking to themselves those who either were or ought to have been under other Guides and Governours of the Church in a different but more justifiable way and order is indeed a making divisions in a setled Church and separations from it And this practce of division and separation is so greatly displeasing to the Holy Spirit of God that there are many earnest and vehement expressions in the Holy Scriptures against it To which purpose the Apostle beseecheth the Romans to mark them who cause divisions and offences contrary to the Doctrine they had received and avoid them Rom. 16.17 even them who by good words and fair speeches deceived the hearts of the simple Against such separations the ancient and Primitive Christians were very zealous as I have noted in (u) Libert Eccles B. 1. C. 1. Sect. 3. another place and so are also the generality of the Protestant Writers 16. Such a way of separation which in the phrase and language of the ancient Christians was expressed by a Presbyter contemning his own Bishop and having a separate Congregation and erecting another Altar or different Communion as to Sacramental administrations was severely censured in those early times of Christianity In that most ancient (x) Can. Ap. 31. collection of Canons such a Presbyter and as many of the Clergy as joined with him were sentenced to be deposed and the Laity to be Excommunicated after admonition The Code of Canons of the Universal Church further determine concerning a Presbyter or Deacon who shall thus separate (y) Cod. Can. Eccl. Univ. c. 85. that his deposition shall be without any way of return to his former honour and dignity in the Church and that if he persist in disturbing the Church he should be reduced by the Secular Power as being seditious And the African Code in this case declare (z) Cod. Eccl. Afr. c. 10 11. that such a Presbyter should be ejected from his place and that he should be anathematized and the inflicting this double punishment which was not usual in the Church for a single crime shews of how heinous a nature this offence was then accounted when the Primitive rules of discipline were received 17. Amongst such Protestant Writers as are most in esteem with our Dissenters Calvin asserts it to be certain (a) Calv. in 1 Cor. 11.9 that this stone is continually moved by the Devil that he might break the Unity of the Church and he purposely opposeth and smartly condemneth (b) Inst l. 4. c. 1. in Ps 26.5 all separation from a true Church where the Holy Sacraments are duly administred and the true rule of Religion is imbraced The (c) Synops pur Theol. Disp 40. n. 37 41 42. Leyden Professors account the erecting separate Assemblies in the breach of Communion by them who hold the foundation of the Faith and agree with the Church therein upon occasion of external indifferent Rites or particular miscarriages in manners to be properly Schismatical and that this is one of the works of the flesh and renders a Society impure and that it is not lawful to hold Communion with such a Schismatical Church to which purpose they urge many Texts of Scripture And Zanchy treating largely hereof doth (d) Zanch. Miscel de Eccles c. 7. particularly undertake to maintain that though there be some diversity of Doctrine but in things not fundamental though different ways of Rites and Ceremonies though there be vices in Ministers or corruptions in people or want of due care in rejecting offenders from the Communion he that shall separate from a true Church upon these pretences shall not saith he escape the wrath of God and ira Dei manet super illum the wrath of God abides upon that person 18. How far such separations from our Church are made use of by the Romanists to serve their interest might be shewed of many of their Authors But I shall content my self here to observe what was noted by one of our own (e) Camd. Annal. Eliz. an 1583. learned Historians Mr. Camden concerning the time of Queen Elizabeth That when in her Reign some of the Ministry in dislike of the Liturgy Order and Government of the Church templa adire recusarent plane schisma facerent did refuse to come to our publick Worship and manifestly made a Schism this was done Pontificiis plaudentibus multosque insuas partes pertrahentibus quasi nulla esset in Ecclesia Anglicana Vnitas the Papists rejoicing at it and drawing away many to their party as if there were no Vnity in the Church of England 19. I shall now examine their particular Covenant whereby they ingage themselves to walk together as constant members of that particular Society or Congregation to which they join themselves Now this Covenant in a way of separation is no other but a bond of division and was to that purpose invented by the Brownists And that it was their practice is (f) Apol. for Ch. Cov. p. 41 42 43 44. acknowledged by the Churches in New England Against which such things as these may be justly alledged 1. That this contradicts another of their avowed Positions That nothing not instituted of Christ ought to be received or submitted to as terms of Communion with a Church and some of them more largely declare that (g) Answer to 32. Qu. qu. ●8 particular Churches have no power to make Laws for themselves or their members but to observe the Laws of Christ and if any Church presume further they go beyond their Commission and it would be sin to be subject to such Laws But such a particular contract with a single Congregation especially a separating one was never any part of Christs Institution But because this other opinion of theirs is also erroneous it is of greater concernment to observe that this way of Covenanting is opposite to the Institution of Christ in that by division and separation it breaks the Unity of the Christian Church which Christ hath established to be one Church and one Body But the dividing the Church into several Independent Societies which is contrary to what the Institution of Christ appointeth is so much designed by this Covenant that some of themselves tell us (h) ibid. Answ to Qu. 8. without this kind of Covenanting we know not how it would be avoided but all Churches would be confounded into one Now this is as much as to say that Christ and his Apostles

Eucharistia consecrabatur ut comprehendit simul Missam Catechumenorum haec est communissima acceptio And hence such portions of Scripture as are parts of the publick service are included in that rule and Constitution which relates to the whole And the (i) de Verbo Del c. 15. Cardinal declares that what is done by the Protestants is a real and practical asserting their heretical opinion against the Church whilst they ordinarily translate the Scriptures into the German French and English tongues and publickly read and sing them in the same tongues In England before the Reformation I know of no allowed translation into English made by any whom they own to be of their Communion That of Wiclef though out of the Vulgar Latin must not be owned as such Since the Reformation the Romanists have translated the Testament into English but though these Books may be procured by some few persons they are not easily had by very many And it is probable that in some Popish Countries they may have no translation of the Scriptures into their Vulgar tongue to this time which carryeth any publick approbation or allowance with it 24. A third impediment of piety in the Romish Church 3. Of their publick Service and Prayers in a tongue not understood by the people which I shall instance in is their having the publick Prayers and the administration of the Offices of the Church in a language not understood by the people which is a great hindrance to their devotion That this practice is generally used and is established and appointed in the Church of Rome is sufficiently known and is manifest from the foregoing Section But that the Primitive Church did generally own the fitness and usefulness of having the publick service and Prayers of the Church in a language understood by the common people is evident enough from what was then practised and established Publick Offices in the Primitive Church were performed in a tongue commonly understood In a great part of the Eastern Church where the Greek language was then the common speech of the Country as is well known and doth appear from the popular Homilies of the Greek Fathers which they spake in that language they had their publick prayers and service of the Church in the Greek tongue and not in the Latin and some of the ancient Liturgies then used in that tongue are still extant And in that part of the Western Church in which the Latin was then the Vulgar or commonly known language as in Italy and many other parts the publick prayers and service were performed in that tongue and not in the Greek or any other not commonly known in that Country And this is proved from those parts of the ancient Latin Offices which are still preserved 25. But in such other Countries where neither of these languages were commonly known there are sufficient instances of the use of other languages which were known In those Eastern parts where the Syriack language obtained they had their publick Offices in that language And a Collection of sixteen Syriack Offices are declared by (k) Gabr. Sionit de Ritib Maronit in init Gabriel Sionita to be in a Manuscript in his possession many of which were used together in the same Church and others probably in other Churches and in other Ages And after the first Centuries when the Arabick and the Coptick or Aegyptian language prevailed much in Egypt and the Patriarchate of Alexandria they had also the Coptick Liturgies as (l) In Epist ad Nihusium praef Rituali Cophticarum Athanasius Kircherus testifies And that part which might seem least needful to be in the Vulgar tongue which concerns the Ordination of their Ecclesiastical Officers who might be presumed to understand other tongues was translated by Kircher into Latin out of a very ancient Manuscript in which all the Ritual was in the Coptick tongue except the exhortations which were in the Arabick This translation was by Kircher sent to Nihusius 1647 and by him published five or six years after And several other Liturgical forms both in Syriack and other languages used in those Eastern Churches are mentioned by Ecchellensis in the account he gives of several Authours and Books written in those languages in the end of his Eutychius vindicatus And I doubt not but further proof may be given of this matter That the people might understand the Service care was taken by the Imperial Law by them who have the opportunity of seeing and consulting such Writers 26. To this general and practical testimony of the Church in former ages I shall add three particular testimonies but all of them of a publick nature all which acknowledged the usefulness of the people understanding the publick Offices of the Church and in the two former there was care taken thereof The first is out of the Imperial Law in (o) Justin Novel 137. c. 6. which it is enacted that the Bishops and Priests should express the Prayers at the holy Communion and at Baptism with a voice that might be heard by the faithful people for the raising the souls of the hearers into a greater devotion and affectionate giving glory to God And then that Law citeth the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.16 Else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks seeing he understands not what thou saist Which imperial Law takes care that the Prayers of the Church may be understood by the people for their profit providing that the words thereof should be audibly pronounced and supposing these Prayers to be expressed as they then were in a language commonly understood A second testimony is from the Roman Pontifical in which was continued down to the Council of Trent by the Roman Pontifical a direction at the Ordination of Lectors as is noted in (p) Hist Con c. Trid. l. 6. p. 470. the History of that Council ut studeant distincte articulate legere ut à populo intelligantur From whence it is easily collected that when that Pontifical was composed the service of the Roman Church was then in that language which was understood by the people and the sense of the Roman Church then was that it was requisite it should be understood and by its authority it took care that it might be so expressed as to be understood But when after some time the Latin tongue by degrees grew out of vulgar use especially under the various Mutations in the Empire there was then want of care to order the expressions of the publick service to be such as would suit the capacities of the people 27. The third testimony is from the Council of Trent which declares (q) Sess 22. cap. 8. Etsi Missa contineat magnam populi eruditionem Patribus tamen visum non expedire ut vulgari passim lingua celebraretur Quamobrem retento Ecclesiae Romanae ritu