Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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A34335
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The notion of schism stated according to the antients, and considered with reference to the non-conformists, and the pleas for schismaticks examined being animadversions upon the plea for the non-conformists : with reflections on that famous Tract of schism, written by Mr. Hales in two letters to a very worthy gentleman.
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Conold, Robert.
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1676
(1676)
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Wing C5891; ESTC R11683
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38,869
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110
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Chrysostome in his Discourse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 highly magnifies the Office and Authority of a Priest for speaking of that order of men he tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That God hath invested the Priests with such Authority as he never conferred upon Angels or arch-Arch-Angels For to which of the Angels did he say at any time What ever ye bind on Earth is bound in Heaven and whose sins ye Remit they are Remitted For as the Father gave Power to the Son to Remit sins so the Son of God hath committed the same Power to his Ministers on Earth I believe the Power of Absolution which was conferred upon the Christian Priesthood by the Commission of our Lord is not so large as the Pope would extend it nor yet so inconsiderable as the Puritan fancies it I believe our Saviour did not trifle when he granted that Charter to the Apostles but sure there is something in that Authority that is solemn and momentous and whatever it be I resolve to enjoy the benefit of it And therefore I declare that I would sooner travel from London to Larissa to communicate with the Greek Church where I might be assured of Priestly Authority than walk from Temple-Barr to Westminster to joyn with a Lay-Conventicle I know no Rule in the World that can rationally assure me of Ministerial Authority but a Sacerdotal succession from the Apostles As for the Pretension of Inspiration it is no more than Mahomet and Manes and every Impostor have pretended Their Argument from Gifts and Qualifications weighs nothing with me A Jew under the Mosaical Oeconomy might have hired an Hebrew Butcher who might have slain his Lamb or Goat and have dress'd it and laid it upon an Altar with as much art and exactness as the eldest Priest in the Temple but then it had been no Sacrifice nor have ever been accepted of God as a Legal Attonement no it was the Priests offering Sacrifice that made them Peace-offerings it was the Priests sprinkling the blood upon the Altar of the Lord and his burning the Fat that was an essential Requisite to render the Oblation a sweet savour unto the Lord. Angels and Arch-Angels are Wise Zealous and Holy Spirits but all their excellencies do not make them Priests though in another sense they are Ministring Spirits To conclude this since I can no way be rationally secured of my Relation to Christ or of my participation of all the advantages of Christianity but by a commâ—nion with the Catholick Church and its Ministerial Authority I do therefore assure you that I have a greater value for my communion with the Priests and the Temple than for that ador'd Diana of English Property And if any unhappy circumstance should ever put me upon the experiment I would desert this to enjoy the other Sir if ever the Christian World become wise and sober this very consideration would repair the Breaches of the Catholick Church and prove the final Ruine of Fanatick Conventicles Our Author passionately declaims against the Supremacy and Ambition of Bishops I confess Pride and Ambition are greatly inconsistent with the humble nature of Christianity and are strange indecencies in Spiritual Governours and I will never make an Apology for Vice and Disorder But this ought not to be urged as a Reason for the extirpation of Episcopacy Our Lord did not suspend nor degrade his Apostles because there was a strife among them who should be the greatest Nor would it be just or charitable to charge all Bishops with these evil imputations I observe one famous Instance of Humility in the Chair of Rome and that Sir you know is the most Principal Seat of Ambition Gregory Bishop of Rome who in the year of our Lord 596. sent Augustina into England to convert the Saxons in his Epistle to Eulogius Bishop of Alexandria disowns the ambitious Title of Universal Supremacy Indicare quoque vestra Beatitudo studuit jam se quibusdam non scribere superba vocabula que ex vanitatis radice prodierunt mihi loquitur dicens sicut jussistis Quod verbunt jussionis peto à meo Auditu removere quâ—â—scio quis sum qui estis Loco enim mihi Fratres estis moribus Patres non ergo jussi sed quae utilia visa sunt indicare curavi ecce in praefatione Epistolae quam ad me ipsum qui prohibui direxistis superbae Appellationes verbum Universalem me Papam dicentis imprimere curastis Quod peto dulcissima mihi fanctitas vestra ultra non faciat quia vobis subtrahitur quod alteri plus quam ratio exigit praebetur And we must not look upon this Modesty as the Poor spirited humour of this single Bishop for he assures us in the same Epistle that it was the constant humility of his Predecessors Recedant verba quae vanitatem inflant charitatem vulnerant quidem in Sancta Chalcedonensi Synodo atque post à subsequentibus Patribus hoc Decessoribus meis oblatum vestra sanctitas novit sed tamen nullus eorum uti hoc unquam vocabulo voluit But Sir our Author not only protests against the Ambition but the Authority of Bishops for he tells us They do but abuse themselves and others that would perswade us that Bishops by Christs institution have any Superiority over other men than that of Reverence He grants that there is a greater Reverence due to them than to other men but how this should become a duty without supposing a just superiority to exact it I cannot understand I will not here ingage in the Controversie about the Divine Right of Episcopacy But I am sure the Apostles had a Superiority over the Seventy Disciples by Christs Institution and I am certain that the Antient Catholick Church did esteem Bishops as the Apostles Successors The first we meet with in Ecclesiastical History that ever denyed the Superiority of Bishops was Aenius a discontented Arian and Epiphanius records him for a Heretick and brands his Opinion as a Diabolical Delusion Sir there remains nothing more considerable in our Author only the old Puritan Cavil against all Pomp and Gestures Garments and Musick in Publick Worship I confess I dislike the gaudy Pageantry and numerous Ceremonies of the Ordo Romanus and I as much abhorr the Rudeness of a Conventicle Sir I have neither mind nor leisure to examine the Scruples of nicer fancies but I will propound these Queries and reserve them for future consideration 1. Whether the Governours of the Catholick Church have not as much Authority to make Institutions in matters indifferent as the Apostles Whether the Womans Veil or the Holy Kiss were more Jure Divino than the Surplice or Sign of the Cross 2. Whether a Pompous Superstition in Publick Worship be not more pardonable than a Rude Forlorness Or whether a Sancy Rudeness will not sooner introduce Atheism than the most Glorious Superstition 3. Whether the awful Adorations of the Jews the Glory of the Tabernacle and the Temple the Ornaments of the Priests and the Musick were Leviticall or rather founded upon Moral Reasons 4. Whether a Publick Oratory or Church that is set apart for the more Solemn Worship of the Eternal God may not without Superstition be as Glorious and Magnificent as the Stadthouse in Holland except Imagery Whether a Respect to God will not as much justifie one as a Relation to the States will vindicate the other Sir Whenever you please to command I shall enquire for Resolution in the mean I rest Sir Your Affectionate Friend and Servant R. C. FINIS Lib. 3. adv Haer. cap. 3. Lib. 4. cap. 43. ☞ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epad Philadelph And exhorting to obey the Bishops and Priests he tells them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep. ad Trall Epist 42. Pag. 34. Aug. Ep. 113. Tom. 1. p. 781. ad p. 802. Epiphan adv Haeres Tom. 2. p. 727. Pag. 30. Page 10. Sect. 12. Pag. 11. Pag. 3 4 5 6. Pag. 4. Page 2. Page 2. Page 2. Page 4. Sect. 5. Page 9. Page 2. Page 1. Epist 118. Page 3. Niceph. l. 8. c. 25. Lang. Int. 〈◊〉 Tom. 1. Lib. 10. Cap. 5. Sect. 1. Tom. 1. lib. 16. cap. 5. sect 5. What authority have we for Infant Baptism the Lords Day the dispensing the Eucharist to Women but the Authority and Practice of the Antients Lev. 17. 5 6.