coulde not depute it to the Apostle So as it remaineth that he did it by his owne authoritie or at the least in the name of the rest that were ministers of the word which will not agree with our mens platforme If here exception be taken to Caluin as that in some other of his writings he is of an other minde you must bee aduertised that he beginning to write betimes did in diuers thinges vpon better aduise change his opinion And therefore in one of his epistles desireth those that wil reade his workes that they would first take the paines to reade his institutions as conteininge in them for those things there set downe his verie mind and setled iudgment But what if Beza doe in sort agree herin with Caluin Surely if I vnderstand him he doth For vpon these wordes Cum impositione manuum presbyterij id est saith he ordinis presbyterorum qu◠nomine caetus omnis ille significatur qui in verbo laborabat in ea ecclesia that is the order of Priestes or Elders by which name all that company is signified which did laboure in the word in that Church Disburden then for shame your counterfet Aldermen of this ioint-dutie in your Eldership or at the leaste let them rest vntill you be better resolued amongst your selues howe to imploie them least yow bring them within the compasse of the punishment of Corah Dathan and Abiram as I haue said before CHAP. 17. Of their Aldermens ioynt office with the ministers in binding and loosing of sinnes and of their disagreement therin COncerning their pretended authoritie equall with their ministers for their procedings are by voyces in excommunication of the stubborne and absolution of the repentant will they trouble themselues thinke you with any testimonies out of the old testament Indeede they affirme that these censures were resembled there by the authority of discerning bettwene the cleane and the vncleane betwene the holy vnholy of shutting vp the leprous and releasinge them of purginge the vncleane of cursing resembling bindding of blessing resembling loosing c. And be it so But where is there mention in any such places that your pretēded Elders had any authoritie to intermeddle with these matters Are they not throughout the whole olde testament euermore ascribed to Aaron and his sonnes Nay might any that were of other tribes then of the tribe of Leui deale heerwithal Speake franckly truly might they so Beza could find no answere to this question but Probabile est it is probable they might whereas I am perswaded there are fewe assertions of greater absurditie or of lesse probabilitie For the Leuites themselues that were not of the sonnes of Aaron had nothinge to doe in these thinges Trauers defininge what suspension is saith it is a commaundement or prohibition of an Elder of abstaininge for a certaine time from the receauing of the Sacraments For the proofe wherof he groundeth himselfe vpon this shadow as hee termeth it That by the law the vncleane and vncircumcised were prohibited the celebrating of the Passeouer entrance into the Temple Which caused saith hee Ioiada the priest to appoynt certaine porters to the gates of the Temple By which testimonies what hee else proueth then that his Elders were of the number of these Porters I finde not And that surelye agreeth best with Bezaes opion mentioned Horum proculdubio partes erant c. It was out of doubt the dutye of the Arch-rulers of the Synagogues not to admitte excommunicated persons into the Synagogues With which offices if they of that consorte will bee content to infeoffe their Aldermen and goe no further I see no cause why any man should greatly enuie them that preferment But when from dore-keepers they must be so aduaunced as that they must bee abdicators and comforters as they terme them that is more then vpon such weake collections is fit to bee allowed of For where they giue them these iointe offices with the Minister of abdicating the stubborne and of consolation of the repentant if they would speake out it is as much as though they should saie that they haue equall authoritie with them of suspension and excommunication of bindinge and loosing of retaining and remitting of sinnes No no they maie sende them to Parishgarden to loose and bind beares for they are farre vnmeet to haue anie such authoritie ouer mens soules That those which were not Bishops or Priestes that is ministers of the word and sacraments should haue that authoritie which they speake of is a matter that was neuer heard of in the Church of God for a 1500. yeares Cartwright in handling this pointe was able to bring for his purpose but one pertinent authoritie in shew out of all the auncient Fathers vz. out of Tertullian of certaine Presidents that shut offenders from praiers in the Congregation which presidents as hee well knoweth the same Tertullian saith expresslie in an other place were Ministers of the worde and sacraments in these wordes speaking of the Lordes supper Nec de aliorum manu quà m presidentium sumimus neyther do wee receaue at the handes of any other but of the gouernours It is worthie the consideration to see into what extremities men do commonlie fall that will presume to builde the Church vppon the straw and stubble of their owne deuises All the world cannot perswade the papists but that the keies of the kingdome of heauen were onely giuen to Peter and so to his successors and that from him the rest of the Apostles were to receaue them and so must their successors from the Pope Against whom we insist with the auncient Fathers that what was saide to Peter appertained to them all as namelie for one reasō in that where the keyes were promised to Peter tibi dabo I will giue them to thee when this promise was performed Christ gaue them vnto all the Apostles alike and to their successors Whose sinnes yee remit they shall be remitted and whose sinnes ye retaine they shall bee retayned which is the true vse of the keyes Now who are to be termed the Apostles successors if wee will belieue the said auncient Fathers that were in my opinion as honest and learned men as those that oppose themselues against them wee must confesse that they were at the least Ministers of the worde and sacraments and so we haue pleaded in this cause against the papists But now on the other side the world is so come about that whereas the papistes doe giue the keies but to Peter only and so to the Pope where the auntient fathers doe giue them to all the Apostles equally and so to their successors ministers as I said at the leaste now these newe start-ups will needes thrust their aldermen into that number and they must be also the Apostles successors If men will be seduced wilfully by such falseteachers they maie What a ridiculous sayinge is this of Bezaes That In persona Apostolorum the keyes
were giuen Omnibus veris presbyteris to all true Priests or Elders including in that number his vnpriestlie Eldermen Againe vpon these words of christ the keyes c. Hac metaphorica loquutione significatur oeconomi potestas Esa 22 22. qua funguntur omnes ministri in ecclesia dei vt apparet infra 18 18. By this metaphoricall speech is signified that power of Christ mentioned in Esay the key of the house of Dauid I will lay vppon his shoulders loe hee shall open and no man shall shut and hee shall shut and no man shall open which power all the Ministers in the Church of God doe enioye as it appeareth in Mathew Whatsoeuer ye binde in earth shall bee bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose on earth shall bee loosed in heauen And vppon that place of Mathew the 18 Chapter and in manie other places by the Church and those binders and loosers there spoken of hee vnderstandeth his Eldership so consequently aswell his Aldermen as the Ministers of the worde Hee that with an open face to vse Cartwrightes terme doth affirme that either in Mathew the 16. 15. or in the place of Esay mentioned these vnpreaching Elders were ment or prefigured needeth not I warrant him at any time a vizard Indeed maister Cartwright is not of Bezaes mind herein For saith he in Math. 16. and in Ioh. 20. Christ vnder standeth that euery one of the ministers bindeth looseth by preaching but the wordes Math. 18.18 cannot bee drawen to the particular person of the minister Surelye you haue sponne a faire thredde For if your Aldermen be not aswell vnderstoode in the wordes of Christ Vnto thee I will giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen as in these Whatsoeuer yee binde on earth shall bee bound in heauen and whatsoeuer ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heauen It will fall out that they will haue no keies either to open or shut withall except peraduenture you will make your lockes with a springe and so indeed they maie shutte the dore but for openinge of it they maie blowe their nailes Heere you see Beza and Cartwright opposite and now you shall haue a fellow to impugne them both in a Theologicall position printed at Geneua sette out by Ant. Fayus and maintained there by one Danyell Niellius out of Math. 16.19 thus saith hee wee may reason To them onely the power of binding and loosing is giuen vnto whom the keyes of the kingdome of heauen are giuen for to haue binding and loosing is that same that it is to haue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen but vnto Peter the keyes were giuen and vnto them in whose name Peter aunswereth Christ demaunding whom the Iewes sayd hee was And because they were giuen ratione officij in regarde of his office it followeth that they were giuen to al qui in veritatis doctrina predicanda sunt ipsis successuri Who in preaching the doctrine of truth shall succeed them By these wordes then their disguised Aldermen must either haue assigned vnto them the same office that the Apostles had be made preachers or else they may put vp their pipes and goe shake their eares But yet more plainly we are aduertised in the same place from Geneua out of Iohn 20.23 We may also inferre after this sorte Christ after hee sent his Apostles as he was sent of the father he breathed on them the holy Ghost saying whose sinnes ye remit they shal be remitted whose sinnes ye retaine they shall be retayned To all them therefore and onely to them who are sent that authoritie is giuen But the Apostles onely are not sent For it is Christ who ascending into heauen gaue to his Church Pastors and Doctors and altogether to that end and for handling that worke Ephes. 4.11.13 Now ioyne both these inferences with that which Beza Cartwright haue before set downe and let him for mee beare the bell for a reconciler of contrarieties that is able in anie probable sorte to make anie one of them friendes with another or for euer hereafter to agree together And yet I know that they of Geneua can do much You must bring them very strange discords but they will make some harmonie of them Whereas the confessions of Bohemia of Augusta and the Apologie of the Church of England doe a cribe these censures wee speake of to the Priestes or Ministers of the word onely the Geneuians to make the world beleeue that in effect all the reformed Churches doe agree with that of theirs and with those other that weare her cullors will needes take vpon them in their annotations ioyned to the ende of their harmony to expouÌ„d the meaning of the said confessions how they must be rightly vnderstoode As for example it is committed to the ministers of the wordâ— saith the confession of Augusta excludere impios c. aâ—communione ecclesiae to exclude the wicked c. from the communioÌ„ of the church Nimirum that is to say affirme the Geneuians ex presbiterij legitimè congregati fententia c. according to the sentence of the Eldership lawfully assembled whereas it neuer as yet set vp any such Eldership Againe the said confession Hic necessario c. heere the Church must yeeld them due obedience meaning to the sayde ministers so excluding the wicked Nempe come in the Geneuians verbi ministris senioribus that is to say to the Ministers of the worde and to the Elders who were neuer allowed of by that confession to this purpose pretended The Apologie of the Church of England hauing shewed that the administration of the keyes doth onely belong to ministers of the worde and that Sacerdos that is the Bishop as I thinke hee meaneth for the execution of these censures is the iudge Sacerdos that is say the Geneuians vnus designatus ex pastorum collegio one chosen out of the Colledge of Pastors Deinde etiam intelligiturpraeire quum de censuris ecclesiasticis agitur legâ—tinam presbyterij cognitionem And furthermore also let it be vnderstoode when speache is of the ecclesiasticall censure that there goeth before a lawfull determination of the Eldership Whether the Apologie haue that meaning the meanest of any sense at all may iudge And thus they deale also with the Bohemian confession So that as I sayd to serue their purposes they can make ex quo libet quid libet of any thing what they list And by these examples ye may also safely learne what credite is to be giuen in this cause both to them and all the rest of that humour when they would seeme to alledge eyther scriptures Councels or Fathers for their most vnwarrantable and counterfeit Aldermen But if it were graunted vnto them for a moneth or two that their Eldermen should be ioyned with the ministers of the worde and haue an equall authoritie with them of binding and loosing would they content themselues therewithall It is
congregatū intelligebat he vnderstood in the person of his Disciples a lawfull Senate or company assembled together in the name of the church And in his confessions hee also affirmeth that the keyes of the kingdome of heauen were giuen omnibus verè presbyteris to all true Elders including his only ruling Elders in persona Apostolorum in the person of the Apostles Which opinion of his first ouerthroweth his collection that there must needes be vnpriestly Elders for the sayd representation by him deuised For here wee see the Church represented sufficiently in his iudgement Math. 16.19 and 18. v. by Christs disciples and Apostles they being all of them ministers of the word and sacraments to whom Christ there spake Secondly if the Apostles in receauing the keyes sustayned the person of all true priests and if Peter when Christ saide vnto him vnto thee I will giue the keyes sustained the person of the Apostles It followeth that one man maye sustaine the person of all Bezaes true Elders or Eldership and so consequently it is not against the word of God if wee saye Tell the Churche that is tell the Bishops vz. one man But to leaue Beza to his owne pleasure both to saye and do what he list especially in his owne Consistory And yet truelie it were good reason if their Elders bee Christs vicars Gods prelates Bishops Archbishops they should be accounted ecclesiasticall persons and I am perswaded that the one is as true as the other CHAP. 14. Theyr disagreement concerning the continuance of theyr Elders in their office AT Geneua their Elders are simplye chosen but for a yeare In the French church in London they are elected as I heare for three yeares It was thus ordered in the Nationall Councell of the Belgicke churches at Hage 1586. Seniores et Diaconi duos annos inseruiant quotannis numerus dimidiatus commutabitur c. Let the Elders and Deacons serue two yeares and the halfe of them shall be chaunged euery yeare c. Scotland followeth the Geneua order if their booke bee true of the forme of their praiers printed 1584. and doth retayne them but for a yeare And then euerie man as hee was before A prelate Christes vicar a Bishop an Archbishop an ecclesiasticall man this yeare a plaine Dauber a Thatcher a Taylor a Cobler and a Tinker the next yeare and so by turnes backwarde and forward if any of the same persons shall be diuers times chosen as often as it falleth out amongst them What election and ordination by triall praiers fastings imposition of handes and all but for a yeare It maketh mee to remember a saying of Tertullian in the like case Ordinationes eorum temerariae leues inconstantes c. Theyr ordinations are rash light and inconstant c. Alius hodiè Episcopus alius cras c. Hodiè Diaconus qui eras lector hodiè presbyter qui cras laicus This day one is a Bishop and to morrow another c. To daye a Deacon and to morrow a Reader he that is a priest or an Elder to daye is the next day after become a Lay-man c Nowe if they will say that they haue some rules out of the scriptures for this their mutabilitie as I trust they will be ashamed to saie otherwise that as Cartwright sayth These Elders did not florish in Constantines time shall wee thinke that the Bishops in the Councell of Nice when they went about the matter that Paphnutius withstoode did euer intende that such an Elder or ecclesiasticall person becomming a layman againe after a yeare or two should vppon his choyse to that office frō thence foorth not companie with his wife which he had married before It maie peraduenture bee answered that Christes order for this annuall or bienniall change was through corruption altered before that Councell and growen to bee a continuall office Indeed they may bee bolde with those times to speake of them as they list But what will you thinke if nowe the matter beginne to be called in question whether Geneua first and then after whether other their reformed churches of the Lowe Countries and of Scotlande haue done well in making these Elders but temporall officers rather then Ministers of the worde Certainelye a Learned man of that humor tolde mee playnlie that both Geneua and the rest were thought by diuerse graue men to haue done amisse therein And peraduenture by degrees you shall see some alteration about that matter For the Bretheren of Englande in their subscribed Discipline do beginne to make some qualification that way as it seemeth vnto mee when they saye Presbyteri non sunt perpetui neque tamen facilè moueantur Let not the Elders bee perpetuall nor yet easilye remoued They must not bee perpetuall but yet no time is prescribed So as they may continew Elders by this rule through the strength of one ordination twentie yeares if the rest of their companie bee so pleased And Carolus Gallus in his booke of Discipline is already come to the poynt affirming directlie Presbytero Ecclesiae post biennium aut triennium stationem suam deserere non licere That it is not lawfull for an Elder of the Church after two or three yeares to giue ouer his charge but must contynue the same vsque admortem vntill his death Which assertion hee taketh vppon him to prooue after the manner of these men by many arguments such as they are both out of the olde and newe Testament with whome agreeth Bannosius alledging this old Cannon which prouideth Ne bis presbyter ordinetur et ne quispiam bis baptizetur That a Priest or Elder bee not twise ordayned nor any twise baptised For sayth hee Ordinatio est perpetuae functionis consecratio quemadmodum baptismus perpetui foederis cum Deo initi est testificatio Ordination is the consecration of a perpetuall function as baptisme is a contynuall testimony or witnesse of our League made with God This surelye draweth deeplie How it will be taken at his handes I knowe not I am perswaded that whilest Beza liueth it will neuer be admitted at Geneua For so if their twelue Elders did see their authoritie to bee of such continuance they might paraduenture hold the six ministers noses to the grindstone Whereas nowe they knowing their kingdome to bee of such small continuance euen as they please the ministers doe suffer them to raigne and doe what they list fearing what afterclapps might light vpon them the yeare after if they should doe otherwise Besides if they should be offices of such endurance those princes noblemen and gentlemen that would be content paraduenture for a yeare to become ecclesiasticall persons amongst them and execute their office forsooth in their owne persons would be twise aduised how they left their other affaires to attend vppon that worshipfull seruice So as what will be the issue amongst them herein god knoweth For my part I doe not and therefore I will leaue them
man shall oppose against my exposition the authority of certayne of the aunciente fathers ad verbum dei prouoco I doe appeale to the word of God and I desire that the reasons which I haue broughte for it may be refelled How crancke hee is with the auncient fathers but not a word of M. Caluin And his reason as I take it was this bicause M. Caluins authority seruinge him much better for the credite of diuers Disciplinary positions then all the auncient fathers doe hee is more desirous for the continuance of his reputation then of all theirs A fourth matter there is also concerning these widdowes which is of the greatest importance and is yet no better agreed vpon then as you haue heard of the rest Be it that in the Apostles times there were such widdowes as they affecte yet the question is whether it be necessary that now there should bee such church-officers or new colleges of widdowes set vp in euery parish to looke to the poore that be sicke or not Some of their proctors doe wauer much in this point some are resolute for them some are as resolute to my vnderstanding against them First I pray you let M. Cartwright speak his pleasure Saint Paule reckoneth vp all the ordinary and perpetuall offices of the Church of the Doctor of the Pastor of the Deacon of the Elder and leaueth not out so much as the Widdow Againe Now there is not so great vse of these widdowes with vs c. Part of the necessity why they were first founded grew both by the multitude of strangers c. and by the great heat of those East countries wherevppon the washing and supplinge of feete was required Againe For asmuch as there are poore which are sicke in euery church I doe not see a better order can bee deuised c. if there can bee any widdowes gotten And againe I conclude that if such may bee gotten we ought to kepe that order in the church In good time It is a very substantiall conclusion And is he come to this If such can be gotten Hath God appointed such officers to be in euery parishe as cannot be gotten He told vs before in the behalfe of his Elders as you shall heare againe the thirde time that when men are called to a lawfull and profitable calling and especially to a publicke calling God doth powre his giftes on that person which is called so plentifully that he is as it were soddainely made a new man Whereuppon he inferreth that doe but once make choice of such Elders as he doth after and God will by and by make them fitte persons to execute their offices And may wee not then also affirme by the Analogy of the same doctrine that when God appointeth an ordinary and perpetuall office in his Church he doth also prouide either ordinarily or extraordinarily that there shall be alwaies some to vndertake it What prerogatiue haue his Elders aboue his Widdowes that God hauing appointed them both alike to beare a continuall office in his Church the one sort should be so miraculously prouided for euen vppon the soddaine and the other be suffered so farre to weare out as that they cannot bee gotten May it not be as truely saide sette vp the Eldership in euery parishe and God will prouide Widdowes as set it so vp in the most Clownish parish in England and God wil presently by inspiration make the poor husbandmen Carters Thatchers and Dawbers newly chosen to be Elders such meet and able men to gouern the church as the keies of the kingdom of Heauen may be safely committed into their hands Whether through these and such like other conceites or vpon what grounds els I know not but there is a second sorte of Disciplinary Widdowistes that are very farre growen past Cartwrights Ifs. One that writeth the defence of the godlye Ministers as hee intituleth them hath in that Treatise framed tenne argumentes of a wonderfull power as many haue supposed Wherein hee al'wayes comprehendeth the widdowes nameth them as necessary partes of the forme of that Church-gouernement which Christ and his Apostles haue appointed to be the ordinary and perpetuall platforme for the guiding and gouerninge of the Church vntill the ende of the world and maketh them by such force as his argumentes haue as necessary for the ordinary continuance of them as eyther Pastor Doctor Elders or men Deacons The learned discourser likewise agreeth with this Defence-maker where hauing spoken of Widdowes amongst the rest of their Church-officers and of all their offices he saith that beeing instituted by the spirite of God for the necessary vse of the Church which vse still continueth they ought also to be retayned amōngst vs. I may not here also omit the author of the Fruitfull sermon who expoūdeth so pretily the similitude which S. Paul vseth of that mysticall body whereof as I take it Christ is the head that he excludeth the whole Church from being any members of it except they bee eyther Pastors Doctors Elders Deacons or Widdowes A member saith he is such a parte of the bodye as hath receiued from the head some particular and necessary guifte to helpe and benefite the whole body and euery member therof And so he reckoneth vs his members as I haue sayd His meaning therein is this as I thinke that the rest of the body is but as it were a rude lumpe which is to bee framed and fashioned by the sayd members by euery one according to the office of it And after for the necessity vz. that euery one of his sayde members no moe no fewer should allwayes continue in the body he vseth these woordes If nature lacke any one member be it neuer so base if it bee but one toe shee is sorry shee is grieued she lamenteth shee iudgeth her selfe maimed yea shee would redeeme it with the perill of loosinge the rest such is her loue and desire to appear in her beauty perfection As though he should haue said that he and his fellowes are so far bewitched with the desire of their Eldershippes that rather then they will misse their Widdowes euen the meanest members of it they care not to hazard the being of the whole Church Vnto this fruictfull sermoner mentioned I will adde one of Fenners inuincible arguments because it enforceth the sayd similitude of the members of the body so syllogistically Whatsoeuer officers are ordinary mēbers of the Church are sette into the same of God for ordinary c perpetuall dueties with ordinary and perpetuall giftes wherein they are commanded to abide and wherewith the Church is commaunded to bee content Those are ordinary perpetuall and the best for no man may remoue the members of Christs body hauing ordinary giftes and actions for the perpetuall vse of the body But these of Doctors Pastors Elders Deacons Church-seruants are ordinarye members of the Church are set into the same of God for ordinary duties of teaching
Zanchius reporteth of Archbishops and Bishops into new and worse Latine names of superintendentes and generall superintendentes Erneste the Duke of Brunswick presently after the assembly of Augusta procured Vrbanus Regius to go home with him ecclesiarum in toto Ducatu Episcoparum ipsius gubernationi permisit and coÌ„mitted vnto his gouernment the Bishopricke or superintendencie of all the Churches within his Dukedome One Sydonius being thrust as it seemeth from the Bishopricke of Mersenburge as cleauing wholly to Popery was afterwardes vppon his leauing of the Pope and vpon promise made to maintaine the reformation of religion made in his absence restored to his bishopricke And after him succeeded as I take it in that bishopricke George the Prince Anhalt before mentioned being chosen thereunto as hee saith himselfe vniuerso capitali consensu by the consent of the whole chapter He had been brought vp in learning and was at the time of the saide election a Priest or Cannon in the Cathedrall Church of Mersenburge Of whom being bishop Henricus Stenius saith règebat ecclesias in Mersenburgensi diocaesi hee ruled the Churches in the dioces of Mersenburge And againe praesuit ecclesijs vniuersae ditionis Mysorum he gouerned the Churches of all the dominion of Mysya Agreeable aswell to these examples as to the saying of Zanchius before specified is that which Ia Haerbrandus a verie learned man and in his time Diuinitie reader of Tubinge writeth in his common places Debent gradus esse c. There ought to be degrees amongest Ministers c. as with vs in the Duchy of Wirtenberge there are subdeacons Deacons Pastors special superintendentes and ouer them generall superintendentes And in another place the same Haerbrand shewing his iudgement generally Saluberrimum esset c. It were a most profitable order for the welfare of the Church if euery particular prouince had her Bishoppes and the Bishops their Archbishop And Iacobus Andreas hee is muche of the same opinion as certaine Ministers of Heidelberge doe reporte vz where hee saith that it is a difficult matter to defend the peaceable estate of Churches except there be some chiefe ruler and Byshop amongest them to whome rerum summa deferatur the full ordering of matters may be referred To this purpose in like sorte Osiander writeth euen as though he had spoken of the Church of England Although in the Primitiue church when she flourished with myracles there were diuers degrees and orders of Ministers some Apostles some Prophets some Euangelistes and some Pastors and Doctors yet as now the state of the Church is the Ministers may be deuided into three orders or degrees vz Deacons Pastors and Superintendentes c. To the Pastors particular Churches are committed Nec dubitatur c. and it is not doubted but that euery one of them may rule the Church committed vnto him sine collegae concilio without the Councell of any fellow Those pastors we call superintendents who are so set ouer other pastors that they may visite the state of their Churches and punish both the Pastors and the people if any thing be done amisse or if any thing fall out that they cannot correct then they referre it vnto a higher court consisting of deuines and politick men who by the ciuile Magistrates authoritie or approbation doe amend such defects c. Hemingius also affirmeth that there are dispares dignitatis gradus in the ministery that partly by the law of Cod partly by the approbation of the Church that as Christ ascending into heauen gaue gifts vnto men Apostles Prophets Euangelists doctors and pastors so he gaue to the Church authoritie for edification that the Church by vertue of that power ordained ministers for her profite that the purer churches following the Apostles times ordained some Patriarchs some Bishops c. some Pastors and some Catechists c. That the reformed Churches haue their Bishops doctors Pastors and vnder them chaplains we call them curâ—tes as I thinke That the Churches in Denmarke doe acknowledge degrees of dignitie amongst Ministers that they iudge it meet that other Ministers should obey their Bishops in althings which tend to the edification of the church according to the word of God the profitable gouernment of the Church and that they iudge Bb s. to haue authoritie ouer other Ministers of the church ius non despoticum sed patrium Ieremia Hombergus a worthy man in the Churches of God about Styria Carinthia and Carniola but now remoued thence through the persecution which the Iesuits haue kindled in those parts affirmeth in his commoÌ„ places of diuinitie reuiewed allowed at Ratisbone with very direct termes that God himselfe hath appointed degrees of ministers in the church euen amongest those which haue a mediate calling vt concordia inter ministros coÌ„seruetur c. that concord amongst ministers might be preserued the workes of their ministery performed more easily and more decently And after he hath specified the common duties both of Bishops and ministers he setteth down those which he thinketh are peculiar to Bishops and to bee executed by them vz excommunication ordination and confirmation And with him agreeth the Diuinitie reader at Lauinge Phill. Haylbronner writing vpon the first Epistle of S. Paul to Timothy Where he sheweth that the Apostle appointed Timothy to be Bishop of Ephesus that accordingly there are and ought to be degrees and orders of ministers of the Church hauing described the common duties likewise of all ministers generally he saith thus Episcopus c. Besides the said common offices to Bishops was commended the publicke ouersight and gouernment so as it belonged to them to appoint fit ministers for the churches neere them also to heare the accusations and complaints which are made against the Pastors of theyr churches and to decide them c. Sic enim Paulus scribit Timotheo Ephesorum Episcopo for so Paul writeth to the Bishop of Ephesus lay thy hands rashly vppon no man and against a Priest admit not an accusation c. Of the same iudgement in like sort is Egidius Hunius the diuinitie professor at Marpurge in his commentarie vpon S. Pauls Epistle to Titus He affirmeth that the Apostle appointed Titus the generall superintendent for the gouernement ouer the Churches of that large and noble Iland of Crete that his dutie was to ordaine Pastors in euery parish and likewise to make Bishops that the Bishop or superintendent hath his dioces the Pastor his parishe or church as Paule commaunded Titus to place priestes in euery parish That thereby it appeareth God doth require that there should bee orders and degrees amongest Ministers vt alij praesint alij subsint that some may rule and some obey that this order is not newly deuised but receaued in the church from the Apostles times and that God himselfe made a distinction betweene Ministers and appointed degrees according to that hee gaue some Apostles
now that they perceaue the verie great falsehood which they find in their owne fellowship Certaine hypocriticall Bretheren of the Laytie haue clapped them as it seemeth vppon the shoulders followed their sermons set theÌ„ at the vpper ende of their tables and sought by all their strength to procure them credit fauour with the people not that they cared either for them or for ReligioÌ„ or for Christ himselfe but hopinge that by the violent course which they saw these men run into the Bishops the rest of the Cleargie would be groweÌ„ in short time to be so odious as it would be a very small matter to disposses theÌ„ of all their liuings wherof some portioÌ„ might come to their shares Which maÌ„ner of pollicy now you may perceiue these brethreÌ„ haue espied therfore they spare not as you haue hard to set forth such hipocrits in their plainest colors very liuelie in their opinioÌ„ truly God of his infinit mercie multiplie her M. daies that she maie raigne many and manie yeares still ouer vs. If it had not beene for her most princelie and most religious care of the Church the children of Edom had long before this time greatlie indaungered it But this I will say vnto theÌ„ that if euer they obtain their desires which I know they shal neuer do in her highnes time they shal not possesse a pennie worth of the church-goods which I am perswaded will not prooue vnto them to be like the gold of Tholossa wherof none had part that euer prospered afterward I could shew some reasons of this my perswasion but I am a man not verie grateful to that sort of reformers I will therefore spare that paines and the rather because their own maisters hauâ— dealt plainlie inough with them alreadie This onelie I will adde committing it to their discretions to be considered off at their leasures There was neuer anie nation so barbarous but it thought there was a God Againe there was neuer any nation that thought there was a God but it likewise acknoledged that the same God had his priests to teach the people his will Againe there were neuer as yet to my knowledge anie men in the world but belieuing there was a God and acknowledging his Priestes they haue alwaies either in truth or at the least in shew depeÌ„ded vpon their priests instructions as touching the wil seruice of God Which points being true I would gladlie know of anie Sacrilegious Disciplinarian what sort of Priests they are whose aduise he followeth Some he must needs follow except he will professe himselfe to be in the number of those that say in their harts there is no God Doth he follow the Priests of the heatheÌ„ why they euer thought that it was vnlawfull for anie man to spoil his God Doth he follow the Popish Priests There are no men surelie that crie out more earnestly against Sacriledge Doth he follow the councell of any Priestes which haue embraced the Gospell No Priest that feareth God will teach him so Some Priests in this latter age haue beene mistaken But if anie did euer teach so he may perceaue by that which I haue said that they haue repented them of it For nowe they tell all who will be their schollers that they may not indeuour to alienate the church-liuinges from the ministerie Or if they will needes vnder pretence of zeale and shewe of religion seeke to deuoure Christes patrimony then they doe vtterfly disclaime renounce them from being of their Disciples any loÌ„ger Then Zuickius assureth them that they are but hypocriticall christians Caluin compareth them be they the Magistrates of Geneua or of anie other countrie to cruel tyraunts and saith they are the Popes successors in theft and robberie Beza is resolute that God will be reuenged of such persons telleth theÌ„ they are new theeues that haue entred in place of the old theeues Viretus maketh them wors then friers monks resembleth them to white diuels Trauers saith in effect that they are christs mortall enemies and would crucifie him againe for his coate if they might laie their hands on him Cartwright calleth them cormorants and likeneth them to Iudas the Traitor certifying them that in spoiling of the Church they purchase to themselues a field of blood The whole comminaltie of England complaineth and crieth against theÌ„ that they hate Christ that they defraud God of his glorie that they are all the sort of them no better then Achan Nabuchadnezar Baltasar Ananias or Saphira that the punishment which did light vpon these church robbers shall light vppon them either in this life or in the world to come and that they are to be reckoned amongst those vniust persons that shall neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen So as this is the point which as I said I doe commit vnto the inward cogitations of all prophane Church-robbers vz. to thinke with themselues what God they serue and what Priests they are that teach them suche lewd doctrine or if none teach them so whether in taking so execrable a course of their own heads they condemne not themselues in their own consciences There is here no refuge for anie such persons that I knowe of or anie replie to be made against the premises Except they will saie that Barrowes God is their God that Greenwood is their Priest and that they are all of them deuoted to Greenwood and Barrow Greenwood is but a simple fellow Barrow is the man And will sacrilegious persons become Barrowists I easilie belieue it Like will to like When Barrow by roisting and gaming had wasted himselfe and was â—unne so far into manie a mans debt that he durst not shew his head abroad he bent his wits another waie to mischiefe and is now become a Iulianist deuising by all the meanes he can possiblie imagine his hypocrisie railing lying and all manner of falshood euen as Iulian the Apostata did how all the preferments which yet remaine for learning Benefices Tithes GlebelaÌ„d Cathedrall Churches Bishops liuings Colledges Vniuersities and all might be vtterlie spoiled and made a pray for Bancrouts Cormorants such like Atheists Well to conclude come the spoile of the church hereafter when for our sinnes it shall manie mischiefes and great confusion will follow it The Church-liuings will serue but a few mens turnes The particular parishes in England may whistle after their parts of that praie and so may our new maisterships Eldership There are examples in the world where al the Church-liuings are consumed by a few and the parishes stand burdened as they were before Mary if they should be then so ouerburdened with so manie new paimeÌ„ts as I spake of in the last chapter they would neuer be able to endure it And therfore it is verie high time that our zealous Disciplinarians should inueigh against Church-robbers and that the coÌ„mon people should likewise remember the points of Sacriledge and sacrilegious persons which they haue published to the world
not simply as he is the second person in Trinitie God aboue all but as he is the sonne of God manifested in the flesh Nay he goeth further and sayth that Christ hath all this authoritie not only as he is both God and man but that he hath it euen as he is man Cartvvright sayth that our sauiour Christ in the gouernment of kingdoms and common-vvealths and in the superioritie vvhich he hath ouer kings iudges hath no superior But if we shall beleeue the sayd motioner he is as directly contrarie vnto him in this assertion as he was in the former For sayth he our sauiour Christ as he is King of kings Lord of lords and the ruler and disposer of all kingdoms of the earth he hath receaued that authoritie of his father and so hath it 1. Cor. 15.24 If it shall be maruailed that the humble motioner peraduenture some swaine in respect of Cartvvright dare thus presume to incounter with such a Goliah especially hauing an whole armie no doubt that will and his vizgerent Trauers that dooth already assist him he may be easily satisfied in that Beza on the other side a man of farre greater account in Scotland than Cartvvright is in England hath promised and pawned his iudgement to backe the motioner in these points For hee is wholy of the motioners opinion Pater non nisi in persona filij manifestati in carne mundum regit God the Father sayth he doth not gouerne the vvorld but onely in the person of his sonne manifested in the flesh And agayne he alloweth of the Fathers where they hold that Proprie humanae naturae respectu dicitur datum esse filio potestatem coeli ac terrae vvhen it is sayd that povver is giuen to the sonne of heauen and earth it is spoken properly in respect of his humane nature receaued The world is gouerned only by Christ as he is manifested in the flesh therefore not onely as Cartvvright sayth as he is God The gouernment of the world is committed to the sonne of God as he is manifested in the flesh therfore contrary to Cartvvright he hath therein a superior Christ the sonne of God hath the gouernment of heauen and earth assigned vnto him properly in respect of his humane nature which he hath receaued and therefore not only as he is the sonne of God coequall with the Father as Cartvvright affirmeth So as whatsoeuer either Cartvvright Trauers or any of their followers shal enforce against the authoritie of christian princes in respect vz. that they with all the heathen gouernors do hold their scepters immediatly vnder christ as he is God only and not as he is their mediator it is all but as vntempered morter nothing fit for the purpose as other of their friends do iudge and as it seemeth by Beza in the place quoted might peraduēture if it were thorowly followed touch them neerer then they are aware of as men not fully persuaded of the most high and mighty prerogatiue of the person of Christ Iesus But let that go I am glad to heare that christian magistrats may haue somthing to do vnder Christ as he is their mediator And what if it may appeare that holding their gouernment vnder him as mediator they may haue some authoritie also vnder him as he is the head of the church I know that would come quite cam to Cartvvrights humor Neuerthelesse it is reason that men should be heard The humble motioner affirmeth that the Lord Iesus hath the regiment and povver ouer all principalities either in heauen or earth not simplie as hee is God but as he is Christ God and man and so the head of the church Let these places of scripture Ephesians 1. vers 20 21 22 23. and Colossians 1. vers 16 17 18 19 20. be effectually considered where there is speech of the great prerogatiue which Christ hath in the world as he is head of the church and they do wholy run that way In so much as Caluin writing vpon one of those epistles Ephes. 1. ver 23. sayth Nihil impedit quo minus de vniuersali gubernatione accipias There is no impediment vvby you may not vnderstand it of Christs vniuersall gouernment But more fitly to this purpose Beza where speaking of Christ as the head of the Church and of such officers as he hath appointed vnder him he accounteth the ciuile magistrat for one as before it hath bene noted But Snecanus is resolute and accounteth them aduersaries Anabaptists that shall denie it affirming that by rulers and gouernours Rom. 12. and 1. Cor. 12. where the Apostle speaketh of the body of Christ the ciuile magistrats are vnderstood as well as their Aldermen that they are to be reckoned inter officia ecclesiae nay inter dona ecclesiae Ephesi 4. though they be not there named and that it is therefore great rashnesse to exclude the ciuile authoritie out of the church Nisihanc simul tollere velint Except they meane to abolish it altogether Indeed I like this exception well and so I do also of his opinion For me thinketh that if kings and princes be ioint cōmissioners vnder Christ the head with their pastors doctors and aldermen assigned by the Apostle for the gouernment of the church they might be well content and reckon it no disparagement vnto the best of them that the prince their soueraigne should beare the chiefest and the greatest sway amongst them And all this maketh directly against Cartvvright euen as though men of purpose should haue studied to haue disgraced him which surely needeth not For if his own writings were narrowly looked into there is sufficient in thē to discipher him in his colours I meruaile what he meaneth when he writeth that a king was necessarie for the Israelits to shadow out to them the kingdome of Christ. Would he leaue his scholers at libertie to reason as the Apostle doth whē they should see their time Christ is now come in the flesh being our high priest hath performed the worke of our saluation therfore the priesthood of Aaron being but a shadow of Christs priesthood ought now to cease And euen so they when they list The kingdome of Christ is now come vnto vs therefore the hauing of a king being but a shadow of Christs kingdome ought now to cease Surely this commeth neare to Snecanus cōiecture vz. Nisihāc simul tollere velint But to omit surmises many such thinges els which I maruel at in him you shall find him so violent in this cause as rather then he will graunt that Christian magistrats may bee subordinate heads or cheefe gouernours in church affaires vnder Christ their sauiour within their own dominions he can be cōtent to reason as if he were a notorious S winkfeldian and meant to abolish all the ministers of the word as needlesse instruments vnder Christ for the building feeding and comforting of his church For thus he argueth
no longer this wonderfull thing that Trauerse speaketh off is this vz. that as it seemeth some of the said Churches so highly by him commended haue by vertue of their discipline excommunicated alreadie some great princes or Kinges If he had not himselfe published this matter in print and propounded the same as a president for the honour of his discipline I would not haue presumed yee maie be sure to haue touched it Neyther yet will I further meddle with it then onely to set downe his wordes After a long discourse how where there discipline is on foote there is nothing in effect amisse no priuate administration of the sacraments no baptizing or reading of seruice by Deacons no commutation of pennaunce no respect of persons he saith thus Memorable is that rare but right christian example of Theodosius the Emperor publicklye humbling himselfe vnder the hande of God and professing his repentance for his bloodye commaundement and the cruell execution done accordinge to it A president well worthy so christian a prince the honour of the Discipline yea and of the whole church of that age Such Theodosians haue the reformed churches of this age to speake off to the high honor of almighty God and his onlye begotten sonne Christ Iesus king of kinges Wherein a Prince of bloode royall and by birth within a step or two to one of the greatest Kingdomes of these partes of the worlde and for princely giftes worthy to haue borne a Scepter in his hande and a Diademe vpon his heade when as another Dauid hee hadde been ouerthrowen by Sathan and committed things for which the name of God was euill spoken off endured to heare the seruant of God as Dauid did Nathan to rebuke him lamenting his offence openly before the publicke assembly of the Church desired pardon of God and reioyced heauen and earth men and Angels with his conuersion from sinne to the obedience of the liuing God blessed for euer Amen Whose christian president both a crowned King and also a worthie sonne of that noble Father haue followed after that by terror of as barbarous crueltie as hath beene commited in any age they had done otherwise then Daniell and the yonge princes brought vp with him did in a case not vnlike to theyrs c. Hitherto Trauers And what this importeth iudge you I will aunswere no questions who these Theodosians are As princes like it let them allow it And thus of the commendation of this gouernment which if it were true indeed and that it had by any lawfull title so Regall an authority as here you see is pretended who would not almost fall downe and worshippe it But you must belieue them with discretion Men that thinke they know this platforme as well as the best of those that haue extolled it do carrie a farre differing opinion of it And therefore they haue been bold to write of it as followeth It is a sillye Presbytery or Eldership A sequestred withdrawen Presbyterye A sweeping new reformation A presumptuous irregular Consistory which hath no grounde in the worde of God A second beast Let them consider how far the â—auinge of such a Consistorie and Pastor in one Congregation differeth from that Apostolicall sea of Rome and that holy father that sitteth therein Of this Consistorie through the whole testament they can shew no warraunt They make themselues transgressors of the worshippe of God disturbers violaters of that holy order which Christ hath established in his Church These deceitfull workemen not onelye builde theyr owne timber and stubble deuises but most highly prophane that heauenly frame and gratious gouernement of Christ. In their leauened and corrupt writings of discipline and theyr supplications vnto the Parliament are declared theyr pernitious forgeries and sacrilegious prophanation of Gods holy ordinance They fetch their reformation from the primatiue defection That counterfeyt reformation which these counterfeit preachers pretende is as euill as that which is alreadie Both these factions pontificall and reformists woulde assume the whole gouernment of the Church into theyr owne handes How can o these forgers these coyners of religion seeme sue to cast out the heape of humane traditions as contrary and such as cannot bee ioyned vnto or with the testament of Christ and yet bring in these forgeries of theyr owne Is it likely or possible that our Sauiour Christ woulde fetch his patterne for the Elders of his Church and the executing of these high iudgements from that corrupt degenerate Synedrion of the Iewes which by the institutioÌ„ of God was merely ciuile and not ordayned for causes ecclesiasticall as appeareth Exod. 18. Num. 11. Deut. 1 The priestes bearing the charge and hauing the deciding of all ecclesiasticall causes Num. 18. Deut. 17. But this Councell of theyrs was now mixed of the Elders of the people and the Priestes and handled all causes both ciuile and Ecclesiasticall indifferently Mat. 26.3 Act. 4.5 If by the light of Gods word you examine and measure the secret Classis the ordinary sette Synods and Councels of ministers as they tearme themselues which these reformists now priuilie bring in and would openly set vp they shall no doubt be found as new strange antichristiaÌ„ as preiudicial to the libertie of the Saincts and to the power right and duties of the whole Church and as contrary to the gospell of our Lord Iesus Christ as the gouernement by Bishops c. what shew so euer of former antiquitie or of present necessitie they may pretend It is a new r adulterate forged gouernement in shew or rather in dispight of Christs blessed gouernment which they in pride rashnes ignoraunce and sensualytye of theyr fleshly hartes most miserablye innouate corrupt and peruert Theyr most exquisite plots of gouernment which they can deuise vnto theÌ„selues are but the instruments of foolish shepeheards to theyr owne perdition and of as many as are gouerned by them There is great difference we may perceiue hereby betweene the opinions of these two sorts of men concerning this presbyteriall forme of the new pretended discipline If any that are possessed with the former mens conceites shall lightly esteeme what this second sort of fellowes doe hold or thinke of their platforme he is to be put in mind that they are not so lightly to be regarded Diuerse ministers well reckoned of heretofore for their learning are lately fallen from Cartwright and his secte into another more new frenzy of Barrowisme In a letter that was taken not long since I find some points to this effect The preachers of Midleborow and Flushing haue both giuen ouer their vnlawfull callings M. Iohnson hath written a most learned discourse concerning the striking of a newe couenaunt with some conferences had in that country It is also reported and I am perswaded by that which I haue seene that the report is true vz. that maister Penry is entered in like manner into this
new kind of couenant A matter that would seeme very strange vnto me but that I know the nature of schismatickes to bee of such giddinesse as that no one thinge will content them longe What stirres hath hee kept in England first with his two supplications vnto the high court of Parlaiment his humble petition vnto her Maiestie his exhortation vnto the gouernours and people of Wales his Theses and libells which came out vnder the name of Martin and his children wherein hee with his companion a certaine gentleman were if not authors yet especiall dealers and then with his treatises out of Scotland That reformation hee meaneth the setting vppe of Cartwrightes Eldershippes is no ennemie to our state his humble motion if not made by him yet procured by him to bee printed His discouery against D.B. and with diuerse other pamphlets and most rayling discourses In all which bookes hee hath shewed such earnestnesse in the behalfe principally of Cartwrights discipline that hee hath offered to pawn his life many times for the iustification of it Which course of his by reason of his merueilous vehemency wrought very greatly as all menne knowe with certaine rashe and vnstaied persons who haue bene since so farre ouercaried with an opinion of the argumentes there vsed as it hath beene giuen out many times by them that they coulde neuer bee aunswered And yet now if he bee one of Barrowes church notwithstanding all his former writings and arguments you haue heard his opinion out of his brethrens mouthes both of Cartwrights presbyteries and of all those likewise that doe maintaine them Some will saie peraduenture that for Penry they neuer made anye reckoning of him And it is well But what if one of their Patriarckes beginne to wauer How if maister Trauerse bee inclined that way For mine owne part I doe not thinke him so simple a man But yet you shall heare what goeth abroad amongest that brainesicke generation as it is set downe in the letter before mentioned There is good hope saith the writer of it to one of his frends of one Maister Trauerse about London as I thinke but howe farre hee is come or whereat hee stayes I cannot at this time certifie you But howsoeuer hee standeth affected you may assure your selues that this latter schisme groweth on very fast In somuch that as Cartwright and his brethren beganne eight or nine yeares since to set vppe and put in practise theyr Geneuian discipline so doe these newe vpstartes beginne to erecte in diuerse places theyr Barrowish Synagogues and I knowe not what cages of franticke schismatickes One Collins a man amongest them not vnlearned as it seemeth doeth write in this sorte hereof Ecclesia potenti eius dextra adiuta c. The church assisted with the mightie right hande of God hath chosen ministers Maister Iohnson for her pastor Maister Greenwood for her Doctor Maister Studly and Maister George Knife for her Elders Nicholas Lee and Christopher Browne for her Deacons The other assembly also wherevnto are added Iohn Nicholas Thomas Michell Iohn Barnes and some others with mee with Gods assistaunce will beginne out of hand to create vnto it selfe ministers And thus they goe on forward headlong god knowes whether I am perswaded that if there be not good order taken in this behalf there wil some mischief grow of it The number of them doth encrease daily more more And for the repressing of them it will not be sufficient in mine opinion to vse the ordinarie course by the ecclesiasticall censures or cōmission For they are entered into a league amongest themselues of all manner of secrecy for the not detecting one of another in any of their proceedinges when by great chaunce some two or three are met with all If you finde any writinges amongest them you may thereby learne some thinge peraduenture otherwise they will confesse nothinge And offer them an oathe not to accuse themselues but to purge themselues and as witnesses to signifie their knowledge in those pointes they are to bee examined off as touching other mens factes they haue gotten the Iesuites doctrine as you may see it in their annotations vppon the Rhemish Testament and amplifyed lately by Cartwright and his crue that they may neyther accuse themselues nor their brethren for doynge of those thinges which they allow off themselues If their nomber should increase so as they mighte bee able to doe and set vp what they list according to one of their grounds vz. without any longer stayinge for the Magistrate and so shoulde breake forth into open rebellion they might by no meanes be examined vpon their oathes because they will say they haue done nothing but what they were bound to doe and that therefore they might detect no man wherby to bring him within the compasse of any law for doing his duety But I will not enter into this matter the cause I mentioned it is the increasing of this schisme and their league of fidelitie one to an other I sayd the number of them would daily bee augmented and you shall haue my reasons why I thinke so They are verily perswaded that they holde almost nothing but what Cartwright and his schollers haue taught them One of them hath taken vppon him to prooue the chiefest of their newe assertions by their more auncient propositions I like well saith Greenewood in a letter intercepted of the arguments you haue drawen against them from their own groundes Againe Surely it were a notable worke and no doubt might doe much good in these times for some one that God hath indued with sound iudgement and sharpe sight to gather the maiors or antecedents of all those scattered pamphlets of Penries or Martins c. and put newe minors or conclusions vnto them and so in one little nosegay but as bigg as an almanack to turne them vpon them-selues and present them vnto them for an answere There are two especiall points for the which we dislike them their departing from our churches the framinge to them-selues of a Church of their owne And for both these points heare what they may say and what indeede in effect they doe say and consider withall of these thinges which here I will set downe as sufficient matter for a minor that Barrowe may worke vppon Thus our holy consistorians haue written vz. That the gouernement of our Church is by the popishe Hierarchy so is both Antichristian and diuelishe that it is accursed and that none but traitors to God doe defend it that our religion is patched with the popes wherby we ioine fire and water heauen and hell together that we want a right ministerie that in the order of our seruice there is nothing but confusion that we eate not the Lordes supper but play a pageant of our own to make the silly soules beleeue they haue an Englishe masse that so we put no difference betwixt truth and falshood betwixt Christ and Antichrist