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A20770 A treatise of the true nature and definition of justifying faith together with a defence of the same, against the answere of N. Baxter. By Iohn Downe B. in Divinity, and sometime fellow of Emanuel C. in Cambridge.; Selections Downe, John, 1570?-1631.; Baxter, Nathaniel, fl. 1606.; Bayly, Mr., fl. 1635.; Muret, Marc-Antoine, 1526-1585. Institutio puerilis. English. 1635 (1635) STC 7153; ESTC S109816 240,136 421

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your platforme and I am sure all orthodoxall Churches haue euer beene gouerned by the same officers that ours is Whence it followeth that if for want of such a Politie and such Officers as you dreame of we haue in England no true Church neither hath there beene for certaine hundred of yeares aboue a thousand any true Church through the whole world Which how it can agree with the word of God affirming that of his kingdome there shall be none end I cannot conceiue For by your reckoning the kingdome of Christ ceased soone after the departure of the Apostles and suffered an interruption of about fourteen hundred yeares vntill Browne and Barrow began to play the Schismatickes The second Proposition I acknowledge also to be true but withall denie that we haue set ouer our selues any Antichristian or forraigne Officers For as we haue aboue both sayd and shewed Archbishops Bishops Priests are of diuine institution and now I further adde that they were first bred in the kingdome of Christ and not taken from any other kingdome your assertion to the contrary without due proofe argues that you build to your selfe castles in the aire and haue no ground for your presumption Your fift argument followeth 5. Because the Church being Christs spouse kingdome and body must haue his Ministrie set and kept in it and no other And if no man can make a finger or the least member of a naturall humane body or adde any other limme thereto without deformity then God hath created and can much lesse giue life to any such counterfait member of his owne making how is it possible that he can set vp another Ministrie 1. Cor. 12.12.20 27.28 The argument is thus to bee formed The Ministrie of Christ and no other is to be set ouer and kept in the Church The Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not Christs Ergo it is not to be set ouer nor kept in the Church The Maior I grant confessing that no office may bee allowed in the Church but that which is from Christ eyther immediately or mediatly that is from those vnto whose wisdome and discretion hee hath delegated some part of his authority to order many things in the Church For as the Church may not alter that Ministry which Christ hath setled to continue for euer so may shee by vertue of her delegate authority ordaine such offices as are not forbidden and tend to edification And being so ordeined they are though not immediatly yet mediately from Christ Neither yet doth the Church so doing presume to make as you say either a finger or any other member or limme that is essentiall vnto the body much lesse to giue life thereunto but onely to prouide a gloue as it were for the finger or a sute of apparell for the body the better to preserue it in life The Minor that the Ministrie of Archbishops Bishops and Priests is not of Christ I deny affirming the cleane contrary that they are those Pastors and Angels authorized and allowed by Christ in his word It is the greatest vanity and idlenesse that can bee in disputing onely with boldnesse to affirme that which is denied and neuer to endeauour the proofe thereof which yet is your solemne fault almost in euery argument Your sixt reason 6 Because Christians are the Temples of the Holy Ghost 1. Cor. 3.16.17 2. Cor. 6.16 2. Thes 2.4 Col. 2.18 Act. 20.17.28 and their consciences wrought vpon by Ministrie in the Church and therefore may not be defiled by the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops c. whom the Holy Ghost neuer made Ouerseers The argument in forme stands thus Those offices that defile the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church But the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests defiles the Temples of the Holy Ghost and consciences of men Ergo the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests may not bee set ouer nor retained in the Church The Maior wee readily yeeld you but how proue you the Minor that these Officers defile the Conscience Forsooth because the Holy Ghost hath not made them Ouerseers And how proue you this againe Because the Pastors of Ephesus were made such Ouerseers An Herculean argument I promise you For what letteth but that hee that made the Pastors of Ephesus Ouerseers hath made the Pastors of England Ouerseers also Alas alas that vpon such friuolous and toying reasons so dangerous and offensiue Schismes should be made And take heed how you quench or grieue the Spirit of God who if you haue in you any measure of knowledge or sparke of grace hath wrought it in you by our Ministrie For preaching which is the ordinary meanes to beget faith I suppose you haue not had elsewhere and it is no lesse then blasphemie to call the working of Gods Spirit by his Holy Word vpon the soules of men the defiling of the Conscience The seuenth argument 7 Because Christ alone is the Head of the Church in whom all fulnesse of power dwelleth Eph. 1.22.23.4.11.16 Col. 1.18.19.2.8.9.10.18.19.1 Cor. 12.4.5.6.12.27.28 1. Tim. 3. 5.8.6.13.14 Rev. 11.13.18.8.14.8.17 18. 19. and from whom alone the Church receiueth her life and power so as none may bee subiect to any power or head in Religion saue onely to him And therefore no Ministers or Officers in the Church are to bee set vp or retained who deriue not their power and functions from Christ which the former doe not and therefore they are not c. but to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority and making their hearers and submitters to them guilty of high treason against our Lord Christ Iesus It is true there is but one Head of the Church from whom shee receiueth life and Power yet are there also vnder Christ gouernors in the Church who by vertue of that power which they haue receiued from him may ordaine many things touching the well gouernment thereof and to submit our selues thereunto is not to bee subiect to another power or head but to the ordinance of Christ himselfe But it is false that Bishops deriue not their power and function from Christ as we haue already manifestly proued If you haue any thing to the contrary I hope wee shall heare of it another time for hitherto you haue onely said but shewed nothing As for those words that Bishops are to bee abandoned as enemies of Christs soueraigne authority c. they sauour more of passion then reason and deserue rather to bee pitied then answered The eigth argument 1. Cor. 18.27.28 Eph. 4.11.12.13 8 Because God onely must haue this preeminence to dispose the members euery one of them in the body of the Church at his owne pleasure so as either it must bee shewed that God hath placed the Hierarchie of Arch-bishops Bishops Priests or they are not to bee set vp or retained or approued We haue satisfyed you in this already if happily you will bee
authority of Basil surnamed the Great Blessed Athanasius Methodius and their followers for it If any shall say it was the opinion onely of Iohn B. of Thessalonica and not of the whole Councell I answer that what Iohn said Tharasius Patriarch of Constantinople forthwith confirmed and the whole Synod immediatly answered So it is my Lord. And this is so cleere that Bartholmew Carranza notes it as an errour in them Epit. Conc. ad cum loc Ep. 215. De Eccl. dog c. 11. 12. and contrary vnto the Lateran Councell yet addes withall that Saint Augustin was of the same mind But leauing other their errors I come without further delay to discharge that obligation wherein I stand bound to proue that the Fathers for a time generally held it necessary for all euen young Infants to bee partakers of the Eucharist Conc. Trid. Sess 5. can 4. or they could not bee saued which you know the Church of Rome alloweth not but condemneth as an error Eccl. hier c. 2. p. 3. First your Denys hee that goeth vnder the name of Areopagita after hee hath recited other ceremonies in the administration of Baptisme at length saith hee the Priest cals the partie Baptized to the most holy Eucharist and giues the Communion vnto him And lest you should vnderstand this of them that are baptized being Adulti Id. 7. c. 3. elsewhere he speaketh more plainely thus That children who cannot yet vnderstand diuine things should bee made partakers of holy Baptisme and of the mysticall signes of the most holy Communion may perhaps seeme ridiculous to profane men De lapsis if the Auditors when Bishops teach such Heauenly things bee not fit Saint Cyprian reports a story of a certaine Infant mayde who had not yet age enough to tell what wrong another had done her how when the Deacon had offered the holy chalice vnto her and shee refused hee powred it into her mouth Ibid. And a little after Will not those Infants saith hee when the day of iudgement shall come say wee haue done nothing neither forsaking the meat and cup of the Lord haue wee of our owne accord hastned to these profane contagions the perfidiousnesse of others hath ouerthrowne vs our Parents are our murtherers Innocent the first B. of Rome Ep. ad Patr. conc Milou That which your Brotherhood saith hee affirmeth them to preach namely that little ones may obtaine the reward of eternall life without the grace of Baptisme is very foolish for vnlesse they eat the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood they cannot haue life in them Con. Iul. Pel. l. 1. c. 2. Of this Innocentius S. Augustin saith how hee defined that little ones vnlesse they did eat the flesh of the Sonne of man they could by no meanes haue life in them Now I beseech you durst any man at that time hold otherwise then the head of the Church for so you count the Pope to bee had defined But let vs heare Saint Augustin himselfe Verily Con. duas Ep. Pel. l. 1. c. 22. saith he Christ is the Sauiour of little ones also and vnlesse they bee redeemed by him they must perish because without his flesh and blood they cannot haue life And againe Wherefore they also as I haue said Ad vital Ep. 107. if they die in that tender age shall certainly bee iudged according to the things they haue done by the Body namely during that time while they liued in the body when by the heart and mouth of them that bare them they belieued or not belieued when they were baptized or not baptized when they ate the flesh of Christ or not ate it when also they dranke his bloud or not dranke it according to these things I say which they haue done by the body not those which they would haue done had they liued longer here shall they bee iudged And yet againe De pec mer. remiss l. 1. c. 20. Away therefore now with doubting Let vs heare the Lord and not the suspicions and coniectures of men let vs I say heare the Lord speaking this not of the Sacrament of Baptisme but of the Sacrament of his holy Table to which none lawfully approcheth but hee that is Baptized Vnlesse you eat my Flesh and drinke my Blood you shall haue no life in you What seeke wee further What will they bee able to answer hereunto vnlesse obstinacy doe stretch their striuing sinewes against the constancy of euident truth Will any dare to say this also that this saying belongs not vnto little ones or that they may haue life in them without the participation of this Body and Blood because hee saith not hee that eateth not as of Baptisme hee that is not borne againe but thus If yee eat not as speaking to them who were able to heare and vnderstand which certainly little ones cannot But hee that saith so marketh not that vnlesse this saying hold all that they cannot haue life without the Body and Blood of the Sonne of Man euen the elder age also will make little reckoning of it And yet once more againe Ib. c. 24. The Carthaginian Christians excellently call Baptisme no other then Saluation and the Sacrament of the Body of Christ no other then Life Whence but from an ancient and as J thinke Apostolicall tradition by which the Churches of Christ hold as ingrafied into them that without Baptisme and the participation of the Lords Table no man can come not onely to the Kingdome of God but neither to saluation nor life eternall And this being thus proued by and by he concludes If therefore as so many and so pregnant diuine testimonies witnesse with ioint consent no man may hope either for saluation or eternall life without Baptisme and the Body and Blood of the Lord in vaine doe they promise it to little ones without them Thus Augustin where by the way obserue how hee affirmeth this his opinion to bee the Tenet of all the Churches of Christ To whom I adde lastly the eleuenth Councell of Toledo Can. 11. If any faithfull man being constrained by any ineuitable infirmity shall cast vp the Eucharist which hee hath receiued let him in no case bee subiect to Ecclesiasticall condemnation Likewise let not the censure of any condemne them who either in the time of their infancy shall doe the same or in the alienation of their mind seeming to bee ignorant of what they doe In Ioh. 6.53 In Tertull. de cor mill This error touching the necessity of the Eucharist to Infants continued in the Church a long time euen about sixe hundred yeeres as your Maldonat saith And Beatus Rhenanus obserueth out of the Rituall books called Agendae that the custome of ministring the Communion to Infants was still in vse vnto the times of Ludouicus Pius and Lotharius that is towards nine hundred yeeres after Christ Against all this I know not what can be said vnlesse perhaps that
Againe may not I with as good reason as you argue thus The state and Kingdome of Antichrist cannot be compleate without the authority of Ciuill Magistrates Ergo Ciuill Magistrates are Antichristian If this kinde of reasoning bee not good neither is yours for they are both of one mould Lastly Antichristianity being a Mysterie and not an Heathnish or Turkish opposition vnto Christ it cannot be compleate except it retaine many of Christs ordinances which therefore I trust you will not say to bee Antichristian A lie cannot subsist but vpon truth nor euill but in good nor Antichrists hypocrisie but vpon the Religion and discipline of Christ And thus haue I fully answered your first argument whereon I haue been the longer because it is the Basis and ground as it were of all the rest and the answer thereunto will in a manner serue them all or the most part of them Your second argument is this 2 Because it cannot be approued by the testament of Christ as the Ministrie had in his Church may and ought to bee * Eph. 4.11.12 1. Cor. 12.4.5.6.28.29 Ro. 12.7.8 1. Tim. 3. 5.3.9.17 6.13.14 And if such as could not proue by their genealogie that they were of Aaron were deposed from their Ministrie under Moses Law * Ezr. 2.62.63 Heb. 3.2.3 2.1.2.3 12.25 much more should such bee now deposed as haue not their offices warranted by Christs Testament If wee reduce your argument into forme it is this That Ministrie which cannot bee approued by the Testament of Christ is not to bee allowed in the Church But the Ministrie of the Church of England cannot bee approued by the Testament of Christ Ergo it is not to bee allowed in the Church The Minor which you might be sure we would deny you haue left naked to the wide world without proofe the Maior which you saw wee could not well deny you endeauour to fortifie with a double reason Let it be supposed then that it is denied how proue you it First The Ministerie had in the Church may and ought to bee so approued How doth this appeare By the places quoted in the margent Nothing lesse They approue indeed certaine officers in the Church but affirme not that euery officer ought to bee so approued Secondly if say you such as could not deriue their genealogy from Aaron were deposed much more are they to be deposed who cannot warrant their offices by Christs Testament A poore argument God wot For in the law there was an expresse commandment that none might execute the Priests office but hee that was of the linage of Aaron but that no office might bee admitted nor retained in the Church vnlesse it were so commanded I find no where in Scripture Wherefore to argue thus Nothing that is against Gods Word may bee allowed Ergo nor any thing that is not commanded is a plaine Non sequitur and it followes not Thus you see if a man were so disposed how easie it is to quarell with your Maior which yet simply I deny not Briefly therefore to cleare all I distinguish of these tearmes Approued and Warranted by the Word A thing may bee said to bee warranted or approued by the Word two wayes both when it is commanded and when it is not forbidden for things neither commanded nor forbidden are indifferent and subiect vnto the Churches power Hereupon thus I answer if you meane it in the former sence only then proue your Maior that what is not by commandment approued is vnlawfull if in the latter then I grant you the Maior that whatsoeuer is forbidden is vnlawfull But withall I deny the Minor that Archbishops Bishops Priests are forbidden requiring you to proue it which I know you can neuer doe For as touching so much of their dutie as is common to them all to wit the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments they are all Pastors and Teachers and so warranted in the Texts by you quoted but in regard of preeminence and superiority one aboue another Bishops are no other then were the Angels of the seuen Churches as wee haue aboue demonstrated Howsoeuer if Bishops bee not commanded yet are they not forbidden and their office making not against edification but for it rather it cannot being ordained by the Church but be lawfull Your third argument 3 Because the Church is the Spouse Kingdome and Body of Christ and therefore may not haue Antichrists Hierarchie and ministrie set ouer it or retained in it For what concord hath Christ with Beliall Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie may not beset ouer the Church nor retained in it Archbishops Bishops Priests are Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie Ergo Archbishops Bishops Priests may not bee set ouer the Church nor retained in it The Maior of this Syllogisme you are very carefull to maintaine because the Church is the Spouse the Kingdome the Body of Christ as also because there can bee no concord betwixt Christ and Belial But to what end all this and with such a stirre to proue that which no man gainsayes for wee confesse Christs Kingdome may not be gouerned by Antichrists policie You should rather haue laboured to strengthen the Minor that Archbishops Bishops and Priests are Antichrists Hierarchie and Ministrie for you might be well assured wee would neuer yeeld you that vnlesse by strength of reason you constrained vs. Here therefore against the rule of Logicke againe you beg the principall matter in question taking for granted that those offices are meerely Antichristian But you must proue it and not looke that whatsoeuer you fancie to be true others vpon your bare word must presently belieue and take to bee true See the answer to the first argument I proceed to the fourth 4 If when a King substituteth Iudges Iustices c. no subiects may either refuse to bee gouerned by these or set ouer themselues officers of other Kingdomes as the Roman tribunes c. how can it be lawfull for any Christians c. It is an old saying that Symbolical diuinitie is no argumēt of proofe and that Similitudes serue rather to illustrate and cleare a mans meaning then to proue and conuince the vnderstanding In regard whereof if I had so pleased I might well haue sleighted this fourth reason and not haue vouchsafed it any answere at all For what is it other then a bare and naked Similitude neuertheles for further satisfaction let vs trie the strength thereof Two things you auouch first that Christians may not refuse to bee gouerned by those officers which Christ hath set ouer them secondly that Christians may not set ouer themselues officers of Antichrists kingdome The former I confesse is true but nothing to the purpose For we reiect not the officers ordained by Christ nor refuse to be gouerned by them If we doe so haue all Churches also done downe from S. Iohns time vnto this present age within which compasse you cānot name any one Church at any time moulded after
satisfied For wee haue shewed first that the Ministrie of Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests is of diuine and Apostolicall institution and secondly if the superiority of Bishops bee not immediatly from God yet being not forbidden and tending to edification the Church vnder God hath power to ordaine them Hereunto wee expect your answer The ninth argument Mat. 22.25.26 Ep. 4.8.11.12 Ps 68.18 Ro. 14.23 Heb. 11.16 9 Because none can of Faith ioyne vnto the Hierarchie aforesaid because they are not warranted by the Word being not from Heauen but from the earth The Ministrie aforesaid is warranted by Gods Word as wee haue oftentimes said and so is from Heauen not from earth and therefore you may of Faith ioyne vnto it Had it not been a plant of Gods owne setting doubtlesse it would haue beene rooted out of the Church long since and not haue continued fifteen hundred yeeres together The tenth argument 10 Because none can submit vnto or haue spirituall communion with the Hierarchie and Ministrie aforesaid Rev. 14.9.10.11 but hee shall worship the Beast and his image spoken of in the Reuelation and receiue his marke in his forehead or hand and so make himselfe subiect to the wrath of God This argument though differing in words yet in sence and meaning is all one with the first For how can it bee conceiued that they who submit themselues vnto our Ministrie worship as you say the Beast and his Image vnlesse it be for that it is Antichristian For auoiding of Tautologie therefore I referre you vnto the answer of that argument where I plainely demonstrate that it is Christian not Antichristian so that in communicating with it there can bee no danger either of worshipping the Beasts-image or receiuing his marke or incurring the wrath of God But whereas you talke of worshipping the Beast you much mistake the matter For by the Beast is vnderstood not Antichrist but the Roman Empire whereof the State of Antichrist is the image Neither can you shew Rev. 18.4.5.6 2. Cor. 16.17.18 Ioh. 10.5 Num. 16.1.26.40.18.4.5 Ezeh 44.7.18.4.5 Mat. 15.13 Es 11.4 13. 14. Ier. 15. 50. 51.2 Thes 2.3.4.8 Rev. 14.6.7.8 17. 18. 19. if our Ministrie were Antichristian how by retaining it wee should worship the Roman Empire The eleuenth argument 11 Because all are straitly bound and charged by the Lord to depart from and witnesse against the aforesaid Prelacy and Priest-hood being a strange Ministrie and such as is opposed against and exalted aboue the holy ordinance and Ministrie of Christ and shall be abolished by him appearing in the light and power of the Gospell Our Ministrie neither is a strange Ministrie nor opposed or exalted aboue Christs Ministrie but Christs owne Ministrie as now once againe I tell you and therefore no man is charged either to depart from it or to witnesse against it But you are a strange disputer who so peremptorily affirme that which hath euer beene denied and neuer goe about to proue it As for that you say our Ministrie shall bee abolished by Christ appearing in the light and power of the Gospell it bewrayes what you desire should bee but is no certaine Oracle of what indeed shall be Sure I am our Ministrie hath subsisted this fifteen hundred yeeres and the light and power of the Gospell hitherto hath not abolished it but it hath still published and propagated the Gospell Happily when the Church shall cease to be militant and Christ shall deliuer vp the Kingdome to his Father that God may be all in all this ministrie shall haue an end But till then Credat Iudaeus Apella Non ego let Brownists and Barowists belieue it not I. Your obstinate begging of the principall matter in question conuinceth you to bee but a bad disputant and this rash and vnaduised prediction now dubbeth you for a false Prophet also The last argument 2. King 23.5 Ps 101. Pro. 16.10.11.12.25.2 5 Rev. 17.16 Deu. 17.18.19.20 Ro. 12.7.8 Eph. 4.11.12.13 1. Tim. 3. 5.9.17.6.13.14 12 Because it is the dutie and in the power of Princes to suppresse and root out of their dominions all false Ministries and therefore these as well ●s Abbots Friers Nuns Cardinals c. Whereas it is not in their power or of any vnder Heauen to abolish the offices giuen by Christ to his Church Here againe you take for granted that our Ministrie is but a false Ministrie and that Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests are no lesse Antichristian then Abbots Friers Nuns Cardinals which is euer denied but neuer confirmed by you Vaine man proue our Ministrie to bee false and wee will grant it is to be rooted out otherwise outfacing and desperate asseueration will not serue the turne And thus haue I briefly examined all your twelue reasons whereby you goe about to proue the Minor of your principall Syllogisme namely that our Church-officers Arch-bishops Bishops and Priests are not to be set ouer nor retained in the Church Whereupon I inferre seeing your Maior is barely affirmed being vntrue and your Minor so weakly and insufficiently proued you haue not as yet soundly concluded the lawfulnesse and necessity of your separation Let vs proceed to the second ground which you cōceiue in these words A true visible Church is a company of people called and separated from the world by the Word of God Act. 2.39.19.9 Ro. 1.6.7.10.14.15.16 Iob. 17.14.20 Ezek. 36.38 Phil. 1.5 Act. 2.41 42.47.11.21.24.13.4.34 Ro. 12.5 2. Cor. 9.13 Ps 110.13 Es. 14.1.44.5.60.8 Zach. 4.6.8.21.22.23 and ioyned together by voluntary profession of the Faith of Christ in the Fellowship of the Gospell Out of which if I mistake not you would conclude the iustnes of your separation thus Where there is not a company of people called and separated from the world and ioyned together as aboue there is not a true visible Church and consequently Separation ought to be made from it But in England there is not a company of people so called and separated from the world and so ioined together Ergo in England there is not a true visible Church and consequently separation ought to bee made from it I distinguish of the middle tearme Called for there is a double calling the one is Gratiae oblatae where by God onely inuites men vnto Christ and offers them Grace the other Gratiae inditae infusae whereby hee not only offers but infuseth grace also into them The former Calling maketh not a man of the Church for hee that is no otherwise called answereth not by Faith nor commeth vnto Christ but remaineth still in infidelity and so is vtterly excluded out of the Church Of the latter Calling I distinguish againe for it is either that whereby hee bestoweth vpon man Faith of Doctrine or that whereby ouer and aboue hee giues them Iustification together with true Sanctification Faith of Doctrine is either a Partiall or an Entire Faith a Partiall Faith whereby part onely of the Christian verity is held or an
Entire Faith by which the whole sauing truth is belieued and professed And this againe either in Vnity or in Schisme in Vnity with other Churches of God or in Schisme with Separation from them Now all these and eueryone of them are of the Christian Church for they are neither Gentiles nor Iewes nor Turks being by the calling of grace brought to the profession of the Christian Religion But yet among them there is exceeding great difference for they that hold the entire truth of Christ are of that Christian Church which is called Oxthodoxall they that hold it in part onely are of that Christian Church which is Hereticall They that entirely hold the truth in Vnity with other Churches of God are of that Christian Orthodoxall Church which is Catholicke they that hold the same whole truth in Separation from them are of that Christian Orthodoxall Church which is Schismaticall And such is the Church of Brownists to which you haue adioyned your selfe But they who hold the whole truth of Christ not onely in Vnity but also in Sincerity being truly iustified by Faith and Sanctified in the lauour of Regeneration they I say are of that Christian Orthodoxall Catholicke Church which is Inuisible and knowne only vnto God For although both the persons and profession of those that are thus called be visible and may by outward sense bee discerned whereby in the eye of Charity they are to bee counted Gods elect people yet the inward truth and sincerity of the heart is to vs inuisible and seene of none but onely him who trieth the heart and raines and so alone knoweth who are his These distinctions thus promised I come at length to answer your Syllogisme and demand of you which of these Callings it is that you meane If the last whereby wee haue receiued entirely to belieue the whole truth of Christ and that not onely in Vnity but also in Sincerity and with a sanctified heart then I deny the Maior for it is not the Visible but the Inuisible Church alone that cōsists of such members Neither can such a Visible Church bee found vpon the face of the earth for here corne and cockle chaffe and wheat Saints and hypochrits are mingled together neither can you affirme other of that Church whereunto now you associate your selfe If you meane any other of the Callings aboue mentioned or all of them besides this last then I deny your Minor For here in England wee are a company of people to whom not onely grace hath beene offered but who also haue receiued grace to belieue the truth of Christ and therefore are not Infidels but of the Church of Christ Againe we haue receiued to belieue the whole truth and therefore are an Oxthodoxall not an Hereticall Church Lastly wee hold the whole truth of God in Unity with other Churches and amongst vs there are thousands also who professe the same with sincere and sanctified hearts and therefore wee are not a Schismaticall as you are but a true Catholicke Church This Minor thus denied you goe not about to strengthen with so much as one argument and yet hither should you haue bent all your forces About the Maior you bestow a little more paines endeuouring to fortify it with sixe reasons which although they bee to little purpose yet to giue you the more satisfaction let vs briefly examine them And first that which is in order first 1. Cor. 12.27 Exod. 19.5.6 1. Cor. 14.33 1. Tim. 3.15 Mat. 13.24.31 Psal 46.4.5.80.1 1. Pet. 2.5.9 Rev. 1.11.12.13.20 1. Because a true visible Church is the body of Christ a Kingdome of Priests a Church of Saints the houshold of God the Kingdome of heauen the Citie of God the sheep of the Lord a chosen generation a golden Candlestick c. These titles properly belong vnto the inuisible Church consisting of those who are effectually called by sauing grace And when they are said affirmed of any visible Church you must vnderstand that the denomination is in regard of the better part thereof namely those Saints who haue receiued the spirit of adoption the earnest penny of their euerlasting inheritance not that no euill men are mixed with them In Corinth and Galatia as there were many holy and faithfull seruants of God so were there many lewd and vngodly men also for it is well knowen that they were much pestered both with error in doctrine and corruption in manners And yet the Apostle S. Paul neuer sticketh at it to acknowledge them visible Churches which I am sure he would not haue done had he thought that the mixture of bad and good in the same society did nullify a Church Nay rather if he had beene of your humour he would haue aduized a separation 1. How should it els haue Christ for the Prophet Priest Heb. 3.1.2.3 5 6.9 12.28 Mat. 28.18.19.20 Ps 110.1.4.1 Pet. 2.4.5.25 Act. 2.41.47 Eph. 1.22.23.2.19.22 King thereof or how should men know where to ioine and become members of the body of Christ with assurance to haue him their head c. It is the Inuisible Church the Church of the first borne as S. Paul calleth it whose names are enrolled in heauen Heb. 12.23 vnto which Christ properly and vniuocally is a Prophet Priest and King For he is a Head in such manner vnto those only who are knit together with him in the same mysticall body by the vnity of the same spirit and to whom hee communicateth from himselfe the sweet influence of life sense motion euen grace for grace Ioh. 1.16 as S. Iohn speaketh Is he not then a Head also of the visible Church yes as it is a Church it is a Church equiuocally and so is Christ the Head thereof For hypocrits and wicked men mingled with the good are not members of Christ as Ambrose saith but of the diuell and therefore Christ properly is not their Head Head and Body being Correlatiues Who are Elected and by true Iustifying Faith are ingrafted into Christs body you may charitably iudge but cannot certenly know for God only knoweth who are his Neuertheles where you see a Society of men professing entirely and in vnity the truth of Christ ioine your selfe vnto them knowing that they are a Christian orthodoxall Catholick Church And assure your selfe that there are among them sundry who are the deare Saints of God and professe the truth in sincerity and vprightnes of heart also which if you shall do together with them you need not doubt but you shall haue Christ to be your head Mat. 28.18.19.20 2. Cor. 6.17.18 Lev. 26.11.12 Ps 46.4.5 Es 59.20.21 Ez. 37.27.28 48.35 3. How should it els haue assurance of the promises seales of Gods Couenant presence and blessing to belong and appertaine vnto them The promises of Christ are proclaimed in such mixed companies vnto all on condition of faith repentance though actually performed vnto those only who actually haue performed the condition by repenting and
notwithstanding Papists haue abused it to signifie a Sacrificer yet properly it doth not so being originally deriued from Presbyter neither among vs is it now so vnderstood To say nothing that the anciēt Fathers who I presume were not Antichristian vsually call the Ministers of the Gospell Sacerdotes Priests As therefore you cannot without great absurdity reason from the name to the thing thus your Ministers are called Priests Ergo your Ministrie is Antichristian so neither can you without greater absurdity separate your selfe from the thing because of the name and because our Ministers are called Priests withdraw your selfe from our Ministrie Secondly Arch-bishops and Bishops if they be not of diuine institution yet were they some Centuries of yeeres before euer Antichrist appeared in the world as all antiquity and Ecclesiasticall Story testifieth That most famous first generall Councell of Nice assembled by Constantin the Great about the yeere of our Lord 327 not onely approueth them but also affirmeth that the Church anciently and long before that time had been gouerned by them Epiphanius Augustin both reckon Aerius among the number of Hereticks for denying the then-receiued and allowed distinction between a Bishop and a Presbyter But to speake my mind plainely I am for my part perswaded that the superiority of Bishops ouer the Ministers was of Apostolicall institution Those Angels to whom Saint Iohn in the second and third of the Reuelation is commanded to write what other were they then the Bishops of those Churches of Asia In Ephesus one of those seuen Churches it is reported by S. Luke that there were many Presbyters and I doubt not but it was so in other of the Churches also howbeit the Apostle writeth vnto one onely whom hee calleth the Angell as being singular and eminent aboue the rest And the ancient story of the Church recordeth the particular Bishops of euery one of those Churches together with their successors for a long time So that Bishops being in the Apostles time and successiuely continued in the Primitiue Church without any contradiction either of the Apostles themselues or any other yea rather with their approbation and allowance as appeareth by those seuen Epistles vnto the seuen Angels and all the writings of the ancient Fathers how can it bee imagined but that Bishops and their superiority ouer others was of Apostolicall institution Now if Priests or Pastors for as wee haue sayd in substance they be all one were ordained by God himselfe and Bishops deriue their pedigree also from the holy Apostles of God it followeth by necessary consequence that as our Ministery is not from Antichrist so neither is it against Christ Were it against Christ it would be either because he hath forbidden it or for that it destroyeth rather then edifieth the Church But it is no where forbidden If it bee shew the place and wee yeeld Neither doth it hinder the edification of the Church For first it is the office both of Bishops Priests to preach the Gospell of Christ and to administer his holy Sacraments Secondly the aduancement of one Presbyter aboue the rest was for the preuention of Schisme For when Factions began to arise in the Church some saying I am of Paul others I am of Apollos I am of Cephas then sayth Hierom was it decreed through the whole world that one being chosen from among the Presbyters should be set ouer the rest Who being so preferred his duty is to ouersee the rest of his brethren that they carefully discharge the office imposed vpon them and frame their liues according to the worthines of their calling All which I am sure furthereth the building of the Church so farre is it from destroying so that nor Priests nor Bishops whether yee regard their offices or the end of their ordination can be sayd to be against Christ Peraduenture for I would willingly let nothing passe vnanswered there lies a mistery in the word Lord-Bishops and you intend that they are the more Antichristian for that they are so called Surely if they should ambitiously affect the title of Lord Mat. 23. as the Pharisees somtimes did the title of Rabbi it were great pride and vanity in them and if they should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord it and as it were domineere ouer the flock of Christ as if the inheritance were theirs it would be intollerable presumption tyranny But that a title of honour may be giuen vnto Bishops in regard of their honorable place and calling as there is no reason to the contrary so it must needs proceed from much enuie or frowardnesse to deny Gen. 31.35 1 King 18.7.13 Let it not bee displeasing in the eyes of my Lord saith Rahel to her Father Art not thou my Lord Elias And againe Was it not told my Lord what I did when Iezebel flew the Prophets of the Lord said good Obadiah vnto the Prophet If Laban because he was a naturall Father vnto Rahel and Eliah because hee was a Prophet might iustly bee so stiled why may not Bishops also who are the spirituall Fathers and Prophets yea and Angels of the Church Luc. 22.25.26 you will say our Sauiour expresly forbiddeth them to bee called Gratious Lords I deny it For although it pleased the translator so to render the originall word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because anciently it was a title of honour giuen vnto Princes yet doth it not properly signify so but Benefactors or Wel-doers Neuerthelesse suppose it so signified yet is it not simply the title but the ambitious affectation of the title which Christ disliketh Act. 10.38 If a man imitating Iesus Christ should goe about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doing good were it a sinne trow you to giue him his deserued name and to call him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a wel-doer Had it been simply vnlawfull for a Minister to be called Lord would Paul and Silas haue admitted it and not rather haue reprehended the keeper of the prison saying vnto them My Lords Act. 16.30 what ought I to doe that I may bee saued Our Sauiour Christ saith vnto his disciples Bee not yee called Masters Bee not yee called Doctors Mat. 23.8.10 and yet among you some Ministers are called Doctors and all Masters So that it appeareth by your owne practice that the name of Lord maketh not Bishops Antichristian but as wee haue said it is the affecting of the name which is forbidden And thus you see your Minor is no way true Notwithstanding you endeauour to proue it thus Because the Churches of Antichrist cannot be compleate without this Prelacy as appeareth you say by the Popes Canons and Pontificall and by their Church-constitutions A seely and sory argument For first the Ministrie of the Church of England is so farre from being a complement of the Churches of Antichrist that the Church of Rome doth Anathematize and accurse it esteeming vs right as you doe to bee no Church at all because wee want their Ministry