Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n
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A43271
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A treatise concerning schism and schismaticks wherein the chief grounds & principles of a late separation from the Church of England, are considered and answered / by Henry Hellier ...
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Hellier, Henry, 1662?-1697.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing H1381; ESTC R20518
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24,128
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62
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Affairs and according to the Discretion or Approbation of the Governors Civil or Ecclesiastical as it doth concern them All these things may be and yet the Church continue still the same as the Queen in a Vesture of Gold-wrought about with divers Colours Yea Church-Censures may go on and Persons be Excommunicated and yet unless they wilfully continue under Excommunication no Schism be made because they do not cut themselves off from the Church but are cut off by others and therefore are not as Schismaticks A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 T◠3.11 Condemned of themselves as the Apostle speaketh Schism therefore is a wilfull breaking off of that outward Unity which one or more Members ought to maintain with the rest A Schismatick or Schismaticks are that one or those many Persons who do publickly refuse to act according to his or their just Relations as Members of the Church in the station wherein they are placed Or to speak more briefly a Schismatick is that Member of the Church which disowns and cuts it self off from the rest either contemning and rejecting the other Members 1 Cor. 12.21 as if the Eye shall say to the Hand I have no need of thee or again The Head to the Feet I have no need of you Or else encroaching and breaking in upon the Rights of other Members as if the Foot shall say V. 15.16 because I am not the Hand or not the Head I am not of the Body and will not be of the Body Or Lastly refusing to communicate its Office to the rest not distributing to the Necessities of the Saints not suffering and rejoycing with the other Members the Members not having the same Care according to their different places and capacities one for another 1 Cor. 12.25 according to the Expression of the Apostle To know therefore who is a Schismatick and who not it will be necessary to consider in some general Terms at least the Relations wherein Men may be and the several Causes or Pretences of separating with regard to such Relations declaring withal so far as in a short Discourse of this Nature conveniently may be which are unlawful and which are good and sufficient And First As there is an Unity in general which ought to be maintained by all Christian Churches throughout the World they being all reconciled to God in One Body Eph. 2.16 1 Cor 12.13 and Baptized into One Body and made to drink into One Spirit and being called One Body 1 Cor. 10.17 1 Cor. 12 2◠whereof our Lord is the Head Eph. 4.15 16. from whom the whole Body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every Joynt supplyeth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh encrease of the Body unto the edifying of it self in love So there may be a Breach made of this Unity by any particular Church and thereby whole Churches may become Schismatical Whole Churches in respect of the whole Body of Christians have such Relation as single Members have with Regard to any particular Church They therefore as well as single Members of particular Churches may fall into Schism when either in express Terms or by necessary consequence they break off their Communion and Friendly Correspondence with the rest which may be done several ways 1. By professing a different Faith Or 2. Different Agenda or Morals 3. By different Church-Government either as to the Species or kind of Government or as to the manner of exercising of it 1. They may become guilty of Schism by professing a different Faith or appointing different Creeds in any Material Point from other Churches For Christian Communion doth not require but forbid us to have Fellowship with those who do not hold the Truth as to the Substantials of Christian Religion The Body of Christ hath but One Faith and considering that the main Points of Faith have such Influence upon our Lives and Actions and are of so high importance to every one of us we ought to Contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Jud. 3. and to withdraw our selves from those who teach otherwise 1 Tim. 6.5 and consent not to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Tim. 6.3 and to the Doctrine which is according to Godliness Not but that Christians may differ and dispute and err about Matters of less Moment or ways of explaining the True Faith not so clearly delivered without either actually separating themselves from the Church or deserving to be cut off from it except they do oblige Men to concur with them and to profess a Belief of their Errors For then we may and ought to depart from them it being not lawful for any one to profess he believes that to be true which at the same time he takes to be an Error even in a matter of the smallest moment 2. They may become guilty of Schism by making wrong Professions de Agendis or concerning Morals For none ought to concur with any Man or any number of Men in that which is immoral Concord is only commendable in that which is good not in that which is evil To profess an Immorality is not only to do an immoral thing the profession of it being a sinful Act but it is worse than doing the same immoral thing that is agreeable to such Profession It is a sin committed with deliberation greater than commonly precedes the Act of Sin it makes us persevere and continue in sin it tends to the seducing and destroying others in a more eminent degree than the Act. If any Man therefore shall teach Doctrines manifestly contradictory to any part of the Moral Law if a Man says instead of Honour thy Father and Mother Thou shalt not honour thy Father or thy Mother Instead of Let every soul be subject to the Higher Powers Let some men not be subject to the Higher Powers and maintains this Doctrine in Opposition to the Members of his own or other Churches he is a Schismatick But he that allows of those Precepts and knows not who is his King or who is his Father is mistaken in the Person not in the Commandment or at most he is only mistaken about the Laws of the Land which tho' they do oblige in Conscience when known yet it is not every Man's business nor doth lye in every Man's power perfectly to understand And an Error in these does not always imply a misunderstanding the Commandments of God He that errs in Explication of some Moral Points as in shewing How a Man must honour his King or his Father or in setting the Bounds and Measures of Obedience to them or in such a matter as I am now about in stating the Case of Schism is not presently to be esteemed guilty of Schism For a Mistake though professed in Matters less principal either of Faith or Morals unless it makes void the general Commandment or some plain Article of Faith
according to our different Consideration of them as they do imply false Doctrine in Matters necessary to Salvation obstinately persisted in Heresie as the are accompanyed with Separation from the Church or do give a just Cause of Separation Schism Heresie and Schism are seldom long asunder There are few Hereticks but will endeavour by separate Congregations to propagate their Heresie or Schismaticks but will frame to themseves some New Doctrine the better to justifie their Separation from the Church as * On. Tit. 3. St. Jerom observed The Apostle seems to use both these Words in the same Sense 1 Cor. 11.18 19. I hear that there be Divisions the Word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among you and I partly believe it for there must be also Heresies among you c And certainly every Heretick openly professing and maintaining his Heresie whether he is able to get a separate Congregation or not may be called a Schismatick and a Schismatick persisting in his Schism will be very apt to fall into Heresie according to the forecited Passage of St. Jerom. 3. Whole Churches as well as single Persons may incur the Guilt of Schism by their differences about Church-Government sometimes as to the Species or kind of Government and sometimes as to the manner of exercising it Sometimes by a different Species or kind of Government As for Instance When they do recede from Episcopacy and break wilfully the Line of Apostolical Succession For in so doing they cause probably great Disorders within themselves and in other Churches also by loosing the Bands of Union among themselves and hindering good Correspondence with other Churches by taking away the chief Pillars and Supporters of that Correspondence and tacitly disappointing their sort of Government tempting some of them to dislike it and to endeavour a Change for that which is likely to prove much worse instead of it as on many other accounts so particularly because it hath not the Examples of the best and purest Ages to maintain it But tho' Churches may sometimes be Schismatical on this account yet they are not always so in this Case For there may be a just Cause of breaking off that outward Succession where the Profession of the true Christian Faith and of good Morals must be otherwise utterly wanting the preservation of which is declared in the Holy Scriptures necessary to Salvation not the manner of Government so declared consequently this cannot be equally necessary to all People This in case of a general Corruption or sometimes on the Account of the Members of the Church being dispersed abroad perhaps cannot be had And must Men Continue in such Corruption for fear of breaking off Succession Or fall into a state of Damnation for not being able to preserve it What Uncertainties will some Mens Doctrine make all the Advantages we can receive from Christianity and finally our Salvation to depend upon Sometimes on the Goodness of a a King 's sometimes of a Bishop's Title and sometimes on the Regularity of Succession How unreasonably are Men condemned whom God hath not condemned and declared to be in the state of those that never heard of Christ even although they do perform all the Gospel Conditions Only because they have not among them a certain Order which is not absolutely necessary to the Being * What hath perished of the Outward From or Body of Government being lost without any fault or guilt of theirs their Infelicity which they could not prevent and not their Crime voluntarily brought upon themselves This sure will never be look'd on by God as any dangerous want of Order or as that which shall be any way chargeable upon them Order is required to the Well-being not necessary absolutely to the Being of a Church and orderless or secret Society of Brethren may be a Church still as any number of Converts in a City before the Apostle which was gone to some other City had yet placed any Governour over them Dr. Hammond's Second Defence of the Treatise of Schism Ch. 6. S. 11. but only to the Well-being of the Church It is no where commanded although it seems indeed to the approved of by our blessed Saviour in the Apocalypse ‖ ◠Rev. ch 2. and is plainly enough made out to have been instituted by the Apostles and hath been found by Experience a very strong Band of Union in respect of the Universal Church and particular ones too where it hath had its just Authority Not but that the Succession in some places hath failed or been interrupted I do not except the Church of Rome it self which doth boast so much of it and may fail again or we may depart from it when it cannot consist with Succession of true Faith and good Morals without an utter and irrecoverable loss of the Advantages of the Christian Religion the Church of Christ or the ordinary hopes of Salvation And although no Man ought to assume to himself a Power of Governing the Church of God but stay till it is regularly conferr'd upon him yet where there is a general Deficiency and Apostacy from the Profession of the true Faith and sound Morals and they who are to confer this Right are themselves corrupted also and will not give this Power to any that are willing to reform it in such extraordinary cases of general Apostacy which how far it may possibly reach I will not here dispute Persons Priests at least who have Gifts and Abilities for it have a sufficient Call to interpose themselves and are not to be blamed but highly commended for making use of it Sometimes again there may be a Schism made by the ill Exercise of Church-Government by a Churches refusing to hold Communion with the rest or unjustly censuring and excommunicating them or disobeying General Councils the Representatives of the whole Church in matters which they have a lawful Power to determine by usurping too great Authority over the rest by assuming the Name of Catholick to it self in opposition to all other Churches by making such unreasonable Terms of Communion as that others shall not be able to communicate with it by encouraging and upholding Persons excommunicated or deservedly declared Schismaticks by other Churches by wilfully continuing in Faults and under just Excommunication incurred thereupon by refusing to keep friendly Correspondence with other Churches as in Communicatory Letters which are in order to the well governing of the Church and the like And it is about the Exercise of Church-Government that Schism is generally conversant All Schisms of particular Members of the Church considered as distinct from Heresies are about Church-Government and commonly about the Exercise of it being occasioned either 1. By Superiors contending for Power or 2. Misemploying their Power or 3. By Inferiors Disobedience to the Power 1. By Superiors Civil or Ecclesiastical contending for Power The Civil Governors usurping that which belongs to the Ecclesiastical or the Ecclesiastical that which belongs to the Civil or the Ecclesiastical Governors