in this point is notoriously erronious as both is proved before and which the Prelates own words here will sufficiently convince of fashood For first Christ left none when he went into heaven but his Apostles and Disciples such as he inspired with his Spirit to instruct and governe his Church But the Prelate a * little after confesseth that one of these visible Iudges Arch-bishops and Bishops are infallible Therfore Christ left no such Iudges and when he went into heaven there were no Prelats extant nor yet hatched and therfore Christ cannot be so much as thought much lesse beleeved to have left any such visible Iudges as the Prelate mentioneth Secondly it cannot be safe to beleeve that Christ left any such to be visible Iudges in matters of faith and Religion who are in their judgement not onely erronious but in their affections malicious against Christ and his word and his trile Church For the universall and constant practise of Prelates and especially ever since Antichrist hath been exalted in his Throne in persecuting the Professors of the Gospell doth proclaime them to be of the malignant Church and of ‡ the bendwoman that where of Babylon whose â—eed doth persecute the true Church and Children of God and therefore Christ would never appoint such to be visible Iudges in matters of Faith and Religion in his Church Thirdly the Prelate in making such visible Iudges besides Christs Law-booke the Scripture as he saith doth hereby deny and exclude the Scripture from being the Sole Iudge in all matters of Faith and Religion And the Church of England formerly before this her Metropolitan started up was of this beliefe that the Scripture was the Sole Iudge and Rule of Faith and admitted of no other Iudges to sit on the same Bench with it This the many learned works of our English Divines yet extant can abundantly testifie Therfore except the Church of England hath lost her wits and hath no more grace left her then the grace and faith of Canterbury she cannot be so madde as to beleeve Christ left any such visible Iudges as her Prelate speakes of Fourthly it can never be beleeved of any sensible man much lesse of any even common Christian that Christ would leave notorious hypocrites to be Iudges in matters of Religion who under a faire pretence of Truth and Peace doe labour utterly to destroy both Truth and Peace in his Church As here the Prelate names Truth and Peace as the end of his Hierarchicall Government but his practises doe prove him to be the greatest enemy both of Truth and Peace that ever Sate in the Chaire of Canterbury For first for Truth as the Truth of the Doctrines of Grace layd down in the Articles of Religion of the Church of England hath he not in the Declaracion before those 39 Articles but set forth in the Kings Name for all must be under a gracious King baffled it making the Articles to speake nonsense or in the language of the Delphick Oracle ambiguous that may be taken either way as favouring the Arminian aswell as the Orthodox so as by this meanes his Arminian Crew may prove their Heresies out of those Articles aswell as the Orthodox can the Truth Is this visible Iudge then for Truth Againe how doth he suppresse all preaching of the Doctrines of Grace by terrifying Ministers in all the Visitations of these visible Iudges So cleare it is that he governes for Truth Secondly for Peace What Peace I pray you hath either the Church or State of England had since this Polypragmatick began to stirre and stickle both in Church and State Nay what Peace hath the Neighbour-Kingdome had since his Arme hath been imped out to put his hot coale under the Eves of that Church also So as now when Scotland burneth is 't not time for England to looke out and to cast on water and to quench the fire not with more fire to consume all but by quenching the coale that both first kindled and still fomenteth the flame Thus we see what a Governour here is under a Gratious King For Truth and Peace But fiftly he addeth According to the Scripture This is something And yet as good as nothing for he immediately annexeth And her own Canons and Constitutions Canons enough to batter the Scripture and Constitutions to undermine and blow it up For what Scripture can stand in any force where his Canons come And much more where these Canons of his Church of England are seconded by his Catholike Church Wherein his Church of England and that of Rome are become according to his * own words one and the Same Church of one and the Same Faith and Religion And thus indeed the Church of England may enter Common with Rome in her Canons as namely in her Canon Law and so make Corpus Cononicum the Rule whereby to governe this new Corporation of the Two Churches now become one againe So as let but the Canons of the Church of England be seconded with those of her Prelates Catholicke Church and then all Scripture is gone in Common Law So vaine is it that with Scripture he names and yoakes his Canons of England and Rome by which his Figures of value he conjures the Scripture within the circle of a meere Cypher But Sixtly he concludes with this qualification which crosse not the Scripture and the just Laws of the Realme But first for the Scripture who shal be Judge whether the Canons doe crosse it Who but the Canon-makers and Canon-masters the Prelates And will they trow you turne the mouth of their own Canons against themselves Nay their Canons though never so crosse to Scripture yet are like to Darius his Decree which though against the Scripture yet rather then it shal be broken Daniel must to the Lions denne to try whether the Lions or the Kings Decree be more cruell So the Prelates Church Catholick Canons are like the Laws of the Medes and Persians all the Daniels in the world shall rather to the Lions denne then the Canons be reversed To give but one instance for many That Canon De Haeretibus comburendis Of Burning the Hereticks which is one of those speciall Canons of his Catholick Church and a most damnable Canon as any in all the packe and such as if Christ and his Apostles were now upon the earth and did Preach as once they did they should by vertue of that Canon be brought to the Stake as Christ was by the High Priests * Law to his Crosse that Canon I say though it crosse the Scripture as being against all true Chistians whom this Canon calls Hereticks and burnes for the Scripture-sake yet shall it not be for ever in force so long as there is one Hereticke remaining upon the face of the earth and one Pope or Prelate to discharge the Canon But the Prelate addes And the just Laws of the Realme If the said Canons crosse not the just Laws of the Realme This is as
First Protest against the Hierarchy as an Antichristian Tyranny over the Soules Bodies and Estates of all the Kings Subjects and therefore ought to be rooted out and not suffered in any Christian Church or Common Weale Secondly and consequently Protest against all Altars Images and such like Popish Idolatrous Reliques utterly unlawfull to be erected in any true Christian Church Thirdly Protest against all humane Rites and Ceremonies whatsoever imposed upon mens Consciences in the worship of God as being all of them Antichristian bringing into bondage mens Soules which Christ hath redeemed with his precious blood who is the onely Lord of the Conscience and the onely Law-giver to his Church for all matters of Faith and of the worship of God Fourthly Protest against all such generall Taxes layd upon the Subjects as whereby both their ancient Liberties and the fundamentall Laws of the Kingdome are overthrowne and so vindicate the Honour both of the King and of this noble Kingdome that it may not be recorded to Posterity for a State of Tyranny and Slavery Fiftly and consequently Protest against all those wicked Iudges which have in such wise declared their opinions for intollerable Taxes expresly contrary to the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdome as thereby they have given occasion for the betraying of all and the bringing of the whole Land under perpetuall Slavery Sixtly Protest against that Prelaticall Declaration set forth in the Kings Name before the 39 Articles wherein those Articles of the Dostrines of Grace are made voyd and so all preaching of them suppressed Seventhly Protest against that Booke for Sports on the Lords dayes as whereby both the fourth Commandement and the fifth are most desperately overthrown as also against all those Bookes that have been set forth for the maintaining of such profanation as whereby God is greatly dishonoured and his wrath provoked even to the Spewing out of such a Nation out of his mouth Eightly Protest against all that Prelaticall Tyranny in oppressing the preaching of Gods Word on the Lords dayes in the after-noone and other dayes in the week and their Antichristian persecuting and putting out of all godly and painfull Ministers such as will not conform to their lawlesse Ordinances Ninthly Protest against that most terrible and odious shedding of the innocont blood of those 3 forementioned now perpetuall Exiles and Closse Prisoners even their very Wives most lawlesly detained from them with aâ—â— their other severe punishments one of them being a Minister who in discharge of his duty first preached in his own Church and then published his Sermons in Print against the Prelates notorious practises and Popish Innovations for which he underwent punishments so great so many as no Ageâ— no Christian State can parallell so as their blood doth incessantly cry against this whole Land as guilty thereof though shed onely by the Prelates instigation as aforesaid untill it be purged Tenthly Protest against that accursed Booke Relation of a Conference c. published in Print and Dedicated to the King by the now Prelate of Canterbury wherein he belyes and so blasphemes God Christ the Holy Ghost the holy Scriptures the Church of England in saying it is one and the Same with that of Rome of the same Faith and Religion with that Whore of Babylon and many such like impious assertions the whole Booke professedly tending to reconcile England and Rome and so to bring the whole Land backe againe to Popery Eleventhly If this great and Warlike preparation be by the Prelates Diabolicall Instigation as by no other it can be except by the Pope and his Iesuiter and his Nuncio's Negotiation have also a hand in it to goe against the Scots and if the cause shal be found to be no other but that they have abandoned and Remaunded to Rome all their Prelates as the grand Enemies of Christ and his Kingdome and of the peaceable and prosperous estate of the Realme and consequently of the Kings Crown and Dignity and that they stand for the maintenance of their just Laws and Liberties the continuance whereof is the Kings honour and the establishment of his throne If I say no other cause can justly be alledged and yet they shal be invaded as Rebells Protest against all ayd and assistance of such an Invasion as being against the Law of God of Nature and of Nations and as being a Warre directly against Jesus Christ in the maintenance of Antichrist and his Antichristian Hierarchy and so such as must needs recoyle and that in divine fury upon England it selfe which having burned her neighbours house exposeth her owne to the flames Yea for England to Invade Scotland for no other cause in truth then before mentioned namely for their maintaining of the true Faith and Religion of Christ and their just Lawes and Liberties which all true Christians and Civil States ought to lay down their very lives for as the light of Nature taught the very Heathen Pugnare pro Aris ac focis and that Grecian could say A'iresomai teleutan mallon è a'neleutheros sun I choose rather to dye a Free-man then to live a Slave And the Monarchicall estate governed by good Laws was ever preferred and opposed to Tyranny were to renounce and give up her own ancient Liberties and to betray and persecute and destroy the true Faith and Religion of Christ and so set up and professe the Infidelity and Idolatry of Antichrist and so with him and his cursed Crue to goe into perdition The Primitive Christians under Julian the Apostata served him in the Warres against his Enemies but when he Commanded them to goe against Christians who refused to worship or offer Incense to his Idols they cast down their Weapons acknowledging the Emperour of heaven And when Saul * commanded his Servants to fall upon the Lords Priests none of them would doe it And I read of a Secretary to an Empresse who being commanded by her to draw an Edict againg the Christians he still found delayes but at length she growing instant upon him for it so as he could no longer delay it he tooke off his Military girdle the Ensigne of his service and cast it at her feet and so discharged himselfe from her Court Thus if you make and leave these Christian zealous and just Protestations among the Recods of Parliament in case it shal be by the malice and inchantments of the Prelates unhappily dissolved before you can produce them into a full Act and establish them for a Law though otherwise ye cannot effect a reall Reformation of all the mischiefes and maladies which the Prelates in speciall have filled the Land withall yet forasmuch as you have thus publickly both for your own persons and as the Body representative of the whole State of the Land solemnly protested against all these things there is no question to be made but that God in his mercy and favour will accept of your will for the deed it selfe and will still preserve both you and your
and just Lawes and not by a Lawlesse Tyranny which it selfe is an Hierarchicall Tyranny and such as Tyranniseth over soules bodies and estates Or can Prelates be true Friends to Princes who under a false vizard of Friendship labour to corrupt them by their flattery to make them forget they are men to make them disaffected with their good Subjects to make them the Authors of Innovation in Religion by suppressing the Truth by their publicke Edicts which tends to fill the People with discontents and to stirre up Sedition and the like Can this be safe for Monarchie or peaceable for the Civil State or a thing in it selfe most Christian Nor is it so onely with our present Prelates Revolve all Histories since Antichrists exaltation and ye shall find that never any great Treasons have been either against the persons of Princes or their Civil States if they were but suspected of disaffection to the Papacy or Romish Religion but either a Prelate or some of his faction had his finger in it But there it may suffice that our eyes have been witnesses of the effects of Prelaticall pranks and practises in being so busie and bold to bring in againe the Romish Religion and after the Gospel had taken such deep rooting So as if our Kings wisdome had not been the greater in composing things in a peaceable way as foreseeing the dangerous Consequences that might have ensued in case he should have by a strong hand gone about to have reduced that Antic bristian Government into that Kingdome which it had now cast out God knows what wofull calamities such a Warre might have produced But blessed be God for preventing it Againe As the Pope lifts up himselfe above and against all Emperious Kings and Princes yea setting his feet on their necks causing them to hold his stirrop to lead his palfrey and doe such like Offices as his Holinesse Booke of Ceremonies and other Histories shew to hold their Kingdomes in Fee from him and the like and as his Cardinalls take place of Kings his Arch-prelates of Dukes his Prelates of Lords So our Prelates which come from them and proâ—esse still to be of one and the same Church with them of one and the same Hierarchicall Catholicke Church of one and the same Faith and Religion as before is noted doe they not the like according to their proportion and degree Doe not Archprelates take place of Dukes and Prelats of Lords Nay doe they not set their feet upon the neck of the Kings Laws while they though as yet de jure they cannot yet de facto they doe exempt themselves from them in that they by their power in Court and threatnings in their own Courts so terrifie all Prohibitions that they dare not peep or shew their Faces in the High-Commission as the Author of the * Apologie and Two Sermons For God and the King hath observed though he hath payd dearely for his truth telling Thus doe they not u`praÃrethai highly exalt themselves above all that is called God as above Kings and Civil States while they dare thus withdraw their necks from under the obedience of their good and just Laws the benefit whereof the Kings good Subjects should enjoy in relieving themselves and their innocent Cause from the Prelates unjust and tyrannicall oppressions in the lawlesse proceeding in their Courts and so set their proud feet upon the Kings both Laws which are the sinews and loyall People which are the members of the same Body Politick whereof the King is the Head Do they not herein come neere their Father Pope who trampleth upon Emperours necks when they dare tread upon the Kings feet as ‡ the Serpent did upon Christs heele And for this Cause is the Hierarchie or Antichristianisme called by the Apostle the Mysterie of Iniquity Yea the Mystery tes a'nomÃas of Lawlessenesse for which cause the Head of this Mystery to wit the Grand Antichrist or the Pope is called o`anomos that Lawlesse one which our English turnes That wiâ—ked So as here may fitly come in Antichrists Fift Title o` a'nomos that Lawlesse one This the Pope proves himselfe to be as being subject to no Laws either of God or man So as he saith he hath all Laws folded up in the Cabinet of his own brest as being the great Oracle of the world and the onely infallible Iudge in matters of Faith at least when he Sits in Peters Chaire and that he can dispense with the Aposâ—â—â— and the like But how doth his agree with our Prelates Are they also such a'nomi such Lawlesse ones as to merit the next place to the Pope for the Title of Antichrist Yes surely they hold a correspondence with their Syre so as in all things they doe patrifare shew themselves to be his Sons Of their Lawlessenesse in regard of Subjection to Princes Laws we spake but now And now remaines to shew how they are Lawlesse in regard of Gods Laws First their Hierarchâ—e is 〈◊〉 at all nor in any thing as neither gâ—oâ—â—ded so regulated by the Law of God and of Câ—â—ist but meerly by their own Lawlesse Canons which are the Laws of their Lawlesse Kingdome Yea and when they list they have a Prerogative to goe either beyond or against their Canons in case their lust find not scope enough Secondly as is noted before they not onely can dispense with Gods Law but dare and doe annihilate it and make it of no authority For they doe unmoralize the 4th Commandement as concerning the Sabbath day for Christians they allow profane Sports thereon which Gods Law hath altogether forbidden they forbid preaching on that day which Gods word commandeth to be both in season and out of season they altogether forbid preaching of the Doctrines of Grace which Gods word commends unto us and commands to be preached they Suspend the sense of the Articles of Religion touching Gods free Grace thereby giving way to the contrary Errours which they forbid Preachers to confute flatly against * Gods Commandement they dispense with the fift Commandement dissolving the bond of obedience in Children and Servants to the Parents and Masters and stripping those Governours of their Authority over them while they give them liberty to Sport and run riot on the Lords day and threaten all that shall dare to controule them And herein also they destroy Mans Law for the Law of the Land no where either allows any such profane Sports on the Lords dayes but flatly forbids them or forbids Parents and Masters to restraine their youth from such profanatiâ—ns or to correct them if they offend and will not obey then Lawfull Commands nor much lesse hath the Law of the Land given any such power and authority to any Civil Magistrate or other to punish those that shal be brought before them for exercising their lawfull authority over those under their charge And we all know that the Prelates had the chiefe hand not onely in penning but in publishing that Booke for Sports on
humane Law and in their own Names as absolute and independent Lords as those Heathen Princes did Thus have they not with the Beast their Syre in the * Revelation made a perfect Image of the first Beast to wit of the Heathen Empire from top to toe whose whole forme and State of Dominion they set up in their Prelaticall Hierarchie Doth not the ‡ Beast which cometh out of the earth having two hornes like a Lamb but speakes as a Dragon which is the Papall Hierarchie exercise all the power of the first Beast before him namely of the Roman Emperour there described yea and cause the Earth with all that dwell therein to worshâ—p the first Beast that is to subject themselves to the Throne and Authority of the Hierarchie which is now invested with an absolute Imperiall independent power which yet they blush not to affirme to be jure divino and from Christ himselfe How can any thing be more diametrically contrary to Christs words here It shall not be so among you Yes saith this Shamelesse Beast it shal be so with us and this Imperiall jurisdiction we doe and will exercise over the People As they doe indeed Yea these Spirituall Lords do not only exercise all the power of the first Beast as of Heathen Princes over the bodies and goods of men by imprisoning fyning undoing of Men and their whole Families yea and faggotting also the deare Saints and Servants of God onely by a pretty conveyance making the Civil Magistrate to be their executioner as the High Priests having condemned Christ delivered him over to the Secular Power to Pilate the Roman Governour but they also usurpe and exercise a most transcendent and Tyrannicall Dominion over the Soules and Consciences of Gods people as whose Canons and Constitutions even their whole Canon Law written in blood signified by their red Inke like to Draco his Laws which for their cruelty were sayd to be written in bloodâ— are most cruelly pressed upon the peoples soules for a full conformitie to all those humane Rites and Ceremonies of their will-worship in their Divine Service as they call it A bondage infinitely more bloody and cruel then that of Gods people of old under the Egiptian Taskmasters And yet not withstanding all these things is this their Lordly and Princely Jurisdiction jure Divino from Christ Or are Prelates herein the Apostles Successors Were the Apostles ever such Princes Lived they in such Palaces Kept they such Courts Did they imprison persecute and undoe Gods Saints Did they make any Canons or Laws for will worship Did they presse so much as any one ragge of a Ceremony of their own devising upon the Conscience of any of Gods people Nay did they not expresly forbid and condemn it Not as Lords over Gods Heritage saith * Peter to the Presbyters Not as having dominion over your Faith saith ‡ Paul to Gods Ministers and People Yea this was also one branch of that Dominion which the Heathen Emperours exercised over the people namely to force their Conscienses in matters of Religion ‡ Darius made a Decree that none should make any request to God or Man for 30. dayes save to the King alone § Nebuchadnezzar proclaimes his Commandment that all should fall downe and worship his golden Image And Iulian the Apostata would force the Christians to offer sacrifice to his Idols or at least to cast but a little incense upon the fire before them And such as refused were sorely persecuted punished yea put to death And doe not the Prelates exercise the like Dominion over mens Soules I say even to the utter undoing and exterminating of all those that refuse to submit their necks to such an Antichristian yoake Nay doe they not fast Chaine to their Tyranny all Ministers that take their Oath of Canonicall obedience even as Temporall Princes take an Oath of Allegiance of their Subjectsâ— Only here is the difference the Subjects are by their Oath bound to the Prince to obey him according to Gods Law and the Laws of the Land but Prelates by imposing the Oath of Canonicall obedience doe exact of all Ministers absolute and unlimited obedience to all their Canons not onely those in being although they be both contrary to Christs Law and are not authorised by the Law of the Land but to whatsoever other Canons they should in time frame and compose Which was one great Coale that hath caused the Smoaking out of all the Prelates out of our neighbour Countrey Thus we see that the Prelates exercising the like yea even the same Authority and Dominion which the Heathen Princes used in all points over their People are here flatly and expresly forbidden by Christ himselfe So as their Prâ—lacie is so farre from being sure divino of divine Authority as that it is an open rebellion against Christ and his Kingdome and a very trampling of his words under their feet But it shall not be so among you Againe for the words in Luke The Kings of the Gentiles exercise Lordship over them and they that exercise Authority upon them are called Benefactors But ye shall not be so Ye shall not be called e'uergétai Benefactors or Gracious Lords as some Translations render it In which word or Title Christ forbids all such Titles to be assumed by his Apostles as are Heathenish or such as did set forth the magnificence pompe and State of Heathen Princes or such Titles as the Scripture doth not give to Gods Ministers Now it was not unusuall with the Heathen to call their Kings who were the greatest tyrants and oppressors of the People * Benefactors or the like in flattery of them Thus they did incrustare vitia parget or roughcast their vices as the Poet speakes And it seems the Popes learned of the Heathen this fashion of changing of their Names as if he were deformed to call him Formosus if cruel Clemens c. But for Prelates are they not called Euergetae Benefactors your Grace your Honour Right reverend most Reverend Father in God My Lord My Reverend Discesan My Patron and Benefactor Our Metropolitan Primate My Ordinary and many such like devised Titles no where to be found in Scripture but serving to bolster out their Pontificiall pride All such Titles Christ forbids to his Disciples here as elswhere also ‡ Be ye not called Rabbi for one is your Master even Christ and all ye are brethren And call no man Father upon Earth such Fathers as Prelates are called for one is your Father which is in heaven Neither be ye called Masters for one it your Master even Christ But the Prelates will say Distingue tempora Distinguish the times the Apostles were poore the Church was then but in the Infancie Swadling clouts might serve the Turne but now we that are the Successors of the Apostles are men grown and know how to use the honours pleasures and preferments of the world being cast upon us and being now promoted to be
good as the former and no better For what Laws of the Realme doth he account just Those that crosse any Prelaticall practises and Antichristian lawlesse courses of his Spirituall Courts Surely those are not to be ranked among the just Laws of the Realme those must needs be unjust Laws which are made to restraine the Infolencie and Lawlesse proceedings of Prelaticall Courts Which is the reason that now of late under this Archprelate Prohibitions out of the Kings bench to the High-Commission are so gueason so well Schooled are both Lawyers to move and Judges to grant any such thing Thus the Prelates practises are a sufficient Commentary of his owne words So as the Summe of this his whole passage is That his Church of England must submit her beliefe to her Arch Bishops and Bishops as visible Iudges left by Christ to governe and to determine all matters of difference in point of Faith and Religion and that according to Scripture too so farre as they crosse not her own Canons and those of the Catholicke Church wherein England and Rome are one and the Same one Church of one Faith of one Religion And all this if we may beleeve her Metropolitan the Church of England beleeves O miserable Church CHAP. IIII. Wherein some other Passages of the Prelate in his Booke touching the Authority of his Hierarchie are met withall and confuted by evidence of Scripture IN his * Epistle Dedicatory he hath these words She the Church of England practises Church-Government as it hath been in use in all Ages and all Places where the Church of Christ hath taken any rooting both in and ever since the Apostles times and yet the Seperatist condemnes her for Antichristianisme in her Discipline So he A bold Speech and the more bold because most false and hath nothing but his bare Ipse dixit his naked affirmation as Authority sufficient Whence I note sundry particulars First that he calleth the Hierarchie or Ecclesiasticall Government therof the Church of England A thing familiar with Prelates to make themselves the Church And such a Church as that of Rome the Pope and his Priests or Prelates are the Church as themselves affirme Whereas indeed as Iunius hath well distinguished â— they are not the Body it selfe of the Church but â—â—ennes or swellings grown up and so incorporated into the Body as overspreading it like a Leprosie it assumes the denomination of the Body And such are Prelates who in the Church of England are Strumae great swellings like the Kings Evill which are commonly next the Head or about the necke in the most principall parts of the Body Onely in this they will not be called the Kings Evill because they claime their Originall from Christ as before is noted and therfore though they be but certaine Abscessus or Apostemes and so indeed Apostatâ—s from the true Church of Christ which not onely deforme the Body but greatly in danger the life thereof yet the name of Church they challenge in peculiar to themselves But surely the true Church of Christ in England disclaimes communion with such a false Church as the Hierarchie calls it selfe Secondly he saith that his Church or Prelaticall Government hath been in all Times and Places where the Church of Christ hath taken any rooting Here he finely excludes all the Protestant Reformed Churches as no Churches of Christ because they have weeded out those * bittet roots whereby many are defiled and rooted up those plants ‡ which our heavenly Father hath not planted to wit all Prelates with their Hierarâ—hicall Government which being rooted out of those Churches the Gospell blessed be God and so the true Church of Christ hath taken the deeper and firmer rooting and brought forth the more abundant ‡ fruits of holinâ—sse But the Prelate in thus unchurching all true Reformists is as good as his word which he openly spake at Dr. Bastwicks Censure in High-Commission saying The Protestant Churches beyond the Seas were no Churches as having no Bishops calling Calvin a plaine Rascall But so long as those Churches have the true Bishops namely Orthodox and Sound Pastors to feed their severall â—locks it is not the Arch-prelate that can so easily degrade them from being Christs true Churches as he can deprive those Ministers both of Ministry and Meanes who are obnoxious to his Church-Goâ—ernment Thirdly where he saith that his Church-Government hath been in use in all Ages and in all Places where the Church of Christ hath taken any rooting both In and ever since the Apostles times although this be most false yet were it true it would not therupon follow that this his Church-Government is either Apostolicall or jure divino or from Christ For first every thing that hath been in use in the Apostles times and in the true Church of Christ is not therfore Apostolicke or such as the true Church of Christ alloweth of For we read that the Mistery of Iniquity began to worke in the Apostles times and even then there were § many Antichrists and that in the very midst of the Church in those dayes †And if Prelates shall prove to be those Antichrists which the Apostles detected and described by their qualities as will appeare anonâ— then because such Antichrists were extant and their Church-Government in use in the Apostles times will the Prelate therfore conclude such were Apostolicke and had their Originall jure divino Secondly neither can the Prelate ever prove that his Prelaticall Government as now of later and of long time it hath been is any thing like to the Church-Government exercised by those who took upon them to be the first Diocesan or Provinciall Bishops in those ages succeeding the Apostles He that shall read the Centuries Catâ—lagus Testiunâ— veritatis and other true Church Stories shall find as vast a difference between those poore ancient Bishops both in their manner of life and Church-Government and the moderne Prelotes since Antichrist mounted aloft in his Pontificalibus as the * Poet makes between the Silver Age and the Iron Age or as the ‡ Prophet shews between the brazen brest of the Image of the Babylonish Empire and the feet mixt of iron and clay And that Image may well resemble the State of the Spirituall Babylon or Hierarchy which had its rise of simple and small beginnings but by degrees Successively it grew and got strength and both height and bredth and so became at length of a blind Brooke a goodly navigable River so as the Church turned a City of Traffique and Trade in all worldly pleasures and riches as Babylon is described Revel. 18. and so the more worldly it grew the more wicked proud tyrannicall lordly and imperious and of a Militant Church turned Triumphant as the Prelate himselfe saith of Rome so as now the Church Government of the Prelates in regard of their great Courts and Consistories and doing all things without the Presbyteryâ— is as much unlike that ancient
Church-Government of those Bishops of old as our moderne Prelates themselves are unlike them in manner of life for these are persecuters of the Gospel those were persecuted and suffered Martyrdome for Christ Thus it is false that he saith that the Church-Government now in England was in usâ— in the Primitive Church For to instance in one thing In those ancient Times Excommunication was not used for every trifle nor done in a blind Court nor denounced by a dumb Priest But enough of this Fourthly whereas he saith And yet the Seperatist condemnes her for Antichristianisme in her Discipline First as for the Seperatist as he calls him I thinke the Prelate with this his Book and other his Prelaticall practises hath made more Separatists from his Prelaticall Church of England then ever any that hath sit in the Chaire of Canterbury ever since his Predecessor Augustine first sate in it Nor doe I see how any Christian living in England can with a safe Conscience have communion with that Church which professeth as the Prelate doth in her Name to be one and the Same Church with Rome of one and the Same Faith and Religion Yea were it no more but that the Church of England professeth to be a Hierarchicall or Prelaticall Church which in that very respect is no true Church of Christ it were argument and cause sufficient to Seperate from her And that because Secondly he that is a true Seperatist from her for the former respects may justly condemne her for Antichristianisme in her Discipline For first She exerciseth She professeth no other Discipline but that which Antichrist the Pope and the whole Antichristian Romish Church exerciseth and professeth and that in all points Cap a pied from top to toe And this her Discipline is Antichristian as being of Antichrist and so against Christ and exercised in the maintenance of Antichrist For instance The Prelaticall Church of England hath lately found out a Discipline to censure punish imprison fine excommunicate degrade deprive and all these together him that shall dare to deny the Pope and Prelates to be jure divino Dr. Bastwicke did thus and so the High-Commission served him as aforesaid What Discipline then in the world can be more Antichirstian or more forcible to drive Christians from having any more communion with that Church which exercising such an Antichristian Discipline how can She shift off the just condemnation of Antichristianisme which they shall cast upon her Againe Secondly the whole Discipline of the Church of England as it is the Discipline which Antichrist and his Church exerciseth and therfore Antichristian So it is that which hath no footing but is expresly forbidden in the word of God as Antichristian and Tyrannicall For the Church of Englands Discipline stands most upon the imposition of sundry Ceremonies of humane invention and Antichristian observation which She presseth upon all mens Consciences and for default of Conformity layes grievous Censures upon them as Excommunication and the like Now all such Ceremonies so imposed both Christ himselfe condemneth * In vaine they worship me teaching for Doctrines the Commandements of men and the Apostle also throughout that whole Chapter of the Epistle to the Collossians doth charge Christians not to put their necks under any such yoake as whereby they are deprived of the benefit of Christs death and beguiled of their reward and spoyled of their Christian liberty and the like Againe the Prelates in imposing their Ceremonies are Antichristian because in so doing they usurpe Christs throne and therein fitting doe exercise a Tyranny over mens Consciences intolerable to be borne which if men will not yeeld unto they doe in as much as in them lyeth make them Anathemaes shut them out of the Church by Excommunication c. And lastly their Excommunication not onely in regard of the matter and cause for which it is namely because men will not renounce Christs service to take the Tyrannicall yoake of Antichrists Ceremonies upon the shoulders of their Consciences but for the very manner of it as it is used in the Church of England is a Discipline Antichristian as being against that form of Excommunication which is prescribed in the word of God and was practised in the Apostolicall Churches It was Christs rule Tell it to the Church that is to the Congregation and if the Offender will not heare the Congregation he is Excommunicate by and out of the Congregation And the Apostles rule is for such Offenders as deserve Excommunication * I verily saith he as absent in body but present in Spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed In the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my Spirit with the power of our Lord Iesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Iesus Christ Whence I note that Excommunication is a Solemne businesse not to be inflicted for every trifling matter much lesse as the Pharisees did who excommunicated all those that confessed Christ nor to be done in a blind Court and by a single soled Priest nor the Offender to be released for the payment of his fees or by way of committing or the like all which are practised in the Discipline of the Church of England But Excommunication must not be but for a great offence nor done but by the whole Congregation nor released but upon the publique repentance confession and promise of reformation before the said Congregation where the offence was given and by whom the penalty is taken off Therfore the Discipline of the Church of England in this case is wholly Antichristian Lastly forasmuch as Prelates doe necessarily draw after them a Traine of Ceremonies as a Chaine of so many links wherwith they captivate ensnare and enslave the Consciences of men as their Motto is No Ceremonie no Bishop for they goe inseperably together like Tobie and his Dogge and the Church of England in her Discipline and Church-Service is wholly captivated by the Masters of such Ceremonies the Prelates and some Ceremonies are such as even doe deny the Lord that bought them as namely Altars and their Service and all the Ceremonies imposed upon the Conscience deny Christ to be the onely King of his Church all these taken together what between the Prelates and between their Ceremonies the Church of England and her Discipline is become Antichristian and therfore no marvail if for this cause good Christians that have knowledge and make Conscience doe Seperate from communion with any such Church CHAP. V. Wherein some other Passages of the Prelate are taken tripping though he would run away with it That his Hierarchie is Jure Divino HE saith * For the Calling and Authority of Bishops over the inferiour Clergie that was a thing of known use and benefit for preservation of unity and Peace in the Church And so
much St. Jerome tells us Though being none himselfe he was no great friend to Bishops And this was so seiâ—ed in the minds of men from the very Infancy of the Christian Church as that it had not been to that time contradicted by any So that then there was no Controversie about the Calling The difficulty was to accommodate their Precedenciesâ— And the ‡ Ordine Primus whereof there was a necessity falling to the Roman Prelate by reason of the Imperiall Seat this was the very fountaine of Papall Greatnesse the Pope having his Residence in the Imperiall City So he Now for Answere hereunto First for the Authority of Bishops or Prelats over the Inferiour Clergie as he calls it first he must prove their Calling before he can make good their Authority Now Prelates have no such Calling from God And the Apostle saith ‡ No man taketh this honour unto himselfe but he that is called of God as Aaron So Christ glorified not himselfe to be made an High Priest but he that said unto him Thou art my Son to day have I begotten thee Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec But that the Prelates have no such Calling from God the Prelate himselfe as before is noted doth as good as confesse saying § Among Bishops there was effectuall Subjection respectively grounded upon Canon and Posuive Law in their Severall Quarters Ergo this was not jure divino And if not where is their Authority then And therfore as the Prelate saith of the Popes Supremacy in being the Sole Living Iudge in and over the universall Church †Neither saith he hath he power from Christ over the whole Church to doe it nay out of all doubt 't is not the least Reason why De Facto he hath so little Successe because De Jure he hath no Power given So I may say as truly of all Prelates who challenge to be the living visible Iudges as before is shewed which is one maine part of their usurped Authority over the Ministry that they have no such Power from Christ over their severall Diocese Provinces or Quarters to doe it nay out of all doubt 't is not the least Reason why De Facto they have so little Successe because De Jure they have no Power given According to that in the Prophet * Behold saith the Lord I am against the Prophets that steale my word every one from his Neighbour Behold I am against the Prophets saith the Lord that use their tongues and say He Saith Behold I am against them that prophecie false dreames saith the Lord and doe tell them and cause my people to erre by their lyes and by their lightnesse yet I sent them not nor commanded them therefore they shall not profit this people at all saith the Lord And this is the very case of the Prelates they are faise Prophets they steale Gods word from the people of God and instead thereof use their own word prophecying false dreames saying The Lord saith the Lord hath sent us we have our Calling and Authority from God over all Ministers we are the sole living visible Iudges in matters of Faith and Religion so as all must rest in our Iudgement according to our own Canons and Constitutions c. thus causing simple people to erre by their lyes and by their lightnesse yet the Lord hath not sent them nor commanded them they have no Calling and so no Power and Authority from God and therfore the Lord is against these false Prophets and because he hath not commanded them nor sent them therfore they shall not profit the people at all But Secondly the Prelate saith that his Prelaticall Iurisdiction over the inferiour Clergie was a thing of known use and benefit for preservation of unity and Peace in the Church Now first for his Inferiour Clergie Clergie being appropriated to the Ministry is an abusive Monopoly and usurpation for all Gods people redeemed by Christ are his kleros his Lot or â—nheritance whereof the word Clergie is derived As Peter saith writing to the Presbyters ‡ Not as Lording over tâ—n kleron Gods heritage but as ensamples to the flocke So that the flocke of God are his kleros his heritage But to passe over this Secondly he tells us of an Inferiour Clergie he meanes his Priests and the rest as Archdeacons and so forth to the number of 7 Orders as they call them A rabble of Orders not unsutable to the Subjects of a Lord Prelate as being all of them of humane devise and institution of which their Hierarcâ—ie is made up another word of mans invention which some call rather ‡ Hierodoulia but what holy Orders Christ hath left in his Church we shall see anon Thirdly this was saith he a thing of known use and benefit Of the known use we have formerly spoken But now what 's the benefit Namely for the preservation of unity and peace in the Church How proves he this From S. Ierome who said That one was chosen over the rest in Sckismatis remedium to remedy Schisme in the Church But by the way these very words of Ierome doe argue that Prelates were of humane Institution for unus electus est one was chosen I â—rgo of men But lerome speaks more expresly which the Prelate wisely passeth over dry foot where he saith that Prelacy was set up humana praesumptione non Institutione Divina by humane Presumption and not by Divine Institution Well but had it that successe the Prelate speaks of Did it produce the fruitfull benefit of unity and Peaâ—e Or what unity Or what peace Indeed we find by wofull proof that this Hierarchy was the very egge of which the Cockatrice Antichrist was hatched so as the Hierarchy consisting of so many Prelates grew at length coâ—lescere to grow together into one Antichrists â—n body whereof the Ordine Primus came to be the head And herein unity and Peace are so conjoyned as they have made up one intire new Catholicke Church that whereof the Prelate professeth himselfe with the Church of England and of Rome and all other Prelaticall Churches in the world all other not Prelaticall as the Reformed Protestants beyond the Seas excluded as before is noted to be in all which this his Catholick Church as * elswhere he saith hath its existence Which Prelaticall Catholicke Church is the verâ—head and body of Antichrist Even as the Prelate tells us that the Ordine Primus the Roman Prelate having his Throne in Rome This saith he was the very fountaine of Papall Greatnesse So I may say The Prelacie or Hierarchie was the very fountaineâ— whenâ—e hath issued the maine Ocean of thâ—se ‡ many waters over which the Whore sitteth which though it be distinguished into many severall Seas of so many Prelates yes all make up but one Maine Sea as it were one Catholicke Church And this is that unity and Peace the benefit of both the constitution and preservation
whereof is to be ascribed to the Hierarchy of Prelates over their inferiour Clergy Thirdly where he saith Though S. Jerome being no Prelate himselfe he was no greâ—t friend to Bishops Hence I note onely the conceit of the Prelate that he thinks none can speake against Prelates but such as are none themselves as if it were onely a matter of envie But as the Poet said Dic mibi si fiâ—l tis Lâ—â— qualis erisâ— Tell me if thou thy selfe wert a Lion what manner of man wouldst thou be So the Prelate imagines that if any of those that speake against the Authority of Prelates were themselves Lions that is Lord Prelates they would be of another mind they would then say We Prelates have Authority over all Inferiour Priests Jure Divino we are the Sole visible living Iudges to determine and resolve all doubts in matters of Faith and Religion we are the Sole Masters of Ceremonies to bind all men to Canonicall obedience to all our Canons and Constitutions we enjoy honours pleasures riches ease delights of the world favours in Court and what not Thus the Prelate thinks all men would be of his mind were they in his Place And I thinke so too thus farre that they who take upon them the Prelacy they no sooner sit in that Chaire but it proves a Chaire of Pestilence unto them infecting and corrupting mans very reason and judgement so farre as to make him beleeve all is gold that glistereth Onely few come to that Chaire but such as are selfe-infected with their own imbred Plagues as pride Ambition Covetousnesse and that in a high Degree So as King Iames being once asked why he had made so many Bishops in Scotland and not one honest man amongst them all he replyed saying By his Saule there was never an Honest Man wad tack a Bishopricke And Histories tell us of many holy men that utterly refused Bishopricks And there is never a true Reformed Protestant Minister but hates a Bishoprick as he doth the Throne of the Beast But Fourthly saith the Prelate This to wit Anthority of Bishops was so settled in the minds of men from the very Infancy of the Christian Church as that it had not been to that time in the 4th Age or Century contradicted by any No doubt but such a brave and bonny thing as a Prelacy would find Grace enough in the world and quickly sink down and settle in mens minds and affections But what 's this to the purpose as to prove it a Calling from Godâ— But this was saith he from the very Infancy of the Christian Church Surely the Prelacy in the very Infancy of the Christian Church either had no being at all iâ—rerum natura or was but a misshapen Embrio or infant in the Mothers belly as Esâ—â— was at the same time in his Mothers belly with Isaac yea and would have claimed the blessing of the birth-right too from Isaac because of his antiquity And did not this young Babe wrastle with 〈◊〉 in the wombe when the Apostle saith The Mystery of iniquity doth already works and this young Prelate wanted but time and opportunity to grow up to be a Nimrod even the great Antichrist as we shall see further anon So as to plead Antiquity of the Prelacy even from the very Infancy of the Christian Church is yet no good Argument to confirme their Authority to be jure divino For even Satans Kingdome had existence in the world before Christ was Promised And the Kingdome of heaven to wit of 〈◊〉 here is described to be such as no sooner was the wheat of the Gospell sowne but that wicked one had his Supersemination of Tares of manifold â—rrors such as sprung up even in the Apostles times the very Infancy of the Church But had not been till that time which the Prelate speakes of contradicted by any That I must now contradict For first as before is shewed Christ forbad it upon the first motion of it Secondly the Apostles of which we shall speake by and by mightily contradicted it and cryed it down as being that monstrous mystery of Iniquity And thirdly it was contradicted by sundry as by 〈◊〉 But you will presently say that Epiphanius ranks him even for that very opinion only that he held Prelates not to be de jure divino or that the Degree of a Bishop was no greater then that of a Priest in the Catalogue of Hereticks And so am I also content upon the same termes to be by the Prelates counted for an Hereticke But Secondly himselfe confesseth S. Ierome to have contradicted their Authority as we noted before saying that their Institution was meerly of humane Presumption Yea and thirdly Augustine that Famous light was of the same mind with Ierome So as some of the Learned in the * Councel of Trent alledged both of them in this point So that contradicted it was and had been and that by many and some of them as Christ and his Apostles of Divine and Infallible Authority So as without all Controversie Prelaticall Authority over other Ministers is no Calling of God at all which we now come more fully to shew by the Testimony of the Apostles both in their Doctrine and Practise CHAP. VI Wherein is shewed that according to the Scripture Preshyters and Bishops are all one without difference so as he which is a Presbyter is called Episcopus a Bishop and a Bishop a Presbyter THe first place of Scripture that proves this is in Acts 20. where the Apostles called together the Presbyters or Elders of the Church of Ephesus as ver. 17. which Elders or Presbyters in v. 28. he calls Episcopus saying Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flocke over the which the Holy Ghâ—st hath made you Episcopous that is Overseers as our English renders the word or Bishops to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood From which words it is manifest First that Presbyters and Bishops are all one and the same Order Calling and Office Secondly that in the Church of Ephesus there were many Bishops or Presbyters Thirdly that they had their Calling from the Holy Ghost Fourthly that their Office was to feed the Flock of God over the which the Holy Ghost had made them Overseers And for this Cause such are called elsewhere * Pastors and Teachers right Shepheards indeed that feed the Flocke of God Now will our Prelates say First that they are those Episcopi What more contrary to their Canons and practise For First they doe not allow that every Presbyter be called a Bishop nor to be of the same Order Calling and Office For they say that the Order Calling and Office of a Bishop or Prelate is distinct and different from that of the Presbytery Secondly the Prelates have an old Canon that there must be but one Bishop in one City or Diocese But here we see the Church of Ephesus that one City had many Bishops in
and the Holy Ghost Now as we received the Holy Ghost by hearing of Faith preached So this Spirit of God doth guide us into all truth by and according unto the Scripture And as the Holy Ghost is as I may so say § begotten in us by the Seed of Gods word Sown in our hearts though properly we are begotten again by the Holy Ghost so this Holy Ghost is as it were nourished and preserved in us by and through the word of God even as the light of the Lamp is nourished by the Oyle or as the breath goeth with the voyce or word spoken or as the blood hath its course in the veins or the vitall Spirits have their Sâ—at in the heart or as the Animall Spirits in the braine when they are derived into all the parts of the body in the Arteries and veines so as all the members are thereby actuated and moved And as the Philosopher saith of naturall bodies * A'panta trephétas tois aâ—utois e'x o`pér e`isi All things are nourished by selfe same Substance whereof they are begotten or have their beginning or beeing So in a sort it may truly be said that as we begin Spiritually to live by the Holy Ghost through Faith by the Preaching of the word of God So this Holy Ghost in the severall graces and operations there of is preserved and as it were nourished in us by the continuall ministration of the food of the same word in our Soules Or in a word the Holy Ghost hath no operation in us either for instruction or illumination or consolation or corroboration of any Grace in our Soules but in and by or according to the word of God So as besides Gods written word there are no revelations of the Spirit to be expected in Gods true Church Secondly therefore the promise of the Holy Ghost to Christs true Church and Children succeeding the Apostles even to the end of the world is made good to all and every particular member of Christs Mysticall body whether Ministers or People so as in the matter of their faith and whatsoever appertains to their salvation they are by Christs Spirit guided into all truth being led by the rule and light of Gods word which to those that are in Christ never goes unaccompanied with the Holy Ghost For even as * so many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of Godâ— So as If any man have not the Spirit of Christ the same is none of his So none are led by the Spirit of God but those that are led by the word of God And therefore as Christs Spirit dwells in all his so his ‡ Word also For these two are inseperable the Holy Ghost teaching us no other things but what we find written in the word of Christ To which purpose Christ saith When § the Spirit of Truth is come be will guide you into all truth for he shall not speake of himselfe but whatsoever he shall heare that shall he speake Now the whole Scripture is Christs word this the Holy Ghost receiving from Christ revealed to his Apostles or as Christ saith †brought to their remembrance and the Apostles commited those things to writing as the Holy Ghost directed them for our both instruction and remembrance So as if * any Speake not according to this word it is because there is no light in them Whatever Spirit men bragge of not indurcing the Law and Testimony of the Scripture it is without light a counterfet Spirit a lying spirit And this is that very Spirit of Antichrist and of his Prelates who to advance their own Canons and Decrees and to cry up their usurped Antichristian Authority in taking upon them to be the onely visible Iudges in matters of faith as * before we have noted of our Prelate of Cantâ— as if they had the Spirit of Infallibility and were the onely men of Gods Privy Counsell and the onely Privilegiats not to erre doe so much depresse viâ—ifie and cry down the Authority and Sufficiencie of the Scripture as if it were a ‡ dumbe dead and blind Iuâ—ge having not so much light in it as is sufficient to demonstrate it to be the word of God but what it must be beholden to the Authority and Tradition of the present Prelaticall Churchâ—or But â— ye blind Guides § To the Law and to the Testimony for while ye Speake not accordiag to this word but contrariwise blaspheme the same it is a manifest signe that there is neither light nor ‡ life in you Come we now to prosecute the remainder of the former particulars propounded the second generall whereof is the Practise of the Apostles as they were Ministers of the Gospell whose example all true Ministers imitating are said to be their true Successors And first of this Practise in regard of Doctrine to wit in their Ministy of the Word and Sacraments First for their Doctrine it was sound and sincere the very word of God which they preached with all diligence and good Conscience exhorting other Ministers also to the like diligence and faithfullnesse in preaching as 2 Timâ— 4. 1 2. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Iesus Christ c. Preach the word be instant in season out of season c. Thus did the Apostles But doe our Prelates thus First do they preach diligently Are their Sermons any more then 2 or 3 Festivalls in the yeare And doe they preach sound Doctrine Nay as the Apostle there saith They will not indure sound doctrine they neither preach it themselves nor permit others And instead of exhorting Ministers to be diligent in preaching and teaching the people they flatly forbid them to preach so ofâ—en as twice on the Sabbath or to expound the Catechisine for instructing the People Thus they are enemies of Gods word and so of the salvation of Gods people Are these men then Successors of the Apostles Againe for the two Sacraments the Apostles administred them duly according to ‡ Christs institution not varying one title from it they neither detracted any thing from iâ— nor added ought of their own inventions Now doth the Prelaticall Catholicke Church wherein that of England and of Rome are both one and the same and doe professe one and the same faith and Religion as our great Prelate saith noted before thus Now Romes detractions and additions we all know But what hath the Prelaticall Church of England done in this kind 1. Doe they not detract both from Christs institution and from the dignity of the Sacraments while they set dumb Priests no better then Masse-Priests to administer Doe they not detract from Baptisme while they doe as much debase it in comparison of the Lords Supper as they doe exalt this which they * call the Great Eucharist in comparison of that Do they not administer that neere the Belfrey or Church-door the lowest part of the Church as they estimate it
as there is a denyall of Christ in deeds But what it is to deny that Iesus is the Christ This is a point indeed very considerable To deny that Iesus is the Christ is to deny that Iesus is the Auointed King Priest and Prophet So as never any were anointed to all these 3 Offices And therefore Christ was said to be ‡ anointed above his fellows And for that cause he is called here o' Kristòs The Anointed Now then to deny that Iesus is the Christ is to deny that Iesus is the onely King the onely High Priest and the onely Prophet of his Church But to apply this doth the Pope and so our Prelates deny that Iesus is thus the Christ Yes they do First for the Pope it is manifest that he denyes Iesus to be the only King of his Church because himselfe takes upon him to be King over the Church sitting as God in the Temple of God shewing himselfe that he is God as before is shewed Secondly he not onely sets up other High-Priests in heaven as whom he makes Mediators of Intercâ—ssion and so he denyes Christs High priesthood in heaven whose Office alone it is to make Intercession within the vâ—ile as was typed by the High Priest Heb. 9. but the Pope also makes himselfe the High Priest on Earth in forgiving of Sins and in Sacrificing and offering up a Breaden Christ for a propitiatory Sacrifice wherein also every Masse-Priest usurps Christs Priesthood on the Crosse And Thirdly he denyeth Iesus to be the onely Prophet to teach his Church taking upon him to be the Sole Oracle and unerring Iudge in matters of Faith These might be inlarged but I hasten And a word in things so cleare is sufficient Now for our Prelates Do not they too deny that Iesus is the Christ Doe not they deny him to be the only King of his Church by their usurping of his throne and dominion over the Consciences of Gods people in matters of faith and Religion by imposing their manifold Canons and Ceremonies as before is shewed And Secondly do they not deny that Iesus is the onely High Priest while themselves with the Pope and their false Priesthood take upon them to forgive Sins Yea and doe they not labour to come home to Rome in setting up their Altars with their Priests which must needs have a sutable Sacrifice some Host so as thereby Christ is denyed to be the onely High Priest who offered up himselfe on the Crosse once for all Thirdly and Lastly doe they not deny Iesus to be the onely Prophet of his Church while themselves usurpe the Office of being Iudges of the Sâ—ripture and of the Controversies of Faith making their Dictates to be received for Doctrines and their determinations though in things erronious in the Faith to bind all men to peace and obedience Which being so the Conclusion is that as the Pope is the grand Antichrist so Prelates are so many Antichrists For saith the Apostle Who is a lyer but he that denyeth that Iesus is the Christ He is Antichrist And thus we see how these hypocrites who are so Superstitiously and Idolatrously devout in their worshiping of the Name JESUS prove themselves notorious Antichrists in denying Iesus to be the Christ to be the only King Priest and Prophet of his Church CHAP. IX Wherein the Prelates usuall Allegations out of the Scriptures by them perverted or other by them pretended are answered AS there hath been no Heresie nor Hereticke so grosse but he could alledge some Scripture or other for the maintenance of his Heresie if his own carnall sense might be the Intepreter and Iudge So our Prelates though their pretended Title of Iurisdiction be in some cleare Scriptures so expresly condemned both by Christ and his Apostles as hath been shewed as were sufficient to confound them and put them to perpetuall silence yet they leave no Stone unturned under which they might find but some worme for a baite to deceive the Simple Fish And therfore where they find but the least shadow or appearance or resemblance which may present to their fancy and imagination some aëry Image of their Hierarchie that they set up for all men to adore Now let us see what starting holes they find out for themselves in the holy Scripture First they alledge those Postscripts in the end of Pauls Second Epistle to Timothy and of that to Titus where in the one Timothy is said to be first Bishop of Ephesus and in the other Titus first Bishop of the Church of the Cretians These say they were Diocesan Bishops ordained by the Apostle And here say they we have Scripture for it Ergo we Bishops have our Authority Iure Divinâ— To both which places I answere First That those two Postscripts are no part of Canonicall Scripture or of the holy Text For as the learned Beza hath well observed they were not found in the most ancient Greek Copies nor yet in the vulgar Latin Translation no not to this day These were additions of some Monks that were made some hundred yeares after the Apostles So as in Ieromes time they were not extant as the Translation that goes in his Name can testifie which hath no such Postscrips Secondy our former and ancienter English Translations though they have those Postscripts yet they are put in a small character different from that of the Text that all men may take notice they are no part of the Text Although our All-Innovating Prelates of late have in the newer Impressions inlarged their Phylacteries in putting those Postscripts in the same full character with that of the Text that the Simple might beleeve they are Canonicall Scripture Thirdly Timothy and Titus are no where in Scripture called Bishops Fourthly Suppose they were such Bishops as the Scriptures approve of as before is shewed doth it therefore follow that they were Diocesan Bishops Lording over the Presbyters as our Lord Prelates doe Let them shew us that But fiftly it is cleare by Scripture that Timothy and Titus were neither Dioceâ—an Bishops nor yet Bishops of a particular Congregation such as the Scripture commends unto us Not Diocesan Bishops for first as yet there was no distribution of Diocese that came in afterward And secondly they were not tyed to any Residence either Diocesan or Parochiall And neither as yet was the Church divided into Parishes Now the reason why Timothy and Titus were no such Bishops is because they were * Euangelists whose Office was to attend upon the Apostles and to be sent by them now to one Church now to another and that in remote Countries and farre distant one from another where they stayed no longer then the Apostles thought expedient having occasion to imploy them in other places as we may read Tit. 1. 5. and 3. 12. Phil. 2. 19. 23. 2 Cor. 8. 16. 18 19. and 12. 17 18. Col. 4. 7 8 1 Thess. 3. 2. 5 and in sundry other places So as Timothy and Titus and other Euangelists