but otherwise let us not be bubled out of our Senses either by the Jus Divinum of Episcopacy or of Presbytery while by one is meant the English Hierarchy or the Seotch Church Government by the other Do not all Learned Men know that Pope Leo the Great who began his Popedom about the Year 440 in his 87th and 90th Epistles is express for a pular Election of Bishops And altho' Pope Symmachus in the latter end of the Fifth Century about the Year 498 endeavoured to exclude the People from the Election yet Pope Celestine the Second in the Year 1143 was the first Pope made without the Peoples Election even in the See of Rome where Priesteraft did most prevail And now in England the Dean and Chapter chose the Bishop in Pursuance of an Act of Parliament and by Authority from the Crown Hierom and Eutichius are express that in Alexandria from Mark their first Bishop one of the Presbyters was chosen to be Bishop by the rest So that the Presbyters could make a Bishop for we read of no Bishops that Ordained or Consecrated Him when so chosen which is the Practice in England The Learned Vsher acknowledges that the Presbyters Power which I plead for is taken from Him in England only by Law and may by Law be restored And yet because an Episcopacy was early in the Church the English Prelacy must be put upon us to be Jure Divino Take it as it is Jure Humano and I have not one word to say against it And 't is plain that notwithstanding the noise now made about the Jus Divinum of Bishops as a Superiour Order to Presbyters that was not the Sense of the Church at the Restauration of King Charles the Second for if it had the Lords Spiritual would never have agreed to the Stat. 12. Car. 2. Cap. 17. which restores Ministers Ordained by any Ecclesiastical Persons before the 25th of December then last past Alass Sir Christ himself and not the Apostles Ordained the Seventy Philip the Deacon sent Christianity into Abasinia where it still is by the Aethopian Eunuch who was no Bishop that I know of and yet they had Ordained Ministers before they received an Abuna or Archbishop from the Patriarch of Alexandria Let the Priests be Governed in all Countries as they are most Governable it hinders not but we may be all of the same and not of opposite Principles but of the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion I don't pretend to determine how far the Civil Power may enforce Reveal'd Religion but I hope all Christian Princes and States will take care that the Priests add not to or diminish from our Christianity in any Form and let them be Governed as they may but for God's sake let Discipline be restored and then 't is no great matter in what Form the Priests are managed Let every Minister who has the Cure of Souls be enabled to exercise Disciplinam Christi which I am sure is Jure Divino and perhaps the Reduction of Episcopacy to the Form of Synodical Government by Archbishop Vsher tho' not Jure Divine would be found so agreeable to Reason suitable to Primitive Practice and accomodate to the Ends of Discipline that a due Consideration thereof might in a while bring all Christian Churches into the same Form of Government without the Pretence of a Jus Divinum for it Let us have no Laws about the Matter of Reveal'd Religion but what are at least plainly justified by the Scripture and not be hampered by the Priests Additions in any Form and Discipline will be easie and without Difficulty But if the Parish Minister may not Excommunicate a Notorious Convicted Atheist Deist Blasphemer Idolater Prophane Swearer Sabbath-breaker Abuser of Parents Murderer Adulterer Thief Perjured Person Extortioner Barretor and such like but must complain to the Diocesan and an Appeal must lie to the Archbishop the same Reason may carry it to the Pope tho' our Laws justly prohibit it So in the other Form of Government if such a Criminal after Conviction by Law may appeal from his Pastor to the Sessions thence to the Presbytery thence to the Synod and thence to the General Assembly the same Reason will carry it to a General Council and I think there ought to be one Appeal more in such Cases viz. to the Day of Judgment Indeed if Priests may make us a Horse-load of Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical and load us with Ceremonies of which St. Augustine in his Second Epistle to Januarius complains that the Condition of the Jews was more tolerable than of the Church in his Time which was the 5th Century and the Transgression of every one of them shall be a new Sin there may be need of Appeals nor will it be sit to trust a single Person to teaze a Parish for not submitting to Priestcraft But the Laws of God are plain the Duties required by Christianity are well known and I am so far from Abridging the Ministers of the Gospel of their just Power that I think 't is a horrid shame that they have not more 'T is an excellent Passage cited out of Mr. Chillingworth by the late Author of a Discourse called the Principle of the Protestant Reformation I am fully assured that God doth not and therefore that Man ought not to require any more of any Man than this to Believe the Scripture to be God's word to endeavour to find the true Sense of it and to Live according to it The Bible the Bible I say the Bible only is the Religion of Protestants But though I agree with the Author page 5. That a Person by Baptism is not made a Member of any particular Church but only of the Christian Church Universal yet I conceive that he is wretchedly out when he insinuates That there is no Part of Primitive Church Communion which might not have been performed by a Woman as well as a Man and that a Woman 's Narrative would have been part of the Gospel Because that Bible tells me not that our Saviour had any She-Apostles or Evangelists Indeed Priscilla as well as Aquila did instruct Apollos but so may any good Woman instruct her Friend without being a Church-Officer And the Context of that Passage 1 Cor. 11.21 which he quotes seems to insinuate as if this Fancy of a Female Officer had got footing in the Church of Corinth but the Apostle tells us That the Head of the Woman is the Man ver 3. and that she ought to have Power or a Covering on her Head So far from being heard that she was not to be seen And in the next Chapter v. 28 29. he speaks of Church-Officers but of no She-Ones And again Chap 14. v. 34. He is plain in the Case Let the Woman keep Silence in the Church for it is not permitted to them to speak and so 1 Tim. 2.12 Again I think he is strangely out when he says page 11. That there is no absolute Necessity for
when all the ends of the Earth shall fear him Psal 67.7 and his Name will never be Hallow'd to purpose Mat. 6.9 10. nor his Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven till this Kingdom of his be come Third Proposition The Methods which Men have taken to attain Peace have been various Conquerors have endeavour'd it by making Mankind Slaves and reducing the World under an Universal Monarchy Mark 9.38 Luke 9.49 54. The Apostles themselves began to be Tempted by the Antichristian Spirit and were for bringing all under their Master by Silencing first and then by Fire from Heaven Popes have attempted it The Reason of this is Plain if the Pope be Antichrist and his Reign extended to 1260 Years by pretending to Infallibility and Councils by making Canons Some Places have labour'd to attain it by an Inquisition and others by Penal-Laws concerning doubtful Matters of Speculation And of them all except the Apostles who were afterwards better Instructed we must conclude with the Apostle The way of Peace they have not known or at least not practised to walk therein Fourth Proposition Ever since the Fall of Man this Lower Creation hath been a Stage of War Gen. 3.15 the Seed of the Woman and of the Serpent have been in constant Action 1 John 3.8 Our Saviour came to Destroy the Works of the Devil Eph. 2.2 whilst the Spirit that works in the Children of Disobedience keeps up his Works with all Diligence and therefore there is no Peace saith God Isai 57.21 to the Wicked Peace without Holiness is impossible and the World seeks it in vain The Apostle Instructs us to follow Peace with all Men and Holiness Hebr. 12.14 and the Prophet assures us Isai 32.17 That the Work of Righteousness shall be Peace and the Effect of Righteousness Quietness and Assurance for ever And that when God hath wrought all our Works in us Isai 26.12 He will Ordain Peace for us Fifth Proposition It is therefore Impudent Folly for men to Apprehend that they can have Peace with one another while they are at open Enmity with God He that hath all Mens Hearts in His hand will manage them so that his own Word shall be Establish'd if Men will not join in the Practice of Things in the Theory of which they all agree they will be still the Instruments of Divine Vengeance on one another And therefore if Magistrates would labour for Peace they must lay the Foundation thereof in the Reformation of Manners and be very Cautious of making Laws about Matters of Speculation For our Saviour hath told us John 1.17 That if any will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine the way to know more is to Practise what we do know Otherwise Sixth Proposition While Men Dispute with Vehemency and turn Divinity into the most Abstruse and Exquisite fine Notions they make Christianity unintelligible and distinguish all Religion out of the World They Impose on the Credulous confound mean Capacities divide Christians into Sects and every Sect Adores its own Distinguishing Character till if the Question be what Religion a Man is of 'T is Answer'd A PAPIST A CHVRCH OF ENGLAND MAN A PRESBYTERIAN AN INDEPENDENT AN ANTIPOEDO BAPTIST But no Man does and who can truly answer I 'm a Christian Seventh Proposition True Religion is the Bond of Union Isai 11.9 When the Earth shall be full of the Knowledge of the Lord as the Waters cover the Sea Isai 2.4 Mich. 4.3 then Men shall beat their Swords into Plow-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Then Nation shall not lift up Sword against Nation nor shall they learn War any more then nothing shall hurt or destroy in all God's Holy Mountain And since it is evident that although Actions are Belief is not within the Power and Reach of Humane Law and that the Generality of Mankind never will without a Miraculous Power and Extraordinary Revelation agree on the Matters so hotly Disputed even among Protestants 't is worth the while to consider what are the probable Means which the Scripture hath Reveal'd and which it is our Duty to Use for attaining an Universal Peace among Christians There is a Rock on which our Saviour promis'd to build his Church that the Gates of Hell should not prevail against it So solemn a Promise requires a Serious Consideration for as the Papists taking it to be the Person of Peter and his Successors have by that Mistake concerning this Rock laid the Foundation of the Antichristian Kingdom so the Kingdom of CHRIST MEDIATOR is truly and surely built upon this Rock which our Saviour intends in that Promise and that is Matt. 16.18 That JESVS CHRIST IS THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. Ye believe in God John 14.1 believe also in me was the Substance of our Saviour's Doctrine and the Apostles Creed I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God was Martha's Creed Mark 16.18 John 11.17 And he that Confesseth That Jesus Christ is come in the Flesh God dwelleth in him and he in God John 1.4 It is the end of Writing the Gospel and this saith the Apostle is the Word of Faith That if we confess with our Mouth the Lord Jesus John 20.31 Rom. 10.8 9. and believe in our Hearts that God hath raised him from the Dead we shall be saved And accordingly upon his Profession of the Creed Acts 8.37 I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Ethiopian Eunuch who before believed in God was Baptised and the words of Baptism instructed him as they do us in the Foundation of the Christian Church And before any other Creed was made the Effect of this Creed was Miraculous both with respect to the Holy Lives of those that profess'd it and the great Encrease of the Number of such Now what was sufficient in the first Ages was so to after-Ages and is so now 1 Cor. 3.11 For other Foundation can no Man lay than that which is laid already was a Truth in St. Paul's Time The Apostles Creed and the other Creeds subscribed to by the Church of England are not Additions to but Paraphrases of this Creed or Truths which necessarily follow from the Belief thereof and many of the Articles thereof were added in After-Ages in contradiction to the several Heresies which rose at several Times to the endangering that Foundation For Instance Iraeneus Adv. Haeres Lib. 1. cap. 19 20 21 22 23 c. all the Hereticks mention'd by Iraeneus wherewith the Devil vext the Church for the first Three Hundred Years were for a Plurality of Created Gods whom they held also to be Creators and for this reason it should seem were those Words MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH added which were not in the Creed called the Apostles for many Years as appears in the Symbol recited by Marcellus Ancyranus in the Confession of Faith which he
Vindicated And the Unreasonableness and Mischievous Tendency of the Odious Distinction of a King de Facto and de Jure Discover'd by the Honourable Sir Robert Howard 8 vo Mr. Addy's Stenographia Or the Art of Short-Writing Compleated in a far more Compendious Way than any yet Extant Octavo Also the Whole Bible in the same Short-Hand curiously Engraven on Copper-plates Cambridge Phrases for the Use of Schools by A. Robinson M. A. Octavo Orbis Imperantis Tabellae Geographico-Historico-Geneologico-Chronologicae Curiously Engraven on Copper-plates Remarks on a late Discourse of William Lord Bishop of Derry concerning the Inventions of Men in the Worship of God Also a Defence of the said Remarks against his Lordship's Admonition by J. Boyse 8 vo A Preservative against Deism Shewing the great Advantage of Revelation above Reason in the Two Great Points Pardon of Sin and a Future State of Happiness With an Appendix in Answer to a Letter of Mr. A. W. against Revealed Religion in the Oraracles of Reason by Mr. Nathanael Taylor 8 vo Mr. Woodhouse his Sermon preach'd to the Societies for Reformation of Manners in the City of London Octavo Mr. Calamy's Sermon to the same Societies Mr. Shower's Sermon to the same Societies 8 vo Mr. Williams's Sermon to the same Societies 8 vo Mr. Alsop's Sermon to the same Societies 8 vo Mr. Shower's Mourners Companion being Funeral Discourses on many Occasions In Two Volumes Octavo Mr. Shower's Sermons on Isaiah LV. 7 8 9. 8 vo A Plea for the late Accurate and Excellent Mr. Baxter and those that speak of the Sufferings of Christ as he does In Answer to Mr. Lobb's insinuated Charge of Socinianism against 'em in his late Appeal to the Bishops of Worcester and Dr. Edwards With a Preface directed to Persons of all Perswasions to call 'em from Frivolous and Over-eager Contentions about Word on all sides 8 vo A Funeral Sermon occasion'd by the Death of Mrs Jane Papillon late Wife of Thomas Papillon Esq preached July 24. 1698. and now publish'd at his Request by John Woodhouse 8 vo A Brief Concordance to the Holy Bible of the most Useful and Usual Places which one may have Occasion to seek for In a new Method by Samuel Clark M. A. Mr. Nathaniel Vincenes Funeral Sermon Preached by Mr. N. Taylor A Sermon Preached at a Publick Ordination in a Countrey Congregation by Mr. S. Clark London-Dispensatory reduc'd to the Practice of the London Physicians Wherein are contained the Medicines both Galenical and Chymical that are now in use Those out of use omitted and those in use and not in the Latin Copy here added By John Peachy of the Colledge of Physicians in London Mr. John Shower's Discourse of Tempting Christ His Discourse of Family Religion in 3 Letters His Life of Mr. Henry Gearing Mr. George Hammonds and Mr. Matthew Barker's Discourses of Family Worship Written at the Request of the United Ministers of London Mr. Gibbon's Sermon of Justification Comfort in Death a Funeral Sermon Preached upon the Death of Mr. Timothy Cruso late Pastor of a Church in London who Died Novemb. 26. 1697. by Matthew Mead. Mr. Samuel Slater's Earnest Call to Family Religion being the Substance of Eighteen Sermons Mr. William Scoffin's Help to true Spelling and Reading Or a very easie Method for the Teaching Children or elder Persons rightly to Spell and exactly to read English Monro's Institutio Grammaticae Clavis Grammatica Or the ready way to the Latin Tongue containing most plain Demonstrations for the regular translating English into Latine Mr. Hamond's Sermon at Mr. Steel's Funeral Mr. John Mason's little Catechism with little Verses and little Sayings for little Children Catholicism WITHOUT POPERY The Second Part. In a LETTER to Sir Humphrey Mackworth Occasioned By his late Discourse ENTITULED Peace at Home By John Hooke Serjeant at Law LONDON Printed for J. Robinson at the Golden Lyon in St. Paul's Church-Yard and J. Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey 1704. TO THE Christian Reader ABout the Year of our Lord 375 Themistius the Philosopher who was also Consul at that time told the Emperor Valens that there were 300 Opinions or Sects among the Philosophers far more than there were among the Christians and yet they never Persecuted one another This he said to dispose that Emperor who was a Persecuting Arian to be favourable to the Orthodox And soon after the Emperor Theodosius being incens'd by the Bishop of Rome against Flavianus Bishop of Antioch the good Bishop thus appli'd to tho Emperor as 't is reported by Theodoret Lib. 5. Cap. 23. O Emperor if any Man do blame my Faith as perverse or my Life as unworthy I am content to be Judged by my Adversaries but if the Disputation only be concerning Principality and eminent Places I will not contend with any Man but denude my self of all Superiority and commit the Chair of Antiochia to whom you like best Had the Spirit of this Philosopher and of this Partriarch prevailed in the Christian World how much Mischief and Misery had been prevented which fill the History of all Ages since that time 'T is now more than 20 Years since I became most deeply affected with the State of Christianity I oft stood in a Melancholly Amazement that since the Blessed Jesus had been in this World 1 Jo. 3.5.8 to take away Sin and destroy the Works of the Devil and altho' his Commission to his Apostles was to disciple all Nations 28. Mat. 19. yet at the distance of above 1640 Years not one fourth part of the World should bear the Christian Name That deducting from that part the Churches that lie in gross Ignorance or gross Idolatry and among the Reform'd Churches the Persecutors the openly prophane the grosly ignorant such as deny the Fundamentals of Christianity and the Ordinances of Christ who yet will be called Christians I was tempted to abuse that Passage of the Apostle 2 Gal. 21. Then Christ is dead in vain But it was not long before I had framed in my Thoughts a more pleasing Scene of Things which I fancied I saw in the Prophetick part of the Scripture and if I be mistaken I own my self exceedingly beholden to the Mistake having in the Years that are since past enjoyed many a comfortable Hour in the prospect of the approaching Glory of the Christian Church Thus when Men in a Storm discover a safe Harbor how chearfully do they cry all hands aloft how diligent is every one to do his utmost to recover the Port. I do not intend to trouble the Reader with any account of my Endeavours to promote what I so much much desire further than is necessary to justifie or at least to excuse setting my Name to the following Discourse I have been long perswaded that Christianity must recover it's Primitive Purity before it can obtain its promis'd Peace I don't mean its Primitive Poverty or Persecution but its Comformity to the Scriptures which are the only Means of Vnion and Peace and its
being freed and deliver'd from the Corruptions and Errors which have been introduced into the Christian Church by Hereticks by the Ambition and Tyranny of Priests and the Ignorance and Folly of the Laity At the late Revolution I presumed to present to the late Queen of Pious Memory some Thoughts on this Subject in Manuscript the Substance whereof was afterwards Printed under this Title Catholicism without Popery c. In the Preface to which short Discourse the Reader may find this Passage viz. If this Attempt may stir up the Spirits of others whose Parts and Qualifications are equal to such an Vndertaking to offer better Means to the same End In magnis voluisse sat est I shall greatly rejoice to be confuted by Proposals of better Expedients But no Man having been stirred up to the Vndertaking and my Practice agreeable to my Principles having rendered me Obnoxious to the Enemies of Peace I could no longer forbear to publish to the World what I judged necessary at the same time to vindicate my own Integrity and to promote the Interests of Genuine Christianity I need not any other Excuse than what I made to the Person who presented that former Discourse to Her late Majesty A Passage Recorded by all the Evangelists That it was a Lawyer that took care of the Body of our Blessed Saviour Matth. 27.57 Mark 15.43 Luke 23.50 John 19.38 when Crucifi'd at the Instigation of the Priests And while some Priests of all sorts are Crucifying his Mystical Body a Lawyer may have leave to Rescue it in hopes of its speedy Resurrection I hope I may with great Assurance use those words of Erasmus in his Epistle to the Bishop of Trent before Irenaeus Good hope possesses my Soul Itaque bona quaedam spes habet animum meum fore ut hanc Ecclesiae tempestatem Dominus inscrutabili suo concilio vertat in bonos Exitus Excitetque nobis Irenaeos aliquot qui compositis dissidiis pacem orbi restituant that God by his unsearchable Council will give a good Issue to this Storm in the Church and will raise up for us such as Irenaeus who by composing Differences may restore Peace to the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek signifying Peace that Father surely was Baptized very late or his Name was given by Prophecy But alas what possibility is there of Peace if the Priests continue so fond of their respective Parties that they will venture to trespass against their God against their Sovereign against Truth Scripture Charity and Reason to maintain their own Follies Of which we have a fresh and notable Instance in a late Discourse before the Queen Entituled Of the Imitation of Christ in which the Author appears to be a Person of good Learning and I hope serious Religion a Master of good Language and well read in Scripture yet has offered that to his Sovereign in the Name of God and as the Imitation of Christ which is false and Unscriptural a Notion mention'd by Papists Irrational and uncharitable The whole Passage runs thus Tho' one great end of his coming Page 13. was to take away the Ceremonial Part of the Law of Moses yet as long as it was to last how careful was he to preserve in it Decency and Order How readily in the mean time did he comply with all indifferent and harmless Rites much more those that were instructive and significant He Celebrated the Passover but an hour before the Substituted his Holy Supper in its Place He observed all the Festivals of the Church not only those that were of Divine Appointment but the Feast of the Dedication it self a Feast purely of humane Institution and no older than Judas Maccabeus It was sufficient to him that it was ordained by the Church of the which he was then a Member nor did he take upon him to question the Authority in so innocent a Right And what he practised himself he expresly commanded his Disciples to imitate The Scribes and Pharisees says he sit in Moses's Seat all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do Which by the way is an unanswerable Authority for the Churches Right in ordering Matters of Ceremony and Things indifferent For surely the Jewish Church was at that time corrupt enough to be denied that Priviledge If it were ever fit that such a Priviledge should be denied the Church And if Christ thus taught and practised Obedience to a Corrupt Church what must be thought of those who refuse it to a pure one If he submitted to all the Jewish Rites so numerous so dark and so burdensome what can they plead in their Excuse who disdain to comply with the Ceremonies of our Church so few so rational and so discreet They must not they cannot justly take it ill to be told that however they may flatter themselves they do not abide in Christ because they do not walk as he walked The things advanced in these words with which I am so free are these That our Saviour complied with all the Rites of the Jews which he calls indifferent and harmless That he observ'd a Festival of the Churches Institution viz. the Feast of Dedication That he commanded his Disciples to imitate him therein and that therefore they who do not comply with the Ceremonies of our Church do not abide in Christ because they do not walk as he walk'd Now 1. All this is false and Unscriptural for he justified his Disciples not washing their Hands before Dinner 15 Mat. 9.7 Mark 7.9 11 Luke 38.39 and told the Jews that in vain did they worship God teaching for Doctrines the Commandments of Men many Passages of like import are found in the New Testament and surely no Rite could be more indifferent or harmless than that 'T is also false that the Feast of the Dedication was Ordained by the Church for the place which he quotes tells us that it was Ordained by Judas Maccabeus and his Brethren with the whole Congregation of Israel 1 Mac. 4.59 which is rather the State than the Church and so Josephus tells us that Judas succeeded to the Command of the Army that he had the Publick Administration put into his Hands and that the People appointed that Anniversary Nor does it appear that our Saviour observed that Feast Josephus 336.338 by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Text says that he walk'd in the Temple in Solomon's Porch or Gallery which was without the Temple Joseph Lib. 8. Cap. 2. 3 Acts 11. 1 Kings 6.3 or Place of Worship but what then Suppose a Dissenter or an Occasional Conformist should on the Feasts of the Conversion of St. Paul or of St. Barnabas which were added to the Holy-days of the Church at the Restauration of King Charles the Second to shew the Parties Inclination to Unity and Peace walk in the Porch of St. Paul's would this be taken for Conformity 'T is also false that he commanded his Disciples to imitate him in
any such matter The Text quoted must be understood only of the Doctrine of Moses taught by the Scribes and Pharisees for our Saviour elsewhere bids them beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 16 Matt. 12. 8 Mark 15. and explains his meaning to be their Doctrine And all the Ceremonies commanded by Moses himself were such as the Lord commanded Moses 'T is therefore for these Reasons false that those that submit not to human Inventions do not abide in Christ or that they do not walk as he walk'd and the contrary appears by multitudes of Texts and the Apostle was afraid of those that observed Days and Months and Times and Years 4 Gal. 10.11 least he had bestowed on them Labour in vain 2. 'T is of Popish Original for tho' it is not the first time that I have met with this wise Observation from that Party yet I believe it will be first found in the Exposition of the Popish Seminary of Rheems upon that Place who on the word Dedication say This is the Feast of the Dedication Instituted by Judas Maccabeus Christ vouchsafed to honour and keep that Feast Instituted by him And our Hereticks vouchsafe not to pray and sacrifice for the dead used and approved by him The Dedication also of Christian Churches is warranted thereby with the Annual Memories thereof and proveth that such things may be instituted without any express Commandment in Scripture Now I won't be so uncharitable as to say that Mr. Duke took his Notion from this Passage yet I must own that I do believe it has been derived down to Mr. Duke in a true Succession from this Rhemish Seminary It is observ'd by another of the Party who proposes a Re-union with Rome Case of the Regale Page 257.259 262. that if the Terms of Communion were once so modelled as to heal our Separations the Disputes about the particular Points would soon dwindle when there was no Interest to be served by them Now the particular Points to which he refers are Purgatory Invocation of Saints half Communion Prayers in an unknown Tongue Images Transubstantiation Adoration of the Host and the Pope's Supremacy but notwithstanding these things opening our Communion to one another may be procured he says without any Crime at all Alass good Reader and will not these disputes hinder Communion But the Papists must be allowed Occasional Conformity and must Disputes about Ceremonies exclude Christians whose Religion is all in the Bible from being in Christ These things are Popish all over 3. 'T is irrational for can any Man in his Wits that is not strangely infected with Priestcraft believe that one great end of our Saviour's coming was to take away the Ceremonial part of the Law of Moses which was Instituted by God himself even so particularly that the Colour of the Lace the Tingling of the Bells 28 Ex. 28. 28 Ex. 35. 26 Ex. 5.6 the number of the Loops and Taches of the Tabernacle were determined and that he yet should leave it to any Mortal Man or Men to Institute another Ceremonial Law and make Obedience to it necessary to Christian Communion Suppose the Jewish Church in our Saviour's Time had made a Canon that Circumcision should not admit into the Church but that after the Child was Circumcised he must be received into the Church by Printing the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil on his Forehead can any Man believe that our Saviour would have allowed such an Addition to the Divine Institution Besides suppose that it were clear that our Saviour did observe the Feast of the Dedication there is no reason for any such Conclusion from such Premisses as this Author draws from them if the Dissenters scrupled to observe the 5th of November the Cases might be something paralled it being an Anniversary appointed by the State to commemorate a National Deliverance above 1500 Years after the Establishment of the Christian Religion But suppose the Jewish Church had besides the Sabbath appointed one Day to remember the Creation of the Light another Feast to Commemorate the making of the Firmament a third to bless God for making the Sun and Moon and a fourth for the Creation of Man and a fifth for the Creation of Eve a sixth to remember Abraham's going out of Ur a seventh for Noah's going into the Ark and so forth what can we think our Saviour would have said to such Institutions Again whereas at the Institution of the Passover 12 Ex. 11. the People were to eat it with their Loins girt their Shoes on their Feet and their Staffs in their Hands suppose the Jewish Church had made a Canon that all should kneel when they eat the Passover can we imagine that our Saviour would have approved of such a Canon altho' it doth not appear that he took the Posture to be any necessary part of the Institution 4. Surely I need not use many words to shew that this Censure is Vncharitable when the Papists in the Irish Rebellion had made the Protestants turn Papists they knock'd them on the head while as they said they were in a good Mood that they might send them to Heaven but this Author turns Men out of Christ and consequently sends them to the Devil tho' they comply with the Gospel in every thing to be found from the beginning of St. Matthew to the end of the Revelations This is no part of the Imitation of Christ I think it an exceeding strange effect of Priestcraft that ingenious Men should be thus grosly mistaken but that when they have made whip Syllabub nothing will serve them but to present it to the Queen this is rude and ridiculous I believe in my Conscience that Her Majesty understands and practices true Christianity and imitates our Saviour acceptably to God and much better than any one of Mr. Duke's Party and I do not believe that she is in any danger of being misled by such Guides But Her Subjects are not so wise and it may make People Surfeit of a Dish when they are told that it was at the Queens Table especially when every thing but the Sauce is really excellent I am abundantly satisfied that the true Reason that Christianity has lost ground in the World is the Priests pretending to be wiser their the Scriptures would make them All the Books of Irenaeus written in the 2d Century are one continued Proof hereof He charges those against whom he wrote that they pretended to observe more then was commanded which he Animadverts upon as preferring their own Diligence to God himself 'T is with him a concluding Argument that such things are not in Scriptures and therefore no part of Revealed Religion Acoording to their Doctrine says he Peter was imperfect and so were the other Apostles and it behoves them to rise again and become these Men's Disciples but this adds he is ridiculous And says St. Hierom Omnia ea quae absque Testimonio Scripturarum
quasi tradita ab Apostolis asseruntur percutiuntur Gladio Dei Hier. in Agg. long after the 4th Century All those things which are asserted as delivered by the Apostles without the Testimony of the Scriptures are smitten with the Sword of God For it seems when Irenaeus and the other ancient Fathers had exposed all Vnrevealed Parts of Revealed Religion the Lovers of Priest-craft would have introduced some things as Revealed tho' not written but conveyed down by Tradition But I must not enlarge at least at this time on this Subject only having some Reason to know the Original of the Charter granted by the late Glorious King Willian Establishing a Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge I earnestly intreat the Reader to consider the Consequence of these Additions to Christianity with respect to that Design If I were now to apply my self to an Indian to instruct him in the Christian Religion I would appeal to his Experirience that Nature is corrupted and shew him the History thereof in the Scriplures 3 Gen. 5 Rom. 12.18 I would appeal to his Reason that Sin deserves Punishment and that Justice must be a Divine Attribute and shew him the same things in Scripture 34 Ex. 7. 45 Is 21. 3 Rom. 26. I would appeal to his Reason and shew him in Scripture what a loss Mankind was at to find out an Atonement that thousands of Rams and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl would not suffice 6 Mic. 6.7 8. not the First-born the Fruit of the Body for the Sin of the Soul But that notwithstanding all that Man could do 49. Ps 7.8 the Redemption of the Soul was so precious that it must have ceas'd for ever Then I would shew him only by Revelation out of the Word of God That faithful saying and worthy of all Acceptation 1 Tim. 1.15 that Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners and so proceed to Preach the Gospel to him and to instruct him out of the New Testament The suitableness of such a Propitiation for our Sins sufficient to satisfie Divine Justice and the Cravings of a wounded Spirit seeking Means to make Satisfaction thereto was in my Opinion the true Reason of the Progress of Christianity in the first Ages of the Church and will be so when rightly enforced to the yet Vuchristianiz'd Part of the World And the Man by this time would be very willing to believe those Scriptures to be the Word of God And the Proof thereof would be very agreeable to him Account of the Proceedings of the Society by Mr. Stubbs or as an Indian King lately exprest himself that there was a Saviour born for Mankind But when he had rejoyc'd in Christ Jesus and hugged his Bible and read in the end of it and elsewhere Deut. 4.2 22 Rev. 18.19 Prov. 30.6 the Curses pronounc'd against those that diminish from it or add to it and desired to be Baptized with what Face could I tell him that he must not be admitted to have any benefit thereby unless he will constantly submit to divers things not to be found there and that unless he did so he was both for God and Baal Wou'd he think it a decent thing to add to the Institutions of such a Redeemer But I will not enter into Particulars if the Design of the following Discourse do prevail these Matters will be considered by wiser Heads but by none who wish more the Glory of the Christian Church and particularly of that part of it in England than Your Christian Friend J. HOOKE CATHOLICISM WITHOUT POPERY SIR IN your Preface to your late Discourse Entituled Peace at Home you have rightly observed That the Controversie which is the Subject Matter of that Discourse ought not to be carried on with Heat and Passion but fairly debated with Reason and Moderation not by unknown Persons who may be Jesuits or Deists but by such as dare own their Principles and will endeavour to Reconcile our Differences and not inflame them I hope that an Acquaintance of some Years hath sufficiently convinc'd you that I am neither Jesuit nor Deist And I dare appeal to your Conscience whether I have not given you undeniable Evidence of an Affection to the Church of England and a desire not to keep up but to reconcile our Differences not to promote Parties and Factions but Peace and Unity not for the sake of any private End or Interest whatsoever but for the sake of Truth and for the general Good Thus far therefore I conceive my self to be such a Person as you wish your Answerer should be But because you and the Writers of your Party have taken the liberty to accuse Men of my Principles as Hypocrites as unfit to be Guardians of Children or Executors of Wills as dispensing with our Principles for the sake of an Office as setting up an Arbitrary Dispensing Power in our own Consciences as acting contrary to our Original Principles as if Occasional Conformity were such an Offence as in inconsistent with the Publick Safety and Occasional Conformists Persons sit to be rank'd with Papists Deists and Socinians I have thought it my Duty thus to acquaint you that I have also that other Qualification to become your Answerer That I dare own my Principles But alass to what End were your Applications made to Her Majesty on Occasion of the late Bill since by your own Confession the Fears and Jealousies of those who are Members of the Church of England and of those who dissent from it And the Matters in Controversie arising from those Fears seem in a fair way to be determined to the Satisfaction of all Parties by Her Majesties Gracious Speeches from the Throne That Her Majesty will always make it Her particular Care to encourage and maintain the Church as by Law Established and to maintain the Act of Toleration for the ease of Dissenters Give me leave to add alass to what end did you erect a Pompous Frontispiece before an Epistle Dedicatory a Preface a Discourse and a Postscript and all these on a Subject of which you seem to know no more than if you had lived in Turky or under the Great Mogul I mean the Principles of the Occasional Conformists for I had rather impute your unaccountable Mistakes concerning them to Ignorance than Insincerity And unless they be understood your Discourse in behalf of the Establish'd Government in Church and State of Uniformity Establish'd Religion and Establish'd Constitutions seems Calculated and may indifferently serve for the Meridian of Edenburg Geneva Paris Rome or Constantinople and with a small Variation of Names may be publish'd in behalf of the Constitutions in Church and State in all those places I take leave therefore to inform you That the Description of the Occasional Comformists is true which is given by the Author of a Letter to a Clergy-man concerning the Votes of the Bishops in the last Sessions who divides them into two sorts such as prefer the Worship of
the Church of England for a Constancy but hold the separate Congregations to be Lawful Churches and think themselves obliged in Conscience sometimes to Communicate with them tho' I had rather call such Occasional Dissenters and such as prefer the Worship of Dissenters for a Constancy but hold the Worship of the Church of England to be Lawful and think themselves obliged to testifie their Charity by Communicating sometimes with it who are properly Occasional Conformists I take leave also to inform you That both these sorts of Occasional Conformists do believe the Apostle's Creed and particularly the Holy Catholick Church or as the Nicene Creed has it They believe One Catholick and Apostolick Church They acknowledge the 19th Article of the Church of England That the Visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of Faithful Men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments be duly ministred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same That neither sort of these Occasional Conformists find any such Article in any Creed as this I believe the High Church-Party of the Church of England And thus believing they thus Reason He that believes the Holy Catholick Church takes himself to be a Member of that Church and consequently believes it his Duty to refuse Communion with no Party of Christians whose Communion does not necessitate him to Sin and no Communion of Christians who are a Visible Church of Christ within the said Description given by the said 19th Article do necessitate him to Sin They make a great difference between the Use of a Ceremony or any indifferent thing about Religion and the Imposition thereof as necessary to Communion in the Ordinances of Christ and again another difference between the Imposition thereof by any particular Church or Division of Christians on those that Communicate with them and the Separation of that Division of Christians by such Ceremony or indifferent Thing from the rest of the Catholick Church The Use therefore of a certain Ceremony is what they do not scruple as wearing a Gown or Surplice Standing at the Creed Kneeling or Standing or Sitting at the Sacrament according to the Usage of that Party of Christians with whom they Communicate Again They don't scruple the like Ceremony tho' they be imposed by the Government on any National Church or Party of Christians so as they be not made Parties to the Imposition or compelled to declare their Approbation thereof by Word or Practise It is their Judgment That all Religion is Natural or Revealed That there is no Revealed Religion nor any part of it which is not found in the Word of God That nothing ought to be imposed amongst Christians as a Term of Communion which has not its Warrant from thence according to the Sense of the Primitive Church and the whole Protestant Church at the first Reformation And they think it absurd to talk of Unrevealed Parts of Revealed Religion It is therefore their Opinion that if any Party of Christians make a Law That whoever communicates with them must use such or such an Unscriptural Posture or Ceremony and must not have Communion with any other Christians who use not the same altho ' true Churches according to the said 19th Article of the Church of England and this under the Penalty of being starved or any other severe Penalty they take that Party of Christians to be such as the Psalmist speaks of Psal 94.21 who frame Mischief by a Law They think that such Party of Christians do thereby set up an unaccountable Schism in the Catholick Church and separate themselves from it by setting up their Posts by God's and their own Thresholds by his and their making a Wall between him and them so that the Schism lies at their Door and not at theirs who in Contradiction to such a Law continue Members of the Catholick Church They are of Opinion that the Roman Catholicks are justly charged with the greatest Schism that ever was in the Christian World because they separate themselves from the Catholick Church by their new Articles of Faith and Notorious Idolatries which they impose as Terms of Communion but they pretending that the things which they impose are necessary and to be comply'd with on Peril of Damnation are not therefore so Self-condemned as that Party would be who should by such a Law concerning things indifferent separate themselves from all the rest of the Catholick Church The Occasional Conformist therefore by his Communicating with the Church of England declares That he takes it to be a sound Part of the Catholick Church and his Communion with it is Communion with the Catholick Church and not with a Party He Communicates with it because he Agrees with it in all the Essentials of Christianity tho' he Approves not of its Impositions And his Communion with other Protestants is Communion with the Catholick Church of which he takes them also to be a sound Part. By the first he declares himself an Enemy to Separation by the second to unnecessary Impositions by both a Catholick Christian And he is the more confirmed in this Practice because of the plain Tendency of the Unscriptural Terms of Communion which the High Church-Party would establish to a Re-union with Popery as is obvious to any Person who shall seriously consider them And for satisfaction therein I would refer you to avoid Repetition to the Preface of a little Discourse entituled Catholocism without Popery where this Matter is particularly Considered And the Notions therein advanc'd have been effectually Justified by the Oracle of your Party the Author of the Case of the Regale Pontisicat a Book written directly against her Majesty's Supremacy and which has received a Second Edition which asserts That the Dissenter will neither take nor give quarter will neither propose nor accept any Terms of Reconciliation Page 255. and cannot for that unless only for that Reason be angry at the High-Party's seeking or offering Reconciliation with others who may be better disposed and that the whole and only difference between that Party and the Church of Rome Page 244. and which hinders Communion is the Extents of the Pope's Supremacy which the Galliean Church have thrown off as well as they But that all the difference between the Popish French Church and the Church of England are so far Reconcilable as not to hinder Communion And proposes in the First Edition a Treaty between our Convocation and the General Assembly of the Galliean Bishops and Clergy and complains in the Margin of the Second Edition pag. 263. That the English Convocation not being suffered to sit while that of France lasted rendered any Treaty betwixt them impracticable And pag. 179. proposes it plainly as a means to this blessed End that a Bill should pass to render all those that go to Meetings uncapable of any Place of Trust or Profit in the Government And that this must be the
Sorbon condemned it because they believed it to be written by a Jansenist but some Years after a Spanish Bishop having Translated it into the Spanish Tongue and Publish'd it with the Approbation of the Doctor 's of the Holy Inquisition Pesonius â— Hayer turned it into French Dedicated it to the Queen Publish'd it with the Royal Priviledge and the Approbation of the Doctors of the Sorbon And thus have I known a fierce Scotch Presbyterian sit with Reverence and Attention for a long time while one of my Acquaintance rend diverse parts of the Common Prayer but as soon as it was discovered how the Person was entertained my Friend who was a tall Man was glad to make the best use of his long Legs And here I will mention an Observation which I have frequently made That if you hear a Man declaring that no Man can be serious in the use of the Common Prayer nor worship God thereby with Fervency and Affection 't is forty to one that the Man never tried On the other hand if you hear a Person exclaiming against Extempore Prayer calling it Cant and Nonsense 't is as many to one that he never heard an Extempore Prayer in his Life but now there is one Occasional Conformist to my knowledge and I believe some thousands that have joined in worshipping God by the Common-Prayer a thousand times and have also joined in Worshipping Him as often with those that use no invariable Form who can testifie with great Assurance that both those sorts of People are wretchedly mistaken who can tell you that they know no reason why Christians should not agree in a Form as to the Matter of Prayer as well as of Belief or why those who make no scruple to sing the Psalms in Metre by Sternhold and Hopkins which is for the most part but a wretched Form of the Matter of Praise should scruple the Common Prayer which is much nearer Scripture Language than the aforesaid Version of the Psalms That it is a very agreeable Consideration that many Thousands of Pious Souls are at the same time joining in Adoring God in the same words as well as Desires without Idolatry and without any of the Additions made by the Papacy to the Christian Religion and in the best Liturgy in the World Especially when they consider that the 4 living Creatures improperly call'd Beasts in our Translation and the 24 Presbyters or Elders which represent the Christian Church are represented as constantly using the same Form of Thanksgiving and the like Forms are found 5 Rev. 9 12 13. 7 Rev. 10 12. 11 Rev. 17 18. 15 Rev. 3. 19 Rev. 1 2 6 7. And the same Persons can at the same time assure you that they never heard Cant or Nonsence among those who pray without a Form but for the most part the Expressions taken out of the Scripture the Prayers generally Premeditated Methodical Reverend and fervent accommodated to the various Circumstances of the Interests of Religion in the World both at home and abroad and the various Dangers or Judgments under which the Nation may be and to the Blessings of Heaven received They that so pray are never hindred from giving Thanks for Victories because 't is Lent nor from Humiliation under Judgments because 't is Christmass They usually have respect to the Subject Matter of the following Discourse which is a very good Preparation for Attention and a Means of obâ—aining a Blessing on the Sermon They can ingeniously and suitably accomodate their Devotion to the Circumstances of Families or Persons in Matter of Prayer or Thanksgiving for which it is impossible that any or all the Liturgies in the World can suffice Again these Occasional Conformists sinding that the blessed Spirit as a Spirit of Grace and Supplication is to convert the Jews Zach. 12.10 that in the 8 Rom. 26. The Assistance of the Spirit in Prayer is exprest by a word alluding to a Person who being to lift at a Beam has one that helps him to lift both at the end of which he has hold and at the other end too or signifying such a help as when one that is strong taketh up a Burden over-against another who is too weak and also sets his Shoulders against the other to lift up the Burden 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from these and other places of Sacred Scripture they are apt to gather that the Assistance of the Spirit in Prayer ought not to be confined I say confined to an invariable set Form of Humane Composure or only to enable the Minister to read a Prayer Audibly and Reverently nor are they willing to understand the Act of Uniformity in such a Sense as this That from and after the 24th Day of August 1662 neither the Parts nor Learning of any Minister of the Gospel nor the Gift of Prayer nor the Assistance of the Spirit in the Matter of Prayer should be of any further use in the Publick Worship of God They think it possible that Men may make an Idol of Words as well as of Wood or Stone and they are afraid that where the Spirit is rejected as a Spirit of Supplication he oft refuses to act as a Spirit of Grace And herein on Consideration I do verily believe that the good Church-man and the Occasional Conformist are of the same Mind But further as to all the Matters in Controversie between the Church-man and the Presbyterian and Independent as well as between Him and the Occasional Conformist which concern Matters of Ceremonies and Humane Additions such as the Sign of the Cross at Baptism the Posture of Kneeling at the Sacrament and the Surplice your Oracle above-mention'd has agreed That it is lawful for the Church to dispense with their Rites and Ceremonies and if lawful then necessary to heal the Schism of the Dissenters Page 247 That if they would all agree which of the indifferent things would purchase their Reconciliation the Church would readily grant it for so good an End Page 254. Indeed in another Form viz. As a Wolf strip'd of his Shepherds Cloathing he has been howling about the Streets for some time against the Dissenters and Occasional Conformists Protestants Jesuits Hellish Doctrines Diabolical Seed Fruit of Blood Massacre and all Wickedness Wild Enthusiasm Laodicean Latitude which God abhors Evil Beasts always Lyars Hideous Blasphemy Furious Phanaticks Impudence and Blasphemy Grin of a Lion Asses-ears Cloven-foot Thus in the compass of a few railing Pages beginning with the Jesuit and ending with the Devil and after all Page 59 complains of it as a heavy Charge against his Party That they do not treat the Dissenters in the Spirit of Meekness yet he tells us in that very Treatise Page 3. That the High Church should have little Quarrel with the Dissenters about all the Objections they make as to Habits Ceremonies Liturgy and even the Grand Point of Ordination by Presbyters in case of Necessity and where a Bishop could not be had if it were not for that
fulsom word Schism If they did not gather separate Congregations and set them up in Opposition to the Church they would be no Dissenters notwithstanding their different Sentiments as to the Points before mention'd for there are those in the Communion of the Church who may differ in Opinion about those things and may Reason and Argue them over with one another without any Breach of Charity or of the Unity of the Church which requires not that all Men should be exactly of the same Opinion in Matters of Discipline nor nof Faith but of one Communion this preserves the Unity of the Church Well said Wolf when you speak of the Church do but mean the Church in your Creed and fare-wel the Occasional Conformist for he does none of those ill things you complain of but is Sir Humphrey your very humble Servant and very fit for an Office Page 80. Occasional Conformity has no ill Consequence and is far from inferring of no Church and no Religion at all I acknowledge with that Author that setling the true Notion of the Church and the Priesthood as Instituted by Christ is really of Consequence and therefore in that little Discourse Entituled Catholocism without Popery I did earnestly request that it might be done for the Reasons therein mentioned Page 4.5 6. And there is the more Reason to desire it because else 't is hard to judge who are of opposite Principles and not of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion especially since the aforesaid Oracle alias High Church Wolf tells us that the 39 Articles are not so much as Articles of Communion Page 16. far less of Faith He tells us that they are required from no Lay-men or any other but the Clergy who are in Office That there may be an Uniformity in the Doctrine publickly Preach'd So then Uniformity in Matters that are neither Matters of Faith nor Communion Constitutes the Church or is the Church-man then the Hypocrite instead of the Occasional Conformist being obliged to Subscribe and Preach a Doctrine in the Name of God which he does not believe and are the Ceremonies and Humane Additions more considerable in the Constitution of the Church than the 39 Articles But in truth this Matter ought to be search'd to the bottom and I am led to it by the same Author who in the beginning of that Discourse observes that there is a Mistake about the word Moderation for that it appears by the Context Page 1. the Original Word means a Patient and chearful Suffering of Afflictions So that instead of 4. Phil. 5. Let your Moderation be known unto all Men being a Text against Persecution it seems 't is a Text that supposes Persecution I must say that I never met with any Body that argued Indifferency as to Religion from that Text but surely 't is violently screw'd to make it favour Persecution Page 1. But 't is observed that this word is found but once in all our Bible and the word Clergy is found no oftner Page 2. and yet what work have we about that Word Laymen are not obliged to the Articles of the Church but only the Clergy who are in Office but how if the Laymen be the Clergy that is I mean God's Clergy or Inheritance for the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at least in that Sense is found no where in the Bible but 1 Pet. 5.3 where St. Peter having styl'd himself a fellow Presbyter exhorts the Presbyters to their Duty to feed the Flock of God which was among them as Bishops thereof not by constraint but willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready Mind neither as being Lords over God's Clergy which we read Heritage but being Ensamples to the Flock Now this Epistle being Written about the Year of our Lord 64 't is remarkable that he who was an Apostle and a Partaker of the Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Ghost above 30 Years before calls himself a fellow Presbyter which for some Reason or other our Translation reads an Elder and Exhorts the Presbyters which we read Elders to Episcopize which we read taking the over-sight But the thing which I would here observe is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the late Learned Scholiast Gregory reads it out of Oecumenius is not the Priests but the People however the Priests afterwards came to engross the Name One thing I would therefore desire of the Priests that they would let us in again for a Share at least and not believe that they only are God's Clergy or Inheritance I wou'd also intreat them that they would not be the Church because tho' that word is used in the New Testament about one hundred times yet it is not once used for the Ministers without the People I know 't is pretended that the Gospel of St. Matthew where the word is twice found but no where else in any of the four Evangelists it must signifie the Ministers but not to enter now into that Controversie 't is strange that in the other 99 Places it should signifie no such thing and therefore since the People are 99 parts at least of the Church I would not have the Priests pass for the Church and if these two things be granted me I fancy we shall by and by come into a fair way of delivering the World from that Controversie about Episcopal and Presbyterian Government But I can't here omit to give you a short hint of what may perhahs be more fully discours'd elsewhere The Apostle Paul 2 Thes 2.3 Tells us that the Day of Judgment should not come till there had been an Apostacy or falling away and that Man of Sin be revealed and so goes on describing the Papacy most accurately But I must own that till I read Irenaeus that best piece of Primitive Christianity I never understood the meaning of that Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But that Primitive Father acquaints us that the Primitive Hereticks of whom Simon Magus was the Father Lib. 1. Cap. 30. invented a new sort of God's called Aeons of whom they imagin'd originally but four Lib. 1. Cap. 1. but were still adding new ones Lib. 2. Cap. 22. till they came to be 4380 according to the number of the hours of the Days of the Year and to carry on this Generation they began betimes to couple their Aeons as Man and Wife and one of the first couple wore Anthropos and Ecclesia Lib 1. Cap. 34. Vera Sanct Ecclesia so they called this same Goddess the Wife of Anthropos And his Anthropos they held to be above God Irenaeus Page 54 which exactly agrees with the Anthropus mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the aforecited Place And hence also we may gather who that Whore is that we read of in the Revelations even this same Wife of Anthropos which seems to me to be the Reason why in that whole Book after the third Chapter you never meet with
Maurice Pag. 438. are certainly accountable for those who Perish by their Neglect of their proper Office but will not be Condemned for not doing the Office of a Presbyter to all the Particulars of his Diocess But pray what is the Office of a Presbyter if those Passages of Chrysostom do not describe it It were much better and Honester to say the Bishop is the President of the Presbytery and not the sole Pastor of the Diocess he may have the Care of Souls in one particular Parish but every Parish Presbyter is a Bishop of his Parish and as such those Passages of Chrysostom concern him and not the Diocesan who by the 71 Canon of the African Code is forbidden to leave his Cathedral Church and go to any other Church in his Diocess to reside there This would be Plain Dealing and a better Answer to the Charge of consulting the Bishops Honour more than the good of Souls than to tell the Story of the Cappadocian whose Blood poison'd a Viper that bit him Def. of Di. Epis Pag. 107. This had made Mr. Maurice in the right and Mr. Clarkson wholly in the wrong in this Matter For after all the Pains that Ingenious Independent has taken Diocesan-Episcopacy rightly Understood is too hard for him but taking the Diocesan as the Sole Pastor of a Diocess these Two Gentlemen do most manifestly Confute one another and neither of them in Truth are for the True Primitive Episcopacy That Chrysostom was Bishop of Constantinople in this Sence which I give of Primitive Episcopacy is very consistent with the aforesaid Passages and his Practice does no more Contradict his Doctrine then Dr. Vsher being the Arch-Bishop Ardmagh is an Argument that he did not Write the aforementioned Treatise Entituled the Reduction of Episcopacy c. I see no way of saving the Souls of either of Bishop or People without Discipline I see no Possibility of Discipline without allowing many Pastors in every Diocess too big for the Inspection of a single Pastor who have the Power of the Keys and I do not diminish here by the Diocesans Grandure unless it be Claimed by the Institution of Christ who has forbid such a Claim in the most Express Terms and told us his Kingdom is not of this World neither He nor His Apostles would meddle with Government and altho' I think the 13th Rom. which has been much urged for Arbitrary Power and unlimitted Submission to the worst of Rulers signifies no such thing especially being Written in Neros Quinquennium when his Reign was suitable to the Apostles Description of it in that Chapter Yet that and many such Texts shew that the Apostles thought not of any such Hierarchy of Divine Institution as the High Party pretend to it is not the Business of the Ministers of the Gospel to meddle with Government other than Pastoral at least till the Apostles shall sit on Thrones judging the 12 Tribes of Israel and when that will be God only knows But of this I am sure that there have been many Heretical Councils that the Councils of Rome held by Gregory the III. in the 8th Century consisting of 903 Bishops almost Thrice the Number of the Fathers at the Council of Nice Decreed the Worshipping of Images Excommunicated the Emperor Leo and deprived him of his Imperial Dignity for Opposing Images And whereas the Councils of Nice in the 4th Century appointed 3 Patriarchs one in Rome another in Alexandria and the Third in Antioch with Power to Convocate within their own Bounds particular Councils for timely suppressing of Heresies this was so far from suppressing them that many of those Patriarchs were most Notorious Hereticks and the great Promoters of Heresy Eulalius Euphronius Placitus Stephanus Leontius Spado Eudoxius all Patriarchs of Antioch were Arians in the very same Century So was Lucius Patriarch of Alexandria And tho' Julius Patriarch of Rome and most of his Successors in that Age were a Refuge to the Orthodox yer Siricius in that Age forbad Marriage to Priests and their affecting Supremacy was very Visible And Liberius one of them is given up by Bellarmine himself as an Arian and these Pretences at last issued in the Papal-Empire But yet in short I know no Reason why a Minister of the Gospel may not be made by the Civil Government a Lord of Parliament nor why a Lord of Parliament may not become a Minister of the Gospel It were no Disparagement to the Emperor to be an Embassador for Christ 2 Cor. 5.20 And I was pleased with a Story that I heard of a certain Clergy-Man on whom an Earldom descended who Wrote himself Minister of Jesus Christ and Earl of K. He that receiveth them receiveth Christ and he that receiveth Him receiveth Him that sent Him I have the same Expectations with the Author of the Case of the Regale that many of the Promises of the Glory of the Church must be fulfilled in this World that there are Original Fundamental and Divine Powers with which Christ has invested His Church that there is a Discipline which Christ has left in his Church and which is absolutely necessary with which Princes cannot Dispense and which they may not Over-rule that she has an Original Independance from all Kings and States who ought to be Subject to her Discipline if they Profess themselves Members of her that Censures are still in her Power and that she cannot Recede from them and that they would still have their Effect upon all truly Conscientious and restore the now well nigh lost Notions of a Church and Religion but then all these things must be found in the Bible and Men may as well make an Act to Burn the Bible Pres Pag. 23. as set Up for Rights Powers and Priviledges Jure Divino which are not to be found there He is certainly in the right Pag. 25. that nothing can be believed to be Religion by any People but what they think to be Divine and they can think nothing can be so that is in the Power of Man to alter or Transverse I look on every True Gospel Minister as representing the Person of Jesus Christ and Reverence Him as His Ambassador but I have his Instructions in my Hand and he must not expect that I shew any Regard to his Demands beyond those Instructions Suppose a Treaty of Peace between the Emperor and the Hungaeians now in Arms who Accept of the Terms offered them by His Imperial Majesty but Prince Eugene would have Two or Three of his own Fancies complyed with or no Peace should be would not the Hungarians think him very Impertinent and Saucy would not the Emperor think Himself ill Served by him and would not all the World think him stark Mad The Application is easie And here Sir I could particularly shew you that Anthropos and his Wife did gradually Rob the Laity of their Reason the Bible of their Senses by what Degrees Priest-crast grew and Christianity decayed but I must not Enlarge having been
things are now set in the clearest Light a better Friend to the Church can never fill the English Throne the terms of Catholick Unity are well understood both by the Clergy and many of the Laity while the Church has stood upon Stilts * Ceremonies it has been sometimes bending towards Rome and at other times towards Enthusiasm but by this means it may be unmoveably fixt upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone And this in short is what I would offer on this Subject that her Majesty may receive the like Authority by Act of Parliament as that so often given to King H. 8. and after to Edw. 6. By this means instead of our being cursed once a Year on Ash-Wednesday the Church may obtain the Benefit of that Godly Discipline which the Rubrick wishes to be Restored The Liturgy of the Church of England may be made a Form to some and at least a Directory agreeable to all the Protestant Churches the Rights Powers and Priviledges of an English Convocation would be better understood and all the Attempts of the Factors of Rome and France would be defeated for ever And therefore to use the Word of the Author of the Reasons for passing the late Bill with a very little Variation they being as I conceive much more for my purpose than his Since the Security of Particulars that is the Innocent the Honest and Peaceable for no body I suppose means to incourage the wicked Seditions or to protect them in their Crimes Such as that High Church-man who has lately Publish'd a Latin Treatise to prove the present Church of England Schismatical At least this is not a Design that will bear the Light since the Peace and Prosperity of the Nation in General by the Encouragement of Industry and Increase of Trade by the Benefit and Comforts of Society by Dutiful and Chearful Submission to those whom God God has set over us in Church and State by a most Cordial and Loyal Obedience to Her Majesty and Grateful Sence of the Blessings we enjoy under Her Just and Prudent Government since the Wisdom and Piety of our Legislators the Sagacity of their Judgments the Weight and Authority of their Deliberations their Unanimity and Firmness in the Pursuit of fit and necessary Measures and the Nobleness of their Resolution in overcoming all Difficulties since the Honour and Felicity of Her Majesties most Auspicious Reign Her Reputation abroad and Interest at home the Praise and Veneration that will be paid Her now and that Renown that will attend Her to all Succeeding Ages for securing to all Posterity that unvaluable Blessing which was Established by Her famous Predecessor Queen Elizabeth of truly Glorious Memory And as Her Majesty was pleased to tell us very lately even Her present Satisfaction and what she has most at Heart And above all since the Interests of Religion and the Glory of God are so nearly concerned in this Business and that Temporal and narrow Aims may be cashiered Brotherly Love revived and the little things that divide us giving place to the more Weighty that ought to unite us We may henceforth only contend for the Faith which was once delivered and that Purity of Manners which is the necessary Effect of it Let us unanimously agree in enabling Her Majesty to give all that Security and Perfection to our most excellent Constitution which it may justly require at our Hands Nor is it the Church only that requires this 't is the State likewise which must stand or fall with Her For the sake then of our most Wise and Constituted Government which all Strangers envy and which we seem to pride our selves so much upon for the sake of our Most Gracious Sovereign than whom never any merited more at our Hands and who so pathetically presses us to perfect Peace and Union among our selves and who declares She hath nothing so much at Heart as the Welfare and Happiness of Her Subjects who manages that Treasure so carefully which we have seen formerly squandered away so profusely on French Intrigues and Whores loads her People with no Deficiencies but even Taxes her self to ease her Subjects and if the most shining Virtue and Goodness placed upon a Throne can affect us if she be as worthy to be trusted as Hen. 8. for the sake of our Countrey for whose Welfare we profess such a mighty Concern and of which we would be thought such Zealous Patriots for our own dear sakes that most powerful Motive with all Mankind and lastly even for God's sake for the Honour and Glory of his Holy Name which ought to weigh with us above all other Considerations Let us not after rejecting a Bill against Immorality be so fond of a Bill which tends only to Establish Ceremonies let us search the Scriptures and not French Presidents for the Means of Vnion least we be judged by our Blessed Saviour for rejecting the Commandments of God that we may keep our own Tradition Let us at last discern the things that belong to our Peace and God forbid that they should at any time this especially be hid from our Eyes And now Sir having offered to your Consideration such Principles as I my self act by and which I conceive are agreeable to the Opinion of most of the English Occasional Conformists and Occasional Dissenters and proposed an Expedient for the Establishment of the Church of England which I conceive far more likely to unite us than the late Bill if it had past and applied the Pathetick Arguments of one of your Party to this Expedient I shall next consider what ever seems to me remain unanswered in your Discourse And first I cannot but admire that you who have pronounc'd that Her Majesty is none of the three Estates of the Realm but the Sovereign Head of that Great Body should in the very same Page allow Her no more than a Councurrence with what Her Parliament should conceive to be reasonable for methinks conceiving what is reasonable should be at least as proper for the Head as the Members I must confess that I concur with you in believing that Her Majesties Allies would not have been offended at the Wisdom of that Bill had it past into a Law because perhaps they could not have discerned it and it would probably have been the more invisible to them because it was so conspicuous to all the Papists and Jacobites in England But as to the Prophetick Part of that Dedication how much the Dissenter would have been pleased to know the extent of his Priviledges or how contented he would be or what Advantage would accreue from such Gentle Methods or in the words of Maimburg to the French King Moyens deux voyes de Grace Maimbourg Epistle Dedicatory to the Life of Gregory the 1st or whether the first words of your Dedication do insinuate that there are some good Men who have no Sense of Religion no concern for
the true Interest of their Native Countrey nor any Duty or Gratitude to Her Majesty I must beg further time for Consideration I must also take time for further Thought or desire further Information what those Truths are which in your Preface you say you do with Deference and Respect to the House of Lords and in a decent and respectful manner endeavour to Establish for as to your two main Pillars other Hands have sufficiently shewed that they are far from being Pillars of Truth I am also with great Submission much surprized to be told Page 6. that the same Arguments were made use of against this Bill which were formerly insisted on for Repealing all the Test-Laws whatsoever for many of the Great and Wise Men in the Kingdom and more especially in Shropshire Herefordshire and thereabouts do well remember that the way to Peace at Home was with much Eloquence declared to be by Repealing those Laws when to Repeal them was manifestly to serve a Popish Interest and with no less Assurance when the late Bill was promoted when the same End would have been served tho' by quite contrary Means so that one at least of those Arguments would have been very acceptable to me who have always thought that the Reasons for Repealing those Laws in a Popish Reign were of the same Size with those that are urged for rendring those Laws more strict and severe in the Reign of a Protestant Queen Concerning this Matter therefore Preface to Peace at Home there are some Mistakes and Misapprehensions I doubt that do still prevail with some Persons and seem to call for a further Explanation of it And perhaps that the same Arguments were used for both these Purposes would be as considerable a Truth if it were made out as any other of the Truths endeavoured to be establish'd by your Discourse But tho' I was against Repealing the Test in a Popish Reign I Publish'd some Reasons for Repealing some part of it in a Protestant Reign which I have added to this Letter No. 1. for your Consideration That the Bill affected only those particular Dissenters who thought fit to Conform for an Office but would not Conform for the Unity of the Church is another of your Truths which needs to be establish'd because on the contrary it seems to affect my Occasional Conformist or rather Occasional Dissenter nay to be principally levell'd at him who conforms meerly for the Unity of the Church and not for an Office who endeavours to preserve the Unity of the Catholick Church from being rent as often as a Whimsey shall take any Sett of Men to be adding their own Inventions to Christianity and then to call themselves the Church to make a parcel of Ceremonies Articles of Communion whereas the 39 Articles of the Church are not so if you believe your Oracle One Truth indeed you have taught us out of the Preamble of the intended Bill against Occasional Conformity viz. That nothing is more contrary to the Profession of the Christian Religion and particularly to the Doctrine of the Church of England than Persecution for Conscience sake only It was therefore it seems to be Enacted to this effect That whosoever being in a Publick Office would not join himself to the High Church Party so as never more to Communicate with any other part of the Christian World altho' he believed the Holy Catholick Churah and endeavoured to shew his Faith by his Works should forfeit his Office and a Fine of 100 l. to the Prosecutor c. Now if the Man did Communicate with other good Christians out of Conscience as is abovesaid would not this be Persecution for Conscience only And pray Sir was not the danger of Establishing the aforesaid Truth the true Reason why that Truth was left out of the Preamble in the Second Edition of that Bill And this Question I ask you with the greater Freedom tho' with great Submission because this Truth being once in the Preamble of that Bill is used by you as an Answer to the Objection That they who think the being present at a Meeting to be so high a Crime can hardly think that Toleration of such Meetings ought to continue which by Reason of the said Truth being in the said Preamble you argue to be an hard not to say unwarrantable and uncharitable Censure on the Representatives of the People I don't say Sir That going to a Meeting is now by the Toleration Act Establish'd or made part of our Constitution thereby But I say that if the Creed be part of our Constitution if the Articles of the Church be another part and the Meeting be within the Description of the said 19th Article going to it is Established both by Law and Gospel But I apply to your Questions which I am willing to take as the chief Points and to expect a good Issue not from the Weakness but Strength of the Reader 's Judgment First Whether it be consistent with the Safety of the Established Government either in Church or State with the Wisdom of the English Nation with the Practice of any Wise Government in the World or with the true Intent and Meaning of the Corporation and Test Acts to admit any Person whatsoever into Publick Offices and Imployments relating to the Government either in Countries or Corporations who are not sincere Members of the National Church and who do not heartily approve of the Laws of the Land and chearfully pay Obedience to them Secondly And whether it is better to have the Administration of Publick Affairs in the Hands of Persons of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion or to have a mixture and confusion of Men of opposite Principles in one and the same Administration or in other words whether it is better to have all the Publick Officers draw together the same way for the Publick Good or to have some drawing one way and some another and thereby tearing the Government between them in pieces That is in short and in effect whether it is fit that the Corporation and Test Acts should be Enforced or Repealed Now that I may keep to the Subject Matter of the Debate I must take leave to divide these Questions into several Heads because they seem to me too perplex'd as they are stated and therefore seeing the Subject Matter is Occasional Conformity or Occasional Nonconformity First Let us consider whether the Occasional Conformist or rather the Occasional Dissenter be not a sincere Member of the National Church who heartily approves of the Laws of the Land and chearfully pays Obedience to them and whether he and the Churchman be of opposite Principles or of one and the same Perswasion in Matters of Religion Secondly Whether if the Occasional Bill had passed it had secured the Government from such who are not sincere Members of the National Church nor heartily approve of the Laws of the Land nor chearfully pay Obedience to them but are of opposite Principles and not