Selected quad for the lemma: scripture_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A94297
|
Of the government of churches; a discourse pointing at the primitive form.
|
Thorndike, Herbert, 1598-1672.
|
1641
(1641)
|
Wing T1055; Thomason E1102_1; ESTC R203782
|
63,264
|
216
|
Of the GOVERNMENT OF CHURCHES A discourse Pointing at the Primitive Form Printed by Roger Daniel Printer to the Universitie of Cambridge 1641. To the most Gracious JAMES Duke of Lennox Earl of March c. L. Warden of the Cinque Ports Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter and one of his Majesties most Honourable Privie Counsel his very good LORD MAy it please your Grace The advantage this slight worthlesse piece aimeth at in this addresse is of great consequence but of a civil and moderate nature It is no marvel if it desire to go forth under so great a Name that is not like to appear considerable to the world otherwise But the Countenance it demandeth is according as the cause may deserve more it must not expect from your Justice lesse it cannot expect from your Goodnesse If it fail of the Truth it is a Child rebellious to the Fathers intentions and according to the Law of Moses here he bringeth him forth to receive his doom If it have any thing considerable in a Cause wherein the world is so well informed long since my suit is that from your Graces hands it may be derived to the publick The Lord of Heaven and Earth blesse your Grace with happinesse of this life and of that which is to come So prayes Your Graces most humble Chaplain HERBERT THORNDIKE To the Lovers of Peace and Truth THat style must serve me for a Preface to this short discourse The love of Peace and Truth my hope is hath made some Impression in the reasons whereupon it proceedeth And it were a wrong to the world to think that those marks can be offensive My purpose was to contribute towards the true meaning of the Scripture in these matters If I have failed of it the attempt will deserve your excuse But my heart telleth me not that I have set any Text on the rack to make it confesse more then it means Ecclesiasticall writers I have for the most part stripped of the authoritie which their years merits in the Church have wonne and produced them as witnesses at the Bar of common sense to make evidence from the Historicall truth of their sayings The meaning of them is for the most part either translated by their words or expressed in the current of my discourse Sometimes it is left to every mans apprehension to value for when all is done men must and will be judges for themselves H. T. Faults escaped Pag. 16. line 18. ac providè reade ac proinde p. 34. l. 5. expressed r. expresseth p. 58. l. 3. because r. became p. 62. l. 19. these r. those l. 21. these r. those p. 83. l. 20. Synagogues r. Synagogue p. 85. l. 14. after else adde And the chief causes in Religion brought to no Court but this p. 87. l. 19. after writeth adde In Hilcoth Sanedrin cap. 1. p. 102. l. 9. those r. these p. 114. l. 10. Baptist r. Baptismo p. 119. l. 5. dispersing r. dispensing p. 129. l. 1. Tertullian r. Tertullian p. 131. l. 13. Toreh r. Joreh p. 140. l. 22. some r. sound p. 147. l. 24. alwayes r. alwayes p. 151. l. 5. after heart adde being p. 183. l. 11. and r. of CHAP. I. The Apostles eye-witnesses of our Lord and eare-witnesses of his doctrine S. Paul an Apostle Many personall qualities in them They were Governours of Churches HE that desireth to espie light at a narrow hole must lay his eye near if he mean to discover at large So must he be curious in considering the Scriptures that meaneth to discern those things that are not declared there at large but are collected by circumstance or consequence especially in matters which we view at this distance of time which representeth to us things done then through a mist of succeeding custome Those that seek for mines have their virgula divina a rod which they hold even-balanced over the place where they hope for a vein which if it hit right the rod of it self bendeth towards the earth Our Lord in the Gospel commandeth us to search the Scriptures as men would seek for mines or treasure let us keep an even balance of judgement not bowing but as the vein of truth swayeth it for if we put the grains of affection and prejudice into the gold-scales which we weigh nice truths with no marvel if the lighter go down Now because the question concerneth the Apostles time and the next to it and the purpose is to represent the form pointed at in Scripture by comparing it with such passages of historicall truth and primitive practice as shall seem best to expresse it let us in the first place consider the nature of their charge that it may appear how farre the Church reteineth a succession of it For true it is divers personall qualities are requisite in an Apostle because they were to preach the Gospel to all Nations They must be men to witnesse those things they had seen our Lord do those words they had heard him speak upon their own knowledge and therefore men that had conversed with him from the beginning of his doctrine It is that S. Peter required at the choice of Matthias Acts i. 21. Of these men that have companied with us all the while that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us must one be ordained for a witnesse of his resurrection with us It is that the same Apostle challengeth 1. Pet. v. 1. The elders which are among you I exhort who am also an elder and a witnesse of the sufferings of Christ He condescendeth to the rank of Presbyters when he saith who am also an Elder but he voucheth the priviledge of an Apostle when he addeth and a witnesse of the sufferings of Christ And his fellow-Apostle of the Gentiles to the same purpose 1. Corinth ix 1. Am I not an Apostle am I not free have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord as if to be an Apostle required one that had seen the Lord which was supplyed to him by his raptures and visions as the hearing his doctrine was supplyed unto him by that revelation by which he avoucheth to have received his Gospel in the beginning of his Epistle to the Galatians This is that God had provided for satisfaction of common sense men that could witnesse upon the credit of their eyes and eares what they published But it required greater matters to convince the world of those things which reason could not evidence The gifts of the holy Ghost for knowledge for language for miracles for all the like were requisite in a marvellous nature for those that undertook to preach the Gospel to all nations This was the Apostles charge and the power this charge importeth the indowments it requireth are personall wherein no man pretendeth to succeed the Apostles But the execution of this charge reason telleth us must needs proceed and experience of that which is written telleth us it did proceed according to the exigence of their severall
not yet made therefore he did not intend there should be any such in the Church Rather let me argue that because S. Paul left two of his principall Disciples in two principall places with charge to plant Presbyteries as there was means to propagate Churches therefore he gave a pattern of that which these Disciples and all the Church was to do afterwards in settling the government of those Churches in the Presbyteries of them and in their heads which themselves were for the time And this we shall find was done in good time in the Churches of Timothies charge if we take but a short consideration of the beloved Disciple John the Apostle and Evangelist what we find concerning him in Scriptures or otherwise received and credible in this nature He lived longest of all the Disciples as is said and he will easily shew us Bishops over the Churches of Timothies charge for such without doubt were the seven Churches of Asia unto whom the Apostle sending from our Lord seven Epistles ii and iii. chapt of his Revelation directeth them to the Angels of those Churches a style not competible to a person of common rank and the act of directing Epistles to one in the name and behalf of the whole Church arguing the eminence of the head fit to answer for the body he representeth Herewith agree the words of Clemens Alexandrinus in Eusebius iii. 23. concerning this Apostle that being returned from Patmus to Ephesus he used upon request to go among the neighbour-nations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is in some places to constitute Bishops to wit where there were Presbyteries afore that yet had none in some to found whole Churches in others to ordain a Clergie out of such as were signified by the Spirit as we reade of S. Paul and Timotheus For will you have these to be Bishops according to the use of the word in S. Paul where it is all one with Presbyters Sure we must needs think of such as his own writings make Angels of Churches Ignatius that was his Disciple according to some in all his Epistles specifieth and sometimes by name the Bishops of some the same Churches and some of others together with their Presbyteries and in particular Onesimus Timothie's successour at Ephesus Tertullian and Ireneus the most ancient we can alledge have named Polycarpus in particular made Bishop of Smyrna by this Apostle It is not possible to say more in this case So often as we find mention of government in particular Churches in Scripture so often we meet with Presbyteries or the heads of Presbyteries Apostles themselves or deriving their charge from the Apostles Nay it is very much not pretending that Bishops came on otherwise then to be in stead of the Apostles over particular Churches that there is so much to be said for their office out of Scriptures all written during their time CHAP. V. The Presbyterie at Antiochia S. Peter and S. Paul heads of the Church there Likewise of that at Rome The difference about their next Successours Epiphanius his conjecture upon it Another Clemens succeeded S. Peter and Linus S. Paul The succession of the Apostles there is unquestionable THe Church of Antiochia is remembred next to that of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles but of the government thereof we have nothing so distinct or expresse in Scripture Yet this we reade Acts xiii 2. Now there were in the Church at Antiochia certain prophets and teachers And as they ministred unto the Lord and fasted the holy Ghost said Seperate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away That these Prophets and Teachers were all of them Presbyters of that Church is more then can be affirmed because it is nowhere set down But when we reade that they ministred unto the Lord which must be understood of the service of God in their assemblies especially in celebrating the Eucharist and gave imposition of hands we find among the number of them the works of ordinary Ministers when there was no higher rank then that of Presbyters able to do the like For as concerning the Heads of this Church we must have recourse to Ignatius his Epistle ad Magn. where he useth these words For at Antiochia the Disciples were first called Christians Paul and Peter founding the Church And in the Epistle ad Antioch if it be his as the other unquestionably is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Ye are Pauls and Peters Disciples Remember Euodius that first had the rule of you put into his hands by the Apostles Be he what he will be that writ this let me be bold to say it agreeth marvellous well with what hath been said and with the Scripture In which it is plain there were at the beginning two congregations of Christians at Antiochia one of the Circumcision the other converted from the Gentiles because S. Peter Gal. ii 12. fearing those of the Circumcision withdrew himself and ate no more with the Gentiles In regard of the care of which two congregations performed by S. Peter and S. Paul according to the division agreed upon Gal. ii 9. the words of Ignatius are to be verified where he maketh both Apostles founders of the Church at Antiochia Who finding themselves imployed in other parts of the world took the same course with this Church which S. Paul did with those he commended to Timothy and Titus and put both congregations by that time united and concorporate in one under the charge of Euodius predecessour to Ignatius These two Apostles are usually counted founders of the Church at Rome as well as of that of Antiochia Ireneus iii. 3. Fundantes itaque instituentes beati Apostoli Ecclesiam Lino Episcopatum Ecclesiae administrandae tradiderunt Hujus Lini Paulus in iis quae sunt ad Timotheum Epistolis meminit Succedit autem ei Anacletus Post eum tertio loco ab Apostolis Episcopatum sortitur Clemens Where you see he referreth the foundation of that Church to both the Apostles as doth Dionysius also of Corinth some hundred and twentie years after their death in Eusebius Eccles hist. iii. 26. and others of later stamp sans number Whereupon Epiphanius Haer. 27. reckoning the succession of the Bishops of Rome putteth Peter and Paul in the first place But yet observe further the difference between the words of Ireneus which put Linus after the Apostles and the Latine Church which according to S. Hierome Catal. Script in CLEM. reckoneth Clemens in that place which Tertullian the most ancient of that language lib. De Praescript averreth To which difference we may ascribe the confusion that Baronius hath observed in the Pontificall book under the name of Pope Damasus an ancient piece but pieced indeed out of severall writings and crosse to one another divers times As for the purpose when it