there anye thing in the Fathers for some especiall cause moouing vs misliked of vs By and by we haue this theoreme at our fingers end We must remember they were but men and because men may easilie erre we muster whatsoeuer we mis-conceiue of them among the errors of that age In the meane while wee neuer remember our selues that we also are but men and therfore may erre with them yea we are such men neither are we exempt from the common infirmitie of men who may then er when we thinke amisse of them and in that verie thing may wee erre for the which we condemne them This is once that against the constant and consonant conclusions of the ancient church we ought not to attempt or admit anie innouation without a plaine commission from Gods holie writ and this also I dare boldly say that whosoeuer taketh away al authoritie from the Fathers he leaueth none for himselfe Indeed it must bee confessed that the Fathers were men and that they had their wrinckles yet can it not be denied that to haue our Fathers to bee our Patrons in the principal points of faith and externe pollicy of our church things controuerted betweene the Popelings and vs is a matter of no small moment and of especiall account And albeit the vniforme consent of Gods children from the Apostles times vnto this day may not be compared with the eternall word of God Notwithstanding of right it may come in and stand for the second place The custome of gods people receiued of all Churches thorow out the whole world is in maner of a lawe sacred and inuiolable Neither is there any likelihood that there could euer haue beene an vniuersall consort of all Churches and ages without either the authoritie of gods word or the tradition of the Apostles Notwithstanding for as much as no consent no custome no auncient prescription can or ought to preuaile in the Church of Christ against the word of God Therefore those reasons are to be weighed and those Scriptures to bee examined which mooued the Fathers to intertaine and continue that Church gouernment which our newe reformers will in no case agree vpon that we may certainelie know whose is the error theirs or ours The time hath bene when no good men disallowed of Bishops and Archbishops but now in despite of the Popes tyranny his complices it is come to this passe that their very names are called into question and that of diuerse men for diuerse causes Some because they are as they suppose the deuises of Antichrist or his fore-runners thinke them vnworthie thee Church and worthie to be cast ouer-boorde Others yet more modest in some reuerence of antiquitie thinke they may be borne with all for a time although in the mean time they allow not of them vntill such time as commodiouslie the names may bee antiquate with the thinges themselues In the meane while for that they know neither can they be ignorant to what singular effect the Church of God hath bin gouerned by graue and godlye Bishops they haue not the face to condemne them openly yet because they see certaine reformed Churches of this age to be gouerned without Bishops It is enugh they haue not the power any longer to tollerat the more auncient gouernment O the regiment of Pastors and Elders passing all antiquitie our soules haue longed for thee and we haue a desire vnto thee for that thou alone art grounded vppon the Lord Iesus his institution and thou if any art wholy purified of all tyranny and ambition O but by your leaue good brethren the shadowe you imbrace is no substance neither is the plot you conceaue a priueledged place Are you so far in loue with your liuelesse Pigmalion the worke of your owne hands I know who is not hee hath reason for his why not For neither is your newe draught of straunge gouernement sufficientlye prooued by the word of God neither is it yet or can at any time bee confirmed by the example of our Elders And how should it if we should iudge aright of it seeing it was partly vnknowen vnto them as a thing insolent and not heard of and partlie condemned of them as a thing Heriticall and not approoued of Wherefore to speake the plaine truth without flatterie or partialitie I thinke of this new forme of Church gouernment as some thinke of our Bishops regiment Namely that it is but a deuise of mans conceit and there to be tollerated where a better cannot bee obtained And contrariwise that which is disallowed of some as deuised by man seemeth vnto me to bee the verie ordinance of God and the onely true gouernment of the Church as that which hath his institution from God not only in the old but in the new Testament But because it is defiled with the manifolde abuses of men that which were to be layd vppon the person is imputed to the function as if forsooth no such miscariage might befall this their nouell kinde of gouernement The Romish Antichrist with his Bishops Archbishops Patriarches and Metropolitanes hath so troubled and intangled the Church of Christ that tyranny it selfe is thought to bee masked vnder those honest and honorable titles It is most true He that is once stong of a Serpent suspecteth euery stone and once bitten of a dog is affraid of euery cur Some therefore that they might apply some remedy to this maladie haue reuersed those names and yet retained the same things and for Bishops haue anoynted Superintendents and for Archbishops generall or prouinciall Superintendents as if the controuersie were not for the thing it selfe but for names sake But wise as we are seeing the signification of wordes is variable and voluntarie when we agree in truth what neede these garboyles about termes If the formes of gouernment which are signified by those termes are contained in gods worde Is there anie reason or sense that in disgrace of those names these formes should not be retained of vs If any man obiect that in the gouernment of Bishops there are many corruptions I make no question of that So wee might cauill with the gouernment of the ciuill Magistrate hath it not his corruptions Haue they not their infirmities Yet was there neuer anye that had his fiue wits who thought that a sufficient reason to remooue those from their place that are president in the state Wherefore our question is not how the Bishops haue abused their authoritye but whether the Lorde hath so forbidden this their Primacy that there may bee nor Pastor ouer Pastor nor Bishop ouer Bishop in the outward pollicie of the Church As for the rest if any will accuse the Bishops or their Consistories either of neglect dutie or corrupt dealing no man will be their hinderance why they may not prosecute that and persecute them before the chiefe Magistrate I take not vppon mee the apologie of anie Bishop I am not so worthie they are not so weake as that they need my Patrocinie
those which had an extrordinary vocation from God immediat and not from men so by these two last names of Doctors and Pastors whether wee take them as both one or otherwise hee seemeth to vnderstand those which by men were preferred to the Church And that Bishops and Elders are those whome Paul calleth Pastors it sufficiently appeareth by that in the twentith Chapter of the Actes where Paul intertaining the Elders hee had sent for from Ephesus telleth them that they were appointed of god Bishops to feede the Church And thereuppon wee also acknowledge no Elder or Bishop in the Church of Christ that is not a Pastor or feeder For it is in the essence of an Elder his office with wholesome doctrine to feed the flocke of Christ Presbyter is a Greeke word and aunswereth to that which the Hebrewes call Zachen which signifyeth not onely an Elder in yeares who for his age is to be reuerenced but also an auncient in the common wealth who for his place and authority is to be honored yea it is a title of honour with the which the Nobles and Magistrates of the old Testament are graced from whence also it is deriued to the Rectors of the Church in the new Testament who are called Bishops by reason of their ouersight and watchfull care which is a title of work labor but the name of Pastor is a title declaring a speciall charge office so called of feeding the Lords flock with the Angel-like food of his heauenly word Albeit ther are many other titles also common to the said Pastors in the Scriptures as that they are called Stewards Presidents Prelats Guids Gouernors Ministers and such like The vertue property of which titles I will not here stand to explaine it is that you may haue else where Only I will enforce from thence such arguments as the occasion shall serue and the matter which I handle shall require In the meane time you shall vnderstande that the office of these Pastors and doctors albeit ordained of men doth not differ in kinde from that of the Apostles For the chiefe part of them both is to instruct exhort reprehend and refell the aduersaryes of the truth Besides the administration of the Sacraments a thing no lesse pertaining to Pastors then Apostles Neyther is a Pastorall ouersight disiusticed of that Apostolick authority of Ecclesiastical censure which remayneth and is requisite for the edifying of the Church For why they succeede that I may vse Hierome hys owne wordes the Apostolique order and in another place It is no easy matter to stand in Paul his place or to mayntaine the dignity of Peter now raigning with Christ Of two diueas degrees of Pastors Chap. X. BVt now for as much as there is not the same or the like proportion of charge committed to all Elders there is also no smal difference among those whom the Scripture calleth by the same name of Bishops and Elders The which seeing it must be discerned rather by themselues as they are in deede then by their names as they are called let vs alwayes chiefely regard what they are then what they are called that we may truely distinguish betweene thinges that differ not so much in name as in nature The first Elders therefore whome the Apostles ordayned were theyr fellow-laborers in the Lord his vineyard as Iohn Marke Titus Luke Timo hy Demas Siluanns and many others of whō we read in the Scriptures Al the which by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery were created Ministers no otherwise then the rest who afterwards were placed ouer their seuerall Churches Notwithstanding that which wee read of Timothy wee conceyue of the rest and therefore that charge which was giuen vnto these was rather prouinciall then particular seeing they were the associats and assistants of the Apostles themselues But when as daily the number of the faithfull increased and the increase of Churches was thereby more and more aduaunced together as supply could be made of able men for the Ministerie the Apostles and Euangelistes or their associates installed into particular Churches particular Pastors who beeing placed in their wardes as it were should not range at large from thence but vnder the Apostles as faithfull Pastors should keep watch and ward ouer the vineyard of the Lorde And yet they were not so inuested into those their seuerall charges that the sole and whole authoritie being demised to them they should rule the Church alone and the charge thereof should thence-forth concerne the Apostles no more but to this ende were they so disposed that seeing the Apostles themselues could not bee alwaies resident in euery place there might notwithstanding by their good meanes be nothing wanting in anie place If twelue men could haue beene suffising for all Churches there should neuer haue beene leuied any newe increase of other seuentie But when they altogether could not serue to serue the turne both these and they both had need of more abettors to helpe them out withall And albeit the Ministerie of the Gospell vnder Christ be onely one as the priest-hood of the law vnder Moses was one yet notwithstanding as in one priest-hood there were diuers degrees of gouernement so likewise in one Ministerie of the Gospell there are as you haue heard diuers degrees of Pastors For haue you not seene how of the Lorde himselfe there were two degrees of Ministers ordeined of them the one was superior to the other How afterwards of the Apostles there were in like manner ordeyned two orders for to some they gaue in commission the Churches of one whole prouince and to some againe the single rectorie of one onely Church That Titus and Timothie had a superior intendencie ouer many Churches as also ouer them which were alreadie or were to be preferred thereunto it is sufficiently manifest vnto euery indifferent sense For otherwise why was hee so diligently admonished to beware that he lay not his hands vpon any man extemporie And againe to what purpose is hee so cautionately forbidden to admit any accusation against an Elder without the testimonie of two or three witnesses This therefore leadeth vs thus farre as it were by the hand that of force wee must confesse how that vnder the Apostles of the Apostles there were ordeined two degrees of Ministers they of diuers authority though not of diuers titles vnto whom albeit the Scripture for the present gaue no proper or distinct denomination yet in good time Posteritie did it wel aduised For although the names of Pastor and Bishop were commonly giuen to all Ministers of old yet presently vpon the Apostles time the name and title of Bishop was imparted as a proper addition to the first chiefe order of Elders And yet they were not destitute of their distinction by their more sacred titles euen in the Apostles time For did not the Apostles themselues grace the chiefe Elders with the title of their fellow-laborers their fellow-labourers with
daies did euer either so think or write The Fathers haue testified in their writinges what they receiued of their fore-fathers that Iames an Apostle was ordained of the rest Bishoppe of Ierusalem The which thing also seemeth to haue bene done vpon iust and necessarie occasion namely for the necessary good of the Church For when as that was the mother of all other churches that the Iews resorted thither out of al the parts of the world it ought not but to haue an Apostle resiant among thē so long as might be who might resolue the brethren in such doubtes as were likely to arise among them Although indeede to pilgrime through diuers regions to preach the gospel is most properly appertaining to the office of an Apostle so that they may not abide in one place but where necessitie requireth As therefore the Apostles discharged the duty of a Bishop when as they took vpon them the particuler charge of some on special church namely when the necessity of the church vniuersall did so require neither did thinke they did anye thing therin contrarie to their Apostolik calling so likewse if that which wholy pertaineth to the Apostles be cōmitted to the Bishops it need not seme a thing either vnreasonable or not profitable when the good order of church gouernement doth require the same But whereas the Canon sayth that we should keepe the old custome not the Lords institution it may seme that the power of Patriarks crept into the church of a contrarie custome rather then of any diuine institution I answere that the canon doth not gaine-say that the power Apostolique in church-gouernment was not left vnto the church of the Apostles but that besides or aboue the rest these or they shuld inioy it as namely he of Antioch Alexandria Ierusalem Rome that indeed was of the mere custome and at the sole disposition of the church For those particular Bishops did not receiue their Apostolique power immediatly from GOD as did the Apostles but from the church and by the church the which as it is not restrained to any certaine situate places or persons citties or Bishops so neither is the autority Apostolik Who doubteth but that the Nicen coūcell or any other like to that might haue translated the Patriarkie of the Romain BB. to some other place haue giuen it to the BB. of Rauenna or of Aquiline for good cause if their had bene any The like I say of the Patriarks of Antioch and Alexandria But that the councels of Bishops had this authority they declared then sufficiently when as they made him of Constantinople com-peer in all things with him of Rome By the which also it may euidently apeare that the prerogatiue of the power Apostolique was not giuen by succession but as it was best befitting the commodity of the church by those especial cities And therfore in that the Canon giueth that to custome it doth not therby take from it the diuine institution But that I may return to the next successors of the Apostles and Euangelists Titus and Timothy and the rest whom sacred writ recordeth were ioyned with the Apostles as assistants that they were Bishops had charge of many churches the most ancient and authentike tradition approoueth the same neither are those thinges so far at variance betweene themselues as some would haue them to be a Bishop to do the worke of an Apostle or an Euangelist For this is the common consent of all the fathers that the office of a Bishop and an Apostle or Euangelist are all one onely that the office of the one is more ample and augustious Cyprian in his 10. epistle writeth thus The Deacons ought to remember the Lord himself did chuse Apostles that is Bishops Prelats but the Apostles themselues ordeined them Deacons after hee was receiued vp into heauen Thus saith Cyprian out of whose words we may learne that a Bishoprick is an Apostleship as also an Apostleship is a kind of bishopricke Herevpon the Apostle Peter in the Acts calleth the Apostleship of Iudas a bishopricke And in like maner speaketh Augustine For no man is ignorant saith he that our Sauior ordeined bishops in the church For before he ascended into heuen he layd his hands vpon his Apostles made them bisheps And Ambrose vpon that in the 4. to the Ephesians some were giuen to the church Apostles writeth thus The Apostles are BB. but the Prophets are expounders of the scriptures which may now be called Priests For in a BB all the orders are contained becaus he is first a priest who is chiefe of ths priests and a Prophet an Euangelist to the furnishing of the rest of the offices of the church Theodoret also vpō the 1. to Tim. cap. 3. saith thus Of old they called the same men Priests and BB. but those that are now called BB. they then called Apostles but long since they left the name of Apostles to thē which were indeed apostles but the additiō of BB. they imposed vpon such as of old were called Apostles so was Epaphroditus the Apostle of the Philip so Titus of the Cretensians Timothy of Asia All the fathers which succeeded the Apostles were not of opinion that the forme of gouernement they had receiued of the Apostles should euer haue bene altered or exauterate the which verelye they could neuer haue perswaded themselues had they knowen that the gouernement of Titus and Timothie had bene but Temporarie and Extraordinarie But is it credible nay is it possible that Timothie Titus and others vnto whome the like prouince was demised should be ignoraunt of this themselues Augustine expounding that in the 44. Psalme Instead of thy Fathers thou shalt haue children sheweth that our Bishoppes inherited the Apostles as children their fathers And were it not a point of frontles and vngracious in solencie to deny that our fathers had their Bishops and Prelats euen from the Apostles times and a part of needles and superfluous diligence to proue a thing so manifest I might easilie and would willingly staie vpon the citing summoning of many more fathers vntil we were fully compassed with a cloud of witnesses But this is not the question but rather it is nowe doubted whether the ordinance of Bishops bee of God or of men as an order that slipt into the church rather of humaine custome then diuine cōstitution Wherfore of things confessed granted let vs decide and determin things doubted and in question That Bishops are ordained by a diuine institution and Apolique tradition Chap. XXI THere is nothing more certaine then this That the Apostles ordained nothing in the Church which they receiued not of the Lord. But they created Bishops as Titus and Timothie wheresoeuer need was in the Church And indeed had not the Apostles created Bishops as they dispersed themselues thorough out the whole worlde how could euer the calling of Bishoppes haue bene so vniuersallie approoued by so general an assent of all
left in our power to vse them as time occasion shal require An indifferent thing is commonly that whatsoeuer is nor cōdemned nor commended in the word of God is left free to euery mans choise either to vse or not vse vnles some other thing interchaunce which altereth the vse of that which otherwise was free by reasō of the time or place or the person wher the same is in vse For my part I think things mediat indifferent might better be defined thus if we shall say those thinges are indifferent which by no law either Gods law or mās law are bidden or forbidden For by the command of him which hath the authority ouer our persons the vse of a thing which otherwise is free may many waies vppon many occasions be restrained or ouerruled But of these things in this place we are not now to discourse at large Onely thus much I chiefly note would haue iust notice taken of it that indifferent thinges may bee vsed of vs although the same things haue ben abused by the bishop of Rome or any other Antichrist Is our liberty to be preiudiced by an other mans religion specially where publique authority hath any thing to do in the matter suppose it either giueth vs in charge or putteth vs in choise to vse those things which the superstitious haue abused Wherfore whensoeuer anything shal come in question among vs that hath bene vsed among the Romanists or other enemies of the truth it is our part to examine and consider the matter as it is in selfe not as it was with them There are some in England at this day who take vpon thē more sowrely then seuerely against outward vestementes cap surples musicke and organs and such like rites of the Church the which because they were of some vse in the Romane Church now out vppon them they are sacriligious prophane In like maner and with no lesse modesty do they proceede against Bishops Archbishops their honors and reuenews Al the which vnles they could be proued contrary to the word of God what reason is this they bring and it is al they bring for the abolishing thereof when they say the author or inuentor therof was Antichrist No doubt indifferent things which he abused for his tyranny may be returned to a better vse for the good of the Church Now as for contētious natures such in whose brests this error hath taken fast footing namely That the authority of Bishops is a thing pernitious in itself and preiudicial to the church I know this my aunswere as it fitteh not their humors so it serueth not their turns Neither yet will they vouchsafe of that which I haue said of the natural signification of words compound with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherfore albeit the plainest interpretation of the names of Patriarchs and Archbishops like me best yet notwithstanding I dare say thus much further if we should grāt that which they shal neuer euince that by force of composition a kind of principallity were to be inferred yet doth it not theruppon follow that it is therefore a title abhorring from the state of our BB. For let it be lawfull for men to vrge the signification of euery sillable in this sort it shal forthwith be vnlawful for any to be called a monarch or to be inuested with the title of an Emperour for why forsooth these names in theyr proper sense are common to none but to God onely These and such like titles of lawful and necessary vse among vs must vppon this quirk be vtterly abolished neyther may it be lawfull for vs from henceforth to call our Ministers as the Scripture doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rectors or Rulers Prelates or Presidentes nay we shall not be able to auouch the name of Elders because this and these all in sacred Scripture are proper to Magistrates and Princes and the Nobles of sundry prouinces and and yet for all this we see that Ministers of the Church are called by these names Last of all if the authority of the Fathers may be of any preuail let vs hear what great dainty they make of the name of Prince in the titles of the cleargy Origen reprehending the clownishe sourenes of some Bishops writeth thus A man may see in some Churches especially in the greatest Citties how the Princes of the christian people shew no manner affability to any esteeming thereof as a thing nothing at all pertaining vnto them c. And aftewards againe We speake not these thinges as if we meant to discharge the Ecclesiasticall Principality In like manner vppon the Epistle to the Romanes the thirteenth Chapter By the which it appeareth saith he that the Iudges of the world do performe the greatest part of Gods law For all the defaults that God would haue punished he punisheth not by the Prelates and Princes of the Church but by the Iudges of the worlde And vpon the twenty seuen Chapter of Numbers the two and twenty Homily Let the Princes saith hee of Churches learne not to appoynt their successors after them such as are allied vnto them eyther in affinity of kindred or consanguinity of bloud neyther that they ought to make the Principality of Churches hereditary c. Ignatius no lesse godly then grauely My Son saith hee honour God and the King and I say further honor God as the author of al things and the owner and honor the Bishop as Prince of the Priests bearing the image of God by reasō of his principality the image of Christ by means of his Priesthood He that honoreth the Bishop shall be honored of God as also he that dishonoreth him shall be punished of God c. Besides many other things in the same place to the same sence The same man in an other place Therefore saith he let all things be performed among you according to a direct order in Christ Let Lay men be subiect to Deacons Deacons to Priests Priests to Bishops the Bishop to Christ as he is also to the Father Againe to the Church of Antioch You Elders feede the flocke which is committed vnto you vntill God manifest him which shal reign ouer you For I am now sacrificed that I may gaine Christ c. By which words the holy Martyr hath sufficiently testified the authority of a Bishop ouer the rest of the Elders Doubtlesse in auncient time the authority of Bishops was great in the Church theyr reuerence great and theyr fauour great among the people the which of al other things made most for the benefit and increase of the Church Euen as in the common wealth the fauour of the Magistrats and authority is beneficiall to the people so likewise of Bishops in the Church And therefore for good cause thought Hierome that the welfare of the Church did depend of the honour of the chiefe Priest c. Neyther in deed is this the least slight of Satan when he
to be reputed for Doctors of what estate soeuer they be the king shal derogat no more from his royall Maiesty if for the edifying of Gods people he compose any godly worke then did Dauid or Solomon of old who in there time were no les renowmed for their heauenly wisdome then for their princely power Although the Apostle forbid a woman to speake in the congregation yet if shee bee learned shee may write and priuately instruct her familie Wherefore now if we will come to the true vnderstanding of the Apostolike writings wee must with sound iudgement put difference between Pastors Doctors who besides the teaching interpreture of the word did not otherwise intermedle with any thing in the church For albeit in the infaÌ„cy of the church those first christiaÌ„s had no publik professed schooles yet was it alwaies lawfull for Prophetes and Doctors to teach publicklie in the church vnto whose graue aduice the faithfull were no lesse bound to obey then to their Pastors But all this while they had not the power of the Church censure nor the right to redres whatsoeuer was amisse Wee read of Stephanus Fortunatus and Achaicus that they taught in the church of Corinth but wee finde not that they had there the authority of Bishoppes and Elders And therefore no woonder though the corruptions and abuses which raigned among them were not giuen them in charge to correct or that it was not layde to their charge that they did not correct for there was no remedye they must suffer that they could not remedy and in the meane while expect Paule his comming amongst them Likewise in the Epistle to Titus a man might well wonder why Paule ioyned not in like commission with Titus Zenas and Apollos expounders of the lawe they beeing then also in Creat except it were for this that they were Doctors onely for hee was not ignorant that they were then also with Titus Doubtlesse had they bin of the same order and power they should also haue receiued the same charge And might it not better haue bene performed of three then of one But yet wee see that the Apostle gaue the charge of Teaching there to many the power of Ruling to one alone By the which it appeareth that the Doctors and Prophetes of those times were an aide vnto the Pastors that they taught vnder their direction For indeed it chiefly concerneth the dutie of a Bishop to teach the church committed to his charge by himselfe and by others 〈…〉 such things are there in the Apostles writings 〈…〉 we may take no smal view of the beginnings of 〈◊〉 and of that forme of gouernment which was vsed of the Apostles and receiued of the next immediate ages deliuered to Apostolique men their successors It is very wel â—â—â—ed of Epiphanius that there are certaine histories hidden in the Apostles writings the ignorance whereof many times hath bene the cause of much error in the church But thus it came to passe that the Bishops gaue liceÌ„ce to teach the scriptures vnto those which the Grecians call Lay-men The which thing Eusebius recordeth in his sixt booke the 13. chapter concerning Origen That when as yet he was not priested hee did notwithstanding set vp schoole at Caesaria and was there in treated of the Bishops there abouts not onely to dispute but to open the scriptures also The which thing Demetrius Bishop of Alexandria Origen his riuall did greatly reprehend when as notwithstanding himself was the man that had sent him before into Arabia to the same end neither yet did hee except against him when hee was catechiser in his owne church But when as of mere enuy he cold no longer indure that the renowmed fame of Origen should daily increase seeking all manner occasions to picke a quarrell against him he laid blame in the Bishops that they would seeme to licence a Lay-man publikly to professe the scriptures To the which his malitious cauils Alexander then Bishop of Ierusalem and Theodistus Bishop of Caesaria make answere in these words For that you vrge in your letters that it was neuer hard of before nor is vsed as yet that lay-men should dispute and expound the Scriptures in the presence of Bishoppes In that thing you seeme I know not how to auouch a manifest vntruth For where fit and able men are found that may be any aid to the brethren in the word they are requested of the holy Bishops that they would instruct the people in the same as was Eusebius of Nero at Larandy Paulinus of Celsus at Iconium and Theodorus of Atticus among the Synadines all the which were blessed godly bretheren and it is verie likely although it bee vnknowen to vs that the same thing is done in other places Thus for Eusebius Wherefore albeit the Primatiue churches had not their vniuersity schooles like vnto those we haue at this day yet that they were not altogeather without schooles Alexandria alone is witnesse sufficient which brought out Doctors before Origen Pantaeus and Clemens Alexandrinus and many others Neither is it to be doubted but that custome also was deriued from the Apostles We know the knowledge of scriptures to bee the gift of Gods spirite but shall that therefore take away the exercises and the traueils of deuoted students Amongst the people of God the Prophets had their Colledges in the which Samuell and Elias and Elizeus and such others were Maisters neither was it any disparagement for the other Prophetes to liue vnder their discipline God was neuer the authour of tumultuous confusion but of order nor were the men of God a company of furious bedlames but a societie of sage and wise men of a milde and a moderate spirite They which at this day holde schooles and their orders in contempt are franticke in their owne conceit and ignorant of al good societie and godly ciuilitie nor do they know nor can they conceaue what infinite good they onely doe in all estates Who can sufficiently commend the religious purpose of those men which were the first founders of Vniuersities Are they not the fruitfull seminaries of all good litterature and the holsome nurses of al honourable virtues The which being taken away all humanity and ciuill curtesie would languishe togeather and not that onely but within a short space we our selues nowe learned and religious should strangely degenerate into minds and manners more sauadge and barbarous then are any of the nations But no neede I should digresse any further into the praise of our well renowmed Vniuersities onely this I say that the Doctors and Teachers they send forth into the Church of Christ and whosoeuer els by their priuate labours and diligent traueils in the scriptures haue attained to the knowledge therof ought not by any means to take vpon them any thing in the Church against the good will or without the good leaue of their BB. 〈◊〉 why They are priuate men vnder their gouernance But yet being requested or
thousand Of the which foure and twenty were appointed to bee ouerseers of the workes for the house of the Lord and sixe thousand were ordayned Rulers and Iudges in all Israell And least any man shoulde thinke that they were Iudges onely in Ecclesiasticall causes as some now a dayes would hold men in hād forcing the Scriptures to that forme of gouernement they see in some Churches let the six and twenty Chapter of the same Booke be wel read and aduisedly perused and he shal find that the Isharites Chenanas and his brethren men of might were deputed officers and Iudges for the businesse without ouer Israell Of the Hebronits Hesabias and his brethren men of might a thousand and seuen hundred were appointed Officers for Israell beyond Iordan westward in all the businesse of the Lord and for the seruice of the King And in the same Chapter it is sayd that Dauid appoynted the kinse-men of Iedijas men of might two thousand seuen hundred Princes of families ouer the Rubenites and the Gadites and the halfe tribe of Manasses for euery matter pertaining to God and the King To these I may adde that which I read in the nineteenth of the 2. of the Chronicles of king Iehosophat who intending the restauration of Gods worship and the reformation of the common wealth appointed Iudges Leuits and Priests and Princes of the families of Israell for the iudgement and cause of the Lord. And where as some thinke by that in the last verse of this Chapter That the Priests and Leuites were onely deputed ouer Ecclesiasticall causes because it is there written Behold Amarias the Priest shall be the chiefe ouer you in all matters of the Lord and Zebadias the sonne of Ismaell a ruler of the house of Iuda shall be for all the Kings affaires c. As if he had there put some difference betweene matters ciuill and Ecclesiastitall It is an errour growen as I haue sayde of a certaine fore-seasoned opinion of that gouernment which we see now in the Church or Rome and some other reformed churches For who seeth not that in this place the kings affaires and in the sixe and twenty of the former booke the seruice of the King doth not signify al one with ciuil matters and politique affaires but what so euer pertayned to the Kings right Such as were first described by Samuel and afterwards eyther imitated or augmented by the consent of the people as it often commeth to passe of the which ther was nothing prescribed by Moyses But what the businesse of the Lord was the tenth verse going before declareth by particulars For the Priests were interpreters of the law as well ciuill as ceremoniall and the King so appointing they were also the ordinary Iudges thereof These things I doe therfore remember that all men may know what is lawfull for the Ministers of the Gospell who succeede the Leuiticall Ministery in ciuill causes vnder a christian Magistrate not that I would wishe them intangled therewith any otherwise then the necessity of time and causes may require and that we may also know that those precepts of our Sauiour were giuen to no other end then that as I haue sayd that misconceite of his kingdom should not be strengthned in the mindes of his Disciples Least they should thinke the power which was giuen them were annexed with such autority as that they might alter at their pleasure and innouate publique estates by theyr peculiar power Chap. XXV Theyr error confuted that thinke no ciuill affaires of the common wealth ought to be committed to the Bishops and Pastors of the Church NOw a dayes this common error hath inuaded the mindes not onely of the common sort but of some part of the learned also so that there are manye of that side very strongly opinionate that the ciuill affaires of the common wealth doe nothing at all appertaine to Bishops and Ministers no more then if they were neyther cittizens nor any suppliment of the common wealth Curriers Diers Weauers Beere-brewers Smithes Fullers Marchauntes and Pedlers furnish the common house and giue their voyce in things concerning the common wealth neyther can I dissalow the same in a common wealth but that the Pastors of Churches shoulde stande excommunicate out of their generall assemblies it is a thing vtterly against the equal right of al Cittizens Seeing they liue vnder the same lawes obey the same Magistrate beare the same burdens of the common wealth Seeing in such publique assemblies they doe consult as wel of theyr liues and goods and what so euer else vpon the which not onely theyr owne estate but the publique good of theyr Churches also doth depend seeing I say they doe consult of these no lesse then of cloth and wooll and fish and felles importing and transporting any other commodities is ther any light of reason or light reason why godly Ministers ought to haue lesse care of the common wealth then common Burgomaisters If they can alledge no reason what colour can they set vppon theyr mishapen ground Why they aboue all others should be excluded the ciuill assemblies or Parliaments prouincial whom it chiefely concerneth to see least the flocke committed to theyr charge be layd open to Wolues In those things which concerne the safety of theyr soules nay but in those things also which touch the security of theyr bodies Are they not appointed of God watchmen and ouerseers as it were in a hie tower or heedeful centrenel as they which are to see from far what mischiefes are like to insue that they may admonish as well the people as the Magistrats themselues of such things as are to be auoided The which in deed they cannot doe so long as they are kept fasting from the conscience and conference of such thinges as are done in the common wealth If the Church could stand safe though the cōmon wealth fell to decay or if the one might rise by the ruines of the other I had the lesse to say but when as Church and common wealth are imbarked in the same vessell saile together in the same danger how should the deuout minister be lesse solicited for the safety of the common state then are the common Burgesses who for the most part iudge one thing cōmodious for the Church an other for the common wealth another for themselues and their own estate These are in office but for a year they neuer forsake theyr charges These may prouide many waies for themselues theyr own estate with the detriment of the Church danger of the commō wealth they can by no means preserue themselues or theirs vnlesse both Church common wealth together be preserued These consult that the common wealth sustaine no domage in corne and cattell in wares and marchaundise least themselues at any time should want their sweet return They doe not a little regard these things but besides these theyr especial care is that iustice faith godlines and true religion decay not in the
notwithstanding most certayne was none of the Apostles Phillip likewise may be taken for one of this order and many other who laboured with the Apostles in the work of the Gospel And seeing it is so plain a case that these all were called immediatly from God and that as we read God gaue vnto his Church Euangelists who shall wee say were those Euangelists if not these Resolue then that those seuenty Disciples were Euangelists and those Euangelistes inferior to the Apostles For why they were giuen as Legats or Lieutenants vnder those graund Capitains to vndertake with like authority theyr taske and theyr turnes And yet besides these the Apostles tooke vnto them diuerse others as fellow laborers with them But in them ther was not that valour as was in those whom the Lord himselfe did choose and infuse with an Apostolike spirite We haue read of Barnabas Iude and Sylas theyr great trauel and no smal autority in the Church In which respect they came neare and were next in deede vnto the Apostles themselues But how might this haue beene if so be the spirit of God had not wholly possessed them as it did the Apostles But we knowe how that they all met that were at the election of Mathias the same day in the same place with the Apostles themselues when the Lord poured forth of his spirite a visible shape And albeit Barnabas was no Apostle none of the twelue yet can we make no lesse of him then an Euangelist one of the seuenty As for Marke and Luke albeit theyr authority in the Church were great and theyr desertes great for their perfect and well penned Histories of the Gospell yet are they not to be reputed with the seuenty Euangelistes by reason theyr calling was by men vnto the Ministery Tertullian in in his fourth booke against Marcion writeth thus Luke saith hee not an Apostle yet Apostolique not a maister but a scholler as he was lesse then his Maister so likewise was he so much the more lesse then an other for that he was follower of a lesse Apostle As for Marke Papias in his Commentaries as Eusebius reporteth in his thirde booke hath left vs this testimony Marke the interpreter of Peter wrote in deede very diligently what so euer hee remembred yet not altogether in that order as they were spoken and performed by the Lorde Neyther in deede did hee heare the Lorde himselfe neither was hee any follower of his but afterwards as I haue sayd became the companion of Peter c. VVherefore Marke did not amisse in this that he diuulged in writing such things as before hee committed to memory seeing aboue all thinges he chiefely regarded this one thing that neyther hee would omitte any thing he heard to be true neyther committe any thing hee knew to bee false Thus saith hee of him And it is well knowen that hee was inferiour vnto Barnabas also in authority for hee was his follower and in a manner his scholler as he was also Pauls and Peters and that in no other order then were Titus and Timothy And yet notwithstanding the name and credite both of Marke and Luke for their faithfull register of the Apostles preceptes is such and so reuerend as that their Gospels are recorded among the canonical scriptures and are equaled in authority with the more exquisite labours of Mathew and Iohn And reason too For in their Euangelike recordes whome had they for theyr patternes or their patrones but the Apostles and Euangelistes So that whereas the Gospell of Ma hew may seeme to bee onely Mathewes and that of Iohn to bee Iohns onely these theyr Gospels may be reputed the Gospels not of Mark and Luke but of all the Apostles and Euangelists In the which thing verily they are worthy great commendations that they sauoured no whit at all of men as commonly they doe which pen Histories but they so nearely and narrowly followed the very spirit of the Apostles and Euangelistes as if the Apostles themselues had beene rather the penners then perusers of so greate a worke Wherefore Luke is for good cause commended of Paul in the second to the Corinth the eight chapter and eighteenth verse when as he saith VVe haue also sent that brother whose praise is in the Gospell throughout all Churches But by these you may easely conceiue who were properly Euangelistes and who not Of Prophets Chap. V. AS wee reckon none in order with the twelue Paul onely excepted so with the seuenty find we not any that may be compared And albeit we doubt not that God could haue added to the 70. others also no way their inferiors yet seeing we haue no record of sacred writte to auouch the same it were hard for man to affirme that there were any such But now when as besides the twelue Apostles and those seuenty Euangelists we read of other also who in like manner haue been honoured with the first fruits of the holy Spirite by what name or title shall they be called or by what addition shal we distinguish thē from the rest Of the number of an hundred and twenty men there remayn fix and thirty stil whom seeing we neither account with the twelue Apostles nor yet with the seuenty Euangelistes it remayneth that wee adorne them with the name of Prophets For this it is which Peter doth insinuat vnto the people out of the Prophet Ioel in his Apology for himselfe and his fellowes namely That the spirite of Prophesie promised of olde to be giuen out in the later dayes was then poured forth vppon that assembly whom then they heard preaching and prophesying in diuerse tongues to theyr great astonishement Wherefore those thirty sixe men which neyther are ascribed into the company of the twelue Apostles nor yet are recounted in the society of the seuenty Euangelists were those first Prophets whom God gaue into his Church after our Sauiour was receyued vp into Heauen In which order as it might very wel be was Ananias of Damasco reputed and Agabus both of them renowmed Prophets Iudas and Sylas are also called Prophets and for that cause are they sent by the Apostles to Antioch to exhort confirme the brethren And I am of opinion that these and such like were properly called Prophets not Metaphorically seeing they did foresee thinges to come by the spirite of God and by the same spirite reuealed things secret and recondite And albeit the interpreting of the Scripture bee a kinde of prophecying yet is that kinde more proper to the Doctor then the Prophet and more truely may a man account Doctors interpreters of the Scripture then Prophets But doubtlesse God restored to his Church in those latter dayes that true kinde of Prophecy which in Israell was familiar from the beginning and in singular wisedom did erect three kindes of Doctors in his Church and gaue them to his new people Apostles Euangelists and Prophets And these were the first Elders and Bishops of the Church of Ierusalem That the
names and titles of Apostles Euangelists and Prophets were giuen also vnto other Pastors and Doctors of the Church CHAP. VI. ALbeit by that which I haue already written it maye sufficiently bee vnderstoode whome I call by the name of Apostles Euangelistes and Prophetes yet notwithstanding because those names are for good causes giuen vnto others also some what must be said of them in like maner In the Epistle to the Romains the sixteenth Chapter Andronicus and Iunius are called notable among the Apostles and out of the eight Chapter of the last to the Corinthians Titus and the brethren which were with him are called Apostles and in the Epistle to the Philippians Epaphroditus is called their Apostle The deriuation of the greeke word is well knowen that Apostles are called of sending for that they are Postes or speedie messengers sent of especiall purpose as Legates or Embassadours into diuers parts of the worlde according to this signification whosoeuer is sent as a messenger in anie busines may be called an Apostle In this sense our Sauiour himselfe who is Prince and Lord ouer the Apostles in the epistle to the Hebrues is called an Apostle But to be short this name is no where giuen in the newe Testament to any so far as euer I could learne but to the ministers of the gospell onely Amongst whome because there was great inequalitie Paule calleth those first twelue Apostles the chiefe Apostles as it is in the eleuenth chapter of the last to the Corinthians where he saith I suppose that I was not inferiour to the chiefe Apostles as it is also in the 11. verse of the 12. chapter By the which it appeareth most plainely that besides those chiefe Apostles who helde the commission of their ambassage immediatly from God ther were many other also which were in like manner called Apostles either for that they were accounted of the Apostles as fellow-labourers in their sea-apostolique or els for that they were sent as Legates in the same busines by the church of Ierusalem which was the mother Metropolitane church Among whom somtime there foisted in of their own heads certaine other iolly fellowes false Apostles whom Paul calleth false brethren and deceiptfull labourers who vnder a coppie of faire semblance could transforme themselues into the colours and companies of Christ his Apostles And these were they which sought by all possible meanes to impaire the authority of Paule as of one forsooth that sawe not the Lord in the flesh and therefore not worthy to mate and match with the other Apostles in like equipage of authoritie But doe you see their purpose Or doe you conceiue their policy By this meanes they ment to thrust Paul into the last and lowest forme of Apostles that themselues being mate with Paule might more easily giue the trueth a checke Against the malapertnes of these men the Apostle maintaineth the authoritie of his power Apostolique affirming that he was chosen apostle not by men but of God To how great or rather to how smal purpose should the Apostle haue vrged this had not the name of Apostle bene common vnto others also which were not of that company and conuent of the twelue Apostles but were sent from men and by men were not immediatly from God among whome are to bee accounted Titus Andronicus Timothie Marke and many other whom al posterity hath reuerenced and accounted for Bishops and Archbishops of the church May not the like be sayd of the name of Euangelists For who knoweth not that the same name was giuen vnto manie other besides those seuentie two because indeede they were called to the same function both vnder the seuenty vnder the Apostles True it is they had not the like measure of Gods spirite and yet according to the moytie of their seuerall talent they did much edifie the church and magnifie the foundation which the Apostles had laid And therefore are they called Apostles and Euangelists not only in respect of the sense and signification of the wordes but also in regard of the Apostolique Euangelike function into the which they were associate and assumed by the Apostles as helpers and fellow-labourers But as for the name of Prophets not only they are so called in the scriptures vnto whome God hath reuealed the secrets of things to come but they also which doe faithfullie reueile the secrets of Gods eternal truth to others and know howe to apply auncient prophesies to present circumstances In which sense all Euangelique teachers and interpreters of sacred scripture may be sayd to be Prophets Of Deacons Chap. VII IF my purpose had beene in recounting the degrees of Ministers to haue followed the course of honour I would haue set next vnder Prophets Pastors and Doctors But for as much as I haue tied my selfe vnto the order of time in the which they were first ordained of force I must first speake of Deacons before I come to Bishops and Elders for we read that they were first created when as yet besides the Apostles and those Euangelists and Prophets of the which wee haue lately spoken the Church had no Elders and reason to For when as the Ministery of the gospell according to Gods holy institution hath annexed vnto it a religious care and consideration of the poore the Apostles tooke that vnto themselues as a thing pertayning to their charge vntill the murmure and mutinie of the Greekes against the Hebrewes gaue occasion of the Deacons Election But were there not at the beginning dispensers and disposers of the common treasure When Christ himselfe kept residence here vpon earth who but Iudas discharged that pension and doubtlesse if the Apostles coulde haue performed both they woulde neuer haue giuen charge that others should haue beene chosen for that charge And yet that charge was not so wholie giuen ouer of the Apostles to the Deacons as that afterwardes they thought the same nothing at all appertaining vnto themselues Haue wee not read what Paule and Barnabas did beeing requested to bee mindfull of the poore how vigilantly they vndertooke that care themselues And therefore they thought it requisite that the men to be chosen into that charge should be men ful of the holy Ghost But doe you not wonder now that these new elects did not imploye themselues in gathering and giuing of almes onely Why men forgetfull of themselues they take vpon them the office of teaching also See how Phillip preacheth the gospell to the Samaritanes also and baptiseth them that beleeue how while Stephen preached Christ more feruentlie he is become the first martyr of Christ May we not conceiue by these presidents what the rest of them did or shall we be so foolish as to think because there is nothing writtē of the rest that therefore they did nothing or not this Of the greatest part euen of Christ his Apostles is there not deepe silence or little sayd of whom notwithstanding there is nothing more cleare then that they performed their imposed
the which it doth appeare that by that prohibition of violent dominion which Kings may vse ouer theyr subiects the power of gouernement in the Church is not inhibited by the which one Minister is eminent in authority ouer another no more then the power of the Pastor is thereby intercepted which is ordinary and ought to be ouer his people Will any man say that the Lord hath so confounded those two distinct orders of Ministers that the Apostles should differ in nothing from the seuenty Disciples I doe therefore greatly wonder that men learned should so far ouer-shoote themselues as once to perswade or to be perswaded that out of this place so often aledged to so little purpose the superior authority of Bishops ouer Priests was forbiddē by Christ the which they can by no means do without the reproofe reproch the preiudice and impeachment of all the most auncient best learned Fathers whose persons they may soner accuse then conuince of Tyranny and whose gouernement they may more easely discommend then mend The Lorde his purpose was to take that error from the Apostles which was in their minds not to take that power from the Apostles which he had giuen into their hands That the forme of the Apostles gouernment did not end with the death of the Apostles Chap. XVI THat the gouernment of the Apostles is sayde by some to haue deceased with the death of the Apostles it is neyther grounded vppon true authority of Scripture nor proued by any consequence of reason nor maintayned by any president of the Fathers Neither is it of any greater force nor haue they any greater reason that say the Apostles authority was extraordinary For by the same reason they may at this day deny that any man hath any authority to baptise and to preach If what things were extraordinary in the Apostles they could not returne to theyr posterity may not the same reason serue to proue that ther is no authority left vnto vs after the Apostles either to preach or to baptise I would gladly then hear some iust cause why rather the Church gouernment should cease with vs which was vnder the Apostles then the preaching of the Gospell or the administring of the Sacraments For in them ther was as much extraordinary as in the other This is much like as if of olde a man should haue sayde that after the death of Moyses and Aaron the Priests and Leuites had not the same power with Moyses and Aaron because theirs was extraordinary Wherefore as after theyr decease the same order of gouernment which was vsed of Moses and Aaron remayned to their posterity In like manner the Apostles and Euangelists were a lantherne and a law vnto vs which should come after them of perfect Church gouernement And that which our Sauiour sayd of the Priestes of the Iewes That they did sit vppon the chayre of Moyses and Aaron may be sayd of our Bishops that they sit in the chayre of Peter and Paul that is that they haue succeeded them in the same seate and state of gouernment There are two words which being not well taken may be very offensiue namely Temporarie and extraordinary For it is to be vnderstood that there are not ioyntly to be giuen alike to the whole function Apostolick and euery part therof And yet some are made to beleeue that whatsoeuer was in them extraordinary the same was also temporarie When as indeed whatsoeuer was in them extraordinary was not temporarie For all things in the Apostles were extraordinary of the which many things in processe of time became ordinary Onely those things which deceased with the Apostles were temporarie But what things those were I haue already declared at large And nowe that I may first begin with the preaching of the gospell it were very hard to restraine that to the persons of the Apostles and their age onely For albeit so large a legacie as was the Apostles bee not committed vno any yet is there some such like of the same kinde with the like authoritie That the commandement To preach the gospell vnto all nations the Apostles beeing now receiued vp into heauen doth in like manner bind the Church to the which the Authoritie Apostolique is also requisite Chap. XVII THe command to preach the gospell and the commission to all nations wee vnderstand to bee so giuen in charge to the Apostles that withal it obligeth the church also nether did the charge of preaching the gospell to the incredulous heathen respect the apostles only but al future ages to the worlds end In the last of Mathew when the Lord had sayd that all power was giuen vnto him in heauen and in earth and had commanded that they should go forth and teach al nations c. he added I am with you vnto the worlds end Which cannot be restrained to the Apostles onely seeing it concerneth all whom he commandeth to preach and to whom he promiseth his diuine presence for euer neither can this promise be deuorced from the former command and thereby it appeareth that Christ commanded the church also that Apostles hauing takē heauen order might be taken that the gospell might be preached to the Gentiles in all coastes vpon al occasions And verelie if the Apostolique authority had bin Temporarie that also had bene a personal gift and particuler neither would they haue presumed to haue taken themselues companions and co-partners in that Apostolik charge to the which themselues only were appointed of the Lord. But when as they knew that their office whatsoeuer authoritie they had receaued was rather giuen to the whole church then to their sole selues they therevpon were bolde to make others ioynt partners with them in their Apostolike power whom they also knew should be their successors Neither in nature could so great a worke bee finished of so few labourers and therfore also the commandement of the Lord could no further bind the Apostles then for the terme of their mortalitye in the which time the Lorde did not purpose to determine either the promise of his helpe or the preaching of his word The Apostles then had need of many helpers in the Lord and fellow-labourers for the busines of the Lord the which when they could not accomplish themselues they left their posteritie to finish that which themselues could not effect Had the Apostles carried their commission to heauen with them and besides the priuate care of perticular Churches the Bishops whome the Apostles left their successours had thought the further propagation of the gospel did nothing pertaine to them I doubt me the cōfines of Christ his kingdome had neuer bene enlarged to so great a monarchie as it is What neede I remember you of the rare and memorable examples of the thrise reuerend fathers in the Primatiue church With what serious studie with what earnest desire with what constant endeuour and last of al with what great labours and many streaming showers of the bloud of Martyrs
were the churches of olde planted watered and increased It is a thing better knowen and commended then that I need to repeat it or themselues to repent it Notwithstanding there be some in these daies which take vp but to shrewdly this sentence of ours as if it were some Anabaptisticall fancie when it is said that the Church hath at this day if not Apostles yet Apostolique Ministers but as for the fancie if Anabaptisticall let themselues looke to that least they take themselues by the nose For my part I would but know whether the gospel yet at this day now after a 1500. yeares be come to the eares of all Nations In the meane time let them consider howe many nations whom the Apostles neuer saw by the paines and preaching of godlie Pastors who in this labour succeeded the Apostles haue receiued the Lord Christ I will not nowe stand to tell them onely this I conclude that the commaund and commission of preaching the Gospell standeth yet in his ful strength and force in the church of God and shuld so long as there is any nation that knoweth not the Lord. That at this day there is none sent by the churches of Christ to the nations which haue not knowen Christ it is not long of the lacke of sufficient power to send but of sufficient persons to be sent or at least wise of a better zeal to aduāce the kingdom of Christ Indeed no man ought to tempt the Lord Did not himselfe forbid his Apostles to stir one foot out of Ierusalem to discharge their duty before they had receiued the holy Ghost So requisite is it that a man bee throughly furnished for so great an enterprise before he vndertake it And therefore because the iudgement of one man may be ouer-weening and deceiued especially if he may be his owne iudge it is requisite that the authoritie of the church in that case be expected But here is required an Authority Apostolique the which if the Church haue not although it haue fit men neither hath it the power to send For who can giue that to another which hee hath not himselfe Whosoeuer therefore is sent whether you please to call him an Apostle or an Euangelist or a Bishop hee hath need of the like and no lesse power then Timothy and Titus had in the like and no lesse charge This therefore is the authoritie which is assigned to the church by the Keies the which the Lord our Sauiour gaue not so much to Peter and his collegiats as to the Church it selfe so that of right it maye doe that at this daye which it could of old namely wher occasion serueth to giue in commission vnto sufficient men the publishing of the Gospell with Authoritie Apostolique That the Apostolike authoritie is as necessarie for the conseruing and confirming as for the founding and first planting of Churches Chap. XVIII BVt for as much as the power Apostolike is no lesse needfull and necessarie for the conseruing and confirming as for the planting and first placing of churches we must also haue a special regard to that For by reason as it is thought of Bishops and Arch-bishops Primats and Metropolitanes which haue succeeded the Apostles and the Euangelists there is now some controuersie moued for that And verely I haue oftentimes wondered with my selfe what it is that should make anie learned or religious man thinke that the office of Apostles and Euangelistes is ceased in the Church and that at this day there are none possessed of any authoritie Apostolike to whom the other Elders ought to supply in the gouernance of the Church and I wonder the more that there bee any that should thinke the power Apostolike a thing so extraordinarie as if it were not possible that it should be deuolued to their posteritie Indeed the Church hath not continued those names amongst vs but is that sufficient to prooue that with those titles the authority also is surceased First if a man would but well marke the latter daies of the Apostles of Paule especially he should find that the Apostolike gouernment could not possibly end with the Apostles For by those things the sacred Scripture doth testifie of Paule wee may iudge of the rest who no doubt were no lesse carefull for the good of the Church euen to their last gaspe wheresoeuer it pleased God to translate them out of this life But the second Epistle of S. Paul to Timothie indited about the last of his daies doth witnesse abundantly what an vniuersall care hee had euen then of the Churches There hee maketh mention of his fellow-labourers whereof some he had sent to goe vnto diuers Churches and some hee sent for to come vnto himselfe that beeing now readie to flit out of this life he might giue them his last charge of all things concerning the welfare of the Church and the furnishing of that building himselfe had left vnfinished This his last will and Testament hee left with them The which had beene to no purpose had the power Apostolike died with him or had the authoritie of that their legacie beene compelled within the circuit of euery particular parish For they all whom Paul there remembreth as Titus Marke Luke Crescens Tithicus and Timothie himselfe were associate with Paule in his Apostolike sea as vnto whose seuerall charge hee had demised many and sundry Churches The which if it were not free for them with that recreant Demas to cast vp and giue ouer while Paul yet liued how much lesse after he was dead Wherefore now they were made and remaine his heires as before they were his peeres of his Apostolike paines and praeheminence That the other Apostles had also their consorts and collegiats in their Apostolike charge vnto whom themselues discontinuing this life they demeaned the no lesse care of the Churches with the like authoritie there was neuer wise man that doubted of it And furthermore that their lawfull authoritie with the which they prosecuted and perseuered in the Lord his affaires could no more be extinguished with them then it was abolished with the Apostles so long as there was any church remaining But as they succeeded the Apostles so had they their successors vpon whom if themselues did not bestow the power they had receiued the Church did which is heire generall of the power Apostolike But goe to nowe let vs imagine if there can bee such a conceit that it is not so as I haue saide let vs suppose also for a while that the Apostles left all vnto Pastors and Elders of equall authoritie who had onely the charge of their seuerall Churches and their prouinces limited within the precincts of their owne onely parishes What then shall we say became of those Churches in the which the Apostles intercepted by death or they which with the Apostles did gouerne the Churches could not ordeine anie Pastors Did their death fal out so pat that euerie Church had their Pastors and Doctors and that none of them was left