their hands for none but they were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the present business the whole election of these Presbyters must be given to them But indeed it was neither so nor so Neither the Apostle nor the People had any hand in the elections of those times but the Spirit of God which evidently did design and mark out those men whom God intended to imploy in his holy Ministery The words of Paul to Timothy make this clear enough where it is said Neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophesie 1 Tim. 4.14 1 Tim. 1.18 c. and that there went some Prophesies before concerning Timothy the same Saint Paul hath told us in the first Chapter of that first Epistle Hom. 5. in 1. ad Tim. c. 1. Chrysostom notes upon these words that in those times ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Priests and Ministers of God were made by Prophesie that is saith he ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by the Holy Ghost And this he proves by the selection of Paul and Barnabas to the work of God which was done by Prophesie and by the Spirit And finally glossing on those words Noli negligere gratiam c. he doth thus express it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã God saith he did elect thee to this weighty charge he hath committed no small part of his Church unto thee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã no mortal man had any hand in that designation and therefore take thou beed that thou disgrace not nor dishonour so Divine a calling More might be said both from Theodoret and Oecumenius to confirm this Truth Theodor. Oecum in locum but that I think it is sufficiently confirmed already So then the Presbyters of these times being of Gods special choice his own designation and those upon the laying on of such holy hands furnished by the Spirit with such gifts and graces as might enable them sufficiently to discharge their calling The marvel is the less if in those early days at the first dawning as it were of Christianity we find so little speech of Bishops In the ordaining of these Presbyters as also of the like in other places the Apostles might and did no question communicate unto them such and so much Authority as might invest them with a power of government during the times of their own necessary absence from those several Churches So that however they were Presbyters in degree and order yet they both were and might be trusted with an Episcopal jurisdiction in their several Cities even as some Deans although but simply Presbyters are with us in England And of this rank I take it were the Presbyters in the Church of Ephesus Act. 20.28 whom the Apostle calleth by the name of Bishops that is to say Presbyters by their Order and Degree but Bishops in regard of their jurisdiction Such also those ordained by Saint Paul in the Church of Philippos Phil. 1.1 whom the Apostle mentioneth in the very entrance of his Epistle to that people Which as it may be some occasion why Bishops properly so called were not ordained by the Apostles in the first planting of some Churches so there are other reasons alledged for it and are briefly these For first although the Presbyters in those times were by the Holy Ghost endued with many excellent gifts and graces requisite to the Preaching of the Word yet the Apostles might not think fit to trust them with the chief government till they had fully seen and perfectly made tryal of their abilities and parts that way Epiphan adv haeres 75. n. 5. And this is that which Epiphanius meaneth in his dispute against Aerius saying ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. that where there were no fit men to discharge that Office the place remained without a Bishop but where necessity required and that there wanted not fit men to supply the place there Bishops forthwith were appointed But that which I conceive to be the principal reason was this that the Apostle did reserve unto himself the chief Authority in all the Churches of his planting so long as he continued in or about those places And this he exercised either by personal Visitations mention whereof is made in the 14.21 and 15.36 of the Book of Acts or else by his rescripts and mandates as in his sentencing of the incestuous Corinthian although absent thence But when he was resolved to take a journey to Hierusalem Act. 19.21 and from thence to Rome not knowing when he should return to those Eastern parts and knowing well that multitude of governours do oft breed confusions and that equality of Ministers did oft end in factions he then resolved to give them Bishops to place a Chief in and above each several Presbytery over every City committing unto them that power aswell of Ordinations as inflicting censures which he had formerly reserved to himself alone This great Apostle as for some space of time he taught the Church without help of Presbyters so for another while he did rule the same without help of Bishops A time there was wherein there were no Bishops but the Apostles only to direct the Church and so there was a time wherein there were no Presbyters but they to instruct the same However it must be confessed that there was a time in which some Churches had no Bishops And this Hieron in Tit. c. 1. if any was the time that Saint Hierom speaks of Cum communi Presbyterorum consilio ecclesiae gubernabantur when as the Churches were governed by the common counsel of the Presbyters But sure it was so short a time that had not the good Father taken a distaste against Episcopacy by reason of some differences which he had with John the Bishop of Hierusalem he could not easily have observed it For whether Bishops were ordained Id. ad Evagrium In Schismatis remedium as he saith elsewhere for the preventing of those Schisms and factions which were then risen in the Church or that they were appointed by the Apostles to supply their absence when they withdrew themselves unto further Countreys This government of the Church in common by the Presbyters will prove of very short continuance For from the first planting of the Church in Corinth Baronius so computes it Annal. Hieron in Titâm c. 1. which was in Anno 53. unto the writing of his first Epistle to that Church and people in which he doth complain of the Schisms amongst them was but four whole years And yet it doth appear by that place in Hierom for ought can see that the divisions of the people in Religion some saying I am of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cephas every one cleaving unto him by whom he had received Baptism were the occasion that it was decreed throughout the world as that Father saith Vt unus de Presbyteris electus superponeretur caeteris that one of the Presbyters should be set over the rest to whom
Craec in Martii 14. was by him ordained Bishop of Britain ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the words there are a region full of fierce and savage people and that having there setled the Church and ordained Presbyters and Deacons in the same he did there also end his life The Reverend Primate of Armagh out of a fragment attributed to Heleca De Britannic Eccl. prim c. 1. sometimes Bishop of Saragossa in Spain doth recite a passage wherein it is affirmed of this Aristobulus missum in Angliam Episcopum that he was sent Bishop into England for so the Author calleth this Countrey according to the name it had when he writ the same But these things which relate to the British Churches I rather shall refer to our learned Antiquaries to be considered of more fully than affirm any thing my self But to look back on Timothy and Titus whom we left lately in their several Churches I hear it said that notwithstanding all those proofs before produced from the ancient yet being Evangelists as they were they could be no Bishops Smectymn p. 48. Bishops being tied to the particular care of that flock or Church over which God had made them Overseers but the Evangelists being Planetary sent up and down from place to place by the Apostles as the necessities of the Church required Besides that moving in an higher sphere than that of Bishops and being Co-partners with Saint Paul in his Apostleship or Apostolical function Unbishopping of Tim. Tit. p. 36. it had been a devesting of themselves of their Apostolical jurisdiction and preheminence to become Bishops at the last and so descend from a superiour to an inferiour Office For answer whereunto we need say but this that the gift of being an Evangelist might and did fall on any rank of ordinary Ministers as might that also of the Prophet Philip one of the seven a Deacon as it is generally conceived but howsoever Ministring unto the Church in an inferiour place or Office was notwithstanding an Evangelist and Agabus though perhaps but a simple Presbyter one of the Seventy past all question was a Prophet too Philip as he was one of the Seven was tied to a particular employment and of necessity sometimes Acts 6.12 must leave the Word of God to serve Tables Yet the same Philip as he was furnished by the Lord with gifts and graces for gaining Souls to God Almighty and doing the work of an Evangelist must leave the serving of those Tables to preach the Word And Agabus Acts 11.27 28. 21.10 if he were a Presbyter whether of Hierusalem from whence he is twice said to come or of some other Church that I will not say might notwithstanding his employment in a particular Church repair to Antioch or Caesarea as the Spirit willed him there to discharge the Office of a Prophet So then both Timothy and Titus might be Bishops as to their ordinary place and calling though in relation unto their extraordinary gifts they were both Evangelists As for their falling from a higher to a lower function from an Evangelist unto a Bishop I cannot possibly perceive where the fall should be They that object this will not say but Timothy at the least was made a Presbyter for wherefore else did the Presbytery which they so much stand on lay hands upon him And certainly if it were no diminution from an Evangelist to become a I resbyter it was a preferment unto the Evangelist from being but a Presbyter to become a Bishop But for the Bishopping of Timothy and Titus as to the quod sit of it that so they were in the opinion of all ancient Writers we have said enough We will next look on the authority committed to them to see what further proof hereof may be brought for that CHAP. V. Of the Authority and Jurisdiction given by the Word of God to Timothy and Titus and in them to all other Bishops 1. The Authority committed to Timothy and Titus was to be perpetual and not personal only 2. The power of Ordination intrusted only unto Bishops by the Word of God according to the judgments of the Fathers 3. Bishops alone both might and did Ordain without their Presbyters 4. That Presbyters might not Ordain without a Bishop proved by the memorable case of Coluthus and Ischyras 5. As by those also of Maximus and a Spanish Bishop 6. In what respects the joint assistance of the Presbyters was required herein 7. The case of the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas declared and qualified 8. The care of ordering Gods Divine Service a work peouliar to the Bishop 9. To whom the Ministration also of the Saoraments doth in chief belong 10. Bishops to have a care that Gods Word be preached and to encourage those that take pains that way 11. Bishops to silence and correct such Presbyters as preach other doctrines 12. As also to reprove and reject the Heretick 13. The censure and correction of inferiour Presbyters doth belong to Bishops 14. And of Lay-people also if they walk unworthy of their Christian calling 15. Conjectural proofs that the description of a Bishop in the first to Timothy is of a Bishop truly and properly so called THEY who object that Timothy and Titus were Evangelists and so by consequence no Bishops Unbishopping of Tim. Tit. p. 60 61 c. have also said and left in writing that the authority committed to them by Saint Paul did not belong to them at all as Bishops but Evangelists only But this if pondered as it ought hath no ground to stand on The calling of Evangelists as it was Extraordinary so it was but temporary to last no longer than the first planting of the Church for which so many signal gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit were at first poured on the Disciples I know not any Orthodox Writer who doth not in this point agree with Calvin Com. in 4. ad Eph. v. 11. who in his Comment on the Epistle to the Ephesians gives us this instruction Deum Apostolis Evangelistis Prophetis Ecclesiam suam non nisi ad tempus ornasse that God adorned his Church with Prophets Evangelists and Apostles for a season only having before observed that of all those holy ministrations there recited Postrema tantum duo perpetua esse the two last viz. Pastors and Teachers which he takes for two were to be perpetual But on the other side power to ordain fit Ministers of what sort soever as also to reprove and censure those that behaved themselves unworthily authority to convent and reject an Heretick to punish by the censures of the Church all such as give offence and scandal to the Congregation by their exhorbitant and unruly living this ought to be perpetual in the Church of Christ This the Apostle seems to intimate when he said to Timothy I charge thee in the sight of God 1 Tim. 6.14 and before Jesus Christ that thou keep this Commandment without spot
assumed into the Clergy But not to make a further search into particulars which are vast and infinite we have two notable cases that reflect this way and in them two such general Maxims as will make all sure In the third Council of Carthage holden in or about the year 390. it was proposed by Aurelius then Metropolitan of Carthage Concil Carthag 3. Ca. 45. that it might be lawful for him to chuse or take Presbyters out of the Churches of his Suffragans and to ordain them Bishops of such Cities as were unprovided and that the Bishops of those Churches whose Clerks or Presbyters they were might not be suffered to oppose To which when all the Fathers had agreed Posthumianus one of the Prelates there assembled puts this case that if a Bishop had but one Presbyter only Numquid debet illi ipse unus Presbyter auferri whether that one Presbyter should be taken from him Aurelius thereunto replyeth Episcopum unum esse posse per quem dignatione divina Presbyteri multi constitui possunt that a Bishop by Gods grace might make many Presbyters and therefore that on such occasions his one and only Presbyter must be yielded up upon demand By which it is most clear and evident that a Bishop may alone perform the Act or Ceremony of Ordination not having any Presbyter at all to join with him in it The like occurreth in the second Council of Sevil held in the year 617 or thereabouts concerning Erangitanus a Presbyter of the Church of Corduba who by the Bishop of that See Concil Hispalens 2. c. 5. Cap. 6. a ruffling Prelate as appeareth by the following Chapter had been deposed from his Ministry the cause being brought before the Council and the whole process openly declared unto them the man was presently restored to his Orders and the sentence passed against him declared to be irrregular and contrary to the ancient Canons whereby it was enacted that no Clergy-man should be deposed without the judgment of a Synod And then it followeth Episcopus sacerdotibus ministris solus dare honorem potest auferre solus non potest that Bishops solely of themselves may confer holy Orders on Priests and Deacons but solely of their own authority they could not depose them So then it is most clear and evident that Bishops might and did ordain without their Presbyters might not the Presbyters do the like sometimes without their Bishop Certainly nothing less than so or if they did attempt it at any time the whole act was not only censured and condemned as uncanonical but adjudged void and null from the first beginning For besides that which hath been said before from Hierom Chrysostom and Epiphanius touching the limitation of this power to the Bishops only there are three Book-cases in the point which put the matter out of question Coluthus once a Presbyter of Alexandria Athanas in Apol 2. Edit Gr. Lat. p. 784. falling at difference with his Bishop usurps upon the Bishops Office and ordains certain Presbyters himself being one This business being canvassed in the Council of Alexandria before that famous Confessor Hosius and other Bishops there assembled Coluthus was commanded to carry himself for a Presbyter only as indeed he was and all the Presbyters of his ordaining reduced to the same condition ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in which they were before the said Ordination Where by the way instead of Coluthus the last edition of this Author in Greek and Latin doth read Catholicus Lutet 1627. which must be mended as before in the relation of this story P. 732.792 where we have Coluthus and not Catholicus But to proceed It hapned afterwards that Ischyras one of the Pseudo-Presbyters ordained by Coluthus Id. ibid. p. 757. accused Macarius one of the Presbyters of Athanasius for a pretended violence to be offered to him Id. ibid. p. 732. then ministring at the holy Table So that the business being brought at last unto the judgment of a Council and the point in issue being this whether this Ischyras were a Presbyter or not and so by consequence a dispenser of those sacred Mysteries he was returned no Presbyter by the full consent of all the Prelates then assembled The reason was because he was ordained by Coluthus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who died a Presbyter and that his Ordinations had been all made void and those that had received them at his hands ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã became lay again and in that state received the blessed Sacrament as the Lay-men did And this saith Athanasius was a thing so publique ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that no man ever doubted of the truth thereof The second case was that of Maximus once a familiar friend of Gregory Nazianzens at such time as he was Bishop of Constantinople and by him Greg. Presb. in vita Nazian having taken a good liking to him admitted into the Clergy of that Church But Maximus being an ungrateful wretch complots with others like himself to be made Bishop of that City and thereupon negotiates with Peter then Patriarch of Alexandria to ordain him Bishop of the same which being done accordingly for Maximus was by birth of Egypt and possibly might have good friends there besides his money and the whole City in a great distemper about the business the whole cause came at last to be debated in the first general Council of Constantinople Conc. Const 1. cap. 4. where on full hearing of the matter it was thus Decreed viz. that Maximus neither was to be taken for a Bishop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nor any of those he had ordained to be accounted of the Clergy or remain in any order or degree thereof Where note that howsoever Maximus came unlawfully unto the bishoprick of Constantinople by means whereof all the Acts done by him as a Bishop were made void and frustrate yet if as Presbyter to which degree he had been lawfully ordained by Nazianzen he might have given the imposition of hands the Presbyters by him ordained would have held good still But the third case comes nearest to the business yet as it is thus reported in the Council of Sevil before remembred A Bishop of the Church of Spain Concil Hisp 11. cap. 5. being troubled with sore eyes and having some presented to him to be ordained Presbyters and Deacons did only lay his hands upon them suffering a Presbyter that stood by to read the words of Ordination This coming to be scanned in the aforesaid Council upon mature deliberation it is thus determined First for the Presbyter which assisted that for his boldness and presumption he had been subject to the Councils censure but that he was before deceased next for the Presbyter and Deacons who were so ordained that they should actually be deposed from all sacred Orders Concluding thus Tales enim merito judicati sunt removendi quia prave inventi sunt constituti that they were worthily adjudged to lose those Orders
which they had wrongfully received So little influence had the Presbyters in the essential parts of Ordination as that their bare reading of the words though required to it by the Bishop was adjudged enough not only to make them liable to the Churches Censure but also for their sakes to make void the Action Nay so severe and punctual was the Church herein that whereas certain Bishops of those times whether consulting their own case or willing to decline so great a burthen had suffered their Chorepiscopi aswell those which were simply Presbyters as such as had Episcopal Ordination for two there were to perform this Office Concil Gangrens Can. 13. Concil Antioch l. Can. 10. it was forbidden absolutely in the one limited and restrained in the other sort as by the Canons of the two ancient Synods of Gangra and Antioch doth at full appear It is true indeed that anciently as long for ought I know as there is any Monument or Record of true Antiquity the Presbyters have joyned their hands to and with the Bishops in the performance and discharge of this great Solemnity And hereof there are many evidences that affirm the same as well in matter of fact as in point of Law Saint Cyprian one of the ancientest of the Fathers which now are extant Cyprian Ep. 33. or l. 2. ep 5. affirms that in the ordination of Aurelius unto the Office of a Reader in the Church of Carthage he used the hands of his Colleagues Hunc igitur à me à Collegis qui praesentes aderant ordinatum sciatis as he reports the matter in a Letter to his charge at Carthage Where by Colleagues it is most likely that he means his Presbyters first because that Epistle was written during the time of his retreat and privacy what time it is not probable that any of his Suffragan Bishops did resort unto him and secondly because those words qui praesentes aderant are so conform unto the practice of that Church in the times succeeding For in the fourth Council of Carthage held in the year 401. Concil Car. 4. Can. 3. it was Decreed that when a Presbyter was ordained the Bishop blessing him and holding his hand upon his head etiam omnes Presbyteri qui praesentes sunt manus suas juxta manum Episcopi super caput illius teneant all the Presbyters which are present shall likewise lay their hands upon his head near the hands of the Bishop Id. Can. 12. And in the same Council it was further ordered that the Bishop should not ordain a Clergy-man sine consilio clericorum suorum without the counsel of his Clergy which also doth appear to be Cyprians practice in the first words of the Epistle before remembred But then it is as true withal that this conjunction of the Presbyters in the solemnities of this Act was rather ad honorem Sacerdotii quam essentiam operis more for the honour of the Priesthood than for the essence of the work Nor did the laying on of the Presbyters hands confer upon the party that was ordained any power or order but only testified their consent unto the business and approbation of the man according to the purpose and intent of the last of the two Canons before alledged And for the first Canon if you mark it well it doth not say that if there be no Presbyters in place the Bishop should defer the Ordination till they came but Presbyteri qui praesentes sunt if any Presbyters were present at the doing of it they should lay their hands upon his head near the Bishops hands So that however anciently in the purest times the Presbyters which were then present both might and did impose hands with the Bishop upon the man to be ordained and so concurred in the performance of the outward Ceremony yet the whole power of Ordination was vested in the person of the Bishop only as to the essence of the work And this appears yet further by some passages in the Civil Laws prescribed for the ordering of Ecclesiastical Ministers by which upon neglect or contempt thereof the Presbyters were not obnoxious unto punishment that joyned with the Bishop because they had no power to hinder what he meant to do But the Bishop only qui ordinat or qui ordinationem imponit he in whom rested the authority by laying on or by withholding of his hands either to frustrate or make good the action he was accomptable unto the Laws if he should transgress them for which consult Novell Constitut 123. Cited by B. Bilson c. 13. Sozomen Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 23. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ca. 16. and Novell Constitut 6. And so it also stood in the Churches practice as appeareth plainly by the degradations of Basilius Eleusius and Elpidius three ancient Bishops because that amongst other things they had advanced some men unto holy Orders contrary to the Laws and Ordinances of the Church of which Elpidius was deposed on no other reason but on that alone Now had the Presbyters been agents in ordaining as well as the Bishop and the imposing of their hands so necessary that the business could not be performed without them there had been neither equity nor reason in it to let them scape Scot-free and punish the poor Bishops only for that in which the Presbyters were as much in fault Against all this I meet with no Objection in Antiquity but what hath casually been encountred in the former passages This present age doth yield one and a great one too which is the case of the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas who finding an aversness of the Bishops at the first to give them Orders unless they would desert the work of Reformation which they had in hand were fain to have recourse to Presbyters for their Ordinations in which estate they still continue That thus it was August Con. in fine appeareth by the Augustan Confession the Authors and Abettors of the which complain that the Bishop would admit none unto sacred Orders Nisi jurent se puram Evangelii Doctrinam nolle docere except they would be sworn not to Preach the Gospel according to the grounds and Principles of their Reformation For their parts they professed Non id agi ut dominatio excipiatur Episcopis that they had no intention to deprive the Bishops of their Authority in the Church but only that they might have liberty to Preach the Gospel and be eased of some few Rites and Ceremonies which could not be observed without grievous sin This if it could not be obtained and that a Schism did follow thereupon it did concern the Bishops to look unto it how they would make up their account to Almighty God So that the Bishops thus refusing to admit them into holy Orders which was the publique ordinary Door of entrance into the Ministery of the Church necessity compelled them at the last to enter in by private ways and impose hands on one another In which
is somewhat more out of doubt it must Those Canons which are only fathered on the Apostles will else run cross with those which are theirs indeed When Saint Paul lessoned those of Corinth 1 Cor. 6. that rather than they should profane the Gospel with contentious suits they should refer their differences to their Brethren Think you it was his purpose either to exclude the Clergy then or their Bishop after when they had one No saith Saint Ambrose Ambros Com. in 1 ad Cor. c. 6. if the work be his Melius dicit apud dei ministros causam agere no better way than to refer the business to Gods Ministers who being guided by the fear of God will determin rightly in the same Or is the Bishop only to be barred this Office Not so saith he For if Saint Paul adviseth them to submit themselves unto the judgment of their Brethren it was upon this reason principally quia adhuc Rector in eorum Ecclesia non esset ordinatus because as then there was no Bishop in that Church Saint Austin gives it more exactly makes it a charge imposed upon the Bishop by Saint Pauls command For speaking of the pains he took in the determining of such causes as were brought before him August de Opere Monarch c. 29. he tells us that he underwent the same in obedience only to Saint Paul's injunction quibus nos molestiis idem affixit Apostolus as his words there are and that Saint Paul imposed it not by his own authority sed ejus qui in eo loquebatur but by the authority of the Holy Ghost which did dictate to him adding withal that howsoever it was irksome and laborious to him yet he did patiently discharge his duty in it pro spe aeternae vitae only upon the hope of life eternal And it is worth the observation that venerable Beda making a Comment upon Saint Pauls Epistle collected out of several passages of Saint Austins writings he putteth down this place at large as the most full and proper exposition of the Apostles words Secularia judicia si habueritis c. 1 Cor. 6.4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life c. Here then we have the Bishop interessed in the determining of suits and differences a secular imployment surely and yet no violence offered to the sacred Canon May he not go a little further and intermeddle if occasion be in matters of the Common-wealth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Synesius in Ep. 57. I do not blame those Bishops saith Synesius that are so imployed such as are fitted with abilities for the undertaking being by him a strict and rigorous man permitted to employ the same And more than so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it maketh for Gods praise and glory that it should be so that men on whom he hath bestowed abilities to perform both Offices should do accordingly But these I put down here as opinions only the practice of them we shall see in a place more proper If then it be demanded what those ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã those worldly cares and secular imployments are which the Canon speaks off Zonar Comment in Conc. Chalced. Can. 3. Zonaras will inform us in another place that the Canon aimeth at the mingling of the Roman Magistracies ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã with the Episcopal or Priestly function which at that time were questionless incompatible And then the meaning of the Canon will in fine be this that Bishops or inferiour Clergy-men might not be Consuls Praetors Generals or undergoe such publick Offices in the State of Rome as were most sought for and esteemed by the Gentiles there As for their jurisdiction over the inferiour Clergy as far as it is warranted by these Apostolick Canons it doth coââst especially in these particulars First there is granted and annexed unto them the power of Ordination and to them alone Can. Apost 2. The second Canon tells us so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Presbyter and Deacon and all other Clerks must be ordained by one Bishop And if a Bishop be required though but one in all the Presbyters have no authority at all of conferring Orders But of this before Being ordained they were accomptable in the next place to their Bishop in all things which concerned their Ministration without whose special leave and liking there were not only many things which they might not do but there was nothing in a manner to be done ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Can. 38. Ignat. ad Smyrnens Zonar in Can. Apost let them do nothing saith the Canon without the knowledge of the Bishops neither Baptize nor celebrate the Eucharist as Ignatius hath it of whom more anon ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not repel any man from the Communion as it is in Zonaras But here the Canons speaking in another place they will tell you more particularly that if a Presbyter neglecting or contemning his own Bishop Can. 31. shall gather the People into a Conventicle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and erect another Altar for divine worship not being able to convict his Bishop of any impiety or injustice he is to be deposed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as an ambitious person seeking a preheminence that belonged not to him Finally so obnoxious were the Presbyters to the command and pleasure of their Bishop that they could not be admitted into any other City Can. 12. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without his letters testimonial and this on pain of Excommunication as well unto the Presbyter that should so depart Can. 15. as to the party that received him If any Presbyter or Deacon leaving the charge appointed to him shall go into another Diocess for so I think ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã must be read in this place and time and there abide without the allowance of his Bishop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he is to be suspended ab officio especially if he return not presently on the Bishops summons More of this kind there is in those ancient Canons touching the Presbyters dependance on and plain subjection to their Bishop But I have instanced in such only as may be clearly justified by succeeding practice And so much of the Apostles Canons ascribed to Clemens From Clemens on to Evaristus his next successor in the government of the Church of Rome I know the Antiquaries of that Church have interloped an Anacletus between these two Iren. l. 3. cap. 3. and let them take him for their labour But when I find in Irenaeus who lived so near the times we speak of as to converse with those which were then alive when both these Bishops sate in the Church of Rome and when I find it in Eusebius Euseb hist Ec. l. 3. c. 28. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who with such care and diligence collected the successions of the Prelates in the greater Churches that Evaristus did immediately succeed this Clemens I shall desire to be excused if I prefer their testimony
since been ordained reverend for their Age for their Faith sincere tried in Affliction and proscribed in time of persecution Nor doth he speak this of his own time only which was somewhat after but as a matter of some standing cum jam pridem per omnes provincias that so it had been long ago and therefore must needs be so doubtless in this present Age being not long before his own And this extent of Christianity I do observe the rather in this place and time because that in the Age which followeth the multitudes of Christians being so increased we may perhaps behold a new face of things the times becoming quicker and more full of action Parishes or Parochial Churches set out in Country-Villages and Towns and several Presbyters allotted to them with an addition also both of trust and power unto the Presbyters themselves in the Cure of Souls committed to them by their Bishops with many other things which concern this business And therefore here we will conclude this present Century proceeding forward to the next in the name of God CHAP. IV. Of the authority in the government of the Church of Carthage enjoyed and exercised by Saint Cyprian and other Bishops of the same 1. Of the foundation and preheminences of the Church of Carthage 2. Of Agrippinus and Donatus two of St. Cyprian's Predecessors 3. The troublesom condition of that Church at Cyprian's first being Bishop there 4. Necessitated him to permit some things to the discretion of his Presbyters and consent of the People 5. Of the authority ascribed by Cyprian to the People in the Election of their Bishop 6. What Power the people had de facto in the said Elections 7. How far the testimony of the People was required in the Ordination of their Presbyters 8. The power of Excommunication reserved by St. Cyprian to the Bishop only 9. No reconciliation of a Penitent allowed by Cyprian without the Bishops leave and licence 10. The Bishop's power as well in the encouragement as in the punishment and censure of his Clergy 11. The memorable case of Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of Carthage 12. The Bishop's Power in regulating and declaring Martyrs 13. The Divine Right and eminent authority of Bishops fully asserted by St. Cyprian SAint Hierom tells us of S. Cyprian Hieron de Scriâtor Eccl. in Tertulâd that he esteemed so highly of Tertulian's writings that he never suffered any day to pass over his head without reading somewhat in the same and that he did oft use to say when he demanded for his works Da mihi magistrum reach me my Tutor or Praeceptor So that considering the good opinion which S. Cyprian had harboured of the man for his Wit and Learrning and the nearness of the time in which they lived being both also members of the same Church the one a Presbyter the other Bishop of the Church of Carthage We will pass on unto S. Cyprian and to those monuments of Piety and Learning which he left behind him And this we shall the rather do because there is no Author of the Primitive times out of whose works we have such ample treasures of Ecclesiastical Antiquities as we have in his none who can give us better light for the discovery of the truth in the present search than that blessed Martyr But first before we come to the man himself we will a little look upon his charge on the Church of Carthage as well before as at his coming to be Bishop of it the knowledge of the which will give special light to our following business And first for the foundation of the Church of Carthage Cited by Baronius in Annal Eccl. Anno 51. if Metaphrastes may be credited it was the action of Saint Peter who leaving Rome at such time as the Jews were banished thence by the Decree of Claudius Caesar in Africam navigasse Carthaginensem erexisse Ecclesiam is by him said to sail to Africa and there to found the Church of Carthage leaving behind him Crescens one of his Disciples to be the Bishop of the same But whether this be so or not it is out of question that the Church of Carthage was not only of great Antiquity but that it also was of great power and credit as being the Metropolitan Church of Africk the Bishop of the same being the Primate of all Africa properly so called together with Numidia and both the Mauritanias as well Caesariensis as Sitisensis So witnesseth S. Cyprian himself Latius fusa est nostra Provincia Cypri Ep. 45. habet enim Numidiam Mauritanias duas sibi cohaerentes as his own words are And this appeareth also by the subscription of the Bishops to the Council of Carthage convented ex Provincia Africa Concil Tom. 1. p. 149. Edit Binil Numidia Mauritania as is most clear on the record For whereas antiently the Roman Empire was divided into fourteen Diocesses reckoning the Prefecture of the City of Rome for one every Diocess being subdivided into several Provinces as was said before the Diocess of Africa was not of the meanest containing in it six large Provinces Notitia Provinciarum and reaching from the greater Syrtis Eastward where it confined upon the Patriarchat of Alexandria to Mauritania Tingitana on the West which did belong unto the Diocess of Spain Now Carthage standing in that Province which was called Zeugitana or Proconsularis and being the Seat or Residence of the Vicarius or Lieutenant General of the Roman Empire for that Diocess The Bishop of it was not only the Metropolitan of his own Province but the Primate also in regard of the other sive which were Tripolitana Byzacena Numidia and the two Mauritanias before remembred Nor was he only the supream Bishop in regard of them but also absolute and independent in regard of others as being neither subject or subordinate to the Patriarchs of Alexandria though the prime City of all Africa nor to the Popes of Rome the Queen and Empress of the world Concil Carthaginiens 6. against whose machinations and attempts the Church of Carthage for a long time did maintain her liberty Such being the Authority and power of the Church of Carthage we must next look upon the Bishops of the same who though they had not got the name of Patriarchs as those of Antioch Rome and Alexandria now had and they of Constantinople and Hierusalem shall be found to have in the times succeeding yet had they all manner of Patriarchal jurisdiction Of these the first I meet withal was Agrippinus who flourished in the beginning of this Century bonae memoriae vir a man of blessed memory as S. Cyprian Cyprian Epist 71. Vincent Lerinen adv haeres cap. 9. Aug. de Bap. lib. 2. cap. 7 8. Cypr. Epi. 71. Venerabilis memoriae of venerable memory as Vincentius Lerinensis calls him S. Austin also mentioneth him in one of his discourses against the Donatists as a Predecessor of S. Cyprians
to a publick tryal for their misdemeanours before himself and all the People 'T is true indeed that in the outward action and formality of this great work of Reconciliation the Clergy did impose hands with the Bishop upon the head of him that was reconciled Epist 10.11 c. for we find often in St. Cyprian Manus ab Episcopo clero imposita but this was only as I said before in the outward action the power of admitting him unto that estate and giving way to his desires in making of him capable of so great a favour belonging only to the Bishop as before appears Thus have we seen how and in what particulars as also upon what considerations Saint Cyprian communicated some part of his Episcopal Authority either unto the Presbyters or to the People or to both together We will next look on those particulars which he reserved wholly and solely to himself and they concern his Clergy chiefly in his behaviour towards whom in matters of reward and punishment he was as absolute and supream as ever any Bishop since his time And first in matter of reward the greatest honour whereof the Clergy in his time were capable was their place of sitting distinct and separate from the People A place by Sozomon Sozom. l. 5. c. 14. Concil Laodi Can. 55. Canon Sacerdot distinct 2. Cypr. Ep. 35. called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as it were the Sacrarie by the Council of Laodicea entituled ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by reason it was higher than the rest that all the people might behold it by others Presbyterium the place for Presbyters but by what names soever called a place it was appointed for the Bishop and his Clergy only Into this place St. Cyprian admits Numidicus a stranger to the Church of Carthage as before was noted from Baronius but by him added to the number of the Presbyters there adscriptus Presbyterorum Carthaginiensium numero as his own phrase is that so he might enjoy the honour of that place with the less distast And so for point of maintenance which was another part of the Reward that did belong to the Laborious and painful Presbyter the distribution of the same was wholly in the Bishops power So wholly in his power that howsoever it belonged unto none of right but unto the Presbyters yet he having bestowed on Celerinus and Aurelius the place of Readers in the Church did also give unto them or assign the same full maintenance Id. Epi. 34. which was allowed to any of the Presbyters Presbyterii honorem designasse nos illis jam Sciatis ut sportulis iisdem cum Presbyteris honorentur divisiones menstruas aequatis portionibus partiantur Know you saith he in an Epistle to the whole Church of Carthage that we have assigned them to the full honour of Presbyters appointing that they should receive the same proportion of allowance and have as great a share in the monthly dividends as any of the Presbyters had Where by the way this portion or allowance had the name of Sportula from the reward or fees which anciently were allowed to Judges and by that name are mentioned in the Civil Laws which being assigned to the Presbyters pro singulorum meritis according to the merits of the persons to some more some less at the discretion of the Bishop gave them the name of Fratres sportulantes whereof we read in Cyprian Ep. 66. And they were called divisiones mensurnae the monthly Dividends because that as the contributions of the people were made once every month menstrua quaque die as Tertullian a Presbyter of this Church hath told us so as it seems Tertul. in Apolog c. 36. the Dividend was made accordingly as soon as the mony had been brought to the Bishops hands So also in the way of punishment when any of the Clergy had offended the Bishop had Authority to withdraw his maintenance and with-hold his stipend For when complaint was made to Cyprian of Philumenus and Fortunatus two of his Sub-deacons Cypr. Ep. 28. and of Favorinus an Acolythite qui medio tempore recesserunt who formerly had forsook their calling and now desired to be restored again unto it although he neither would nor could determine in it before he had consulted with his Colleagues and the whole body of his People the matter being great and weighty yet in the mean time he suspends them from their monthly pay interim se à divisione mensurna tantum contineant as he there resolves it leaving the cause to be determined of at better leasure This was a plain suspension à Beneficio and could he not suspend ab Officio also Assuredly he both could and did as appears evidently by his proceeding with these Presbyters who had entrenched upon his jurisdiction as before was said Whose great offence though he reserved unto the hearing both of the Confessors themselves and the whole body of the People for a final end yet in the mean time prohibeantur interim offerre Idem Ep. 10. it was his pleasure to suspend them for the Ministery from their attendance at the Altar Suspend them then he might there 's no doubt of that but might he not if he saw cause deprive them also He might assuredly or otherwise he had never given that counsel to Rogatianus that if the Deacon formerly remembred did not repent him of his faults eum vel deponat vel abstineat Idem Ep. 65. he either might deprive or excommunicate him which he would himself He were a very greedy Bishop who would not be content with that allowance of Authority which S. Cyprian had The like authority he used towards the People also not suffering them to be remembred in the Churches Prayers if they had broken or infringed the Churches Canons And this appeareth by the so celebrated case of Geminius Victor who at his death had made Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of Carthage tutorem testamento suo Idem Ep. 66. the Executor of his last Will and Testament which being like to be a means whereby Faustinus might be taken off from his employment in the Ministery the displeased Bishop doth declare ne deprecatio aliqua nomine ejus in Ecclesia frequentetur that he should neither be remembred in the Offertory nor any Prayer be made in his name in the Church And this he did upon this reason ne quis Sacerdotes Ministros Dei Altari ejus Ecclesiae vacantes ad seculares molestias devocet that none hereafter should presume to withdraw the Priest and Ministers of God from their attendance at the Altar in the Churches service unto the cares and troubles of the world Which passage as it shews expresly the great tye which the Bishops of those times had upon the Conscience of the People whom they could punish thus after death it self So is it frequently alledged Smectym p. 46. to shew that neither Presbyters nor Bishops were to be molested
Sed nondum vindicatus but not asserted to that honour not established in it So great was the Authority of Bishops over that of Martyrs whether dead or living But to return unto S. Cyprian whom we have found so stout a Champion in the defence of his Episcopal Authority that though there was a kind of necessity of complying as the world went with him both with his Presbyters and People yet notwithstanding he knew how to resume his power and neither take their counsel nor consent but on some occasions Had he done otherwise he had indeed betrayed the honour of his calling which in the point of practice which he so often doth extol both for Divinity of Institution and excellency of Jurisdiction in the way of Theory For if we look into his writings we shall soon find what his opinion was touching the institution of Episcopacy which he maintaineth in several places to be Jure Divino no Ecclesiastical device no humane Ordinance For grounding the Authority of his calling on those words of Christ Tibi dabo Claves Cypr. Ep. 27. he sheweth that ever since that time the Church hath been constituted upon Bishops and every Act thereof by them administred Then adds Cum hoc itaque Divina lege fundatum sit that since it is so ordered by the Law of God or by Divine Law which you will he marveleth much that any one should write such Letters to him as he had formerly received from some of the collapsed Christians In his Epistle to Cornelius Id. Ep. 55. he calleth the Office of a Bishop in governing the Church of God Sublimem Divinam potestatem an high and Divine Authority and tells us of the same de Divina dignatione firmatur that it is founded and confirmed by Divine Providence or favour In that unto Rogatianus Idem Ep. 65. Apostolos i. e. Episcopos Praepositos Dominus elegit the Lord saith he did choose Apostles that is the Bishops and Governors of the Church Therefore if we that are the Bishops ought to do nothing against God qui Episcopos facit who made us Bishops so neither ought the Deacons to do any thing in despite of us who made them Deacons Finally in that unto Florentius Pupianus Idem Ep. 69. who had charged him as it seems with some filthy crimes he affirmeth often that the Bishop is appointed by God himself Sacerdotes per Deum in Ecclesia constitui that they are placed in the Church by God Deum Sacerdotes facere that God makes Bishops and in a word Apostolis Vicaria ordinatione succedere they that succeeded the Apostles as their proper Substitutes As for the excellency of the Episcopal power take this once for all where he affirmeth to Cornelius non aliunde haereses abortas esse Idem Ep. 55. that Schisms and Heresies do proceed from no other fountain than this That there is no obedience yielded to the Bishop or Priest of God for in the ancient stile of many of the Fathers Sacerdos and Bishop is the same Vel unus in Ecclesia ad tempus Sacerdos ad tempus Judex vice Christi cogitatur and that men do not think that there is one Bishop only for the time in a Christian Church one for the time that judgeth in the place of Christ Pamel Annot. in Cypr. Ep. 55. Which words since many of the Advocates for the Popes Supremacy have drawn against all right and reason from their proper purpose to the advancement of the dignity of the See of Rome S. Cyprian writing this unto Cornelius then the Bishop there we may hear him speaking the same words almost in his own behalf Inde enim Schismata c. From hence saith he do Schisms and Heresies arise Cypr. Ep. 69. whilst the Bishop being but one in every Church is slighted by the proud presumption of some men and he by man is judged unworthy whom God makes worthy of his favours And because possibly it may be thought that Cyprian might be partial in the heightning of his own Authority I shall crave leave to back him with Saint Hierom's words Hieron adv Luciferian none of the greatest fautors of Episcopacy who affirms as much who tells us plainly that the safety of the Church depends on the chief Priest or Bishop Cui si non exors ab omnibus eminens detur potestas to whom in case there be not given an eminent and transcendent power there will be shortly as many Schisms in the Church as Priests But it is time to leave S. Cyprian who went unto the Lord his God through the door of Martyrdom Anno 261. proceeding from the Church of Carthage to that of Alexandria the next neighbour to it CHAP. V. Of the condition and affairs of the two Patriarchal Churches of Alexandria and Antiochia 1. Of the foundation and first Professors of the Divinity-School in Alexandria 2. What is affirmed by Clemens one of those Professors concerning Bishops 3. Origen the Divinity-Reader there permitted to expound the Scriptures in the presence of the Bishop of Caesarea 4. Contrary to the custom of the Alexandrian and Western Churches 5. Origen ordained Presbyter by the Bishops of Hierusalem ad Caesarea and excommunicated by the Bishop of Alexandria 6. What doth occur touching the superiority and power of Bishops in the works of Origen 7. The custom of the Church of Alexandria altered in the election of their Bishops 8. Of Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria and his great care and travails for the Churches peace 9. The Government of the Church in the former times by letters of intercourse and correspondence amongst the Bishops of the same 10. The same continued also in the present Century 11. The speedy course taken by the Prelats of the Church for the suppressing of the Heresies of Samosatenus 12. The Civil Jurisdiction train and thrones of Bishops things not unusual in this Age. 13. The Bishops of Italy and Rome made Judges in a point of title and possession by the Roman Emperor 14. The Bishops of Italy and Rome why reckoned as distinct in that Delegation AND being come to Alexandria the first thing presents it self to our observation is the Divinity-School there being which we must first take notice of before we look into the Church which in this Age was furnished hence both with Religious Bishops and Learned Presbyters Eus hist Eccl. lib. 5. c. 10. A School as it appeareth by Eusebius of no small Antiquity who speaking of the times of Commodus saith ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that of an antient custom there had been a School for teaching of Divinity and other parts of Literature which had been very much frequented in the former times and so continued till his days According to which plat-form first Schools and after Universities had their consideration in the Church from whence as from a fruitful Seminary she hath been stored ever since with the choicest wits for the advancement of her publique service
he might prove in the Church of God did at another time as he passed through Palestine to go towards Greece ordain him Presbyter And this was done ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã saith Eusebius by the Bishops there Euseb hist Eccl. l. 6. c. 17. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. 7. by the two Bishops formerly remembred no Presbyter concurring in it for ought there we find Yet when Demetrius moved with his wonted envy did not only what he could to disgrace the man but also sought to frame an accusation against those ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. l. 6. c. 7. n. which had advanced him to the order of a Presbyter We do not find that he objected any thing against them as to the Act of Ordination but only as unto the irregularity of the person by reason of a corporal defect of his own procuring And on the other side when as Demetrius saw his time and found that some few passages in his many writings either by him or in his name at least set forth and published had made him liable unto danger obnoxious to the censures of the Church he did not only excommunicate him which had been enough either to right the Church or revenge himself but he prevailed with many other Churches also Hier. in Apo. l cont Ruffinum to confirm the sentence Ab eodem Demetrio Episcopo Alexandrino fuisse excommunicatione damnatum prolatamque in eum sententiam à caeteris quoque Ecclesiis ratam habitam as S. Hierom hath it Whereas before we had his Ordination performed only by the two Bishops of Caesarea and Hierusalem without the hands of any of the Presbyters and yet the Ordination good and valid the whole Church after reckoning him for a Presbyter without doubt or scruple so here we find him Excommunicated by one Bishop only without the votes or suffrages of the Presbyters or any shew or colour of it and yet the Church concurring with that Bishop though his ancient Enemy in confirmation of that censure So fully was the Church persuaded in the former times that these were parts of the Episcopal jurisdiction and authority that there was no objection made against this last though Origen had many friends and those great ones too nor nullity or invalidity in the first although Demetrius who by reason of his great place and power had made him many Enemies did except against it From that which doth occur concerning Origen in the Books and Works of other Writers proceed we unto that which doth occur concerning Bishops in the works of Origen And there we find in the first place the several Orders of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons For speaking of those words of the Apostle He that desireth the Office of a Bishop desireth a good work he tells us this Origen in Mat. cap. 15. Talis igitur Episcopus non desiderat bonum opus that such a Bishop desireth not a good work who desireth the Office either to get glory amongst men or be flattered and courted by them or for the hope of gain from those which believe the Gospel and give large gifts in testimony of their Piety Then adds Idem vero de Presbyteris de Diaconis dices that the same is to be said of Presbyters and Deacons also Nor doth he only shew us though that were sufficient the several ranks and orders in the Hierarchy but also the ascent or degrees from the one to the other In Ecclesia Christi inveniuntur In the Church of Christ Orig. tract 24. in Mat. c. 23. saith he there are some men who do not only follow Feasts and them that make them but also love the chiefest places and labour much primùm ut Diaconi fiant first to be made Deacons not such as the Scripture describeth but such as under pretence of long Prayers devour Widdows houses And having thus been made Deacons cathedras eorum qui vocantur Presbyteri praeripere ambiunt they very greedily aspire to the chairs of those who are called Presbyters and some not therewithal content practise many ways ut Episcopi vocentur ab hominibus to have the place or name of Bishops which is as much to say as Rabbi And shortly after having endeavoured to depress this ambitious humour he gives this caveat that he who exalts himself shall be humbled which he desireth all men to take notice of but specially the Deacons Presbyters and Bishops which do not think those words to be spoken of them Here have we three degrees of Ministers in the Church of God one being a step unto the other whereof the Bishop is Supream in the highest place And not in place only but in power also and authority as being the men unto whose hands the keys were trusted by our Saviour Id. Tract 1. in Matth. For in another place he discourseth thus Quoniam ii qui Episcoporum locum sibi vendicant c. When they which challenge to themselves the place of Bishops do make the same confession that Peter did and have received from our Saviour the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven teaching that what they bind on Earth is bound in Heaven and what they loose in Earth is loosed in Heaven we must acknowledge that what they said is true if withal they have those things for which it was so said to Peter For if he be bound with the Chains of his own sins frustra vel ligat vel solvit in vain he takes upon him to bind or loose In the which words not taking notice of his errour seeming to make the efficacy of the Ministery to depend upon the merit of the Minister we find that in the time of Origen the dispensation of the Keys was the Bishops office This if it should not be sufficient to declare their power we may hear him in another place calling them Principes populi Christiani Id. in Mat. 19. Tractat. 12. the Princes of the Christian people blaming them such especially as lived in the greatest Cities in which he secretly upbraids the proud behaviour of Demetrius towards him for want of affability and due respect to their Inferiors And writing on these words of our Saviour Christ Who is that faithful and wise Servant Id. in Mat. 24. Tractat. 31. c. he applies them thus Peccat in Deum quicunque Episcopus qui non quasi conservis servus ministrat sed quasi Dominus That Bishop whosoever he be doth offend against God which doth not minister as a Servant to his Fellow-Servants but rather as a Lord amongst them yea and too often as a sharp and bitter Master domineering over them by violence remember how Demetrius used him like the Task-masters in the Land of Egypt afflicting the poor Israelites by force Finally as he doth acquaint us with their power and eminency so doth he tell us also of their care and service Id. Homil. 6. in Esaiam assuring us that he who is called unto the Office of a Bishop non
this time when as Gods people which were scattered up and down the Countrey did either come unto the Cities there to be made partakers of the Word and Sacraments in which the Bishop was at hand to attend all businesses or that the Presbyters were by the Bishop sent into the Countrey with more or less authority intrusted to them as the business was And for the other power the power of Order although it was no other than before it was as to the power and faculty conferred upon the Presbyters in their Ordination yet did they find a great enlargement and extension of it in the free execution of the same For whereas formerly as was observed both from Ignatius and Tertullian and some other Ancients Vide Chap. 1. Chap. 3. of this 2d part the Presbyter could not baptize nor celebrate the blessed Eucharist sine Episcopi authoritate without the leave and liking of the Bishop who then was near at hand to be asked the question after this time the Presbyters became more absolute in their ministration baptizing celebrating preaching and indeed what not which potestate ordinis did belong unto him only by vertue of that general faculty which had been granted by the Bishop at his Institution I mean his special designation to that place or Cure And yet the Bishops did not so absolutely invest the Presbyters with a power of Order in the administration of the Sacraments as not to keep unto themselves a superiour Power whereby the execution of that Power of Order together with a confirmation of such acts as had been done by vertue of the same might generally be observed to proceed from them And of this kind especially was that rite or ceremony which now we call by the particular name of Confirmation being called anciently impositio manuum the laying on of hands For howsoever the original institution of it be far more ancient and Apostolical as most think yet I conceive it neither was so frequent nor so necessary in the former times as in those that followed For when the Sacrament of Baptism either was administred to men grown in years or by the Bishop himself in person or in his presence at the least he giving his Fatherly and Episcopal blessing to the work in hand the subsequent laying on of hands which we call Confirmation might not seem so necessary Or if it did yet commonly it was administred with Baptism as a Concomitant thereof Hooker Eccl. Pol. l. 5. n. 66. Tertul. de Baptismo c. 7. to confirm and perfect that which the Grace of the Spirit had already begun in Baptism And so we are to understand Tertullian where having spoken before of Baptism he addeth next Dehinc manus imponitur per benediciionem advocans invitans Spiritum sanctum c. Then saith he followeth imposition of hands with invocation and invitation of the holy Ghost which willingly cometh down from the Father to rest upon the purified and blessed bodies acknowledging as it were the Waters of Baptism for a fit seat And so long as they went together and were both commonly performed by the same Minister that is the Bishop there was the less notice taken of it and possibly the less efficacy ascribed unto it But when they came once to be severed as in the necessary absence of the Bishop they had been before and on this setting out of Parishes were likely for the most part to be after the Bishops out of their abundant care of the Churches welfare permitted that which was most necessary to the common Presbyter reserving that which was more honorary to themselves alone Thus was it in the first case in St. Cyprians time who lived as was before observed Vid. Ch. 4. of this 2d part in a kind of voluntary exile as did also divers other Bishops in the heat and violence of persecutions during whose absence from their Cities and their much distance from the Countrey there is no question to be made but that the Presbyters performed their Office in administration of that Sacrament and after which there is little question but that the Children so baptized were at some time or other brought for Confirmation Certain I am that to him they were brought to be confirmed and that he grounds the Institution of that Right on the example of Peter and John Cypr. Epist 73. in the Eighth Chap. of the Acts. Illi qui in Samaria crediderant c. The faithful in Samaria saith he had already received Baptism Only that which was wanting Peter and John supplyed by Prayer and imposition of hands to the end the holy Ghost might be poured on them Then adds Quod nunc quoque apud nos geritur which also is done amongst our selves when they which be already baptized are brought unto the Prelates of the Church Praepositis âcclesiae offeruntur that by our Prayer and Imposition of our hands they may receive the holy Ghost and be strengthened by the seal of the Lord. And in the second case Hier. advers Luciferianos it is whereof Hierom speaketh where he observeth it to be the custom of the Church ut ad eos qui longè in minoribus urbibus per Presbyteros Diaconos baptizati sunt Episcopus ad invocationem Spiritus Sancti manum impositurus excurrat that the Bishop should go abroad as in Visitation and imposing hands pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost on them who far off in the lesser Cities as also in Viculis Castellis in small Towns and Villages had by the Presbyters and Deacons been baptized But note withal that Hierom tells us that this imposition of hands was reserved only to the Bishop ad honorem potius sacerdotii quam ad legis necessitatem not that the Sacrament of Baptism was not perfect and compleat without it but rather out of a certain congruity and fitness to honour Prelacy with such preheminencies the safety of the Church depending upon the dignity of the chief Priest or Bishop By which it doth appear to be St. Hieroms opinion Hooker Eccl. Pol. l. 5. n. 66. as Hooker excellently collects That the Holy Ghost is received in Baptism that Confirmation is only a Sacramental complement that the reason why Bishops alone did ordinarily confirm was not because the benefit grace and dignity thereof was greater than of Baptism but rather for that by the Sacrament of Baptism men being admitted into Gods Church it was both reasonable and convenient that if he baptize them not unto whom the chiefest authority and charge of their souls belongeth yet for Honours sake and in token of his spiritual superiority over them because to bless is an act of Authority the performance of this annexed Ceremony should be sought for at his hands What other reasons there are for it in reference to the parties that receive the same I forbear to specifie as not conducing to the History of Episcopacy which I have in hand to which estate
the honour of giving Confirmation hath always been reserved to this very day Another thing which followed upon this setting forth of Parishes by Dionysius was the institution of a new Order in the Church betwixt the Bishop and the Presbyter being neither of the two but both Those they called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Rural Bishops Of which being that there were two sorts according to the times and Ages when they were imployed we must distinguish them accordingly Now of these Chorepiscopi or Countrey Bishops some in the point and power of Order were no more than Presbyters having received no higher Ordination than to that function in the Ministery but were inabled by the Bishop under whom they served to exercise some parts of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction as much as was thought fit to commit unto them for the better reiglement of the Church And these I take it were more ancient than the present times appointed as the Bishops Visitors to go abroad into the Countrey to parts more remote to oversee such Presbyters as had been sent forth for the instruction of the people in small Towns and Villages and to perform such further Offices which the ordinary Presbyter for want of the like latitude of Jurisdiction was defective in Con. Neo-Caesaviens Can. 13. These I conceive to be of the same nature with our Rural Deans in some parts of England And these are they which in the Council of Neo-Caesarea are said to be ordained ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã after the manner of the Seventy and if no more than so then but simply Presbyters in the power of Order though ranked above them in regard of their Jurisdiction To which Pope Damasus agreeth also affirming quod ipsi iidem sunt qui Presbyteri Damas Ep. 5. ap Bin. Concil T. 1. Bellarm. de Clericis l. 1. c. 17. that they are the very same with Presbyters being first ordained ad exemplum Septuaginta after the example of the Seventy Others there were whom we find furnished with a further power qui verè Episcopalem consecrationem acceperant which really and truly had received Episcopal Consecration and yet were called Chorepiscopi because they had no Church nor Diocess of their own sed in aliena Ecclesia ministrabant but executed their authority in anothers charge And these saith Bellarmine are such as we now call Titular or Suffragan Bishops such as those heretofore admitted in the Church of England whereof consult the Act of Parliament 26 H. 8. cap. 14. Now that they had Episcopal consecration appeareth evidently by the Council of Antioch where it is said expresly of them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that they had received the Ordination of Bishops Conc. Anti. cap. 10. and so by vertue of their Ordination might execute all manner of Episcopal Acts which the Bishop of the City might perform And to this Power they were admitted on two special reasons whereof the first was to supply the absence of the Bishop who being intent upon the business of the City where his charge was greatest could not so well attend the business of the Countrey or see how well the Presbyters behaved themselves in their several Parishes to which upon the late division they were sent abroad And this is called in the said Council of Antioch Id. Ibid. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the looking to the Administration of the Churches under their authority The other was to content such of the Novatian Bishops who rather would continue in their schism and faction than return unto the Catholick Church with the loss of the honour and calling which they had before whom they thought fit if they were willing to return to the Church again to suffer in the state of a Chorepiscopus And this is that which was so prudently resolved on in the Council of Nice in which fifteen of those which assembled there were of this Order or Estate viz. Conc. Nicen. can 8. That if any of them did return to the Catholick Church either in City or Village wherein there was a Bishop or a Presbyter before provided ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he should enjoy the place and honour of a Presbyter but if that pleased him not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he should be fitted with the Office of a Chorepiscopus Which being the true condition of those Chorepiscopi it seems to me a plain and evident mistake that the Chorepiscopus who was but a Presbyter Smectymn pag. 36. should be affirmed to have power to impose hands and to ordain within his Precincts with the Bishops licence For certainly it is apparent by the Council of Antioch that the Chorepiscopi which had power of conferring Orders had to that end received Episcopal consecration and consequently could not but be more than Presbyters though at the first indeed they medled not therewith without the leave and licence of the Bishop whose Suffragans and Substitutes they were But when they had forgot their ancient modesty and did not keep themselves within the bounds and limits appointed to them which was to make two Bishops in one Diocess contrary to the ancient Canons the Church thought fitting to reduce them to their first condition And thereupon it was decreed in the Council of Ancyra ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Conc. Ancyran can 13. that it should no more be lawful for them to ordain either Presbyters or Deacons that is to say as it was afterwards explained in the Council of Antioch ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Conc. Antio can 10. without the liking of the Bishop under whom he served Howsoever that they might have somewhat of the Bishop in them they were permitted by that Canon to ordain Sub-Deacons Exorcists and Readers with which they were required to rest contented as also ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to send abroad their Letters unto other Bishops Ibid. can 8. which they called Literas Formatas Communicatorias as before was noted as those that had the full authority and power of Bishops did use of old to do at their Ordinations A point of honour denied unto the ordinary Presbyters in that very Canon Now to proceed The next Successor unto Dionysius in the See of Rome Ibid. Sept. 18. is called Felix but no more happy in some things than his Predecessour the Heresie of Paulus Samosatenus taking beginning in the time or Government in the one that of the Manichees commencing almost with the other Hujus tempore Manes quidam gente Persa vita moribus barbarus c. During his time saith Platina arose one Manes Platina in vita Felicis by birth a Persian in life and manners a Barbarian who took upon him to be Christ gathering unto him Twelve Disciples for the dispersing of his frenzies In this he differed amongst many things from Samosatenus he making Christ to be no better than a man and Manes making a vile sinful man to be the Christ I know Baronius doth place the rising of this Manicbean Heresie
Clergy in the Church of of God hath been or is maintained with less charge to the Subject than the established Clergy of the Church of England Page 167 2. That there is no man in the Kingdom of England who payeth any thing of his own towards the maintenance and support of his Parish-Minister but by his Easter-Offering Page 171 3. That the change of Tithes into Stipends will bring greater trouble to the Clergy than is yet considered and far less profit to the Countrey than is now pretended Page 174 The History of Episcopacy PART I. CHAP. I. The Christian Church first founded by our Lord and Saviour in an imparity of Ministers 1. THE several Offices of Christ our Saviour in the Administration of his Church Page 187 2. The aggregating of Disciples to him Page 188 3. The calling of the Apostles out of them and why twelve in number ibid. 4. Of the Name and Office of an Apostle Page 189 5. What things were specially required unto the making of an Apostle Page 190 6. All the Apostles equal in Authority amongst themselves ibid. 7. The calling and approinting of the 70 Disciples Page 191 8. A reconciliation of some different Opinions about the number Page 192 9. The twelve Apostles superiour to the Seventy by our Saviours Ordinance ibid. 10. What kind of superiority it was that Christ interdicted his Apostles Page 193 11. The several powers faculties and preheminences given to the Apostles by our Saviour Christ Page 194 12. That the Apostles were Bishops averred by the ancient Fathers ibid. 13. And by the text of holy Scripture Page 195 CHAP. II. The foundation of the Church of Hierusalem under the Government of Saint James the Apostle and Simeon one of the Disciples the two first Bishops of the same 1. Matthias chosen in the place of Judas Page 196 2. The coming of the Holy Ghost and on whom it fell Page 197 3. The greatest measure of the Spirit fell on the Apostles and therewithal the greatest power ibid. 4. The several Ministrations in the Church then given and that in ranking of the same the Bishops are intended in the name of Pastors Page 198 5. The sudden growth of the Church of Hierusalem and making Saint James the first Bishop there ibid. 6. The former point deduced from Scripture Page 199 7. And proved by the general consent of Fathers ib. 8. Of the Episcopal Chair or throne of James and his Successors in Hierusalem Page 200 9. Simeon elected by the Apostles to succeed Saint James Page 201 10. The meaning of the word Episcopus and from whence borrowed by the Church ibid. 11. The institution of the Presbyters Page 202 12. What interest they had in the common business of the Church whilst St. James was Bishop ib. 13. The Council of Jerusalem and what the Presbyters had to do therein Page 203 14. The institution of the Seven and to what Office they were called ibid. 15. The names of Ecclesiastical Functions promiscuously used in holy Scripture Page 204 CHAP. III. The Churches planted by Saint Peter and his Disciples originally founded in Episcopacy 1. The founding of the Church of Antioch and that Saint Peter was the first Bishop there Page 205 2. A reconciliation of the difference about his next Successors in the same Page 206 3. A List of Bishops planted by him in the Churches of the Circumcision Page 207 4. Proofs thereof from St. Peters general Epistle to the Jews dispersed according to the exposition of the Ancient Writers ibid. 5. And from Saint Pauls unto the Hebrews Page 208 6. Saint Pauls Praepositus no other than a Bishop in the Opinion of the Fathers ibid. 7. Saint Peter the first Bishop of the Church of Rome Page 209 8. The difference about his next Successors there reconciled also ibid. 9. An Answer unto such Objections as have been made against Saint Peter's being Bishop there Page 210 10. Saint Mark the first Bishop of Alexandria and of his Successors Page 221 11. Notes on the observations of Epiphanius and Saint Hierom about the Church of Alexandria Page 212 12. An observation of Saint Ambrose applyed unto the former business ibid. 13. Of Churches founded by Saint Peter and his Disciples in Italy France Spain Germany and the Isle of Britain and of the Bishops in them instituted Page 213 CHAP. IV. The Bishoping of Timothy and Titus and other of Saint Pauls Disciples 1. The Conversion of Saint Paul and his ordaining to the place of an Apostle Page 214 2. The Presbyters created by Saint Paul Acts 14. of what sort they were Page 215 3. Whether the Presbyters or Presbytery did lay on hands with Paul in any of his Ordinations Page 216 4. The people had no voice in the Election of those Presbyters by Saint Paul ordained Page 217 5. Bishops not founded by Saint Paul at first in the particular Churches by him planted and upon what reasons ibid. 6. The short time that the Churches of Saint Pauls Plantation continued without Bishops over them Page 218 7. Timothy made Bishop of Ephesus by Saint Paul according to the general consent of Fathers Page 219 8. The time when Timothy was made Bishop according to the holy Scripture Page 220 9. Titus made Bishop of Cretans and the truth verified herein by the antient Writers Page 221 10. An Answer unto some Objections against the subscription of the Epistle unto Titus ibid. 11. The Bishoping of Dionysius the Areopagite Aristarchus Gaius Epaphroditus Epaphras and Archippus Page 222 12. As also of Silas Sosthenes Sosipater Crescens and Aristobulus Page 223 13. The Office of a Bishop not incompetible with that of an Evangelist ibid. CHAP. V. Of the Authority and Jurisdiction given unto Timothy and Titus and in them to all other Bishops by the Word of God 1. The authority committed unto Timothy and Titus was to be perpetual and not personal only Page 224 2. The power of Ordination intrusted only unto Bishops by the Word of God according to the exposition of the Fathers Page 225 3. Bishops alone both might and did ordain without their Presbyters Page 226 4. That Presbyters might not ordain without a Bishop proved by the memorable case of Colluthus and Ischyras ibid. 5. As by those also of Maximus and a Spanish Bishop Page 227 6. In what respects the joint assistance of the Presbyters was required herein Page 228 7. The case of the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas objected and declared ibid. 8. The care of ordering Gods Divine Service a work peculiar to the Bishop Page 229 9. To whom the Ministration of the Sacraments also doth in chief belong Page 230 10. Bishops to have a care that Gods Word be preached and to encourage those that take pains therein ibid. 11. Bishops to silence and reprove such Presbyters as preach other Doctrines Page 231 12. As also to correct and reject the Heretick ibid. 13. The censure and correction of inferiour Presbyters in point of life and conversation doth
belong also to Bishops 14. And of Lay-people if they walk unworthy of their Christian calling ibid. 15. Conjectural proofs that the description of a Bishop in the first to Timothy is of a Bishop strictly and properly called Page 233 CHAP. VI. Of the estate of holy Church particularly of the Asian Churces toward the later days of Saint John the Apostle 1. The time of Saint Johns coming into Asia Page 235 2. All the seven Churches except Ephesus of his Plantation ibid. 3. That the Angels of those Churches were the Bishops of them in the opinion of the Fathers Page 236 4. And of some Protestant Divines of name and eminency ibid. 5. Conclusive Reasons for the same Page 237 6. Who is most like to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus ibid. 7. That Polycarpus was the Angel of the Church of Smyrna Page 238 8. Touching the Angel of the Church of Pergamus and of Thiatyra ibid. 9. As also of the Churches of Sardis Philadelphia and Laodicea Page 239 10. What Successors these several Angels had in their several Churches Page 240 11. Of other Churches founded in Episcopacy by Saint John the Apostle ibid. 12. Saint John deceasing left the Government of the Church to Bishops as to the Successours of the Apostles Page 241 13. The ordinary Pastors of the Church Page 242 14. And the Vicars of Christ Page 243 15. A brief Chronologic of the estate of holy Church in this first Century Page 244 PART II. CHAP. I. What doth occur concerning Bishops and the Government of the Church by them during the first half of the second Century 1. OF the condition of the Church of Corinth when Clemens wrote unto them his Epistle Page 249 2. What that Epistle doth contain in reference to this point in hand Page 250 3. That by Episcopi he meaneth Bishops truly and properly so called proved by the scope of the Epistle Page 251 4. And by a text of Scripture therein cited ibid. 5. Of the Episcopal Succession in the Church of Corinth Page 252 6. The Canons of the Apostles ascribed to Clemens what they say of Bishops Page 253 7. A Bishop not to be ordained under three or two at least of the same Order ibid. 8. Bishops not barred by these Canons from any Secular affairs as concern their Families Page 254 9. How far by them restrained from the employments of the Common-wealth ibid. 10. The jurisdiction over Presbyters given to the Bishops by those Canons Page 255 11. Rome divided into Parishes or tituli by Pope Euaristus Page 256 12. The reasons why Presbyteries or Colleges of Presbyters were planted first in Cities ibid. 13. Touching the superiority over all the flock given to the Bishop by Ignatius Page 257 14. As also of the Jurisdiction by him allowed them Page 258 15. The same exemplified in the works of Justin Martyr Page 259 CHAP. II. The setling of Episcopacy together with the Gospel in the Isle of Britain by Pope Eleutherius 1. What Bishops Egesippus met with in his Peregrination and what he testifieth of them Page 260 2. Of Dionysius Bishop of Corinth and of the Bishops by him mentioned ibid. 3. How Bishops came to be ordained where none were left by the Apostles Page 261 4. The setling of the Gospel in the Isle of Britain by Pope Eleutherius Page 262 5. Of the Condition of the Church of Britain from the first preaching of the Gospel there till the time of Lucius Page 263 6. That Lucius was a King in those parts of Britain which we now call England Page 264 7. Of the Episcopal Sees here founded by King Lucius at that time Page 265 8. Touching the Flamines and Arch-flamines which those Stories speak of ibid. 9. What is most like to be the reason of the number of the Arch-bishopricks and Bishopricks here of old established Page 266 10. Of the Successors which the Bishops of this Ordination are found to have on true Record Page 267 11. Which of the British Metropolitans was antiently the Primate of that Nation Page 268 CHAP. III. The Testimony given to Episcopal Authority in the last part of this second Century 1. The difference betwixt Pope Victor and the Asian Bishops about the Feast of Easter Page 269 2. The interpleading of Polycrates and Irenaeus two renowned Prelates in the aforesaid cause Page 270 3. Several Councils called about it by the Bishops of the Church then being with observations on the same ibid. 4. Of the Episcopal Succession in the four prime Sees for this second Century Page 271 5. An Answer to some Objections made against the same Page 272 6. The great authority and esteem of the said four Sees in those early days ibid. 7. The use made of this Episcopal Succession by Saint Irenaeus Page 273 8. As also in Tertullian and some other Antients Page 274 9. Of the authority enjoyed by Bishops in Tertullians time in the administration of the Sacraments Page 275 10. As also in enjoyning Fasts and the disposing of the Churches treasury ibid. 11. And in the dispensation of the Keys Page 276 12. Tertullian misalledged in maintenance of the Lay-Presbytery Page 277 13. The great extent of Christianity and Episcopacy in Tertullians time concludes this Century Page 278 CHAP. IV. Of the Authority in the Government of the Church of Carthage enjoyed and exercised by Saint Cyprian and other Bishops of the same 1. Of the foundation and preheminence of the Church of Carthage Page 279 2. Of Agrippinus and Donatus two of Saint Cyprian's Predecessors ibid. 3. The troublesome condition of that Church at Cyprian's first being Bishop there Page 280 4. Necessitated him to permit some things to the discretion of his Presbyters and consent of the People Page 281 5. Of the Authority ascribed by Cyprian to the People in the Election of their Bishop Page 282 6. What power the People had de facto in the said Elections ibid. 7. How far the testimony rf the People was required in the Ordination of their Presbyters Page 283 8. The power of Excommunication reserved by Saint Cyprian to the Bishop only Page 284 9. No Reconciliation of a Penitent allowed by Cyprian without the Bishops leave and licence Page 285 10. The Bishop's power as well in the encouragement as in the punishment and censure of his Clergy Page 286 11. The memorable case of Geminius Faustinus one of the Presbyters of Carthage Page 287 12. The Bishop's power in regulating and declaring Martyrs Page 288 13. The Divine Right and eminent Authority of Bishops fully asserted by Saint Cyprian Page 289 CHAP. V. Of the condition and affairs of the two Patriarchal Churches of Alexandria and Antiochia 1. Of the foundation and first Professors of the Divinity-School in Alexandria Page 290 2. What is affirmed by Clemens one of those Professors concerning Bishops Page 291 3. Origen the Divinity Reader there permitted to expound the Scriptures in the presence of the Bishop of Caesarea ibid. 4. Contrary to
Parliament that is might have the force of a Law by a civil Sanction The whole debate with all the Traverses and emergent difficulties which appeared therein are specified at large in the Records of Convocation Anno 1532. But being you have not opportunity to consult those Records I shall prove it by the Act of Parliament called commonly The Act of submission of the Clergy but bearing this Title in the Abridgment of the Statutes set out by Poulton That the Clergy in their Convocations shall enact no constitutions without the Kings assent In which it is premised for granted that the Clergy of the Realm of England had not only acknowledged according to the truth that the Convocation of the same Celrgy is always hath been and ought to be assembled always by the Kings Writ but also submitting themselves to the Kings Majesty had promised in verbo Sacerdotis That they would never from henceforth presume to attempt alleadge claim or put in ure enact promulge or execute any new Canons Constitutions Ordinances provincial or other or by whatsoever other name they shall be called in the Convocation unless the Kings most Royal Assent may to them be had to make promulge and execute the same and that his Majesty do giv his most Royal Assent and Authority in that behalf Upon which ground-work of the Clergies the Parliament shortly after built this superstructure to the same effect viz. That none of the said Clergy from henceforth should presume to attempt alleadge claim or put in ure any Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodals or any other Canons norshall enact promulge or execute any such Canons Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial by whatsoever names or names they may be called in their Convocations in time coming which always shall be assembled by the Kings Writ unless the same Clergy may have the Kings most Royal Assent and Licence to make promulge and execute such Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial or Synodical upon pain of every one of the said Clergy doing the contrary to this Act and thereof convicted to suffer Imprisonment and make Fine at the Kings Will 25 H. 8. c. 19. So that the Statute in effect is no more than this An Act to bind the Clergy to perform their promise to keep them fast unto their word for the time to come that no new Canon should be made in the times succeeding in the favour of the Pope or by his Authority or to the diminution of the Kings Royal Prerogative or contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm of England as many Papal Constitutions were in the former Ages Which Statute I desire you nto take notice of because it is the Rule and Measure of the Churches power in making Canons Constitutions or whatsoever else you shall please to call them in their Convocations The third and final Act conducing to the Popes Ejection was an Act of Parliament 28 H. 8 c. 10. entituled An Act extinguishing the Authority of the Bishop of Rome By which it was enacted That if any person should extol the Authority of the Bishop of Rome he should incur the penalty of a preamunire that every Officer both Ecclesiastioal and Lay should be Sworn to renounce the said Bishop and his Authority and to resist it to his power and to repute any Oath formerly taken in maintenance of the said Bishop or his Authority to be void and finally that the refusal of the said Oath should be judged High Treason But this was also usher'd in by the determination first and after by the practice of all the Clergy For in the year 1534. which was two years before the passing of this Act the King had sent this Proposition to be agitated in both Vniversities and in the greatest and most famous Monasteries of the Kingdom that is to say An aliquid authoritatis in hoc Regno Angliae Pontifici Romano de jure competat plusquam alii cuicunque Episcopo extero By whom it was determined Negatively that the Bishop of Rome had no more power of Right in the Kingdom of England than any other forreign Bishop Which being testified returned under the hands and seals respectively the Originals whereof are still remaining in the Library of Sr. Robert Cotton was a good preamble to the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy assembled in their Convocation to conclude the like And so accordingly they did and made an Instrument thereof subscribed by the hands of all the Bishops and others of the Clergy and afterwards confirmed the same by their corporal Oaths The copies of which Oaths and Instrument you shall find in Foxes Acts and Monumets Vol. 2. fol. 1203. and fol. 1210 1211. of the Edition of John Day Anno 1570. And this was semblably the ground of a following Statute 35 H. 8. c. 1. wherein another Oath was devised and ratified to be imposed upon the Subject for the more clear asserting of the Kings Supremacy and the utter exclusion fo the Popes for ever which Statutes though they were all repealed by an Act of Parliament 1 and 2 d. of Phil. and Mary c. 1. yet were they all revived in 1 Elize save that the name of supream Head was changed unto that of the supream Governour and certain clauses altered in the Oath of Supremacy Where by the way you must take notice that the Statutes which concern the Kings Supremacy are not introductory of any new Right that was not in the Crown before but only declaratory of an old as our best Lawyers tell us and the Statute of the 26 of H. 8. c. 1. doth clearly intimate So that in the Ejection of the Pope of Rome which was the firt and greatest steptowards the work of Reformation the Parliament did nothing for ought it appears but what was done before in the Convocation and did no more than fortifie the Results of Holy Church by the addition and corroboration of the Secular Power 3. Of the Translation of the Scriptures and permitting them to be read in the English Tongue THE second step towards the work of Reformation and indeed one of the most especial parts thereof was the Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue and the permitting all sorts of people to peruse the same as that which visibly did tend to the discovery of the errours and corruptions in the Church of Rome and the intolerable pride and tyranny of the Roman Prelates upon which grounds it had been formerly translated into English by the hand of Wickliff and after on the spreading of Luthers Doctrine by the pains of Tindal a stout and active man in K. Henries days but not so well befriended as the work deserved especially considering that it hapned in such a time when many Printed Pamphlets did disturb the State and some of them of Tindals making which seemed to tend unto sedition and the change of Government Which being remonstrated to the King he caused divers of his Bishops together with sundry of the Learned'st and
attended by his Presbyters at the reception of Saint Paul Chrys in Act. 21. and they together joyning with him in the consultation then in hand the business being great and weighty And therefore Chrysostom observes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that James determined nothing in it as a Bishop of his sole authority but took Paul into counsel with him and that the Presbyters on the other side carried themselves with great respect and reverence towards him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã giving him an account or reason of their following counsel The Bishop never fist in a firmer Chair than when his Chapter doth support it But that which is indeed the matter of the greatest moment is that which occurs in the 15. Chapter of the Acts touching the Council of Hierusalem wherein the Presbyters are so often mentioned as if without their presence and assistance the Apostles had been able to determine nothing Some would fain have it so perhaps but it will not be Saint Paul was so assured of the Doctrine by him delivered as not to put it to the trial of a mortal man and the Apostles of a spirit so infallible in the things of God as not to need the counsel and assistance of inferiour persons How many points of Doctrine did Saint Paul determine without repairing to the Apostles How many did the Apostles preach and publish without consulting with the Presbyters Somwhat there must be in it more than ordinary which did occasion this conjuncture and is briefly this Some of the Jews which had but newly been initiated in the faith of Christ and were yet very zealous of their ancient Ceremonies came from Hierusalem to Antiochia Acts 15.1 and there delivered Doctrines contrary unto those which Paul taught before It seems there were some Presbyters amongst them for it is said they taught the people and they pretended too that they did teach no other Doctrine than that which had been authorized by the Apostles The Doctrine was that except men would be circumcised after the manner of Moses they could not be saved Paul might have over-ruled this case by his own authority But partly for the satisfaction of the Antiochians and partly for the full conviction of these false Teachers he was content by Revelation of the Spirit Gal. 2.2 to put the matter over to the resolution of such of the Apostles as were then abiding in Hierusalem that by their general attestation they might confirm his doctrine to be sound and true As for the Presbyters it concerned them to be present also as well to clear themselves from authorizing any such false brethren to disturb the Church as to prevent the like disorders in the time to come This is the sum of the proceedings in this business And this doth no way interest the Presbyters in the determination of points of faith further than as they are concerned either in having been a means to pervert the same or for the clearing of themselves from the like suspicions And yet I cannot but affirm withal that pure and primitive antiquity did derive from hence the Form and manner of their Councils in which the Presbyters did oftentimes concur both for voice and hand I mean as well in giving of their suffrages as the subscription of their names Concil Tarracon Can. 13. Certain I am that in the Council held in Arragon Anno 490. or thereabouts it was provided among other things ut non solum à Cathedralibus verum etiam de Diocesanis that certain Presbyters should be chosen as well out of the Diocesan as the Cathedral Churches to attend that service and that the Metropolitan should send out his Letters unto that effect according as is still observed in holding of the Convocation of the Church of England Next to the constituting of the Presbyters in time and order was the election of the Seven and this the Apostles did put over to the people only not intermedling in the same at all further than in commending them to the grace of God that they might faithfully discharge the trust committed to them The Church was then in that condition that the Disciples lived in one place together and had all things common some of them selling their Estates Acts 4.32.34 35. and laying down the price thereof at the Apostles feet that by them it might be distributed as occasion was But being it fell out that some did think themselves neglected in the distribution the Apostles both to free themselves of so great a trouble Acts 6.1 as also to avoid suspicion of being partial in the business required them to make choice of such trusty men as they conceived most fit to be the Stewards of their goods Acts 6.3 and the dispensers of the common stock This was the charge the Seven were called to by the people which being no Ecclesiastical function but a Civil trust no dispensation of the Word and Sacraments but a dispository power of the common Treasure it was most consonant to the Rules of Reason that the election of them should be left to the people only I know these Seven are commonly both called and accounted Deacons but I find no such thing in the Texts or story Neither in that Chapter nor in all the Acts is the word Deacon to be found nor find I either Stephen or Philip of whom the Scripture is most copious to be so entituled Acts 21.8 Philip indeed is called unus de septem but no more one of the Seven but no such stile as Deacon added which makes me think their Office was not such as it is conceived And this I am the rather induced to think because I find Saint Chrysostom Hom. 14. in Act. 6. and others of the same opinion Saint Chrysostom putting it unto the question what dignity or Office these men had what Ordination they received and namely whether that of Deacons makes answer first that in his time the use was otherwise the Presbyters being there intrusted with the distribution of the Churches Treasure and then concludeth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that it appeared not in his opinion that they were either Presbyters or Deacons The Fathers of the sixth Council in Constantinople building upon those words of Chrysostom Concil in Trullo Can. 16. do affirm the same determining expresly that those Seven mentioned in the Acts were not ordained to any ministration at the Lords Table ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but only to the service and attendance of the Common Tables Hieron in epist ad Euagr. In which regard Saint Hierom looking back unto the Primitive institution doth call the Deacons of his time mensarum viduarum Ministros in his Epistle to Euagrius For howsoever I believe not on my former ground that the Seven spoken of in the Acts had either the Office or the name of Deacons as it was used afterwards in the Church of God yet I deny not but the Church took some hint from hence even in the
people in the electing of their Bishops it had been ordinary for the Bishop yet in place to consecrate some one or other that should assist him whilst he lived and succeed after his decease only the Church of Alexandria never had that custom And they that had that custom Aug. ep 110. as it seems did not like it well for whereas Valerius Bishop of Hippo out of a vehement desire to have S. Austin his successour did consecrate or ordain him Bishop whilst as himself was yet alive Saint Austin was resolved for his part not to do the like it being a thing prohibited by the Nicene Council Quod ergo reprehensum est in me noli reprehendi in filio meo as he there resolveth So that the place in Epiphanius tendeth unto this alone viz. to shew the reason why Athanasius could not succeed Alexander in that See though by him designed which was that he being yet alive Ep. ad Euag. it was against the custom of that Church to ordain another Saint Hierom secondly observeth that the Presbyters of Alexandria unum ex se electum in excelsiori gradu collocatum Episcopum nominabant did use to chuse one from amongst themselves whom being placed in a more eminent degree than any of the rest they called a Bishop And this saith he continued in that Church à Marco Evangelista ad Heraclam Dionysium Episcopos from the time of Mark the Evangelist until the Bishopricks of Heraclas and Dionysius Smectymn p. 31. Some hereupon infer that the persons who brought in the imparity of Ministers into the Church were not the Apostles but the Presbyters An inference as faulty as was that before All that Saint Hierom means is this that from the time of Mark till the days of Heraclas and Dionysius the Presbyters of Alexandria had no other Bishop than one whom they had chosen out of their own body just as a man may say on the like occasion that from the first foundation till the time of Sir H Savil the Colledg of Eaton never had a Provost but one Euseb hist l. 6. c. 12. ââ whom they had chosen out of their own society Now Heraclas before he was ordained Bishop was not a Presbyter of that Church although a Reader in the Schools of that famous City and belike Dionysius also was And therefore it is well observed by the Cardinal that Hierom writing to Euagrius relateth quid in ea Ecclesia usque ad haec Dionysii tempora in electione Episcoporum agi consueverit Annal. An. 1248. n. 5. what was the usage of the Church of Alexandria in the election of their Bishops until the times of Dionysus However we have gained thus much by Hierom that from Mark downward till those times and a long time after there wanted not a Bishop properly so called Hier. Comment in ep ad Titum in that famous Church and therefore sure they came not first into the Church Diaboli instinctu by the Devils instinct as he elsewhere saith There is another observation in the Commentaries ascribed to Ambrose which having some resemblance unto that before and a like sinister use being made thereof I shall here lay down and after give some Annotations on it to explain the place Comment in Eph. c. 4. The Author of those Commentaries affirmeth that Timothy whom Paul created Presbyter was by him called a Bishop because the first Presbyters were called Bishops it being the custom of the Church for so I think the sense must be made up ut recedente eo sequens ei succederet that he the first departing the next in order should succeed But being it was found that the following Presbyters were utterly unworthy of so high preferment that course was altered and it was provided by a Council ut non ordo sed meritum crearet Episcopum c. that merit and not seniority should raise a man he being appointed by the suffrages of many Priests to be a Bishop lest an unfit person rashly should usurp the place and so become a publick scandal These are the Authors words Resp ad tract de divers minist gradibus c. 23. be he who he will And from hence Beza doth collect that Bishops differed not from Presbyters in the Apostles times that there was only in every place a President of the Presbytery who called them together and porposed things needful for their consideration that this priority went round by course every one holding it in his turn for a week or more according as the Priests in the Jewish Temple had their weekly courses and finally that this Apostolical and primitive order was after changed upon the motives and inducements before remembred Smectymn p. 31. Some of our modern Writers against Episcopacy have gone more warily to work than so affirming from those words of Ambrose or whosoever was the Author that this Rectorship or priority was devolved at first from one Elder to another by succession when he who was in the place was removed the next in order amongst the Elders succeeded and that this course was after changed the better to keep out unworthy men it being made a matter of election and not a matter of succession These men come neer the point in their Exposition though they keep far enough in the Application inferring hence that the imparity of Ministers came in otherwise than by divine Authority For by comparing this of Ambrose with that before mentioned out of Hierom the meaning of the Author will be only this that as in some places the Presbyters elected one of their own Presbytery to be their Bishop so for preventing of Ambition and avoiding Faction they did agree amongst themselves ut uno recedente that as the place did vaike by death or deprivation by resignation cession banishment or any other means whatever the Senior of the whole Presbytery should succeed therein as the Lord Mayor is chosen for his year in London But after upon sight of those inconveniences which did thence arise it was thought fit in their election of the person rather to look upon his Merit than his Seniority So that for all this place of Ambrose were those Comments his the Bishop may enjoy a fixt preheminence and hold it by divine Authority not by humane Ordinances But to return unto Saint Peter and to the Churches by him planted and founded by him in Episcopacy in these Western parts I shall in part rely on the Authority of the Martyrologie of the Church of Rome though so fat only and no further as it is backed by venerable Bede and Vsuardus ancient Writers both the latest living in the year 800. and besides them in some particulars by other Authors of far more Antiquity Bellarm. de Scriptor And these for better methods sake we will behold according to the several Countries into which S. Peter either went himself or sent forth his Disciples to them to preach the Gospel And first for Italy
scattered and dispersed abroad the Gospel was by them disseminated in all the parts and Countreys where they came and Saul himself being taken off even in the middle of his fury became the greatest instrument of Gods power and glory in the converting of the Gentiles For presently upon his own Conversion we find him Preaching in the Synagogues of Damascus Act. 9.20.22 Gal. 1.17 18. Act. 9 30. Act. 11.26 thence taking a long journey into Arabia from thence returning to Hierusalem afterwards travelling towards Tarsus his own native soyl and thence brought back to Antioâh by the means of Barnabas And all this while I look upon him as an Evangelist only a constant and a zealous Preacher of the Gospel of Christ in every Region where he travelledâ His calling unto the Apostleship was not until the Holy Ghost had said unto the Prophets Lucius Act. 13.1 2. Simeon and Manahen ministring then in Antiochia Separate mihi Barnabam Saulum separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them An extraordinary call and therefore done by extraordinary means and Ministers For being the persons here employed in this Ordination neither were Apostles nor yet advanced for ought we find unto the estate and honour of Episcopacy it most be reckoned amongst those Extraordinaries which God pleased to work in and about the calling of this blessed Apostle Of which we may affirm with Chrysostom ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Chrysostom hom 20. in Act. that of the things which did befall S. Paul in his whole vocation there was nothing ordinary but every part was acted by the hand of God God in his extraordinary works ties not himself to ordinary means and courses but takes such ways and doth imploy such instruments as himself best pleaseth for the more evident demonstration of his power and glory So that however Simeon Manahen and Lucius did lay hands upon him yet being the call and designation was so miraculous he might well say that he was made an Apostle neither of men nor by men but of Jesus Christ and God the Father Chrysostom so expounds the place Not of Men ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gal. 1. v. 1. Hom. 27. in Act so to make it manifest that he received not his call from them not by men because he was not sent by them but by the Spirit As for the work to which he was thus separated by the Lord ask the said Father what it was and he will tell you ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that it was the office of an Apostle and that he was ordained an Apostle here ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that he might Preach the Gospel with the greater power Ask who it was that did ordain him and he will tell you that howsoever Manahen Lucius and Simeon did lay hands upon him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã yet he received his Ordination by the Holy Ghost And certainly that he had not the Apostleship before may be made manifest by that which followed after For we do not find in all the story of his Acts that either he ordained Presbyters or gave the Holy Ghost or wrought any miracles which were the signs of his Apostleship before this solemn Ordination 2 Cor. 12.11 or imposition of the hands of the said three Prophets as afterwards we find he did in several places of that book and shall now shew as it relates unto our present business in that which followeth Paul being thus advanced by God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ to the high place of an Apostle immediately applyeth himself unto the same Preaching the Word with power and miracles in the Isle of Cyprus Act. 13.11 c. from thence proceeding to Pamphylia and other Provinces of the lesser Asia every where gaining Souls to Almighty God Having spent three years in those parts of Asia and planted Churches in a great part thereof he had a mind to go again to Antioch Act. 14.26 from whence be had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which he had fulsilled But fearing lest the Doctrine he had Preached amongst them might either be forgotten or produce no profit if there were none left to attend that service Before he went he thought it fitting to found a Ministery amongst them in their several Churches To this end They i.e. He and Barnabas ordained them Presbyters in every Church with prayer and fasting Act. 14.23 and that being done they recommended him unto the Lord in whom they believed This is the first Ordination which we find of Presbyters in holy Scripture though doubtless there were many before this time The Church could neither be instructed nor consist at all without an ordinary Minister left amongst the people for the Administration of the Word and Sacraments However this being as I said the first record thereof in holy Scripture we will consider hereupon first to what Office they were called which are here called Presbyters Secondly by whom they were Ordained And thirdly by what means they were called unto it First for the Office what it was I find some difference amongst Expositors as well new as old Beza conceives the word in a general sense and to include at once Pastors and Deacons and whoever else were set apart for the rule and government of the Churches to them committed Annot. in Act. 14. v. 23. Presbyteros i.e. Pastores Diaconos alios Ecclesiae gubernationi praefectos as his own words are Here we have pastors Deacons Governours included in this one word Presbyters Ask Lyra who those Governours were Lyra in Act. 14. which Beza calls praefecti in a general name and he will tell you they were Bishops Nomine Presbyterorum hic intelliguntur etiam alii Ecclesiae Ministri ut Episcopi Diaconi Under the name of Presbyters saith he are comprehended also other Ecclesiastical Ministers as Bishops and Deacons Gloss Ordinar in Act. 14. The ordinary gloss agrees herewith as to that of Bishops and gives this reason for the same Illo autem tempore ejusdem erant nominis Episcopi Presbyteri that in that time Bishops and Presbyters were called by the same name Oecum in Act. 14. And Oecumenius holds together with them as to that of Deacons nothing that Paul and Barnabas had Epifcopal Authority ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in that they did not only ordain Deacons but also Presbyters So that it seemeth Saint Paul provided here against all occasions fetling the Churches by him planted in so sure a way that there was nothing left at random which either did relate to government or point of Doctrine And yet if any shall contend that those who here are called Presbyters were but simply such according to the notion of that word as it is now used I shall not much insist upon it I only shew what other Authors have affirmed herein and so leave it off The next thing here to be considered is who they were that were the
Timothy was a Bishop and Pauls Disciple and in his Comment on the Text saith that he had the grace or the gift of Prophesie cum ordinatione Episcopatus Subscript ep 2. ad Tim. with his ordination to a Bishoprick 11. By the subscription of the second Epistle where he is called positively ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the first that was ordained Bishop of the Ephesians In Praesat in 1. ad Tim. 12. By Theophylact who giveth this reason of Saint Pauls writing unto Timothy because that in a Church new constitute ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. it was not easie to inform a Bishop of all things incident unto his place by word of mouth and further in his Comment on the fourth Chapter of the first Epistle In cap. 4. v. 14 15. Oecum in 1. ad Tim. c. 1. doth twice or thrice give Timothy the name of Bishop 13. By Oecumonius whom on these words of the Epistle I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus gives this gloss or descant ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for there or of that place he ordained him Bishop An evidence so clear and full that Beza Beza Annot. in 1. ad Tim. c. 5. v. 19. though he would not call him Bishop confesseth him to be President or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the Ephesme Presbytery and that he had authority to receive accusations and complaints against a Presbyter and to judge accordingly Which what it is else than to be a Bishop is beyond my fancy to imagine Now for the time in which he was appointed Bishop of the Church of Ephesus for on the right stating of that point 1 Tim. 1.3 the clearing of many difficulties doth depend it may be best gathered from those words in the first Epistle where Paul relates that he besought him to abide still at Ephesus when he himself went into Macedonia Now S. Pauls journey into Macedonia which is here intended is not that mentioned Act. 16. for then there was no Church of Ephesus to be Bishop of Act. 18 19. 19.1 2 3. c. Paul had not then seen Ephesus at all nor planted any Church there till a good while after Nor could it be when he left Ephesus to go the second time into Macedonia mention whereof is made in the 20 Chapter Act. 19.22 Act. 20.3 for he had sent Timotheus and Erastus before him thither But it was after he had stayed three months in Greece when hearing that the Jews laid wait for him as he went about to sail into Syria he changed his course and purposed to return through Macedonia Then was it as he went that time into Macedonia that he brake the business unto Timothy requiring or besseeching him to go to Ephesus to set up his aboad in that populous City and undertake the government of the Church thereof To which when Timothy had condescended Act. 20.5 he was sent before with Aristarchus and the rest tarrying at Troas in expectation of the Apostles coming And there he was most like to be when the Apostles first Epistle came unto his hands being written not from Laodicea Athan. in Synop Sacrae Script 1 Tim. 3.14 as the subscription doth pretend but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã out of Macedonia as Athanasius doth expresly say in his Synopsis For howsoever the Apostle hoped to come to him shortly and to instruct him more at large for that weighty business yet well considering how many lets and hindrances might intervene he thought it not amiss to prevent the worst and send that letter of instructions in the mean time to him that he might know how to behave himself in the house of God 1 Tim. 1.15 After this time I find not that the Apostle did employ Timothy in any other general service which concerned the Church or that he called him from Ephesus being once got thither save that he sent for him to make hast to Rome immediately on his first coming to that City 2 Tim. 4.21 to be assistant to him there in that dangerous exigency A thing that both the one might crave and the other do without detracting any thing at all from the Episcopal place and power which Timothy had taken on him All the Epistles wherein the name of Timothy is joyned with Pauls being written within the compass of two years which was so short an absence from his Pastoral charge as might be very easily dispensed withal especially when the publique service of the Church was concerned so highly I know that some of eminent note B. Downham in the Sermon at Lambeth p. 76 77 78. and others the better to avoid some appearing difficulties that concern this business will not have Timothy made Bishop of the Church of Ephesus till after the Apostles coming unto Rome But the second of the two Epistles doth very throughly refute that fancy in which Saint Paul acquaints him how he had disposed of his retinue Tim. 4. Taking it as it seemeth in his way to Crete Titus being gone into Dalmatia Crescens to Galatia Erastus taking up his aboad at Corinth and Trophimus left at Miletum sick taking great care to have the Cloak and Parchments which were left at Troas where Timothy stayed for him Act. 20. to be sent speedily unto him Where by the way Miletum where Paul left Trophimus sick was not that Town of lesser Asia unto the which the Elders were called from Ephesus for after that we find him at Hierusalem Act. 21.29 Annal. Eccl. An. 59. n. 1. Conditorem ex Mileto quae in Creta est Sarpedonem accipientes Geogr. l. 2. nor was it at the Island called Mileta as Baronius thinks on which Saint Paul was cast by Shipwrack Act. 28. such alterations or corrections not being easily allowable in holy Scripture For being that there is in the Isle of Crete a Town called Miletus as Strabo testifieth and that Saint Paul in his Voyage from Hierusalem to Rome sailed under Crete and hovered for a while about that coast Act. 27.7 8. c. that is most like to be the place and there I leave him For being thus fallen on the Coast of Crete I think it seasonable to enquire some news of Titus whom the Apostle much about the time that Timothy undertook the charge of Ephesus had made the Bishop of this Island Baronius thinks An. 57. n. 209. Act. 20.2 and not improbably that at Saint Pauls last going out of Asia into Macedonia when he had gone over those parts and given them much exhortation and having so done went into Greece that this his going into Greece was by and through the Aegean sea that in his passage thither he put in at Crete And finally that he left Titus here ad curandam Ecclesiam whom he made Bishop for that purpose This is most like to be the time the circumstances of the Text and story so well agreeing thereunto for till this time Titus was either attendant on S. Paul
in person or sent from place to place on his occasions and dispatches as may appear by looking on the concordances of holy Scripture Now that Titus was ordained the first Bishop of Crete hath been affirmed by several Authors of good both credit and antiquity For first Eccles hist l. 3. c. 4. Eusebius making a Catalogue of Saint Pauls assistants or fellow-labourers and reckoning Timothy amongst them whom he recordeth for the first Bishop of the Church of Ephesus adds presently ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and so was Titus also the first Bishop of Crete Ambr. praef in ep ad Titum Saint Ambrose in the Preface to his Commentaries on the Epistle unto Titus doth affirm as much Titum Apostolus consecravit Episcopum the Apostle consecrated Titus a Bishop and therefore doth admonish him to be solicitous for the well ordering of the Church committed to him Saint Hierom writing on these words in that Epistle Hieron in Tit. c. 1. v. 5. For this cause left I thee in Crete c. doth apply them thus Audiant Episcopi qui habent constituendi Presbyteres per singulas urbes potestatem Let Bishops mark this well who have authority to ordain Presbyters in every City on what conditions to what persons for that I take to be his meaning Ecclesiastical orders are to be conferred Which is a strong insinuation that Titus having that authority must be needs a Bishop More evidently in his Catalogue of Writers or in Sophronius at the least Id. de Scrip. Eccles in Tit. if those few names were by him added to that Catalogue Titus Episcopus Cretae Titus the Bishop of Crete did preach the Gospel both in that and the adjacent Islands Apud Oecumen Praef. ad Tim. Theodoret proposing first this question why Paul should rather write to Timothy and Titus than to Luke and Silas returns this answer to the same that Luke and Silas were still with him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but those had entrusted with the government of Churches But more particularly Titus a famous Disciple of Saint Paul Ap. eund in Praef. ad Tit. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was by him ordained Bishop of Crete being a place of great extent with a Commission also to ordain Bishops under him Theoph. in praef ad Tit. Oecum in Tit. c. 1. v. 5. Theophylact in his preface unto this Epistle doth affirm the same using almost his very words And Oecumenius on the Text doth declare as much saying that Paul gave Titus authority of ordaining Bishops Crete being of too large a quantity to be committed unto one alone ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã having first consecrate or made him Bishop Finally the subscription of this Epistle calls Titus the first Bishop of the Church of the Cretians which evidence though questioned now of late is of good Authority For some of late who are not willing that Antiquity should afford such grounds for Titus being Bishop of the Church of Crete have amongst other arguments devised against it found an irreparable flaw as they conceive in this Subscription Beza Annot at in Ep. ad Tit. in fine who herein led the way disproves the whole Subscription as supposititious because it is there said that it was written from Nieopolis of Macedonia A thing saith he which cannot be for the Apostle doth not say ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã I will winter here but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã illic I will winter there and therefore he was somewhere else when he wrote this Epistle But Athanasius who lived neerer the Apostles times In Synopsi sacr script Ad Paulum Eustochium Comment in Ep. ad Tit. affirms it to be written from Nicopolis and so doth Hierome in his Preface unto that Epistle The Syriack translation dates it also thence as is confessed by them that adhere to Beza Theophylact and Oecumenius agree herein with Athanasius and the ancient Copies As for the criticism it is neither here nor there for Saint Paul being still in motion might appoint Titus to repair unto Nicopolis letting him understand that howsoever he disposed of himself in the mean time yet he intended there to Winter and so he might well say though he was at Nicopolis when he writ the same That Titus is there called the first Bishop of Crete Smectym p. 54. or of the Church of the Cretians is another hint that some have taken to vilifie the credit of the said Subscription asking if ever there were such a second Bishop Assuredly the Realm of England is as fair and large a circuit as the Isle of Crete And yet I do not find it used as argument that Austin the Monk had neither any hand in the converting of the English or was not the first Archbishop of the See of Canterbury Beda hist Eccl. l. 1. c. 27. because it is affirmed in Beda's History Archiepiscopus genti Anglorum ordinatus est that he was ordained the Archbishop of the English Nation Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 20. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã And for an answer to the question we need but look into Eusebius where we shall find Pinytus a right godly man called in plain terms Bishop of Crete Cretae Episcopus saith the Latin ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the Greek Original the self-same stile which is excepted at in Titus Now whereas it is said that Titus was left no otherwise in Crete than as Pauls Vicar General Commissary or Substitute to order those things in such sort as he had appointed which he could not dispatch himself when he was there present this can by no means be admitted the Rules prescribed unto him and Timothy being for the most part of that nature as do agree with the condition of perpetual Governours and not of temporary and removable Substitutes As for the anticipation of the time which I see some use relating that Saint Paul with Titus having passed through Syria and Cilicia to confirm the Churches did from Cilicia pass over into Crete where the Apostle having preached the Gospel left Titus for a while to set things in Order although I cannot easily tell on what Authority the report is built yet I can easily discern that it can hardly stand with Scripture We read indeed in the 15. Chapter of the Acts that he went thorow Syria and Cilicia confirming the Churches ver ult and in the first words of the following Chapter Acts 14.6 Hist Eccl. l. 4. c. 20. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã we find him at Derbe and Lystra Cities of Lycaonia the very next Province to Cilicia Northward from which it is divided by a branch of the Mountain Taurus Now whether of the two it be more probable that Paul should pass immediately from Cilicia unto Lycaonia upon the usual common Road or fetch a voyage into Crete Smectymn p. 50. as these men suppose and be transported back again into Lycaonia being an in-land Countrey far from any Sea which could not be without
particular the case of the Reformed Churches may not unfitly be resembled unto that of Scipio as it is thus related in the story Valer. Maxim l. 3. c. 7. Upon some want of money for the furtherance of the necessary affairs of State he demanded a supply from the common Treasury But when the Quaestor pretending that it was against the Laws refused to open it himself a private person seised upon the Keys Et patefacto aerario legem necessitati cedere coegit and made the Law give way to the necessities of the Commonwealth So in like manner the better to reform Religion many good men made suit to be supplyed out of the common Treasuries of the Church to be admitted to the Ministery according to the common course of Ordination Which when it was denyed them by the Bishops the Churches Quaestors in this case they rather chose to seise upon the Keys and receive Ordination from the hands of private persons than that the Church should be unfurnished This I conceive to be the Case at the first beginning But whether with the change of their condition the case be altered or whether they continue in the state they were I am not able to say any thing It is a good old saying and to that I keep me ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that where I am a stranger I must be no medler Hitherto of the power of Ordination committed by Saint Paul to his two Bishops of Ephesus and Crete and in them to all other Bishops whatsoever We must next look upon the power of Jurisdiction and that consists in these particulars First in the ordering of Gods Service and the Administration of his Sacraments Secondly in the preaching of his Word censuring those that broach strange Doctrines and on the other side encouraging and rewarding such as are laborious in their Calling and lastly in correction of the manners of such as walk unworthy of the Gospel of Christ whether of the Clergy or the Laity To these three Heads we may reduce the several points and branches of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction so far forth as the same hath been committed by the Word of God and by the practice of the Church unto the managing and care of Bishops First for the ordering of Gods Service and all things thereunto pertaining Saint Paul gave Timothy this Direction that first of all 1 Tim. 2.1 Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men for Kings and all that be in authority that men may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness and honesty This as it was a common Duty and appertaining unto every man in his several place so the Apostle leaves it unto Timothy to see that men performed this Duty and were not suffered to neglect it For that the Prayers here intended were not the private Prayers of particular persons but the publique of the Congregation is agreed on all sides Calvin conceives it so for the Protestant Writers Paulus simpliciter jubet quoties orationes publicae habentur Calvin in 1. ad Tim. c. 2. that Paul doth here appoint what he would have to be comprized in our publique Prayers Estius for the Pontificians doth resolve so also Estius in 1 ad Tim. c. 2. that the place must be understood de publicis Ecclesiae precibus of the publique Prayers of and in the Congregation And that the Western Churches may not stand alone Theophylact and Oecumenius do expound the words Theophyl Occum in locum ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of the daily Service used in the Church of God who also call it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the first Christian Duty Now ask of Chrysostom Chrysost in 1 ad Tim. c. 2. to whom it doth belong to see this Duty carefully discharged as it ought to be and he will tell you 't is the Priest or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as he which is the common Father of the Universe and therefore to take care of all as doth the Lord whose Priest or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he is And ask of Oecumenius Oecum Ibid. than whom none better understood that Fathers Writings whom he doth there mean by the Priest or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and he will tell you that it is the Bishop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. It doth saith he belong unto the Bishop as the common Father to make Prayers for all men faithful and infidels friends and enemies persecuters and slanderers Lyra speaks home and fully to this purpose also For this he makes to be secundus actus ad Episcopum pertinens the second Act belonging to the Bishops Office that Prayers be offered unto God The Ministration of the Sacraments being a principal part of Gods publique service and comprehending Prayers and Supplications and giving of thanks must be looked on next And this we find to be committed principally to the Bishops care and by their hands to such inferiour Ministers in the Church of God as they thought fit to trust with so great a charge Mat. 28.19 Luk. 22.19 To teach and to Baptize was given in the charge to the Apostles and unto none but they did Christ say hoc facite that they should take the bread and break and bless it and so deliver it to the Communicants So also in the blessing and distributing of the other element This power they left in general to their Successors to the Bishops chiefly and such as were found worthy of so high a trust Ep. ad Smyrnens by their permission Ignatius who lived nearest to our Saviours time and had been conversant with the Apostles doth expresly say it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. It is not lawful without the Bishop either to Baptize or make Oblations or celebrate the Eucharist or finally to keep the Love-feasts or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which were then in use for those I take it were the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which the Father speaks of Tertul. de Baptismo c. 17. Tertullian for the second Century doth affirm as much The right saith he of giving Baptism belongs to the chief Priest that is the Bishop next to the Presbyters or Deacons non tamen sine authoritate Episcopi yet not without the Bishops Licence or Authority Concil Laodic Can. 57. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã In the third Century the Councel held in Laodicea is as plain and full save that indeed it is more general in which the Presbyter is tyed from doing any thing i. e. such things as appertain to his ministration ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without the knowledge of his Bishop Hieron adv Luciferian Saint Hierom finally no great advancer of the Episcopal authority and jurisdiction having considered of it better doth conclude at last that if the Bishop had not a preheminence in the Church of God there would be presently almost as many Schisms as Priests And hence it is saith he Vt sine Episcopi missione neque Presbyter
extirpatio the extirpation of false doctrine This part of jurisdiction with those that follow I shall declare only but not exemplifie For being matters meerly practical and the proceedings on Record they will occur hereafter as occasion is in this following History And that which followeth first is very near of kin indeed unto that before For many times it happeneth so that howsoever men be charged not to teach strange doctrins and that their mouths be stopped and they put to silence yet they will persevere however in their wicked courses and obstinately continue in the same until at last their obstinacy ends in heresie What course is to be taken upon such occasions The Apostle hath resolved that also A man that is an Heretick saith he after the first and second admonition Tit. 3.10 is to be rejected Rejected but by whom why by Titus surely The words are spoken unto him in the second person and such as did possess the same place and office Hanc sive admonitionem sive correptionem intellige ab Episcopo faciendam Estius in Ep. ad Tit. c. 3. c. This ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which Saint Paul here speaks of whether that it be meant of gentle admonition or severe reproof must be done only by the Bishop and that not as a private person but as the governour of the Church and that both with authority and power by which he also may denounce him excommunicate if he amend not on the same So Estius in his Comment on the place and herewith Calvin doth accord Tito scribens Paulus Calvin in Titum c. 3. non disserit de Officio magistratus sed quid Episcopo conveniat Paul saith he writing unto Titus disputes not of the Office of the civil Magistrate but of the duty of a Bishop And this in answer unto some who had collected from these words of the Apostle that Hereticks were to be encountred with no sharper weapon than that of Excommunication nec esse ultra in eos saeviendum and that there was no other course to be taken with them In which these Moderns say no more as to the exercise and discharge of the Episcopal function in this case Hieron ad Riparium adv Vigilant a. than what the Ancients said before I marvail saith Saint Hierom speaking of Vigilantius a broacher of strange or other Doctrins in the Church of Christ that the Bishop in whose Diocess he is said to be a Presbyter hath so long given way to his impiety Et non virgâ Apostolica virgáque ferreâ confringere vas inutile and that he hath not rather broke in pieces with the Apostolick rod a rod of iron this so unprofitable a Vessel In which as the good Father manifests his own zeal and fervour so he declareth therewithal what was the Bishops power and office in the present business The last part of Episcopal jurisdiction which we have to speak of is the correction of ill manners whether in the Presbyters or in the People concerning which the Apostle gives both power to Timothy 1 Tim. 5.19 20. and command to use it First for the Presbyters Against an Elder receive not an accusation but before two or three Witnesses but if they be convicted them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear In the declaring of which power I take for granted that the Apostle here by Elder doth mean a Presbyter according to the Ecclesiastical notion of that word Hom. 15. in 1 Tim. in locum though I know that Chrysostom and after him Theophylact and Oecumenius do take it only for a man well grown in years And then the meaning of Saint Paul will be briefly this that partly in regard of the Devils malice apt to calumniate men of that holy function and partly to avoid the scandal which may thence arise Timothy and in him all other Bishops should be very cautious in their proceedings against men of that profession But if they find them guilty on examination then not to smother or conceal the matter but censure and rebuke them openly that others may take heed of the like offences The Commentaries under the name of Ambrose Amb. in 1. ad Tim. c. 5. do expound it so Quoniam non facile credi debet de Presbytero crimen c. Because a crime or accusation is not rashly to be credited against a Presbyter yet if the same prove manifest and undeniable Saint Paul commandeth that in regard of his irregular conversation he be rebuked and censured publikely that others may be thereby terrified And this saith he non solum ordinatis sed plebi proficit will not be only profitable unto men in Orders but to Lay people also Herewith agreeth as to the making of these Elders to be men in Orders the Comment upon this Epistle Hier. in Ep. 1. ad Tim. ascribed to Hierom Presbyters then are subject unto censure but to whose censure are they subject Not unto one anothers surely that would breed confusion but to the censure of their Bishop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã saith Epiphanius Epipha haer 75. n. 5. Theoph. in 1. ad Tim. c. 5. he speaks to Timothy being a Bishop not to receive an accusation against a Presbyter Theophylact also saith the same For having told us that if a Presbyter upon examination of the business be found delinquent he must be sharply and severely censured that others may be terrified thereby he adds ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that it becomes a Bishop in such cases to be stern and awful Lyra in eund locum Lyra observes the like in his Gloss or Postils viz. that the proceedings against inferiour Clergy-men in foro exteriori in a judiciary way is a peculiar of the Bishops But what need more be said than that of Beza Beza Annot. in 1. ad Tim. 5. who noteth on these very words that Timothy to whom this power or charge was given was President or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã at that time of the Ephesian Clergy Which is a plain acknowledgment in my opinion that the correction of the Clergy by the law of God doth appertain unto the Bishop the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or President of the Presbytery call him what you will For what need we contend for words when we have the matter And this appeareth by the several Councils of Nice and Antioch Sardica Turin Africa and Sevil in all and every of the which the censure and proceedings against a Presbyter are left to their own Bishops severally but a course taken therewithal for their ease and remedy in case their own Bishops should proceed against them out of heat or passion For the Lay-people next that Paul gave Timothy a power of correcting them appears by the instructions which he gives him for the discharge of this authority towards all sorts of People whether that they be old or young of what sex soever Old men if they offend must be handled gently
far more express Episcopos vocat stellas c. Paraeus in Apocal cap. 1. v. 20. The Bishops are called Stars saith he because they ought to out-shine others aswell in purity of Doctrine as sincerity of Conversation in the Church of God eosdem Angelos vocat quia sunt Legati Dei ad Ecclesiam and they are also called Angels because they are the Legats or Embassadours of God to his holy Church And lest we should mistake our selves and him in the word Episcopus he laboureth to find out the Bishop of each several Church as we shall see hereafter in that inquisition for those who speak to the particular Beza Annot. Apoc. c. 2.1 we begin with Beza who on those words unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus gives this Annotation Angelo i. e. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã quem nimirum oportuit imprimis de his rebus admoneri c. To the Angel that is saith he to the chief President whom it behoved to have the notice of the charge there given and by him to the rest of his Colleagues and the whole Congregation but fearing lest this Exposition might give some advantage for the upholding of the Hierarchie which he so laboured to pull down he adds de proprio that notwithstanding this acknowledgment Episcopal authority being a thing of mans invention hinc statui nec potest nec debet nor may nor ought to have any ground from hence Finally Marlorat himself on those very words Marlorat Eccl. Expâsit in Apocal c. 2. v. 1. shews that however there were many things in the Church of Ephesus which required Reformation both in the Clergy and the people Non tamen populum aggreditur sed Clerum yet the Apostle doth not apply himself unto the people but the Clergy Nor doth he fashion his discourse to the Clergy generally Sed ad Principem Cleri Episcopum utique but to the chief or principal of the Clergy which was the Bishop Nay Marlorat goes further yet and he as he layeth down his interpretation so he doth also give a reason of it and such a one as may well satisfie any man of reason Idem Ibid. His reason is Nam Pastor non modo pro propriis c. Because the Pastor is not only to render an account to the supream Judg for his own sins alone but for the sins of all his flock if any of them by his sloth or negligence do chance to perish And certainly this reason is of special use and efficacy to the point in hand For if the Lord do look for an account at the Pastors hand for every sheep that shall be lost by his sloth or negligence it must needs follow thereupon that those of whom so strict a reckoning is expected must not have power only to persuade and counsel but also to correct and censure and by their own proper and innate authority to rectifie such things as are amiss in their several charges The Son of God is neither so unjust as that the Pastor should be charged with those enormities which he hath no authority to amend or rectifie nor so forgetful as to threaten and rebuke the Pastor not only for the peoples faults but the Errata of the Presbyters in case he were not trusted with a greater power than any of the rest for that end and purpose Which being so and that our Saviour by Saint John doth send out his summons neither unto the Church in general nor to the Presbyters in common but to the Angel of each Church in the singular number it is most plain and evident as I conceive that in the time of writing the Apocalypse as long time before it the Church of Christ had certain Pastors of more eminent note when they as we intituled Bishops which governed as well the Presbyters as the rest of the Flock and those the Son of God acknowledgeth for stars and Angels And howsoever the inferiour Pastors both are and may be called Angels in a general sense as Messengers and Ministers of God Almighty yet if it be the Angel in the singular number the Angel in the way of eminence and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it is peculiar only to the Bishop Now that each Church of those remembred in that Book had his proper Angel and that they were not governed by a Corporation or Colledg of Presbyters to whom those several Epistles might be sent by the name of Angels the word Angel being to be taken collectively and not individually as some men suppose is in the next place to be shewed And first for proof Smectymn p. 52. there is a pregnant evidence in a Discourse or Treatise touching the Martyrdom of Timothy the Author of the which relates that after Saint John the Apostle was revoked from his exile by the sentence of Nerva Apud Phot. in Biblioth n. 254. he betook himself to the Metropolis of Ephesus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and being assisted with the presence of the seven Bishops he took upon himself the government of the Metropolis of the Ephesians and there continued preaching the Doctrine of salvation till the time of Trajan Which as it is an evident and convincing proof that the seven Churches had their several Bishops to each Church one Bishop so is it no such difficult matter to find out most of them by name and what Church each of them did govern And first for Ephesus Paraeum in Apocal cap. 2. some have conceived that Timothy was still alive and Bishop at that time when the Apocalypse was written which hotly is defended by Alcasar against Ribera Lyra and Pererius who opine the contrary But surely Timothy it could not be as doth appear in part by that which was alledged out of the Treatise of his Martyrdom which if it were not written by Polycrates is yet very antient and authentick wherein he is conceived to be dead before but principally by the quality and condition of that blessed Evangelist so plentifully endued with the Holy Ghost so eminent in piety and all heavenly graces that no man can conceive him lyable to the accusation with which the Angel of that Church is charged And therefore it must either be that John when on the death of Timothy as I conceive Saint John ordained Bishop of this Church as is reported in the Constitutions Constitut Apost l. 7. c. 48. ascribed to Clemens or else Onesimus another of the Successors of Timothy in the See of Ephesus who is intituled Bishop of it in the Epistle of Ignatius written to that Church within twelve years after the writing of the Revelation In which Epistle Ignatius blessing God for so good a Bishop Igna. in Epist ad Ephes admonisheth the people of their duty ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in submitting themselves unto his judgment or concurring with it as their whole Presbytery did which harmony of the Bishop and his Presbyters he doth compare ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã unto the concord of the
Epist ad Corinth p. 62. There find we the good man complaining that the Church of Corinth so ancient and well grounded in the faith of Christ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã should for the sake of one or two contentious persons tumultuate against their Presbyters and that the scandal of their functions should come unto the ears of Infidels to the dishonour of the Lord. Nor did the faction rest in the people only Ibid. p. 58. though it proceeded to that height as the ejecting of those Presbyters whom they had distasted but it had taken too deep sooting amongst the Presbyters themselves encroaching with too high an hand on the Bishops Office or wilfully neglecting his authority Part. 1. ch 5. For whereas in those times as before was shewn the blessed Eucharist regularly and according to the Churches Orders could not be celebrated but by the Bishop by his leave at least and that it did pertain to him to appoint the Presbyters what turns and courses they should have in that ministration these men perverting all good order neither observed the time and place appointed for that sacred Action nor kept themselves unto those turns and courses in the performance of the same which were assigned them by their Bishop Certain I am that the discourse of Clemens in the said Epistle doth militate as well against the one as against the other blaming as well the Presbyters for their irregular proceeding in their ministration as censuring the People for their insolency in the ejecting of their Presbyters So that we have two factions at this time in the Church of Corinth one of some inconformable Presbyters so far averse from being regulated by their Bishop as they ought to be Clem. p. 57. that they opposed the very Calling raising contentions and disputes about the Name and Office of Episcopacy another of the people against the Presbyters and that pursued with no less acrimony and despite than the former was For the repressing of these factions at this present time and the preventing of the like in the times to come the good old man doth thus proceed Beginning with the Presbyters Id. p. 48. he first presents unto them the obedience that Souldiers yield to their Commanders shewing them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã how orderly how readily and with what subjection they execute the several Commands imposed upon them by their Leaders that since all of them are not Generals Collonels Captains or in other Office every one ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in his rank or station is to obey the charge imposed upon him by the King or Emperour and his Commanders in the Field Then represents he to them the condition of the natural Body Id. 49. in which the Head can do but little without the ministery of the Feet the Feet as little out of question without direction from the Head that even the least parts of the body are not only profitable but also necessary concurring all of them together to the preservation of the whole Which ground so laid he thus proceeds in his Discourse ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Id. p. 52 c. These things being thus declared and manifested looking into the depth of heavenly knowledg we ought to do those things in their proper order the People in the tendring of their Oblations the Presbyters in the celebrating of the Liturgy according to the times and seasons by the Lord appointed who would not have these sacred Matters done either rashly or disorderly but at appointed times and hours and by such Persons as he hath thereunto designed by his supream Will that being done devoutly and Religiously they might be the more grateful to him They therefore who upon the times presixed make their Oblations to the Lord are blessed and very welcom unto him from whose commands they do not vary ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. For to the High-Priest was assigned his particular function the Priest had his peculiar ministery prescribed unto him and the Levites theirs the Laymen being left unto Lay-imployments Therefore let every one of you my brethren in his Rank and Station offer to God the blessed Eucharist with a good Conscience ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p. 53. keeping within the bounds of his ministration appointed to him by the Canon For so I take it is his meaning For not in every place was it permitted to the Jews to offer up the daily and perpetual Sacrifices whether they were Sin-offerings or Eucharistical Oblations but at Hierusalem alone nor there in any place indifferently but only in the Court of the Temple at the Altar the Sacrifice being first viewed and approved of both by the High Priest and the foresaid Ministers They that did any thing herein otherwise than agreeable to his will and pleasure were to die the Death you see my brethren that as we are endued with a greater knowledg so are we made obnoxious to the greater danger The Apostles have Preached the Gospel unto us from Christ JESUS Christ from God Christ being sent by God as the Apostles were by Christ and both proceeding orderly therein according to his holy Will For having received his Commands and being strengthened by the Resurrection of our Lord JESUS Christ and confirmed by the Word of God they spread themselves abroad in full assurance of the Holy Ghost publishing the coming of the Kingdom of God and having Preached the Word throughout many Regions and several Cities they constituted and ordained the first fruits of their labours such whom in spirit they approved of to be Bishops and Deacons unto those that afterwards were to believe ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. p. 54.55 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã p. 55. Nor was this any new device it being written many ages since in the book of God Esay 60. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã i.e. I will appoint them Bishops in Righteousness and Deacons in Faith Afterwards laying down the History of Aarons Rod budding and thereby the miraculous confirmation of his Election he adds that the Apostles knowing by our Lord JESUS Christ the contention that would arise ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã about the name or function of Episcopacy Id. p. 57. take it which you will and being for this very cause endued with a perfect foresight of that which afterwards should happen ordained the aforesaid Ministers and left to every one their appointed Offices that whensoever they should die other approved men should succeed in their several places and execute their several parts in the Ministration Those therefore which were either ordained by them or by those famous and renowned men that followed after them with the consent and approbation of the Church and have accordingly served unblameably in the fold of Christ with all humility and meekness and kept themselves from baseness and corruption and have a long time carried a good testimony from all men those we conceive cannot without much injury be deprived of their place and service it being
as chief a fifth of all the Churches about Osroena and the parts adjoyning Bachyllus Bishop of Corinth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and many other Bishops of particular Churches held their Synod also apart and separate which all with one consent determined that the feast of Easter was to be observed on no other day than that upon the which our Saviour rose contrary to the usage of the Asian Churches In agitation of which business I observe these things First that Episcopacy in so short a time was setled and confirmed over all the World or so much of it at the least as had received the Faith and Gospel Secondly that on all emergent Controversies that did engage the Church of Christ the Bishops as men most concerned in the Churches Peace were still most forward also to compose the same Thirdly that on the practices of the Popes of Rome to enlarge their border the Bishops of the Church of what part soever have always been most ready to oppose the same and keep that proud and swelling See within the compass of its proper and peculiar bounds So far were those most godly and Religious men Sâectymn p. 30. from making a stirrup for Antichrist to get into his Saddle though some have so given out in these later days to the dishonour of those glorious lights in the House of Christ and the profane reproach not only of the wisdom of that Church but also of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God Fourthly That on the rising of such differences as did disturb the Churches Peace the Bishops of the Church have an innate and proper power Bellarm. de Con. l. 1.12 of convocating and assembling Councils both National and Provincial for the appeasing of the same wherein the greatest Champions of the Popedom do consent also Which Power as they made use of as their own peculiar when as there were no Christian Princes to have a care unto the main so since there have been Christian Princes that Power is not extinguished but directed only Fifthly that in those Councils or Synodical meetings the Bishops and their Clergy had authority both to debate and to determine of all such matters as did concern the Church of Christ either in point of Faith or Ceremony not seeking any confirmation of their Acts and Ordinances from that Christian People who were to yield obedience to them And last of all that such things as by them were then determined did presently oblige all people under the governance and direction of the said Prelates and Clergy so met together and assembled as before is said as appears partly by that calm which followed over all the Church upon the holding of these Synods but principally by that end which afterwards was put unto this Controversie by the Council of Nice But to proceed with Irenaeus that Religious Prelate from what he did as Bishop in the Churches service for the atoning of her differences and the advancement of her peace to that which he hath left behind him concerning Bishops as a learned Writer the light and glory of this Age. Which evidence of his because it doth relate to the Episcopal succession in the Church of Christ as a foundation on the which he doth build his structures we will first look on the Succession of the four prime Sees by which we may conjecture at the state and quality of all the rest And this we cannot do at a better time than where now we are the time when Victor sat in the Chair of Rome which being in the close of the present Century gives us opportunity to look as well upon his Predecessors as his and their Cotemporaries in the same And first for Rome from Clemens where we first began Euseb in Chrâ to Victor which is now the subject of our History we find the names and actions of nine intermediate Bishops Clemens being the fourth and Victor the 14th in that Catalogue most of the which had suffered death for the sake of Christ whose honour they preferred before worldly glories For Antioch next I find that from Ignatius who began this Century unto Serapion who sat Bishop there in the conclusion of the same were five Bishops only and that in Alexandria from Cerdo to Demetrius inclusively were no more than seven By which it is most clear and evident that the Bishops in neither of these Churches held the Chair by turns from week to week or from month to month as some men suppose Beza de diversgrad but were invested with a constant and fixt preheminence such as the Bishops now enjoy in the Church of Christ some of them in the two last specially holding out ten years some twenty others more than that as by the Tables of Succession published by Eusebius doth at full appear As for Hierusalem the Bishops thereof indeed held not out so long there being no fewer than thirteen from Simeon unto Marcus the first Bishop of that Church which was not of the Circumcision and thirteen more betwixt this Marcus and Narcissus who closed this Century So that within one hundred years there sat nine and twenty Bishops in this Church which sheweth as Baronius well observeth Bar. in Annal. An. 113. Ecclesiam Hyerosolymitanam dira fuisse persecutione vexatam that this poor Church was terribly afflicted with persecutions And so it is most like to be For standing as it did betwixt Jew and Gentile and equally hated of them both how could it chuse but suffer under a double tyranny each of the adversaries striving who should most afflict her Nor hath Eusebius only given a bare and naked list of names but calculated punctually and precisely the time and years in which all the Bishops of the three first Sees did possess the Government of those Churches which he professeth that he could not find in the last exactly by reason of the shortness of their lives ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Euseb Eccl. hist lib. 4. cap. 5. Niceph. Chron. as his words there are But what we fail of there we find performed after by Nicephorus who hath assigned to every one of them his own term and time in the which whether he be rather censured than rectified by Petavius Animadvers in Epiph. hares 66. I mean not to examine in this place and time For howsoever at the first Hierusalem was not reckoned for a Patriarchal Church as the others were yet in regard of the opinion which was held of the place it self as being honoured with the Passion of our Lord and Saviour and with the Preaching of the Holy Hpostles and consequently reckoned for the Mother-City of the Christian Church the Bishops of that Church were in great esteem and the Episcopal succession there preserved on exact record as in the three great Patriarchal Sees before remembred But here I meet with an Objection that must first be answered before we see what use is made of this Episcopal succession by the ancient writers For if that those
was a very pregnant evidence that they had neither verity nor antiquity to defend their Doctrins nor could with any shew of Justice challenge to themselves the name and honour of a Church Id. ibid. ca. 36. And such and none but such were those other Churches which he after speaketh of viz. of Corinth Philippi Thessalonica Ephesus and the rest planted by the Apostles apud quas ipsae Cathedrae Apostolorum suis locis praesidentur in which the Chairs of the Apostles to that time were sate in being possessed not by themselves but by their Successors By the same argument Optatus first and after him St. Austin did confound the Donatists that mighty faction in the Church St. Austin thus Numerate Sacerdotes vel ab ipsa sede Petri August contr Petil. l. 2. in illo ordine quis cui successerit videte Number the Bishops which have sate but in Peters Chair and mark who have succeeded one another in the same A Catalogue of which he gives us in another place Id. Epist 165. lest else he might be thought to prescribe that to others on which he would not trust himself Nay so far he relyed on the authority of this Episcopal Succession in the Church of Christ as that he makes it one of the special motives quae eum in gremio Ecclesiae justissimè teneant which did continue him in the bosom of the Catholick Church Id. contr Epist Manichaei c. 4. As for Optatus having laid down a Catalogue of the Bishops in the Church of Rome till his own times He makes a challenge to the Donatists to present the like Optat. de schis Donat. l. 2. Vestrae Cathedrae originem edite shew us saith he the first original of your Bishops and then you have done somewhat to advance your cause In which it is to be observed that though the instance be made only in the Episcopal succession of the Church of Rome Irt. adv haere lib. 3. cap. 3. the argument holds good in all others also it being too troublesome a labour as Irenaeus well observed omnium Ecclesiarum enumerare successiones to run through the succession of all particular Churches and therefore that made choyce of as the chief or principal But to return again unto Tertullian whom I account amongst the Writers of this Age though he lived partly in the other besides the use he made of this Episcopal succession to convince the Heretick he shews us also what authority the Bishops of the Church did severally enjoy and exercise in their successions which we will take according to the proper and most natural course of Christianity First for the Sacrament of Baptism which is the door or entrance into the Church Tertul. lib. de Baptism c. 17. Dandi quidem jus habet summus sacerdos i. e. Episcopus The Right saith he of giving Baptism hath the High-Priest which is the Bishop and then the Presbyters and Deacons non tamen sine Episcopi antoritate yet not without the Bishops licence and authority for the Churches honour which if it be preserved then is Peace maintained Nay so far he appropriates it unto the Bishop as that he calleth it dictatum Episcopi officium Episcopatus a work most proper to the Bishop in regard of his Episcopacy or particular Office Which howsoever it may seem to ascribe too much unto the Bishop in the administration of this Sacrament is no more verily than what was after affirmed by Hierom Hieron adver Lucifer shewing that in his time sine Episcopi jussione without the warrant of the Bishop neither the Presbyters nor the Deacons had any authority to Baptize not that I think that in the days of Hierom before whose time Parishes were assigned to Presbyters throughout the Church the Bishops special consent and warrant was requisite to the baptizing of each several Infant but that the Presbyters and Deacons did receive from him some general faculty for their enabling in and to those Ministrations Next for the Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist that which is a chief part of that heavenly nourishment by which a Christian is brought up in the assured hopes of Eternal life he tells us in another place non de aliorum manu quam Praesidentium sumimus Tertul. de Corona Militis that they received it only from their Bishops hand the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or President of the Presbytery as Justin Martyr seconded by Beza did before call him Which Exposition or construction lest it should be quarrelled as being injurious to the Presbyters who are thereby excluded from the honour and name of Presidents I shall desire the Reader to consult those other places of Tertullian in which the word Prefident is used as viz. Prescriptio Apostoll Bigames non sinit praesidere Tert. ad axor lib. ad uxorem and lib. de Monogamia in both of which the man that had a second Wife is said to be disabled from Presiding in the Church of God and on consideration to determine of it whether it be more probable that Presbyters or Bishops be here meant by Presidents Besides the Church not being yet divided generally into Parishes but only in some greater Cities the Presbyter had not got the stile of Rector and therefore much less might be called a President that being a word of Power and Government which at that time the Presbyters enjoyed not in the Congregation And here Pope Leo will come in to help us if occasion be assuring us that in his time it was not lawful for the Presbyter in the Bishops presence nisi illo jubente Leo Epist 88. unless it were by his appointment conficere Sacramentum corporis sanguinis Christi to consecrate the Sacrament of Christs body and blood The author of the Tract ascribed to Hierom entituled de Septem Ecclesiae ordinibus doth affirm as much but being the author of it is uncertain though it be placed by Erasinus amongst the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã docta we will pass it by From the Administration of the Sacraments which do belong ad potestatem ordinis to the power of Order proceed we on to those which do appertain ad potestatem jurisdictionis unto the power of Jurisdiction And the first thing we meet with is the appointing of the publick Fasts used often in the Church as occasion was A priviledg not granted to the common Presbyter and much less to the common people but in those times wherein the Supream Magistrate was not within the pale or bosom of the Church entrusted to the Bishop only This noted also by Tertullian in his book entituled de jejuniis which though he writ after his falling from the Church and so not to be trusted in a point of Doctrine may very well be credited in a point of custom Quod Episcopi universae plebi mandare jejunia assolent non dico de industria stipium conferendarum sed ex aliqua sollicitudinis Ecclesiae causa
displeasure when some of the Presbyters neither mindful of the Gospel or their own duty or the day of Judgment nor thinking that they have a Bishop set over them cum contemptu contumelia praepositi totum sibi vendicent with the contempt and reproach of him that is their Bishop shall arrogate all Power unto themselves Which their behaviour he calls also contumelias Episcopatus nostri the reproach and slander of his Government in having such affronts put on him as never had been offered to any of his Fredecessors The like complaint to which he doth also make but with more resolution and contempt of their wicked practices in an Epistle to Cornelius being the 55. in number according to the Edition of Pamelius I have the more at large laid down the storms and troubles raised against this godly Bishop at his first coming to the place because it gives greater light unto many passages which concern his time especially in that extraordinary Power which he ascribes sometimes both to the People and the Presbyters in the administration of the Church as if they had been Partners with him in the publick Government Which certainly he did not as his case then stood without special reason For being so vehemently opposed from his first Election to the Episcopal Office all opportunities espied to draw away the peoples hearts and alienate their affections from him every advantage taken against him during his absence from the City to vex and cross him in his doings what better way could he devise to secure himself in the affections of the people and the obedience of his Presbyters than to profess that in all his acts and enterprises whatsoever he did and would depend upon the counsel of the one and consent of the other And this is that which he professeth in a Letter to the Presbyters and Deacons of Carthage quod à primordio Episcopatus mei statuerim Idem Epist 6. nihil sine consilio vestro consensu plebis meae privatâ sententiâ gerere that he resolved from his first entrance on that Bishoprick to do nothing of his own head as we use to say without the Counsel of his Clergy and the consent of his People and that on his return for he was then in exile when he wrote this Letter he would communicate his affairs with them Et in commune tractabimus and manage them in common with their assistance And certainly this was a prudent resolution as the World went with him For by this means he stood assured that whatsoever Schism or Faction should be raised against him it would be never able to prevail or get ground upon him as long as he had both the People and the Presbyters so obliged unto him for the support of his authority But this being but a private case and grounded on particular reasons makes no general Rule no Bishop being bound unto the like by this Example but where all circumstances do concur which we meet with here and then not bound neither except he will himself but as it doth conduce to his own security So that it is to me a wonder why the example of St. Cyprian should be pressed so often and all those passages so hotly urged wherein the Presbyters or People seem to be concerned in matters of the Churches Government as if both he and all other Bishops had been bound by the Law of God not to do any thing at all in their holy function but what the Presbyters should direct and the people yield their suffrage and consent unto For being but a resolution taken up by him the better to support himself against his Adversaries it obligeth no man to the like as before I said And he himself did not conceive himself so obliged thereby but that he could and did dispense with that resolution as often as he thought it necessary or but expedient so to do performing many actions of importance in the whole course and Series of his Episcopal Government wherein he neither craved the advice of the one nor the good liking of the other and which is more doing some things not only without their knowledg but against their wills as we shall make appear in that which followeth Now whereas the points of most importance in the Government and Administration of the Church are the Election of Bishops the Ordination of Ministers the Excommunicating of the Sinner and the reconciling of the Penitent it will not be amiss to see what and how much in each of these St. Cyprian did permit as occasion was either unto the People or the Presbyters and what he did in all and every one of these as often as he saw occasion also without their knowledg and consent First for Election of their Bishops it is conceived and so delivered that all their Elections were ordered by the privity Semctymn pag. 33. Sect. 7. consent and approbation of the people where the Bishop was to serve and for the proof of this St. Cyprian is alledged as one sufficient in himself to make good the point The place most commonly alledged is in his 68. Epistle touching the Case of Basilides and Martialis two Spanish Bishops who had defiled themselves with Idols and many other grievous Crimes concerning whom the people of those parts repaired unto him for his resolution But he remitting the cause back to them tells them how much it did concern them A peccatore Praeposito se separare to separate themselves from such sinful Prelates and not to participate with them in the Sacrifice Cypr. Ep 68. giving this reason for the same quando ipsa maxime habeat potestatem vel eligendi dignos Sacerdotes vel indignos recusandi because the people specially have power either of chusing worthy Prelates or of rejecting the unworthy For that by Sacerdotes here the Father understandeth Bishops Smectymn p. 33. is confessed on all hands Nor doth the Father only say it but he goeth forward to make good the same by Divine Authority ut Sacerdos plebe praesente that the Bishop should be chosen in the presence of the People under all mens eyes that so he may be proved to be fit and worthy by their publick testimony And for the proof of this is urged a Text from Moses in the book of Numbers where God is said to speak thus to Moses Apprehende Aaron fratrem tuum Take Aaron thy brother and Eleazar his son and thou shalt bring them to the Mount before all the Assembly and put off Aarons garments and put them on Eleazar his son By which it is apparent that God willeth the Priest to be made before all the multitude shewing thereby that the Priest should not be ordained but in the presence of the People that so the People being present the offences of the evil may be detected and the merits of the good made known and consequently the Election or rather Ordination may be good and lawful being discussed by the opinion and voice of all
fratres charissimi Cypr. Ep. 33. vii l. 2. Ep. 5. solemus vos ante consulere mores merita singulorum communi consilio ponderare which is full and large Whatever he saith elsewhere to the same effect is in effect no more than what here is said and therefore we shall save the labour of a further search Nor was this Cyprians custom only It had prevailed as it seems in most parts of Christendom and was so universally received that even the Roman Emperours took notice of it For Alexander Severus one of the hopefullest young Princes in the declining times of the Roman Empire noting this custom of the Christians Lamprid. in vita Alex. Siveri was wont when he promoted any unto the Government of Provinces to post up as it were the names of the persons inviting the People to come in against them if they could charge them on just proof with any crimes And used to say it were a shame not to observe that care in chusing of the Rulers of Provinces to whom mens lives and fortunes were to be committed cum id Christiani Judaei facerent in praedicandis sacerdotibus qui sunt ordinandi when as the Jews and Christians did it in publishing the merit of those Priests which were to be ordained by them Which kind of publication of the life and merits of the party that was to be Ordained may possibly relate as well unto the popular manner of Electing Bishops at that time in use But as there is no general observation but doth and must give way unto particular occasions so neither was this Rule so generally observed but that sometimes it was neglected Even Cyprian himself how much soever it concerned him to continue in the Peoples favour would many times make use of his own authority in chusing and ordaining men to Functions and Employments in the Church without consulting with the People or making them acquainted with his mind therein Cypr. Ep. 33. For minding to advance Aurelius unto the Office of a Reader an Office but no Order in the Church of God he tarried not the Peoples liking and consent but did it first and after gave them notice of it not doubting of their taking it in good part quod vos scio libenter amplecti and so commends him to their Prayers Id. Epi. 34. The like we find of Celerinus a man highly prized admitted first into the Clergy by him and his Colleagues then present with him in his exile and then acquainteth the People that he had so done non humana suffragatione sed divina dignatione not being guided in it by any humane suffrage but by Gods appointment And although Celerinus and Aurelius being known unto the People by their former merits the matter might be taken with the less resentment yet this no way can be affirmed of Numidicus who being before a Presbyter in some other Church Baron in Annal Anno 253. n. 94. Cypr. Ep. 35. as Baronius very well observeth and in all likelihood utterly unknown de facie to those of Carthage was by Saint Cyprian of his sole authority without consulting either with Presbyters or People for ought which doth appear taken into the number of the Presbyters of that Church ut nobiscum sedeat in Clero and so to have a place together with the Bishop himself amongst the Clergy of the same and that we do not find as yet in Saint Cyprians Writings that the People had any special power either in the Election or Ordination of their Presbyters more than to give testimony of their well deservings or to object against them if they were delinquent And more than that is still remaining to them in the Church of England in which the People are required at all Ordinations Book of Ordination that if they know any notable crime in any of them which are to be Ordained for which he ought not to be received into the Ministery to declare the same and on the declaration of the same the Bishop must desist from proceeding further This is as much as was permitted to them in the Primitive times for ought I perceive and yet the Church of England gives them more than this the Presbyter who is to serve the Cure in particular Churches being elected by the Patrons of them for and in the name of the rest of the People As for the power of Excommunication I do not find but that St. Cyprian reckoned of it as his own prerogative a point peculiar to the Bishop in which he neither did advise either with the Presbyters or People When as the wickedness of Felicissimus the leader of the Faction raised against him was grown unto the height the Father of his own authority denounced him Excommunicant abstentum se à nobis sciat Cypr. Ep. 38. vel l. 5. Ep. 1. as the phrase then was as he did also on Augendus and divers others of that desperate party committing the execution of his sentence to Herculanus and Caldonius two of his Suffragan Bishops and to Rogatianus and Numidicus two of the Presbyters of his charge whom as for other matters so for that he had made his Substitutes or Commissaries if you will Cum ego vos pro me Vicarios miserim as the words are And they accordingly being thus authorized proceed in execution of the same and that in a formality of words which being they present unto us the ancient form of the Letters of Excommunication used of old Apud Cypr. Epist 39. I will here lay down Abstinuimus communicatione Felicissimum Augendum item Repostum de extorribus Irenem Rutilorum Paulam Sarcinatricem quod ex annotatione mea scire debuistis In which we may observe that this Excommunication was so published that all the residue of the Clergy to whom the publication of it was committed might take notice of it quod ex Annotatione mea or nostra rather as Pamelius very probably conjectureth scire debuistis So that the process of the whole is this that those Incendiaries were denounced excommunicate by St. Cyprian himself the execution of it left to those above remembred whom he had authorized in that behalf and they accordingly proceeding made certificate of it unto the Clergy of Carthage that publication might be made thereof unto the People Which differs very little in effect from what is now in use amongst us Nor did St. Cyprian do thus only of himself de facto but he adviseth Rogatianus one of his neighbouring Bishops to exercise the like authority as properly belonging to his place de jure Rogatianus had complained as it seems Cyp. Ep. 65. of some indignities and affronts which had been offered to him by his Deacon which his respect in making his complaint unto him as Cyprian took exceeding kindly so he informeth him withal that he had the Law in his own hands and that pro Episcopatus vigore Cathedrae authoritate haberet potestatem qua
Catechist in the Church Hieron de Script Eccl. in Origine and afterward a publick Reader in the Schools of Alexandria a man in whom there was nothing ordinary either good or ill for when he did well none could do it better and when he erred or did amiss none could do it worse The course and method of his studies the many Martyrs which he trained up in the School of Piety the several Countreys which he travelled either for informing of himself or others belong not unto this Discourse Suffice it that his eminence in all parts of Learning and his great pains in his profession Euseb bist Eccl. l. 6. c. 7. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. ib. c. 13. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã made him most grateful for a time unto Demetrius the Patriarch of Alexandria though after upon envy at the mans renown he did endeavour to diminish his reputation For on occasion of the Wars in Egypt seeing he could not stay in safety there he went unto Caesarea the Metropolitan See of Palestine where though not yet in holy Orders he was requested by the Bishop not only to dispute in publick as his custom was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but also to expound the Scriptures and that too ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the open Church Which when it came unto the knowledg of Demetrius he forthwith signified by Letters his dislike thereof affirming it to be an unaccustomed and unheard of thing ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that any Lay-man should presume to Preach or Expound Scripture in the Bishops presence But hereunto it was replyed by Theoctistus Bishop of Caesarea and Alexander Bishop of Hierusalem who was also there that he had quite mistook the matter it being lawful for such men as were fit and eminent to speak a word of exhortation to the People or to preach unto them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã if they were thereunto required by the Bishop instancing in Euelpis Paulinus and Theodorus godly brethren all who on the like authority had so done before and they for their parts being of opinion that others besides them had done so too In agitation of which business there are these two things presented to us first the regard and reverence which was had in those Pious times unto the person of a Bishop and then the power and authority that was vested in them For first it seems that men of whatsoever parts though of great spirit and abilities did notwithstanding think it an unfitting thing to meddle with expounding Scripture or edifying of the People in case the Bishop was in place And yet as strange and uncouth as it was or was thought to be the Licence of the Bishop made it lawful But then withal we must conceive of Preaching in this place and story not as a Ministerial Office but only as an Academical or Scholastical exercise according as it is still used in our Universities where many not in holy Orders preach their turns and courses And yet indeed Demetrius was not so much out as they thought he was but had good ground to go upon though possibly there was some intermixture of envy in it For whatsoever had been done in the Eastern Churches the use was otherwise in Alexandria and in the Churches of the West in which it was so far unusual for Lay-men to expound or preach in the Bishops presence that it was not lawful for the Presbyters For in the neighbour Church of Carthage it was thus of old in these times at least For when Valerius Bishop of Hippo a Diocese within that Province being by birth a Grecian and not so well instructed in the pronunciation of the Latin Tongue perceived his Preaching not to be so profitable to the common People for remedy thereof having then lately ordained Augustin Presbyter eidem potestatem dedit coram se in Ecclesia Evangelium praedicandi Possidon in vit Aug. c. 5. he gave him leave to preach the Gospel in the Church though himself were present And this saith Possidonius who relates the story was contra usum consuetudinem Ecclesiarum Africanarum against the use and custom of the African Churches and many Bishops thereabouts did object as much But the old man bearing himself upon the custom of the Eastern Church where it was permitted would not change his course By means whereof it came to pass that by this example some Presbyters in other places acceptâ ab Episcopis potestate being thereto licenced by the Bishop did preach before them in the Church without controul For Austin being afterwards Bishop of Hippo in the place of Valerius applauds Aurelius the Metropolitan of Carthage Aug. Ep. 77. for giving way unto the same commending him for the great care he took in his Ordinations but specially de sermone Presbyterorum qui te praesente populo infunditur for the good Sermons preached by the Presbyters unto the People in his presence But this permission or allowance was only in some places in some Churches only perhaps in none but those of Africk For Hierom writing to Nepotian being himself a Presbyter in the Church of Rome complains thereof ut turpissimae consuetudinis Hieron ad Nepotianum as of a very evil custom that in some Churches the Presbyters were not to preach if the Bishop were by And though he was a man of great authority with Damasus and others his Successours Popes of Rome yet got he little by complaining the custom still continuing as before it was And this is clear by the Epistle of Pope Leo in which as it is declared unlawful to perform divers other Sacred Offices in the Bishops presence Leon. Ep. 88. without his special Precept and Command so also is there a non licet in this point of Preaching which was not to be done nec populum docere ncc plebem exhortari if the Bishop were then present in the Congregation So that this being then an ancient and received custom must needs be now in force when Demetrius lived and as it seems by his expostulation in the case of Origen had been no less observed in Alexandria than in Rome or Africk There was indeed a time and that shortly after in which the Presbyters of Alexandria might not preach at all ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as it is in Socrates Socrat. hist Eccl. l. 5. c. 21. Which general restraint as it was occasioned by reason of the factions raised by Arius or other troubles of that Church in the beginning of the Age next following so it continued till the times of Socrates and Sozomen Sozom. hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 19. who lived about the middle of the sixth Century and take notice of it So that as it appeared before in the case of Austin that the Bishops have a power to Licence so it appears by that of Arius that they also have a power to silence But to return again to Origen the Bishops of Caesarea and Hierusalem finding how profitable a Servant
vocatur ad principatum sed ad servitutem totius Ecclesiae is not invited to an Empire or a Principality but to the Service of the whole Church And this he keeps himself to constantly in that whole discourse being the sixth Homily on the Prophet Esay in which although he afterwards doth call the Bishop Ecclesiae Princeps yet he affirms that he is called ad servitutem to a place of service and that by looking to his service well ad solium coeleste ire posset he may attain an Heavenly Throne And so much shall suffice for Origen a Learned but unfortunate man with whom the Church had never peace either dead or living From him then we proceed unto his Successor Heraclas an Auditor at first of Clemens ââsâb hist l. 6. c. 12. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã then of Origen who being marvellously affected with the great Learning of the man ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã made him his Partner in the Chair which after Origen was laid by Id. c. 20. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he managed wholly by himself with great applause A man that had the happiness to succeed the two greatest Enemies in the world Origen and Demetrius the one in the Schools the other in the Church of Alexandria unto which honour he was called on Demetrius death who had sate Bishop there three and forty years On this preferment of Heraclas unto the Patriarchate the Regency of the Alexandrian Schools was forthwith given to Dionysius another of Origens Disciples who after fourteen years or thereabout succeeded also in the Bishoprick And here began that alteration in the Election of the Bishops of this Church which S. Hierom speaks of Hieron ad Evagrium The Presbyters before this time used to Elect their Bishop from among themselves Alexandriae à Marco Evangelista usque ad Heraclam Dionysium Episcopos Presbyteri unum ex se electum in excelsiori gradu collocatum Episcopum nominabant as the Father hath it But here we find that course was altered though what the alteration was in what it did consist whether in the Electors or the condition of the party to be Elected is not so clearly evident in S. Hierom's words For my part I conceive it might be in both both in the unum ex se and the collocabant For first the Presbyters of that Church had used to choose their Bishop from amongst themselves Electing always one of their own body But in the choice of these two Bishops that course was altered these two not being Presbyters of the Church but Readers in the Schools of Alexandria and so not chosen from amongst themselves And secondly I take it that the course was altered as to the Electors to the Collocabant For whereas heretofore the Presbyters had the sole power of the Election to choose whom they listed and having chosen to enthrone him without expecting what the people were pleased to do the people seeing what was done in other Churches begun to put in for a share not only ruling but finally over-ruling the Election What else should further the Election of these two I can hardly tell but that their diligence and assiduity in the discharge of the employment they had took upon them the great abilities they shewed therein and the great satisfaction given thereby unto the people who carefully frequented those publick Readings had so endeared them to the multitude that no other Bishops could content them had not these been chosen And this I am the rather induced to think because that in a short time after the interess of the people in the Election of their Bishop was improved so high that the want of their consent and suffrage was thought by Athanasius a sufficient bar against the right of the Elected Atha in Epi. ad Orthodoxos affirming it to be against the Churches Canons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and to the precept of the Apostles But which of these soever it was an alteration here was made of the ancient custom which is as much as is intended by S. Hierom in the words alledged How others have abused this place to prove that the imparity of Bishops is not of Divine Authority but only brought in by the Presbyters we have shewn before Part I. Cha. 3. But to go on with Dionysius for of Heraclas and his acts there is little mention we find the time in which he sate to be full of troubles both in regard of Persecutions which were raised against the Church without and Heresies which assaulted her within Novatus had begun a faction in the Church of Rome grounding the same upon a false and dangerous doctrine the sum whereof we find in an Epistle of this Dionysius Eus hist Ec. lib. 7. cap. 7. unto another Dionysius Pope of Rome And whereas Fabius Bishop of Antiochia was thought to be a fautor of that Schism he writes to him about it also Id. l. 6. c. 36. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. l. 7. c. 5. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. l. 7. c. 21. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. l. 7. c. 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã So when Sabellius had begun to disperse his Heresies he presently gives notice of it to Sixtus or Xystus Bishop of the Church of Rome as also unto Ammon Bishop of Bernice and Basilides the Metropolitan of Cyrenaica or Pentapolis and to divers others And when that Paulus Samosatenus began to broach strange doctrins in the Church of Christ although he could not go in person to suppress the same yet writ he an Epistle to the Bishops Assembled there ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã declaring his opinion of the point in question And on the other side when as the Persecutors made foul havock in the Church and threatned utterly to destroy the Professors of it Id. l. 6. c. 34. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he by his Letters certifieth his neighbouring Bishops in what estate Gods Church stood with him with what heroick resolutions the Christians in his charge did abide the fury and conquered their tormenters by their patient sufferings so giving houour to the dead and breathing courage in the living Indeed what Bishops almost were there in those parts of Christendom with whom he held not correspondence with whom he had not mutual and continual entercourse by the way of Letters from whom he did not carefully receive in the self-same way both advice and comfort Witness his several Epistles besides those formerly remembred unto Cornelius Pope of Rome Id. li. 6. c. 38. commending him for an Epistle by him written against Novatus and giving notice to him of the death of Fabius and how Demetrianus did succeed him in the See of Antioch and also to the Church of Rome discoursing of the publick Ministeries in the Christian Church Witness that also unto Stephanus the Predecessor of Cornelius Id. l. 7. c. 2. Id. l. 7. c. 4. entituled De Baptismate a second to the aforesaid Stephanus about the faction of Novatus
the great Cardinal Baronius in his Application of the place are fain to falsifie their Author For whereas in the Text we have that he of the Petenders was to have possession ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to whom the Bishops of Italy Euseb hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 24 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Baron in Annal An. 272. n. 18. and the City of Rome should adjudge the same Christopherson translates it thus Quibus Christiani Italiae Vrbis Romae Episcopi tribuenda praescriberent Baronius with less ambiguity Cui Italiae Christiani Vrbis Romanae Episcopi dandam praescriberent to whom the Christians of Italy and the Bishops of the City of Rome should think fit to give it And for a further testimony of this equality betwixt Rome and Millain we may note also on the by that each Church had its proper and peculiar customs Rome neither giving Law to Millain nor she to Rome Witness that signal difference betwixt them in the Saturdays fast which in those times was kept at Rome but not at Millain according to that memorable saying of Saint Ambrose quando Romae sum jejuno Sabbato quando hic sum non jejuno Sabbato In Aug. Ep. 86. in fine Indeed the Church of Millain might well stand on her own Prerogatives as being little inferiour unto that of Rome either in the condition of her founder or the Antiquity of her foundation S. Barnabas the Apostle being generally reported for the first Bishop here to whom Anathalon succeeded Gaius after him Baron Annet in Martyr Rom. Junii 11. Martyr Rom. Sept. 25.27 and so successively Bishop after Bishop till these very times Thus having prosecuted the affairs of this second Century from the Church of Carthage unto that of Alexandria from thence to Antioch and on occasion of Samosatenus Bishop of this last being forced to take a journey over unto Rome and Italy we will next look on the condition of these Western Churches and the estate wherein Episcopacy stood amongst them for this present Age. CHAP. VI. Of the state wherein Episcopacy stood in the Western Churches during the whole third Century 1. Of Zephyrinus Pope of Rome and the decrees ascribed unto him concerning Bishops 2. Of the condition of that Church when Cornelius was chosen Bishop thereof 3. The Schism raised in Rome by Novatianus with the proceedings of the Church therein 4. Considerable observations on the former story 5. Parishes set forth in Country Villages by Pope Dionysius 6. What the words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do fignifie most properly in Ancient Writers 7. The great Authority which did accrue unto the Presbyters by the setting forth of Parishes 8. The rite of Confirmation reserved by Bishops to themselves as their own Prerogative 9. Touching the ancient Chorepiscopi and the authority to them entrusted 10. The rising of the Manichean Heresie with the great care taken by the Bishops for the crushing of it 11. The lapse of Marcellinus Pope of Rome with the proceedings of the Church in his Condemnation 12. The Council of Eliberis in Spain what it decreed in honour of Episcopacy 13. Constantine comes unto the Empire with a brief prospect of the great honours done to Bishops in the following Age. 14. A brief Chronologie of the state of holy Church in these two last Centuries BEing thus returned at last to the Western Churches the first we meet withal is Victor Bishop of the Church of Rome who lived in the conclusion of the second Century and the beginning of the third to whom succeeded Zephyrinus Optat. de Schism Donat. l. 2. Platina in vita Zephyrini who by Optatus is entituled Vrbicus or the City-Bishop the stile of Oecumenicaal or Vniversal being then unknown Of him it is affirmed by Platina Mandasse ne Episcopus vel à Patriarcha vel Primate vel à Metropolitano suo in judicium vocatus sine authoritate Apostolica damnaretur how he decreed that no Bishop being called in question either by Patriarch Primate or Metropolitan should be condemned without the leave and liking of the See Apostolick that is to say the Bishop of Rome as the Author means it A matter fit enough indeed for an Oecumenical but of too high a nature for a City-Bishop to attempt or think of And therefore I desire to be excused of Platina if I believe neither his report nor the Epistles Decretal ascribed unto Zephyrinus on which the said report was founded Sure I am Damasus in the Pontifical tells us no such matter Concil Tom. 1. à Binio edit Apud Binium in Concil Tom. 1. Sozom. Eccl. hist l. 8. c. 6. And no less sure I am that the practice of the Church was contrary for a long time after Saint Chrysostom being then Patriarch of Constantinople deposing thirteen Bishops in one Visitation whom he had found unworthy of so high a calling without consulting with the Church of Rome or fearing that his acts might have been repealed by the Popes thereof Nor can that strange report of Platina consist if looked on with indifferent eyes either with the condition of the times of which he writeth in which the Popes had hardly meditated on their future greatness or with the Constitutions of the Church by which the Primate in each Diocess had the dernier resort as the Lawyers phrase it there being regularly no Appeal from him but only to a general Council Which Constitution of the Church as it was afterwards confirmed by the great Council of Chalcedon Con. Calcedon Can. 9. so was it finally established by the Laws Imperial whereof consult Novel Constitut 123. c. 22. More likely is that other Ordinance or Decree ascribed to Zepherinus by this Author Platina in Zepherino ut astantibus Clericis Laicis fidelibus levita sacerdos ordinaretur that Priests and Deacons should be ordained in the presence of the Clergy and other of Gods faithful people in which as he is backed by Damasus who affirms the same So is the truth or probability thereof at least confirmed by the following practice Where note that in the Ordination of these Priests and Deacons there is not any thing required but the peoples presence adstantibus Laicis as that Author hath it the Church being never so obliged unto the votes and suffrages of the people but that the Bishop might ordain fit Ministers without requiring their consent though on the reasons formerly delivered it was thought fit that Ordinations should be made in publick as well the People as the Clergy being present at them The seventh from Zepherinus was Cornelius by birth a Roman elected to that place and ministery Cypr. Epist 52. Coepiscoporum testimonio by the consent and suffrage of his Com Provincials as also by the voices of the Clergy Plebis quae tunc adfuit suffragio and with the liking of the people or as many of them as did attend at the Election the number of the
the Rectors as we call them of particular Churches Concil Tole Can. IV. Can. 25 26. and in the fourth Council of Toledo where we read of Presbyters ordained in paroeciis per paroecias for the use and service of particular Parishes And in this sense but specially indeed for a Countrey Parish the word is taken in an Epistle of Pope Innocentius Innocent lib. ad Decentium c. 5. in which Ecclesiae intra Civitatem constitutae the Churches situated in the City are distinguished plainly from Paroecias the Churches scattered in the Countrey Other Examples of this nature in the later Ages being almost infinite and obvious to the eye of every Reader I forbear to add So for the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which we English Diocess it signified at first that part or portion of the Roman Empire there being thirteen of them in all besides the Prefecture of the City of Rome as before was noted which was immediately under the command of the Vicarius or Lieutenant General of those parts And was so called of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth to Govern or Administer Isocrat ad Nicoclen as ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Isocrates ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in Demosthenes a Diocess being that part or portion of the Empire which was committed to the Government and Administration of some principal Officer In which regard the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or dioecesis when it was first borrowed by the Church from the civil State was used to signifie that part or portion of the Church which was within the jurisdiction of a Primate containing all the circuit of the civil Diocess as was shewed before the Primate being stiled ordinarily ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as in the Council of Chalcedon Concil Chalcedon Car. 9.17 Novel const 123. c. 22. the Patriarch of the Diocess in the Laws Imperial But after as the former ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã began to lose its former latitude in which it signified the whole command or Jurisdiction of a Bishop which we call a Diocess and grew to be restrained to so narrow a compass as the poor limits of a Parish so did ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã grow less also than at first it was and from a Patriarchal Diocess Horat. de Arte. fell by degrees custom and use prevailing in it quem penes arbitrium est ju norma loquendi as the Poet hath it to signifie no more than what Paroecia had done formerly a Diocess as now we call it whereof see Concil Antioch cap. 9. Con. Sardicens cap. 18. Constantinop ca. 2. Chalcedon ca. 17. Carthag III. can 20. IV. can 36. So then the just result of all is this that the Bishops of the Primitive times were Diocesan Bishops though they are called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by some ancient Writers and that in the succeeding Ages as the Church increased and the Gospel of our Saviour did inlarge its borders so did the Countrey Villages obtain the name of Parishes or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã having to each of them a Presbyter for the administration of the Sacraments for their instruction both in Faith and Piety whom at this day we call the Rector of the Church or Parish And with this Presbyter or Rector call him as you will must we now proceed who by this Institution I mean the setting out of Parishes in the Countrey Villages did grow exceedingly both in authority and reputation For whereas upon the setting out of Parishes Concil Neo-Caesar ca. 13. the Presbyters became divided into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the City and the Countrey Presbyters each of them had their several priviledges the City Presbyters continuing as before the great Council of Estate unto the Bishop Concil Neo. ca. 13. and doing many things which were not suffered to be done by the Countrey Presbyters and on the other side the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Country Presbyters being more remote did many Ministerial Acts of their own authority which in the presence of their Bishop it was not lawful for them to have done And therefore I conceive the resolution of Bishop Downham in this case Defence of the Sermon l. 1. cap. 2. to be sound and good who telleth us That since the first distinguishing of Parisher and allotting of several Presbyters to them there hath been ever granted to them both potestas Ordinis the power of Orders as they are Ministers Et potestas jurisdictionis spiritualis seu internae a power of spiritual and inward jurisdiction to rule their flock after a private manner as it were in foro Conscientiae in the Court of Conscience as they are Pastors of that flock But because this allowance of a Jurisdiction in foro Conscientiae in the Court of Conscience seems not sufficient unto some who reckon the distinction of a Jurisdiction in foro externo Vindication of the Answ §. 9. in foro interno to be like that of Reflexius and Archipodialiter they do in this not only put the School-men unto School again in whom the like distinctions frequently occur but cross the best Divines in the Church of England who do adhere unto and approve the said distinctions And because many of both sorts may be found in one and that one publick's declared to be both Orthodox in doctrine and consonant in discipline to the Church of England by great Authority I will use his words Holy Table Ch. 3. A single Priest qua talis in that formality and capacity only as he is a Priest hath no Key given him by God or man to open the doors of any external Jurisdiction He hath a Consistory within in foro poenitentiae in the conscience of his Parishioners and a Key given him upon his institution to enter into it But he hath no Consistory without in foro causae in medling with Ecclesiastical causes unless he borrow a Key from his Ordinary For although they be the same Keys yet one of them will not open all these wards the Consistory of outward Jurisdiction not being to be opened by a Key alone but as you may observe in some great mens gates by a Key and a Staff which they usually call a Crosier This saith he I have ever conceived to be the ancient doctrine in this kind opposed by none but professed Puritans affirming further that all learned men in the Church of England do adhere unto it allowing the School-mens double power that of Order and that of Jurisdiction and the subdivision of this Jurisdiction into the internal and external appropriating this last to the Bishop only So he judiciously indeed and for the Authors by him cited both Protestant and School-Divines I refer you to him So then upon this setting out of Parishes the Presbyters which attended in the same had potestatem jurisdictionis a power of Jurisdiction granted to them in the Court of Conscience which needed not to have been granted before
under Eutychianus Baron Ann. Eccl. in An. 277. his next Successor and let them reconcile the difference that list for me Suffice it that the Heresie being risen up and being so directly contrary both to Faith and Piety the Bishops of the Church bestirred themselves both then and after for the suppressing of the same according to their wonted care of Her peace and safety Not as before in the case of Paulus Samosatenus by Synodical meetings which was the only way could be taken by them for the deposing of him from his Bishoprick which followed as a part of his condemnation but by discourse and Argument in publick Writings which might effectually suppress the Heresie although the person of the Heretick was out of distance and to say truth Epiph. advers haeres 66. n. 12. beyond their reach The Persian King had eased them of that labour who seizing on that wretched miscreant ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã commanded him to be flay'd alive and thereby put him to death as full of ignominy as of pain But for the confutation of the Heresie which survived the Author that was the business of the Bishops by whom as Epiphanius noteth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. Ibid. n. 21. many most admirable Disputations had been made in confutation of his Errors Particularly he instanceth in Archelaus Bishop of the Caschari a Nation of Mesopotamia Titus Bishop of Bostra Diodorus one of the Bishops of Cilicia Serapion Bishop of Thmua Eusebius the Historian Bishop of Caesarea Eusebius Emisenus Georgius and Apollinaris Bishops successively of Laodicea Athanasius Patriarch of Alexandria with many other Prelates of the Eastern Churches Not that the Bishops of the West did nothing in it though not here named by Epiphanius who being of another Language could not so well take notice of their Works and Writings For after this St. Austin Bishop of Hippo wrote so much against them and did so fully satisfie and confute them both that he might justly say with the Apostle that he laboured more abundantly than they all So careful were the Bishops of the Churches safety that never any Heretick did arise but presently they set a watch upon him and having found what Heresies or dangerous doctrines he dispersed abroad endeavoured with all speed to prevent the mischief This as they did in other cases so was their care the more remarkable by how much greater was the person whom they were to censure Which as we have before demonstrated in the case of Paulus Patriarch of the Church of Antioch so we may see the like in their proceedings against Marcellinus one of the Popes of Rome the third from Felix who though he broached no Heresie as the other did yet gave as great a scandal to the Church as he if not greater far The times were hot and fiery in the which he sat so fierce a persecution being raised against the Church by Dioclesian and his Associates in the Empire as never had been before A persecution which extended not only to the demolishing of Churches Theod. Eccl. hist l. 5. c. 28. Arnob. cont gent. l. 4. in fine Damas in vita Marcellini the Temples of Almighty God but to the extirpation of the Scriptures the Books and Oracles of the Almighty And for the bodies of his Servants some of which were living Libraries and all lively Temples even Temples of the holy Ghost it raged so terribly amongst them that within Thirty days Seventeen thousand Persons of both sexes in the several parts and Provinces of the Romam Empire were crowned with Martyrdom the Tyrants so extreamly raging Marcellinus comes at last unto his trial where being wrought upon either by flattery or fear or both he yielded unto flesh and blood and to preserve his life Id. ibid. he betrayed his Master Ad sacrificium ductus est ut thurificaret quod fecit saith Damasus in the Pontifical He was conducted to the Temple to offer incense to the Roman Idols which he did accordingly And this I urge not to the scandal and reproach of the Church of Rome Indeed 't is no Reproach unto her that one amongst so many godly Bishops most of them being Martyrs also should waver in the constancy of his resolutions and for a season yield unto those persuasions which flesh and blood and the predominant love of life did suggest unto him That which I urge it for is for the declaration of the Course which was taken against him the manner how the Church proceeded in so great a cause and in the which so great a Person was concerned For though the crime were great and scandalous tending to the destruction of the flock of Christ which being much guided by the example of so prime a Pastor might possibly have been seduced to the like Idolatry and that great numbers of them ran into the Temple and were spectators of that horrid action yet find we not that any of them did revile him in word or deed or pronounced hasty judgment on him but left the cognizance of the cause to them to whom of right it did belong Nor is it an hard matter to discern who these Judges were Lay-men they could not be Amb. Epist l. 5. Ep. 32. that 's sure Quando audisti in causa fidei Laicos de Episcopis judicasse When did you ever hear saith Ambrose speaking of the times before him that Lay-men in a point of Faith did judge of Bishops And Presbyters they were not neither they had no Authority to judge the Person of a Bishop That Bishops had Authority to censure and depose their Presbyters we have shewn already that ever any Presbyters did take upon them to judge their Bishop is no where to be found I dare boldly say it in all the practice of Antiquity For being neither munere pares Id. ibid. nor jure suniles equal in function nor alike in law they were disabled now in point of reason from such bold attempts as afterwards disabled by Imperial Edict A simple Biship might as little intermeddle in it as a simple Presbyter for Bishops severally and apart were not to judge their Metropolitan no nor one another Being of equal Order and Authority and seeing that Par in parem non habet potestatem that men of equal rank qua tales are of equal power one of them cannot be the others Judge for want of some transcendent power to pass sentence on him Which as it was of force in all other cases wherein a Bishop was concerned so most especially in this wherein the party Criminal was a Metropolitan and more than so the Primate or Patriarch of the Diocess So that all circumstances laid together there was no other way conceivable in these ancient times than to call a Council the greatest Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Christ on earth there to debate the business and upon proof of the offence to proceed to judgment This had been done before in the case of Paulus and this is
trust them with a power to meddle with matters of Religion this Convocation being holden the sixth year of his Reign when Gardiner Bânner Day and Tunstall and others of the stiffest Romanists were put out of their places most of the Episcopal Sees and Parochial Churches being filled with men according unto his desires and generally conformable to the Forms of Worship here by Law established Thirdly the Church of England for the first five years of Queen Elizabeth retained these Articles and no other as the publick tendries of the Church in point of Doctrine which certainly she had not done had it been recommended to her by a less Authority than a Convocation lawfully assembled and confirmed And fourthly that it is true that the Records of Convocation during this King and the first years of Queen Mary are very defective and imperfect most of them lost amongst others those of this present year And yet one may conclude as strongly that my Mother died Childless because my Christening is not to be found in the Parish Register as that the Convocation of this year was barren because the Acts and Articles of it were not entred in the Journal Book To salve this sore it is conceived by the Objector that the Bishops and Clergy had passed over their power to some select Divines appointed by the Kings in which sense they may be said to have made these Articles themselves by their delegates to whom they had deputed their Authority the case not being so clear Id. Ib. but that it occasioned a Cavil at the next Convocation the first of Queen Mary when the Papists therein assembled renounced the legality of any such former transactions And unto this it shall be answered That no such defect of legality as was here pretended was charged against the book of Articles it self but only against a Catechism which was bound up with it countenanced by the Kings Letters Patents prefix'd before it approved by many Bishops and learned men and generally voiced to be another of the products of this Convocation And therefore for so much as concerns this Catechism it was replyed by Mr. John Philpot Archdeacon of Winchester who had been a member in the former and was now a member of the Convocation in the first of Queen Mary That he thought they were deceived in the Title of it Acts and Monum fo 1282. in that it owned the Title of the last Synod of London many which were then present not being made privy to the making or publishing of it He added That the said former Convocation had granted the Authority of making excellent Laws unto certain persons to be appointed by the Kings Majesty so as whatsoever Ecclesiastical Laws they or the most part of them did set forth according to a Statute in that behalf provided might be well said to be done in the Synod of London though such as were of the house had no notice thereof before the promulgation And thereupon he did infer That the setters forth of the Catechism did not slander the House as they went about to persuade the World since they had the Authority of the Synod unto them committed to make such Spiritual Laws as they thought convenient and necessary for the good of the Church In which Discourse we may observe that there was not one word which reflects on the Book of Articles all of it being made in reference to the Catechism before remembred though if the Objection had been made as indeed it was not against the Articles themselves the defence of that learned man and godly Martyr would have served as fully for the one as it did for the other But whatsoever may be said in derogation to the Authority of the Book of Articles as it was published in the time of King Edward the sixth Anno Dom. 1552. certain I am that nothing can be said unto ââe contrary but that they were received and the far greater part of them agreed upon in full Convocation Anno 1562. And therefore for avoiding of all Disputes I am resolved to take them in this last capacity as they were ratified by Queen Elizabeth Anno 1563. confirmed by King James An. 1604. and finally established by the late King Charles with his Majesties Royal Declaration prefixt before them Anno 1628. Less doubt there is concerning the intent of this Convocation in drawing up the Articles in so loose a manner that men of different judgments might accommodate them to their own Opinions which I find both observed and commended in them by the former Author by whom we are informed that the Articles of the English Protestant Church Chur. Hist lib. 9. fol. 72. in the infancy thereof were drawn up in general terms foreseeing that posterity would grow up to fill the same meaning that these holy men did prudently discover that differences in judgment would unavoidably happen in the Church and were loth to unchurch any and drive them off from any Ecclesiastical communion for petty differences which made them pen the Articles in comprehensive words to take in all who differing in the branches meet in the root of the same Religion This hath been formerly observed to have been the artifice of those who had the managing of the Council of Trent and is affirmed to have been used by such men also as had the drawing up of the Canons at the Synod of Dort But the Composers of the Articles of the Church of England had not so little in them of the Dove or so much of the Serpent as to make the Articles of the Church like an upright shoe which may be worn on either foot or like to Theramenes shoe as the Adage hath it fit for the foot of every man that was pleased to wear it and therefore we may say of our first Reformers in reference to the present Book of Articles as was affirmed of them by Dr. Brancroft then Bishop of London in relation to the Rubrick in private Baptism that is to say that those reverend and learned men intended not to deceive any by ambiguous terms for which see Conf. at Hampton Court Confer p. 15. And to this supposition or imagination it is also answered That the first Reformers did not so compose the Articles as to leave any liberty to diffenting judgments as the said Author would fain have it in some words preceding but did not bind men to the literal and Grammatical sense they had not otherwise attained to the end they aimed at which was ad tollendam Opiniorum Dissentionem consensum in vera Religione firmandum that is to say to take away diversity of Opinions and to establish an agreement in the true Religion Which end could never be effected if men were left unto the liberty of dissenting or might have leave to put their own sense upon the Articles as they list themselves For where there is a purpose of permitting men to their own Opinions there is no need of definitions and
the Body of Christ Nay their labour was blessed by God first for the Conversion and then for the Resormation of this Church and Kingdom and therefore I hope there is no sober Protestant in England but will heartily say Amen to that Prayer of Mr. Beza's who although no great Adorer of Episcopacy yet considerdering the Blessings that God brought to this Nation by their Ministry put up this devout Petition Si nunc Anglicanae Ecclesiae instauratae suorum Episcoporum Archiepiscoporum auctoritate suffultae perstant quemadmodum hoc illi nostra memoria contigit ut ejus ordininis homines non tantum insignes Dei martyres sed etiam praestantissimos pastores ac Doctores habuerit fruatur sane istâ singulari Dei beneficentia quae utinam sit illi perpetua Theod. Bez. ad Tract de min. Evang. Grad ab Hadr. Sarav cap. 18. Fruatur Anglia ista singulari Dei Beneficentiâ quae utinam sit illi perpetua Let England enjoy that singular Blessing of God which I pray to God may be perpetual to it There are others that envy them their Honours and Dignities For though the Holy Spirit of God does oblige all Christians to esteem their Bishops very highly or more than abundantly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in love for their work sake 1 Thes 5.12 13. and reason it self dictates that the honours confer'd upon Representatives and Embassadors redound to the Prince that delegates and imploys them though Jews Heathens and Mahomâtans ever paid the profoundest Veneration to their Priests Caliphs and Musti's and our Relig ous Ancestors in the Saxon Danish and Norman times set the highest value upon their Bishops yet the Religion of this Age is to load them with all possible Calumnies and Reproaches and with Corah and his Complices to charge them with taking too much upon them and to disdain to set them with the Dogs of their Flocks The Priests were Judges in Egypt and so were the Magi and Areopagites who were sacred persons in Persia and Athens and it was no other wise with the Druids amongst the Ancient Britains and Gauls For Caesar tells us how their Office extended to things Temporal as well as Religious Sacrificia publica privata procurant religiones interpretantur Druides a bello a besse consueverunt ni que tributa una cum reliquis pendunt St quod admissum est facinus si caedes facta si de haereditate de finibus controversia est iidem decernunt Caesar Com. lib. 6. that they did not only order publick and private Sacrifices and expound Religion and instruct Youth but were free from Contribution and Warfare and all burthens of State and determined all Controversies both publick and private and executed the place both of Priests and Judges for if any offence were committed as Murther or Man-slaughter or any Controversie arose touching Lands or Inheritance they sentenced it rewarding the Vertuous and punishing the Wicked The Patricii the noblest Romans were ambitious to be admitted into the College of the Priests and when the Government became Monarchical the Emperors took upon them the pontifical Dignity thinking it no diminution of them Grandeur to be imployed about the Service of the gods but rather conceiving the Priesthood too noble an imployment to be confer'd upon a Subject But we need no other Testimonies to convince us of the Rights of Church-men for the management of the civil concerns of human Society that the holy Scriptures Amongst the Jews the Civil and Ecclesiastical power were not so distinguished but one and the same person exercised both For not to expatiate upon particular instances Melchisedeck Eli Samuel Ezra Esdras were all Priests and had the power not only of Ecclesiastical but Civil jurisaictior Neither could Samuel have hewed Agag in pieces with his own hand 1 Sam. 15.33 if it had been unlawful for persons dedicated to the sacred Offices of Religion to havè intermeddled in causes of blood Which very instance proves that Clergy-men are not excluded from managing the highest secular concerns by any immutable Laws of God or Nature And if there are any Canons or Councils that forbid them to meddle in things of that kind that so they may the better attend upon the sacred Offices and Exercises of Religion let those be obligatory to the persons unto whom they were delivered but not be pleaded or produced to the prejudice of English Bishops who have distinct Priviledges and Laws For there have been Constitutions that have forbidden Church-men to Marry to make Wills to be Executors of mens Wills and Testaments to be the Wards of Orphans c. And these Constitutions are of as great force to bind the Clergy of England as the Council of Toledo to thrust the Bishops out of the House of Lords in Causes of Attainder and Blood Let the Archbishops of Ments and Colen with other Princes of the Empire look to it if it be unlawful for Ecclesiastical persons to adjudge Criminals to death It will be infinite to shew how St. Ambrose St. Augustin and the Godly Bishops of all Ages had no Supersedeas given them to intermeddle in things civil and secular because of their Wisdom and Knowledge in things Sacred and Divine Certainly the Holy Spirit of God did not conceive it unfit that Worldly matters and Controversies should be committed to Church-men for it is highly reasonable to think that those who are the Pastors of mens Souls will be the best Judges in determining their civil Rights It could not indeed be expected whilst the Empire was Heathen that Bishops should be busied and employed in Secular affairs unless it were in those Controversies which arose among the Christians themselves wherein St. Paul gives direction that they should rather determine their Contentions by a private Arbitrement of their own than by the publick judgments of their Enemies 1 Cor. 6. But when Kings became Christians Soz. lib. 1. c. 9. we find persons making their Appeals from the Tribunals of Princes to the Consistory of Bishops For then Bishops had power to reverse the sentence of death and to stay the hands of Executioners when the poor Criminals were going to receive the reward of their Iniquities just as the Praetors and Consuls of Rome would submit their Fasces those Ensigns of Authority when they did but casually meet with some of the Priests Constantine granted the Bishops this priviledge that condemned Malefactors might appeal unto their Courts and when such appeals were made the Bishops had power as well to deliver them over into the hands of Justice as to extend unto them a Pardon or Reprieve For the priviledge confer'd on them was as well for the punishment and terror of the Wicked as for mitigating the rigour of Justice and encouraging Criminals to Vertue and Repentance Mr. Selden himself who was none of the best Friends to Church-men grants that for four thousand years the Civil and Ecclesiastick jurisdiction went always hand in hand
the custom of the Alexandrian and Western Churches Page 292 5. Origen ordained Presbyter by the Bishops of Hierusalem and Caesarea and excommunicated by the Bishop of Alexandria Page 293 6. What doth occur touching the superiority and power of Bishops in the Works of Origen ibid. 7. The custom of the Church of Alexandria altered in the election of their Bishops Page 294 8. Of Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria and his great care and travels for the Churches peac Page 295 9. The Government of the Church in the former times by Letters of intercourse and correspondence amongst the Bishops of the same ibid. 10. The same continued also in the present Century Page 296 11. The speedy course taken by the Prelats of the Church for the suppressing of the Heresies of Samosatenus Page 297 12. The Civil Jurisdiction Train and Throne of Bishops things not unusual in this Age Page 298 13. The Bishops of Italy and Rome made Judges in a point of title and possession by the Roman Emperour Page 299 14. The Bishops of Italy and Rome why reckoned as distinct in that Delegation Page 300 CHAP. VI. Of the estate wherein Episcopacy stood in the Western Churches during the whole third Century 1. Of Zepherinus Pope of Rome and the Decrees ascribed unto him concerning Bishops Page 301 2. Of the condition of that Church when Cornelius was chosen Bishop thereof Page 302 3. The Schism raised in Rome by Novatianus with the proceedings of the Church therein Page 303 4. Considerable observations on the former story Page 304 5. Parishes set forth in Country Villages by P. Dionysius ibid. 6. What the words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do signifie most properly in ancient Writers Page 305 7. The great Authority which did accrue unto the Presbyters by the setting forth of Parishes Page 306 8. The rite of Confirmation reserved by Bishops to themselves as their own Prerogative Page 307 9. Touching the ancient Chorepiscopi and the Authority to them entrusted Page 308 10. The rising of the Manichean Heresie with the great care taken by the Bishops for the crushing of it Page 309 11. The lapse of Marcellinus Pope of Rome with the proceedings the Church in his condemnation Page 310 12. The Council of Eliberis in Spain what it decreed in honour of Episcopacy Page 311 13. Constantine comes unto the Empire with a brief prospect of the great honours done to Bishops in the following Age Page 312 14. A brief Chronology of the estate of holy Church in these two last Centuries Page 314 The History of the Sabbath BOOK I. From the Creation of the World to the destruction of the Temple CHAP. I. That the Sabbath was not instituted in the Beginning of the World 1. THE entrance to the Work in hand Page 325 2. That those words Gen. 2. And God blessed the seventh day c. are there delivered as by way of anticipation Page 326 3. Anticipations in the Scripture confessed by them who deny it here Page 327 4. Anticipations of the same nature not strange in Scripture Page 328 5. No Law imposed by God on Adam touching the keeping of the Sabbath Page 329 6. The Sabbath not ingraft by Nature in the soul of man ibid. 7. The greatest Advocates for the Sabbath deny it to be any part of the Law of Nature Page 330 8. Of the morality and perfection supposed to be in the number of seven by some learned men Page 331 9. That other numbers in the confession of the same learned men particularly the first third and fourth are both as moral and as perfect as the seventh ibid. 10. The like is proved of the sixth eighth and tenth and of other numbers Page 332 11. The Scripture not more favourable to the number of seven than it is to others Page 333 12. Great caution to be used by those who love to recreate themselves in the mysteries of numbers Page 334 CHAP. II. That there was no Sabbath kept from the Creation to the Flood 1. Gods rest upon the Seventh day and from what he rested Page 335 2. Zanchius conceit touching the Sanctifying of the first Seventh day by Christ our Saviour Page 336 3. The like of Torniellus touching the Sanctifying of the same by the Angels in Heaven ibid. 4. A general demonstration that the Fathers before the Law did not keep the Sabbath Page 337 5. Of Adam that he kept not the Sabbath ibid. 6. That Abel and Seth did not keep the Sabbath Page 333 7. Of Enos that he kept not the Sabbath Page 339 8. That Enoch and Methusalem did not keep the Sabbath ibid. 9. Of Noah that he kept not the Sabbath Page 340 10. The Sacrifices and devotions of the Ancients were occasional ibid. CHAP. III. That the Sabbath was not kept from the Flood to Moses 1. The Sons of Noah did not keep the Sabbath Page 341 2. The Sabbath could not have been kept in the dispersion of Noahs Sons had it not been commanded Page 342 3. Diversity of Longitudes and Latitudes must of necessity make a variation in the Sabbath Page 343 4. Melchisedech Heber Lot did not keep the Sabbath Page 344 5. Of Abraham and his Sons that they kept not the Sabbath ibid. 6. That Abraham did not keep the Sabbath in the confession of the Jews Page 345 7. Jacob nor Job no Sabbath-keepers ibid. 8. That neither Joseph Moses nor the Israelites in Egypt did observe the Sabbath Page 346 9. The Israelites not permitted to offer Sacrifice while they were in Egypt ibid. 10. Particular proofs that all the Moral Law was both known and kept amongst the Fathers Page 347 CHAP. IV. The nature of the fourth Commandment and that the Sabbath was not kept among the Gentiles 1. The Sabbath first made known in the fall of Mannah Page 348 2. The giving of the Decalogue and how far it bindeth Page 349 3. That in the judgment of the Fathers in the Christian Church the fourth Commandment is of a different nature from the other nine Page 350 4. The Sabbath was first given for a Law by Moses Page 351 5. And being given was proper only to the Jews Page 352 6. What moved the Lord to give the Israelites a Sabbath ibid. 7. Why the seventh day was rather chosen for the Sabbath than any other Page 353 8. The seventh day not more honoured by the Gentiles than the eighth or ninth Page 354 9. The Attributes given by some Greek Poets to the seventh day no argument that they kept the the Sabbath Page 355 10. The Jews derided for their Sabbath by the Grecians Romans and Egyptians Page 356 11. The division of the year into weeks not generally used of old amongst the Gentiles Page 357 CHAP. V. The practice of the Jews in such observances as were annexed unto the Sabbath 1. Of some particular adjuncts affixed unto the Jewish Sabbath Page 358 2. The Annual Festivals called Sabbaths in the Book of God and reckoned as a
most eminent Divines of all the Kingdom to come before him whom he required freely and plainly to declare as well what their opinion was of the aforesaid Pamphlets as what they did think fit to be done concerning the Translation of the Bible into the English Tongue And they upon mature advice and deliberation unanimously condemned the aforesaid Books of Heresie and Blasphemy no smaller crime then for translating of the Scriptures into the English tongue they agreed all with one assent that it depended wholly on the will and pleasure of the Sovereign Prince who might do therein as he conceived to be most agreeable to his occasions but that with reference to the present estate of things it was more expedient to explain the Scripture to the people by the way of Sermons than to permit it to be read promiscuously by all sorts of men yet so that hopes were to be given unto the Laily that if they did renounce their errours and presently deliver to the hands of his Majesties Officers all such Books and Bibles which they conceived to be translated with great fraud and falshood and any of them had in keeping his Majesty would cause a true and catholike Translation of it to be published in convenient time for the use of his Subjects This was the sum and substance of the present Conference which you shall find laid down at large in the Registers of Arch-Bishop Warham And according to this advice the King sets out a Proclamation not only prohibiting the buying reading or translating of any the aforesaid Books but straitly charging all his Subjects which had any of the Books of Scripture either of the Old Testament or of the New in the English Tongue to bring them in without delay But for the other part of giving hopes unto the people of a true Translation if they delivered in the false or that at least which was pretended to be false I find no word at all in the Proclamation That was a work reserved unto better times or left to be solicited by the Bishops themselves and other Learned men who had given the counsel by whom indeed the people were kept up in hope that all should be accomplished unto their desires And so indeed it proved at last For in the Convocation of the year 1536. the Authority of the Pope being abrogated and Cranmer fully settled in the See of Canterbury the Clergy did agree upon a form of Petition to be presented to the King That he would graciously indulge unto his Subjects of the Laity the reading of the Bible in the English Tongue and that a new Translation of it might be forthwith made for that end and purpose According to which godly motion his Majesty did not only give Order for a new Translation which afterwards He authorized to be read both in publique and private but in the interim he permitted CROMWEL his Vicar General to set out an Injunction for providing the whole Bible both in Latine and English after the Translation then in Use which was called commonly by the name of Matthews Bible but was no other than that of Tindal somewhat altered to be kept in every Parish-Church throughout the Kingdom for every one that would repair thereunto and caused this mark or character of Authority to be set upon them in red Letters Set forth with the Kings most gracious Licence which you may see in Fox his Acts and Monuments p. 1248. and 1363. Afterwards when the new Translation so often promised and so long expected was compleat and finished Printed at London by the Kings Authority and countenanced by a grave and pious Preface of Arch-Bishop Cranmer the King sets out a Proclamation dated May 6. Anno 1541. Commanding all the Curates and Parishioners throughout the Kingdom who were not already furnished with Bibles so authorized and translated as is before said to provide themselves before All-hallowtide next following and to cause the Bible so provided to be placed conveniently in their several and respective Churches straitly requiring all his Bishops and other Ordinaries to take special care to see his said commands put in execution And therewithal came out Instructions from the King to be published by the Clergy in their several Parishes the better to possess the people with the Kings good affection towards them in suffering them to have the benefit of such Heavenly Treasure and to direct them in a course by which they might enjoy the same to their greater comfort the reformation of their lives and the peace and quiet of the Church Which Proclamation and Instructions are still preserved in that most admirable Treasury of Sir Robert Cotton And unto these Commands of so great a Prince both Bishops Priests and People did apply themselves with such chearful reverence that Bonner even that bloody Butcher as he after proved caused six of them to be chained in several places of St. Paul's Church in London for all that were so well inclined to resort unto for their edification and instruction the Book being very chargeable because very large and therefore called commonly for distinctions sake The Bible of the greater Volum Thus have we seen the Scriptures faithfully translated into the English Tongue the Bible publickly set up in all Parish-Churches that every one which would might peruse the same and leave permitted to all people to buy them for their private Uses and read them to themselves or before their Families and all this brought about by no other means than by the Kings Authority only grounded on the advice and judgment of the Convocation But long it was not I confess before the Parliament put in for a share and claimed some interest in the work but whether for the better or the worse I leave you to judge For in the year 1542. the King being then in agitation of a League with Charles the Emperour He caused a complaint to be made unto him in this Court of Parliament That the Liberty granted to the people in having in their hands the Books of the Old and New Testament had been much abused by many false glosses and interpretations which were made upon them tending to the seducing of the people especially of the younger sort and the raising of sedition within the Realm And thereupon it was enacted by the Authority of the Parliament on whom He was content to cast the envy of an Act so contrary to his former gracious Proclamations That all manner of Books of the Old and New Testament of the crafty false and untrue Translation of Tindal be forthwith abolished and forbidden to be used and kept As also that all other Bibles not being of Tindals Translation in which were found any Preambles or Annotations other than the Quotations or Summaries of the Chapters should be purged of the said Preambles and Annotations either by cutting them out or blotting them in such wise that they might not be perceived or read And finally That the Bible be not read openly in
any Church but by the leave of the King or of the Ordinary of the place nor privately by any Women Artificers Apprentices Journey-men Husband-men Labourers or by any of the Servants of Yeomen or under with several pains to those who should do the contrary This is the substance of the Statute of the 34 and 35 Hen. 8. c. 1. Which though it shews that there was somewhat done in Parliament in a matter which concern'd Religion which howsoever if you mark it was rather the adding of the penalties than giving any resolution or decision of the points in question yet I presume the Papists will not use this for an Argument that we have either a Parliament-Religion or a Parliament Gospel or that we stand indebted to the Parliament for the Use of the Scriptures in the English Tongue which is so principal a part of the Reformation Nor did the Parliament speed so prosperously in the undertaking which the wise King permitted them to have a hand in for the foresaid ends or found so general an obedience in it from the common people as would have been expected in these Times on the like occasion but that the King was fain to quicken and give life to the Acts thereof by his Proclamation Anno 1546. which you shall find in Fox his Book fo 1427. To drive this Nail a little further The terrour of this Statute dying with H. 8. or being repealed by that of K. Ed. 6. c. 22. the Bible was again made publique and not only suffered to be read by particular persons either privatly or in the Church but ordered to be read over yearly in the Congregation as a part of the Liturgie or Divine Service Which how far it relates to the Court of Parliament we shall see anon But for the publishing thereof in Print for the Use of the people for the comfort and edification of private persons that was done only by the King at least in his Name and by His Authority And so it also stood in Q. Elizabeth's time the translation of the Bible being again reviewed by some of the most learned Bishops appointed thereunto by the Queens Commission from whence it had the name of the Bishops Bible and upon that review Reprinted by her sole Commandement and by her sole Authority left free and open to the Use of her well-affected and religious subjects Nor did the Parliament do any thing in all Her Reign with reference to the Scriptures in the English Tongue otherwise than at the reading of them in that Tongue in the Congregation is to be reckoned for a part of the English Liturgy whereof more hereafter In the translation of them into Welch or British somewhat indeed was done which doth look this way It being ordered in the Parliament 5. Eliz. c. 28. That the B. B. of Hereford St. Davids Bangor Landaff and St. Asaph should take care amongst them for translating the whole Bible with the Book of Common Prayer into the Welch or Brittish Tongue on pain of forfeiting 40 l. a piece in default hereof And to incourage them thereunto it was Enacted that one Book of either sort being so translated and imprinted should be provided and bought for every Cathedral Church as also for all Parish-Churches and Chappels of Ease where the said tongue is commonly used the Ministers to pay the one half of the price and the Parishioners the other But then you must observe withal that it had been before determined in the Convocation of the self-same year Anno 2562. That the Common-Prayer of the Church ought to be celebrated in a tongue which was understood by the people as you may see in the Book of Articles of Religion Art 24. which came out that year and consequently as well in the Welch or Brittish as in any other Which care had it been taken for Ireland also as it was for Wales no question but that people had been more generally civiliz'd and made conformable in all points to the English Government long before this time And for the new Translation of K. James his time to shew that the Translation of Scripture is no work of Parliament as it was principally occasioned by some passages in the Conference at Hampton Court without recourse unto the Parliament so was it done only by such men as the King appointed and by His Authority alone imprinted published and imposed care being taken by the Canon of the year 1603. That one of them should be provided for each several Church at the charge of the Parish No flying in this case to an Act of Parliament either to Authorize the doing of it or to impose it being done 4. Of the Reformation of Religion in points of Doctrine NExt let us look upon the method used in former Times in the reforming of the Church whether in points of Doctrine or in forms of Worship and we shall find it still the same The Clergy did the work as to them seemed best never advising with the Parliament but upon the post-fact and in most cases not at all And first for Doctrinals there was but little done in K. Henries time but that which was acted by the Clergy only in their Convocation and so commended to the people by the Kings sole Authority the matter being never brought within the cognizance of the two Houses of Parliament For in the year 1536. being the year in which the Popes Authority was for ever banished there were some Articles agreed on in the Convocation and represented to the King under the hands of the Bishops Abbots Priors and inferior Clergy usually called unto those Meetings the Original whereof being in Sir Robert Cotton's Library I have often seen Which being approved of by the King were forthwith published under the Title of Articles devised by the Kings Highness to stable Christian quietness and unity amongst the people In which it is to be observed First that those Articles make mention of three Sacraments only that is to say of Baptisme Penance and the Sacrament of the Altar And secondly That in the Declaration of the Doctrine of Justication Images honouring of the Saints departed as also concerning many of the Ceremonies and the fire of Purgatory they differ'd very much from those Opinions which had been formerly received in the Church of Rome as you may partly see by that Extract of them which occurs in Fox his Acts and Monuments Vol. 2. fol. 1246. For the confirming of which Book and recommending it to the use of the people His Majesty was pleased in the Injunctions of the year 1536. to give command to all Deans Parsons Vicars and Curates so to open and declare in their Sermons and other Collations the said Articles unto them which be under their Cure that they might plainly know and discern which of them be necessary to be believed and observed for their salvation and which do only concern the decent and politique Order of the Church And this he did upon this ground that the said
in their Convocations as well by the common assent as by subscriptions of their hands 5 6. Edw. 6. chap. 12. And for the time of Q. Elizabeth it is most manifest that they had no other body of Doctrine in the first part of her Reign then only the said Articles of K. Edward's Book and that which was delivered in the Book of Homilies of the said Kings time In which the Parliament had as little to do as you have seen they had in the Book of Articles But in the Convocation of the year 1562. being the fifth of the Q. Reign the Bishops and Clergy taking into consideration the said book of Articles and altering what they thought most fitting to make it more conducible to the use of the Church and the edification of the people presented it unto the Queen who caused it to be published with this Name and Title viz. Articles whereupon it was agreed by the arch-Arch-Bishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London Anno 1562. for the avoiding of diversity of Opinions and for the establishing of Consent touching true Religion put forth by the Queens Authority Of any thing done or pretended to be done by the power of the Parliament either in the way of Approbation or of Confirmation not one word occurs either in any of the Printed Books or the Publick Registers At last indeed in the 13th of the said Queens Reign which was 8 years full after the passing of those Articles comes out a Statute for the Redressing of disorders in the Ministers of holy Church In which it was enacted That all such as were Ordained Priests or Ministers of God's Word and Sacraments after any other form then that appointed to be used in the Church of England all such as were to be Ordained or permitted to Preach or to be instituted into any Benefice with Cure of souls should publickly subscribe to the said Articles and testifie their assent unto them Which shews if you observe it well that though the Parliament did well allow of and approve the said Book of Articles yet the said Book owes neither confirmation nor authority to the Act of Parliament So that the wonder is the greater that that most insolent scoff which is put upon us by the Church of Rome in calling our Religion by the name Parliamentaria-Religio should pass so long without controle unless perhaps it was in reference to our Forms of Worship of which I am to speak in the next place But first we must make answer unto some Objections which are made against us both from Law and Practice For Practice first it is alledged by some out of Bishop Jewel in his Answer to the Cavil of Dr. Harding to be no strange matter to see Ecclesiastical Causes debated in Parliament and that it is apparent by the Laws of King Ina King Alfred King Edward c. That our Godly Fore-fathers the Princes and Peers of this Realm never vouchsafed to treat of matters touching the Common State before all Controversies of Religion and Causes Ecclesiastical had been concluded Def. of the Apol. part 6. chap. 2. sect 1. But the answer unto this is easie For first if our Religion may be called Parliamentarian because it hath received confirmation and debate in Parliament then the Religion of our Fore-fathers even Papistry it self concerning which so many Acts of Parliament were made in K. Hen. 8. and Q. Maries time must be called Parliamentarian also And secondly it is most certain that in the Parliaments or Common-Councils call them which you will both of King Inas time and the rest of the Saxon Kings which B. Jewel speaks of not only Bishops Abbots and the higher part of the Clergy but the whole Body of the Clergy generally had their Votes and Suffrages either in person or by proxie Concerning which take this for the leading Case That in the Parliament or Common-Council in K. Ethelberts time who first of all the Saxon Kings received the Gospel the Clergy were convened in as full a manner as the Lay-Subjects of that Prince Convocati Communi Concilio tam Cleri quam Populi saith Sir H. Spelman in his Collection of the Councils Anno 605. p. 118. And for the Parliament of King Ina which leads the way in Bishop Jewel it was saith the same Sr. H. Spelman p. 630. Communi Concilium Episcoporum Procerum Comitum nec non omnium Sapientum Seniorum Populorumque totius Regni Where doubtless Sapientes and Seniores and you know what Seniores signifieth in the Ecclesiastical notion must be some body else then those which after are expressed by the name of Populi which shews the falshood and absurdity of the collection made by Mr. Pryn in the Epistle to his Book against Dr. Cousins viz. That the Parliament as it is now constituted hath an ancient genuine just and lawful Prerogative to establish true Religion in our Church and to abolish and suppress all false new and counterfeit Doctrines whatsoever Unless he means upon the post fact after the Church hath done her part in determining what was true what false what new what ancient and finally what Doctrines might be counted counterfeit and what sincere And as for Law 't is true indeed that by the Statute 1 Eliz. cap. 1. The Court of Parliament hath power to determine and judge of Heresie which at first sight seems somewhat strange but on the second view you will easily find that this relates only to new and emergent Heresies not formerly declared for such in any of the first four General Councils nor in any other General Cuncil adjudging by express words of holy Scripture as also that in such new Heresies the following words restrain this power to the Assent of the Clergy in their Convocation as being best able to instruct the Parliament what they are to do and where they are to make use of the secular sword for cutting off a desperate Heretick from the Church of CHRIST or rather from the Body of all Christian people 5. Of the Reformation of the Church of England in the Forms of Worship and the Times appointed thereunto THIS Rub removed we now proceed unto a view of such Forms of Worships as have been setled in this Church since the first dawning of the day of Reformation in which our Parliaments have indeed done somewhat though it be not much The first point which was altered in the publick Liturgies was that the Creed the Pater-noster and the Ten Commandements were ordered to be said in the English Tongue to the intent the people might be perfect in them and learn them without book as our Phrase is The next the setting forth and using of the English Letany on such days and times in which it was accustomably to be read as a part of the Service But neither of these two was done by Parliament nay to say truth the Parliament did nothing in them All which was done in either of them
was only by the King's Authority by vertue of the Headship or Supremacy which by way of recognition was vested in him by the Clergy either co-operating and concurring with them in their Convocations or else directed and assisted by such learned Prelates with whom he did advise in matters which concerned the Church and did relate to Reformation By virtue of which Headship or Supremacy he ordained the first and to that end caused certain Articles or Injunctions to be published by the Lord Cromwel then his Viear General Anno 1536. And by the same did he give order for the second I mean for the saying of the Letany in the English Tongue by his own Royal Proclamation Anno 1545. For which consult the Acts and Monuments fol. 1248 1312. But these were only preparations to a greater work which was reserved unto the times of K. Edw. 6. In the beginning of whose Reign there passed a Statute for the administring the Sacrament in both kinds to any person that should devoutly and humbly desire the same 1 E. 6. c. 1. In which it is to be observed that though the Statute do declare that the ministring of the same in both kinds to the people was more agreeable to the first Institution of the said Sacrament and to the common usage of the primitive Times Yet Mr. Fox assures us and we may take his word that they did build that Declaration and consequently the Act which was raised upon it upon the judgment and opinion of the best learned men whose resolution and advice they followed in it fol. 1489. And for the Form by which the said most blessed Sacrament was to be delivered to the common people it was commended to the care of the most grave and learned Bishops and others assemby the King at His Castle of Windsor who upon long wise learned and deliberate advice did finally agree saith Fox upon one godly and uniform zOrder for receiving of the same according to the right rule of Scriptures and the first use of the primitive Church fol. 1491. Which Order as it was set forth in Print Anno 1548. with a Proclamation in the name of the King to give Authority thereunto amongst the people so was it recommended by special Letters writ unto every Bishop severally from the Lords of the Council to see the same put in execution A copy of which Letters you may find in Fox fol. 1491. as afore is said Hitherto nothing done by Parliament in the Forms of Worship but in the following year there was For the Protector and the rest of the Kings Council being fully bent for a Reformation thought it expedient that one uniform quiet and godly Order should be had throughout the Realm for Officiating God's divine Service And to that end I use the words of the Act it self appointed the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops and other learned men of the Realm to meet together requiring them that having as well eye and respect to the most pure and sincere Christian Religion taught in Scriptures as to the usages in the Primitive Church they should draw and make one convenient and meet Order Rite and fashion of Common Prayer and Administration of Sacraments to be had and used in this his Majesties Realm of England Well what did they being thus assembled that the Statute tells us Where it is said that by the aid of the Holy Ghost I pray you mark this well and with one uniform agreement they did conclude upon and set forth an Order which they delivered to the Kings Highness in a Book entituled The Book of Common-Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church after the use of the Church of England All this was done before the Parliament did any thing But what was done by them at at last Why first considering the most godly travel of the King's Highness and the Lord Protector and others of his Highness Council in gathering together the said B. and learned men Secondly The Godly Prayers Orders Rites and Ceremonies in the said Book mentioned Thirdly The motive and inducements which inclined the aforesaid learned men to alter those things which were altered and to retain those things which were retained And finally taking into consideration the honour of God and the great quietness which by the grace of God would ensue upon it they gave his Majesty most hearty and lowly thanks for the same and most humbly prayed him that it might be ordained by his Majesty with the assent of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same that the said Form of Common-Prayer and no other after the Feast of Pentecost next following should be used in all his Majesties Dominions with several penalties to such as either should deprave or neglect the same 2 and 3. E. 6. cap. 1. So far the very words of the Act it self By which it evidently appeareth that the two Houses of Parliament did nothing in the present business but impose that Form upon the people which by the learned and religious Clergy-men whom the K. appointed thereunto was agreed upon and made it penal unto such as either should deprave the same or neglect to use it And thus doth Poulton no mean Lawyer understand the Statute who therefore gives no other title to it in his Abridgement publish'd in the year 1612. than this The penalty for not using uniformity of Service and Ministration of the Sacrament So then the making of one uniform Order of celebrating divine Service was the work of the Clergy the making of the Penalties was the work of the Parliament Where let me tell yu by the way that the men who were employed in this weighty business whose names deserve to be continued in perpetual memory were Thomas Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury George Day Bishop of Chichester Thomas Goodrich B. of Ely and Lord Chancellour John Ship Bishop of Hereford Henry Holbeck Bishop of Lincoln Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rochester translated afterwards to London Thomas Thirlby Bishop of Westminster Dr. May Dean of St. Pauls Dr. Taylor then Dean afterwards Bishop of Lincoln Dr. Hains Dean of Exeter Dr. Robertson afterwards Dean of Durham Dr. Redman Master of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge and Dr. Cox then Almoner to the King afterward Dean of Westminster and at last Bishop of Ely men famous in their generations and the honour of the Age they lived in And so much for the first Liturgy of King Edwards Reign in which you see how little was done by Authority or power of Parliament so little that if it had been less it had been just nothing But some exceptions being taken against the Liturgy by some of the preciser sort at home and by Calvin abroad the Book was brought under a review And though it had been framed at first if the Parliament which said so erred not by the ayd of the Holy Ghost himself yet to comply with
came out in some years succeeding for the taking away of Images and Reliques with all the Ornaments of the same and all the Monumens and writings of feigned Miracles and for restraint of offering or setting up Lights in any Churches but only to the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in which he was directed chiefly by Arch-Bishop Cranmer as also those for eating of white meats in the time of Lent the abolishing the Fast on St. Marks day and the ridiculous but superstitious sports accustomably used on the days of St. Clement St. Katherine and St. Nicholas All which and more was done in the said Kings Reign without help of Parliament For which I shall refer you to the Acts and Mon. fol. 1385 1425 1441. The like may also be affirmed of the Injunctions published in the name of K. E. 6. An. 1547. and printed also then for the Use of the Subjects And of the several Letters missive which went forth in his Name prohibiting the bearing of Candles on Candlemas-day of Ashes in Lent and of Palms on Palm-sunday for the taking down of all the Images throughout the Kingdom for administring the Communion in both kinds dated March 13 1548. for abrogating of private Masses June 24 1549. for bringing in all Missals Graduals Processionals Legends and Ordinals about the latter end of December of the same year for taking down of Altars and setting up Tables instead thereof An. 1550. and the like to these All which particulars you have in Foxes Book of Acts and Mon. in King Edwards life which whether they were done of the Kings meer motion or by advice of his Council or by consultation with his Bishops for there is little left upon Record of the Convocations of that time more than the Articles of the year 1552 certain I am that there was nothing done nor yet pretended to be done in all these particulars by the Authority of Parliament Thus also in Q. Elizabeths time before the new Bishops were well settled and the Queen assured of the affections of her Clergy she went that way to work in the Reformation which not only her two Predecessors but all the Godly Kings and Princes in the Jewish State and many of the Christian Emperours in the Primitive times had done before her in the well ordering of the Church and People committed to their care and government by Almighty God and to that end she published her Injunctions An. 1559. A Book of Orders An. 1561. Another of Advertisements An. 1562. All tending unto Reformation unto the building up of the new Jerusalem with the advice and counsel of the Metropolitan and some other Godly Prelates who were then a-about her by whom they were agreed on and subscribed unto before they were presented to her without the least concurrence of her Court of Parliament But when the times were better settled and the first difficulties of her Reign passed over she left Church-work to the disposing of Church-men who by their place and calling were most proper for it and they being met in Convocation and thereto Authorised as the Laws required did make and publish several Books of Canons as viz. 1571. An. 1584. An. 1597. Which being confirmed by the Queen under the broad Seal of England were in force of Laws to all intents and purposes which they were first made but being confirmed without those formal words Her Heirs and Successors are not binding now but expired together with the Queen No Act of Parliament required to confirm them then nor never required ever since on the like occasion A fuller evidence whereof we cannot have than in the Canons of year 1603. being the first year of King James made by the Clergy only in the Convocation and confirmed only by the King for though the old Canons were in force which had been made before the submission of the Clergy as before I shewed you which served in all these wavering and unsettled times for the perpetual standing rule of the Churches Government yet many new emergent cases did require new rules and whilst there is a possibility of Mali mores there will be a necessity of bonae Leges Now in the confirmation of these Canons we shall find it thus That the Clergy being met in their Convocation according to the Tenour and effect of his Majesties Writ his Majesty was pleased by virtue of his Prerogative Royal and Supream Authority in causes Ecclesiastical to give and grant unto them by his Letters Patents dated April 12. and June 25. full free and lawful liberty licence power and authority to convene treat debate consider consult and agree upon such Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they should think necessary fit and convenient for the honour and service of Almighty God the good and quiet of the Church and the better government thereof from time to time c. to be kept by all persons within this Realm as far as lawfully being members of the Church it may concern them which being agreed on by the Clergy and by them presented to the King humbly requiring him to give his Royal assent unto them according to the Statute made in the 25 of K. H. 8. and by his Majesties Prerogative and Supream Authority in Ecclesiastical causes to ratifie and confirm the same his Majesty was graciously pleased to confirm and ratifie them by his Letters Patents for himself his Heirs and lawful Successors straightly commanding and requiring all his loving Subjects diligently to observe execute and keep the same in all points wherein they do or may concern all or any of them No running to the Parliament to confirm these Canons nor any question made till this present by temperate and knowing men that there wanted any Act for their confirmation which the law could give them 7. An Answer to the main Objections of either Party BUT against this all which hath been said before it will be objected That being the Bishops of the Church are fully and wholly Parliamentarian and have no more Authority and Jurisdiction nisi à Parliamentis derivatum but that which is conferred upon them by the power of Parliaments as both Sanders and Schultingius do expresly say whatsoever they shall do or conclude upon either in Convocation or in more private conferences may be called Parliamentarian also And this last calumny they build on the several Statutes 24 H. 8. c. 12. touching the manner of Electing and Consecrating Arch-Bishops and Bishops that of the 1 E. 6. c. 2. appointing how they shall be chosen and what Seals they shall use these of 3 and 4 Ed. 6. c. 12. 5. 6 E. 6. for Authorizing of the Book of Ordination But chiefly that of the 8 Eliz. c. 1. for making good all Acts since 1 Eliz. in Consecrating any Arch Bishop or bishop within this Realm To give a general answer to each several cavil you may please to know that the Bishops as they now stand in the Church of England derive their Calling together with
Saxons by such as he employed in that Holy work The instances whereof dispersed in several places of our English Histories and other Monuments and Records which concern this Church are handsomely summed up together by Sir Edward Cook in the fifth part of his Reports if I well remember but I am sure in Cawdries Case entituled De Jure Regis Ecclesiastico And though Parsons the Jesuite in his Answer unto that Report hath took much pains to vindicate the Popes Supremacy in this Kingdom from the first planting of the Gospel among the Saxons yet all he hath effected by it proves no more than this That the Popes by permission of some weak Princes did exercise a kind of concurrent jurisdiction here with the Kings themselves but came not to the full and entire Supremacy till they had brought all other Kings and Princes of the Western Empire nay even the Emperors themselves under their command So that when the Supremacy was recognized by the Clergy in their Convocation to K. H. 8. it was only the restoring of him to his proper and original power invaded by the Popes of these latter Ages though possibly the Title of Supream Head seemed to have somewhat in it of an Innovation At which Title when the Papists generally and Calvin in his Comment on the Prophet Amos did seem to be much scandalized it was with much wisdom changed by Q. Elizabeth into that of Supream Governour which is still in use And when that also would not down with some queasie stomacks the Queen her self by her Injunctions published in the first year of her Reign and the Clergy in their book of Articles agreed upon in Convocation about five years after did declare and signifie That there was no Authority in sacred matters contained under that Title but that only Prerogative which had been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God himself that is That they should rule all Estates and degrees committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and to restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers as also to exclude thereby the Bishop of Rome from having any jurisdiction in the Realm of England Artic. 37. Lay this unto the rest before and tell me if you can what hath been acted by the Kings of England in the Reformation of Religion but what is warranted unto them by the practice and example of the most godly Kings of Jewry seconded by the most godly Emperours in the Christian Church and by the usage also of their own Predecessors in this Kingdom till Papal Usurpation carried all before it And being that all the Popes pretended to in this Realm was but Usurpation it was no Wrong to take that from him which he had no Right to and to restore it at the last to the proper Owner Neither prescription on the one side nor discontinuance on the other change the case at all that noted Maxim of our Lawyers that no prescription binds the King or Nullum tempus occurrit Regi as their own words are being as good against the Pope as against the Subject This leads me to the second part of this Dispute the dispossessing of the Pope of that Supream Power so long enjoyed and exercised in this Realm by his Predecessors To which we say that though the pretensions of the Pope were antient yet they were not primitive and therefore we may answer in our Saviours words Ab initio non fuit sic it was not so from the beginning For it is evident enough in the course of story that the Pope neither claimed nor exercised any such Supremacy within this Kingdom in the first Ages of this Church nor in many after till by gaining from the King the Investiture of Bishops under Henry the First the exemption of the Clergy from the Courts of Justice under Henry the Second and the submission of King John to the See of Rome they found themselves of strength sufficient to make good their Plea And though by the like artifices seconded by some Texts of Scripture which the ignorance of those times incouraged them to abuse as they pleased they had attained the like Supremacy in France Spain and Germany and all the Churches of the West Yet his Incroachments were opposed and his Authority disputed upon all occasions especially as the light of Letters did begin to shine Insomuch as it was not only determined essentially in the Council of Constance one of the Imperial Cities of High germany that the Council was above the Pope and his Authority much curbed by the Pragmatick Sanction which thence took beginning But Gerson the learned Chancellor of Paris wrote a full Discourse entituled De auferibilitate Papae touching the total abrogating of the Papal Office which certainly he had never done in case the Papal Office had been found essential and of intrinsecal concernment to the Church of Christ According to the Position of that learned man The greatest Princes in these times did look upon the Pope and the Papal power as an Excrescence at the best in the body mystical subject and fit to be pared off as occasion served though on self ends Reasons of State and to serve their several turns by him as their needs required they did and do permit him to continue in his former greatness For Lewis the 11th King of France in a Council of his own Bishops held at Lions cited Pope Julius the 2d to appear before him and Laustrech Governour of Millaine under Francis the 1st conceived the Popes Authority to be so unnecessary yea even in Italy it self that taking a displeasure against Leo the 10th he outed him of all his jurisdiction within that Dukedom anno 1528. and so disposed of all Ecclesiastical affairs ut praefecto sacris Bigorrano Episcopo omnia sine Romani Pontificis authoritate administrarentur as Thuanus hath it that the Church there was supreamly governed by the Bishop of Bigor a Bishop of the Church of France without the intermedling of the Pope at all The like we find to have been done about six years after by Charles the Fifth Emperor and King of Spain who being no less displeased with Pope Clement the 7th Abolished the Papal power and jurisdiction out of all the Churches of his Kingdoms in Spain Which though it held but for a while till the breach was closed yet left he an example by it as my Author noteth Ecclesiasticam disciplinam citra Romani nominis autoritatem posse conservari that there was no necessity of a Pope at all And when K. Henry the 8th following these examples had banished the Popes Authority out of his Dominions Religion still remaining here as before it did the Popes Supremacy not being at the time an Article of the Churistian Faith as it hath since been made by Pope Pius the 4th that Act of his was much commended by most knowing men in that without more alteration in the face of the Church
old Roman Missals not fully finished and compleated till the time of Pope Gregory Whence the distinction of Ecclesiae Ambrosianae Ecclesiae Gregorianae extant in Bonaventure and others of the Writers of the latter times Cross we the Seas unto the Diocess of Africk governed in chief by the Primate or Arch-Bishop of Carthage And there we find S. Cyprian determining against Pope Stephen in the then controverted case of Rebaptization and calling him in his Epistle to Pompeius an obstinate and presumptuous man and a fautor of Hereticks no very great tokens of subjection if you mark it well The error of his judgement in the point debated I regard not here but I am sure that in defence of his authority and jurisdiction he was right enough and therein strongly seconded by the African Church opposing the incroachments of Zosimus Boniface and Celestine succeeding one another in the Roman Patriarchate prohibiting all Appeals to Rome in the Councils of Milevis and Carthage and finally excommunicating Lupicinus for appealing to Pope Leo the first contrary to the Rites and Liberties of the African Church Next for the Diocess of Spain I look upon the Musarabick Liturgy composed by Isidore Arch-Bishop of Sevil and universally received in all the Churches of that Continent for as unquestionable a character of self-subsistency as the Ambrosian Office was in the Church of Milain the Roman or Gregorian Missal not being used in all this Countrey till the year 1083. At which time one Bernard a French-man and a great stickler in behalf of the Roman Ceremonies being made Arch-Bishop of Toledo by practising with Alfonso the then King of Castile first introduced the Roman Missal into some of the Churches of that City and after by degrees into all the rest of those Kingdoms soon after the Churches of France the greatest and most noble part of the Gallick Diocess they were originally under the Authority of the Bishop of Lions as their proper Primate not owing any suit or service to the Court of Rome but standing on their own Basis and acting all things of themselves as the others did The freedom wherewith Irenaeus the renowned Bishop of that City reproved the rashness of Pope Victor in the Case of Easter not well becoming an inferior Bishop to the Supream Pastor shews plainly that they stood on even ground and had no advantage of each other in respect of sub supra as Logicians say notwithstanding that more powerful Principality potentior principalitas as the Latine hath it which Irenaeus did allow him over those at home But a more evident proofof this there can hardly be than those large liberties and freedoms which the Church Gallican doth at this time enjoy the remainders past all doubt of those antient Rights which under their own Patriarch they were first possessed of not suffering the Decrees of the Council of Trent that great supporter of the Popedom to take place amongst them but as insensibly and by the practices of some Bishops they were introduced curbing the Popes exorbitant power by the pragmatick Sanction and by the frequent Judgments and Arrests of Parliament insomuch as a Book of Cardinal Bellarmines tending to the advancement of the Papal Monarchy and another Writ by Beanus the Jesuite entituled Controversia Anglicana in maintenance of the Popes Supremacy were suppressed and censured Anno 1612. Another Writ by Gasper Scioppius to the same effect but with far less modesty being at the same time burnt by the hands of the Hangman Finally for the Churches of the Diocess of Britain those of Illyricum lying too far off to be brought in here they had their own Primate also the Arch-Bishop of York and under him two Metropolitans the Bishops of London and Caer-leon And for a character of their Freedom or self-subsistence they had four different customs from the Church of Rome as in the Tonsure and the keeping of the Feast of Easter wherein they followed the Tradition of the Eastern Churches So firm withal in their obedience to their own Primate the Arch Bishop of Car-leon on Vsh the only Arch-Bishop of three which before they had that they would by no means yield subjection unto Augustine the Monk the first Arch-Bishop of the English though he came Armed amongst them with the Popes Authority Nor would they afterwards submit unto his Successors though backed by the Authority of the Kings of England acknowledging no other Primate but the Bishop of St. Davids to which the Metropolitan See was then translated until the time of Henry II. when the greatest part of South Wales and the City of S. Davids it self was in possession of the English These were the Patriarchs or Primates of the Western Churches and by these Primates the Church was either governed singly but withal Supreamly in their several Diocesses taking the word Diocese in the former notion or in conjunction each with other by their Letters of advice and intercourse which they called Literas Formatas and Communicatorias You see by this that though the Pope was one of the Western Patriarchs yet was he not originally and by primitive Institution either the Patriarch of the West that is to say not the only one nor could pretend unto their Rights as any of their Sees were ruined by the barbarous Nations and consequently his consent not necessary to a Reformation beyond the bounds of his own Patriarchate under that pretence Let us next see what power he can lay claim unto as the Apostle in particular of the English Nation Which memorable title I shall never grudge him I know well not only that the Wife of Ethelbert King of Kent a Christian and a Daughter of France had both her Chappel and her Chappellance in the Palace Royal before the first preaching of Austin the Monk but that the Britains living intermixt with the Saxons for so long a time may be supposed in probability and reason to have gained some of them to the Faith But let the Pope enjoy this honour let Gregory the Great be the Apostle of the English Saxons by whom that Augustine was sent hither yet this entituleth his Successors to no higher Prerogatives than the Lords own Apostles did think fit to claim in Countreys which they had converted For neither were the English Saxons Baptized in the name of the Pope they had been then Gregoriani and not Christiani or looked upon him as the Lord of this part of Gods Heritage but as an helper to their joy S. Paul the Apostle of the Gentiles did disclaim the one S. Peter the Apostle of the Jews did dissuade the other The Anglican Church was absolute and Independent from the first beginning not tied so much as to the Ceremonies of the Church of Rome it being left by Gregory to the discretion of Augustine out of the Rites and Rubricks of such Churches as he met with in his journey hither these of Italy and France he means to constitute a form of worship for the Church
Elders as Josephus telleth us Antiqu. Jud. 1. cap. was no less pleasing unto God nor less valid in the eyes of all his Subjects than those of Jehosaphat and Hezekiah in their riper years and perhaps acting singly on the strength of their own judgments only without any advice Now that there should be Liturgies for the use of the Church that those Liturgies should be celebrated in a Language understood by the people That in those Liturgies there should be some prescribed Forms for giving the Communion in both kinds for Baptizing Infants for the reverent celebration of Marriage performing the last office to the sick and the decent burial of the Dead as also for set Feasts and appointed Festivals hath been a thing of primitive and general practice in the Christian Church And being such though intermitted or corrupted as before is said the King advising with his Bishops and other Church-men though not in a Synodical way may cause the same to be revised and revived and having fitted them to edification and increase of piety either commend them to the Church by his sole authority or else impose them on the people under certain penalties by his power in Parliament Saepe Coeleste Regnum per Terrenum proficit The Kingdom of Heaven said Reverend Isidore of Sevil doth many times receive increase from these earthly Kingdoms in nothing more than by the regulating and well ordering of Gods publick worship We saw before what David did in this particular allotting to the Priest the Courses of their Ministration appointing Hymns and Songs for the Jewish Festivals ordaining Singing-men to sing and finally prescribing Vestments for the Celebration Which what else was it but a Regulating of the Worship of God the putting it into a solemn course and order to be observed from time to time in succeeding Ages Sufficient ground for Christian Princes to proceed on in the like occasions especially when all they do is rathe the reviving of the Ancient Forms than the Introduction of a new Which as the King did here in England by his own Authority the Body of the Clergy not consulted in it so possibly there might be good reason why those who had the conduct of the Kings affairs thought it not safe to put the managing of the business to a Convocation The ignorance and superstition of the common people was at that time exceeding profitable to the Clergy who by their frequent Masses for the quick and dead raised as great advantage as Demetrius and the Silver-Smith by Dianas shrines It hapned also in a time when many of the inferiour Clergy had not much more learning than what was taught them in the Massals and other Rituals and well might fear that if the Service were once extant in the English tongue the Laity would prove in time as great Clerks as themselves So that as well in point of Reputation as in point of Profit besides the love which many of them had to their former Mumpsimus it was most probable that such an hard piece of Reformation would not easily down had it been put into the power of a Convocation especially under a Prince in Nonage and a state unsettled And yet it was not so carried without them neither but that the Bishops generally did concur to the Confirmation of the Book or the approbation of it rather when it passed in Parliament the Bishops in that time and after till the last vast and most improvident increase of the Lay-nobility making the most considerable if not the greatest part of the House of Peers and so the Book not likely to be there allowed of without their consent And I the rather am inclined unto that Opinion because I find that none but Tunstal Gardiner and Bonner were displaced from their Bishopricks for not submitting in this case to the Kings appointments which seems to me a very strong and convincing argument that none but they dissented or refused conformity Add here that though the whole body of the Clergy in their Convocation were nto consulted with at first for the Reasons formerly recited yet when they found the benefit and comfort which redounded by it to good Christian people and had by little and little weaned themselves from their private interesses they all confirmed it on the Post-fact passing an Article in the Convocation of the year 1552. with this Head or Title viz. Agendum esse in Ecclesiae linguae quae fit Populo nota which is the 25th Article in King Edwards Book Lay all that hath been said together and the result of all will be briefly this that being the setting out of the Liturgy in the English Tongue was a matter practical agreeable to the Word of God and the Primitive times that the King with so many of his Bishops and others of the Clergy as he pleased to call to Counsel in it resolved upon the doing of it that the Bishops generally confirmed it when it came before them and that the whole body of the Clergy in their Convocation the Book being then under a review did avow and justifie it The result of all I say is this that as the work it self I say was good so it was done not in a Regal but a Regular way Kings were not Kings if regulating the external parts of Gods publick worship according to the Platforms of the Primitive times should not be allowed them But yet the Kings of England had a further right as to this particular which is a power conferred upon them by the Clergy whether by way of Recognition or Concession I regard not here by which they did invest the King with a Supream Authority not only of confirming their Synodical Acts not to be put in execution without his consent but in effect to devolve on him all that power which formerly they enjoyed in their own capacity And to this we have a parallel Case in the Roman Empire in which there had been once a time when the Supream Majesty of the State was vested in the Senate and people of Rome till by the Law which they called Lex Regia they transferred all their Power on Caesar and the following Emperors Which Law being passed the Edicts of the Prince or Emperor were as strong and binding as the Senatus Consulta and the Plebiseita had been before Whence came that memorable Maxim in Justinians Institutes that is to say Quod Principi placuerit legis habet vigorem The like may be affirmed of the Church of England immediately before and in the Reign of K. Henry VIII The Clergy of this Realm had a Self-authority in all matters which concerned Religion and by their Canons and Determinations did bind all the Subjects of what rank soever till by acknowledging that King for their Supream Head and by the Act of Submission not long after following they transferred that power upon the King and on his Successors By doing whereof they did not only disable themselves upon concluding any thing in their Convocations
charge to go teach all Nations Id. 28.19 And when he found them backward in pursuit thereof he quickned Peter by a Vision and called Paul as it were of purpose Act. 10.11 to bear his name before the Gentiles to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness unto light Act. 9.17 and from the power of Satan unto God So that although the Jews and Gentiles were not collected into one body in our Saviours time Act. 26.18 I mean the time in which he pleased to sojourn here upon the Earth yet being done by his Authority and by the conduct and direction of his blessed Spirit it can be said of none but him quod fecit utraque unum that he made both one bringing them both into one Church Ephes 2.14 and making both partakers of the same communion who were before at such a distance as was conceived to be irreconcilable Unto the constituting of which Church our Saviour brought not any thing of Rite or Ceremony determined nothing that we meet with in his holy Gospels touching the time or place of publick Worship the Form and manner of the same save that he gave a general intimation that Hierusalem should no longer be the place in which men should be bound to Worship Joh. 4.21 The pains he took were principally spent in points of Doctrin clearing the truths of holy Scripture from those false glosses and corrupt traditions which had been put upon it by the Scribes and Pharisees and setting forth a new and clearer body of Divinity than had been taught the people in the Law of Moses that the Father might be worshipped in succeeding times with a greater measure of the spirit and a more perfect knowledge of the truth Joh. 4.23 24. than he had been formerly As for the circumstances and out-parts of Worship he left them in the state he found them that is to say to the disposing of the Church in whose power it was to institute such Rites and Ceremonies as might apparently conduce to the increase of Piety and to the setting forth of Gods praise and glory Himself had given a personal and most exemplary obedience to the Church of Jewry conforming to such Rites and Ordinances wherein there was no deviation from the Law of God as had in former times been setled by the power thereof And therefore had no cause of his collecting a Church conducted in those points which pertain to godliness by such a visible co-operation of the Holy Ghost especially considering what a fair example of Conformity he should leave behind him Besides all people of the world both Jews and Gentiles were setled at that time in a full perswasion of the necessity of set times and determinate places for the assembling of themselves together in the acts of Worship and had their prescribed Forms both of Prayer and Praise their Rituals and established Ceremonies and therewith also an opinion that those things were to be eprformed by the Priest alone Which being agreed on in the general both people might be brought with more facility to fall on some particular conclusions to which they were inclined already by their common principles And so indeed it proved in a short event times places and set Forms for worship being unanimously and universally received amongst them within a very little while after our Lords departure The Jews already had their Synagogues their Proseuchas or Oratories as before was said How small a labour was it to the blessed Apostles and their successors in that work to turn those Synagogues of theirs into Christian Churches for Preaching of the Word of God and the administration of the Sacraments accordingly as they did win upon the Jews to embrace the Gospel Nor is this only a bare speculation it was done de facto it being recorded in a book ascribed unto Athanasius that on the converting of the Jews Inhabitants of Beritus to the faith of Christ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Athanas de passione imaginis Dom. nostri To. 2. gr l. p. 631. that the Bishop who had laboured in it converted the Synagogue of the Jews into a Christian Church and dedicated it to our Lord and Saviour And for the Temples of the Gentiles when once their superstitions were suppressed and the Gospel countenanced by Authority they were converted also to the self-same use Vid. Bed hist Eccles 1. as the Jewish Synagogues had been in other places Gods Servants being in the mean time contented with such safe retreats as their necessities inforced them to make use of in those fiery times or with such publick places of Assembly but mean and under the degree of envy as either upon sufferance or by special leave they were permitted to erect As soon if not more suddenly all parties also were agreed on the times of worship which was reduced with general and joynt consent unto the first day of the week the Lords day or the Sunday call it which you will wherein all members of the Congregation were to meet together for Gods publick Service A business wherein the Church proceeded with great care and wisdom setting apart one day in seven to hold the fairer quarter with the Jews who were so zealous of a Sabbath but altering the day it self and paring off those legal Ordinances which had made it burdensome the better to content the Gentiles Yet so that they had also their daily meetings as occasion served for celebration of the Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist in those fiery times Whereof as being instituted for the Christian Sacrifice and of the Evangelical Priesthood to attend the same we shall speak anon In the mean time the next thing here to be considered is the form and order wherein the Church did celebrate Gods publick Service in those purer times those Forms of Prayer and Invocation wherewith they did address themselves to the Lord their God That all Religious offices in the House of God should be performed in form and order 1 Cor. 14. is not only warranted but enjoyned by the Apostles Canon made for those of Corinth and consequently for all Churches else And that for the avoiding of Battologies and all effusions of raw and undigested prayers besides what hath been shewn before to have been generally in use both with Jew and Gentile in being bound and regulated by set Forms of Prayer We have a Form laid down by our Lord and Saviour both for our use and imitation And first that it was made for our imitation is generally agreed on even by those who otherwise approve not set Forms of Prayer Calv. in Harm Evangel Calvin doth so resolve it saying In hunc finem tradita est haec regula ad quam preces nostras exigere necesse est si legitimas censeri Deoque probari cupimus And in the words not long before Non jubet Christus suos conceptis verbis orare sed tantum ostendit quorsum vota omnia precesque referri
better claim to that or somewhat of this kind than the name and title By whom we are informed Ordinem Missae vel orationem quibus oblata Deo sacrificia consecrantur primum à sancto Petro institutum esse that the order of the Mass and the prayers thereof wherewith the Sacrament or Sacrifice is consecrate was Instituted first by S. Peter and is the very same saith he cujus celebrationem uno eodemque modo universus peragit orbis Isidor Hispal de offici is divin l. 1. c. 15. which is now universally received over all the world He means the Western world you must take him so That attributed to S. Mark if scanned and canvassed with a diligent eye will be discerned to be no other than the Liturgy of the Church of Alexandria of which he was the first Bishop as is elsewhere proved and will appear to be so on painful search by the agreement which it carrieth with that of Cyril one of S. Marks successors in that See and a prime pillar of the Church in the time he lived As also by comparing it with the Ethiopick Liturgy derived from Alexandria as the mother City and extant with it in the bibliotheca whither I refer you But that whereof there is the greatest evidence is that ascribed unto S. James which if not his is questionless the ancient Liturgy of the Church of Hierusalem of which he once was supream Pastor under Christ our Saviour The publisher hereof in Greek and Latine gives us this short note Biblioth patrum Gr. lat To. 2. p. 1. S. Cyrillum Hierosol Catechesi quinta Mystagogica plura ex illa mutuatum That Cyril Bishop of Hierusalem in the fifth of his Mystagogical Catechizings did borrow many things from hence And certainly the observation is exceeding true as will appear on the examination and comparison of the several passages which are still extant in them both Baron in Annal Eccles anno 35 1. Now Cyril B. of Hierusalem lived about the year 350 and was then at his height both for power and credit and if we grant the Liturgy ascribed to James to be but 60 years before him it must needs fall within the compass of the first three hundred This though it be enough we will venture further and ask what inconvenience would ensue if this Apostle be affirmed for the Author of it I mean as to the main and substance of it though not of all the intersertions and additions which are found therein That S. James did compose a Liturgy is proved by Sixtus Senensis out of Proclus sixtus Senes Biblioth Sanct. l. 2. Concil Trullan can 32. sometimes the Patriarch of constantinople a man of special eminence in the Ephesine Council The Fathers of the Synod surnamed of Trullo affirmed of James whom they avow for the first Bishop of Hierusalem ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that he did leave a Liturgy behind in writing alledging the Authority thereof for proof that water was to be mingled with the wine in the blessed Sacrament Liturgia Jacobi in Bilioth p. 13. Cassand in Liturgicis which passageis still extannt in the Liturgy intituled to him And when we find in Hegesippus as he is cited by Eusebius Eum ab Apostolis primum constitutum fuisse Episcopum Liturgum as Cassander reads it Why may we not conceive that he had that adjunct as the first Author of a Liturgy for the publick use This may be said in the behalf thereof if one list to plead it And were there nothing else to persade me otherwise than that it is affirmed by Rivet has omnes profectas esse ab inimico homine Smectym vindicat p. 28. c. that this with those before remembred proceeded from that Enemy who sowed his Tares in the middle of the good Seed whilst the Servants slept I should not much be set against them Although I honour Rivet for his parts in learning I never held his words for Gospel no not although they come apparelled in the Gospel phrase That it is ancient yea and holy too they have not the courage to deny and yet have so much confidence which I wonder at as to ascribe them to the Devil to whom I hope no holy thing whatever is to be ascribed Neither Rivet nor any of the Moderns are so competent Judges in this point as the Fathers in Trullo nor of like credit with S. Austin who speaking of that noted passage of Sursum Corda used in the Liturgy of his time and long time before saith they were Verba ab ipsorum Apostolorum temporibus petita words borrowed from the times of the very Apostles This being said touching the Liturgies themselves we should proceed unto the course and order in the same observed and to the Forms of Prayer and Benediction contained therein But that would be too large a trouble the business of this Inquisition not being to transcribe whole Liturgies but to find them out besides that most of the material passages whereof such ancient writers as are of an unquestionable credit have left us any trace or memory will call us back to look upon them in convenient time On therefore to the next that followeth whom if we rank according to the place and time which is assigned him by the Pontificians will be the famous Areopagite even Dionysius one of S. Pauls first fruits in Athens I know the Books ascribed unto him have been much questioned in these searching days whether his or not Nor do I mean to meddle in so vexed a question And therefore though I rank him here according to the time and place assigned him by the learned men of the Roman party yet I desire no further credit should be given him than that which he affirms is made good by others who lived most near the time assigned unto him Now for the Celebration of the Sacrament of the blessed Eucharist he describes it thus Dionys Areopag de Eccl. Hierarchia p. 89. edit gr lat ' O ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. The Bishop having ended the Preparatory Prayers said usually at the holy Altar doth then and thence begin to cense the place till he hath compassed it about Returning back unto the Altar he begins the Psalms the Clergy which are present singing with him Then do the Ministers read the holy Scriptures ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in their appointed and determinate order Which done the Catechumeni and such as are possessed with unclean spirits or are under penance are removed out of the Church ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã those only being left behind who were to be partakers of the holy Mysteries The Ministers some stand before the Church-doors to keep them shut others attend those Ministrations which appertain unto their Order Some of whom chosen for that purpose present the Bread and Cup of Benediction upon the Altar ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a general Confession being first made by the whole Congreation ãâã ãâã ãâã
of work since the time of the old Martin Mar-prelat began to teem again with a new brood of Libellous Pamphlets the Females of Sedition as a Learned Gentleman truly calls them in which the Bishops were reproached with Innovating in the Worship of God here by Law established in order to some dark design to bring in Popery The antient usages of the Church grounded on Law required by Canon and Authorized by the stamp of Supream Authority had lien so long under the Rubbish of neglect and discontinuance by the remisness to say no worse of it of the former Government that the endeavour of reducing them to use and practice was forthwith clamorously branded with the odious name of an Innovation though when it came unto the trial the Innovation lay at their doors who had raised he clamor Amongst which Innovations so unjustly charged there was none made a greater and more general noise than the requiring a set Form of Prayer to be used by Preachers before their Sermons imputed by H. E. to the late Archb. as an act of his and yet confessed so much he was transported by his spleen and passion to be prescribed in the Canon of 603. full 30 years before that Prelate had attained the See of Canterbury During these heats I was requested by the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of W. to ease him of some pains in searching into the constant practice of this Church since the Reformation as to that particular as also to consider of the grounds and motives which might induce the Bishops of those times to compose the Canon in which that Form had been prescribed that haing satisfied himself in all points which concerned that Argument towards which my poor endeavours were not likely to contribute much he might with greater confidence require the Clergy of his Diocess to conform unto it An employment which I undertook with a ready chearfulness as one that had been always trained up in the School of obedience and looked upon the just motions of my Superiors as in the nature of commands What satisfaction this discourse then gave unto hisLordship I forbear to add and what contentment it may give to the Reader now I forbear to guess The fate of Books depends not in these times as in those before on the capacity of the Reader but on his private interess so as it is not to be hoped that such as are approved by some will be liked of all though most of those who may mislike may give no sufficient reason for it All therefore which I have to do is to submit it to the judgment of the equaland unbyassed Reader from whom I am as willing to receive satisfaction in any controverted point as to use my best endeavours to give it to him And so good Reader I conclude with those words of the Poet Tu vergo si quid novisti rectius istis Candidus imperti si non his utere mecum If thou hast better reasons lend me thine Or otherwise make bold with these of mine A BRIEF DISCOURSE Touching the Form of Prayer c. 1. The Introduction to the whole 2. The Canon of the year 1603. 3. The meaning and purpose of that Canon 4. The Injunction of Qu. Elizabeth to the same effect 5. The Injunction of King Edward VI. to the same effect 6. The like Injunction of King Henry VIII 7. The ground and reason of the Injunction of that King and the exemplification of it in the practice of Bishop Latimer 8. The difference between Invocation and that bidding of Prayer which is required by the Canon 9. The Canon justified by the practice of Bishop Andrews 10. By the practice of Bishop Jewel in Qu. Elizabeths time 11. By the practice of Archbishop Parker in King Edwards time 12. By the like practice of Bishop Latimer in that Kings time also 13. More of the practice of Bishop Latimer in this point 14. The same proved also by the practice of Bishop Gardiner 15. The result arising both from the precept and the practice of the Church herein 16. How the now Form of Prayer by way of Invocation was first taken up 17. No Prayer by way of Invocation used by the Antients in their Sermons 18. The Prayer appointed by the Canon and Injunctions used rather heretofore as a part of the Sermon than as a preparation to it 19. Bidding of Prayer more consonant unto the meaning of the Law than any set Prayer in the way of Invocation 20. Bidding of Prayer more proper for the place or Pulpit which was not made for Prayer but for Exhortation 21. The like concluded from the posture of the Preacher also 22. Some inconveniences arising from the Form of Prayer by Invocation 23. More inconveniencies of that nature by accusing the Liturgie as defective 24. The conclusion and submission of the whole to his Lordships judgment INventae erant Epistolae ut certiores faceremus absentes si quid esset quod eos scire aut nostrum aut ipsorum interesset Epistles were devised as Tully writes to Curio to this end and purpose that we might certifie the absent of those things which are most proper for their knowledge and our relation They are our Messengers for love our Posts for business our Agents in the managing and dispatch of the weightiest Affairs such as most nearly do concern us which being a chief Use and Benefit of Letters no marvail if they have been used in all former Ages not only to maintain an intercourse between Friends in point of Amity but to lay down in them our resolutions as occasion is in point of Controversie The several Writings in this kind of the antient Authors as well the Christian as the Gentile what are they but so many precepts and directions by which to regulate our Conversations or reasons and authorities on the which to rest our judgments Upon which ground my most Honoured Lord I have adventured to declare by this way of Letter what I have found upon due search in answer to the proposition which your Lordship recommended to me touching the Form of Prayer appointed in the Canon to be used by Preachers before the Sermon Of which such question hath been made in these busie times whether it ought to be by way of Invocation as a formal Prayer or else by way of Exhortation as a bidding of Prayer For resolution of the which I shall first lay down the very Canon and after briefly shew unto you what is most like to be the true intention of it out of the publick Monuments of this Church and constant practice of those men who are above exception for the point in hand and also by such other pregnant reasons as I have thought most proper to confirm the same Now for the title of the Canon it runs thus Can. 55. The Form of a Prayer to be used by Preachers before their Sermons The body of it is this Before all Sermons Lectures and Homilies Preachers
They are all now for Root and Branch for the very Calling that having grubbed up those goodly Cedars of the Church the Bishops they might plant a stinking Elder as a noble person well observed in the place thereof Never was Learning so employed to cry down the encouragements and rewards of Learning The Branches needs must wither when the Root decays and what could else befall Cathedras as we see it too evidently but the inevitable exposing of them to a present ruin by making them Oblations unto Spoil and Rapine And now or never was the time for those that had a care of the Churches safety to put themselves into a posture of defence and be provided for the Battel In which if few appeared at the first on the Churches side it was not that they durst not give the onset but that they were reserved for succours For whilst the Humbly reverend Remonstrant was pleased to vindicate as well his own as the Churches honour there was small cause or rather none that other men should interpose themselves at all or rob him of the glory of a sole encounter Parque novum fortuna videt concurrere Bellum atque virum as in a case not much unlike was observed by Lucan But when that Reverend pen grew wearied not with the strength or number of his Adversaries but their importunity who were resolved to have the last words as himself observeth and that he hath been pleased to give way to others to shew their duty and affection in so just a cause it was then no hard matter to persuade me to such further courses as might be thought on and pursued for the Churches peace And I the rather was resolved to do somewhat in it because the Smectymnuans in a manner had ingaged me in the undertaking It seems they have forgotten what their own Darling HEILTN c. Smectym pag. 16 17. by giving me the Title of the Bishops Darling a Title which though given in scorn had been ill bestowed should I be wanting unto those of that Sacred Order which were supposed to let me hold so principal a place in their affections Doubly ingaged by duty and this provocation which I could not take but for a challenge I took their Book into my hand in which I found the whole dispute as it relates to the Episcopal Government reduced to these Propositions viz. 1. That the Impropriation of name and Imparity of place between Bishops and Presbyters was not of divine right and Apostolical institution but of humane invention and occasionally only and that a Diabolical occasion also and no more than so 2. That the eminent Superiority and Power of Ordination and Jurisdiction which our Bishops claim was both unknown to the Scripture and the Primitive times 3. That antiently in some places of the World the Episcopal Government was never known for many years together the people in those places being instructed in the faith without help of Bishops Hereupon they infer in the close of all That Bishops or Episcopacy being at the best a meer humane Ordinance may by the same Authority be abrogated by which it was first established This last I must confess delivered in the way of Quere but so delivered as to carry a Position in it more pertinent to their aim and purpose than the other three In prosecuting of which points as they have shewed the greatest of their wit and cunning to give the fairest colours to a rotten Cause so have they brought no new Objections against the Episcopal Order and Jurisdiction but what are either answered or prevented in the Learned works of B. Bilson B. Downham and other Worthies of this Church now in bliss with God Nihil dictum quod non dictum fuit prius had been an Answer new enough for an old Objection But seeing that these Men though they could bring no new supply of Arguments is make good their Cause would not rest satisfied with those old Answers which had been given in former times to their Predecessors I was resolved to deal with them in another way than what hath formerly been travelled Not in the way of Argumentation or a Polemical discourse there being no likelihood of any end in such Disputations as long as men had so much Sophistry as either to evade the Argument or find some sleight to weaken and shift off the Answer I rather chose having found good success in that kind before to manage the whole Controversie as it lay between us in the way of an Historical Narration as in point of fact which I conceive to be the readiest means to convince gainsayers and silence the dispute for the times to come For if History be Testis temporum the surest and most faithful witness of mens actions in the carriage of all publick businesses as no doubt it is it cannot but be also Magistra vitae both which the Orator affirms of it the best Instructress we can have in all Affairs of like nature as they come before us The History of Episcopacy collected from the Writings of the Antient Fathers cannot but be of special use and efficacy in setting forth the Government of the Church in the purest times especially when those Fathers are produced on no other occasion but either as writing on those Texts of Scripture in which the Institution and Authority of Bishops is most clearly evidenced or speaking of the condition of the Church in their several times in the Administration and Government whereof they had most of them some especial interess Out of whose testimonies so digested and compared together I doubt not but it will appear most evidently to an indifferent and impartial Reader first That our Lord and Saviour JESVS CHRIST laid the foundation of his Church in an imparity of Ministers and that according unto his example the Apostles did the like ordaining the three several Orders and Degrees of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the holy Ministry Next that the Government of Bishops being founded thus was propagated over all the World with the faith it self there being no Nation which received the one without the other And finally that in matter of Authority and Jurisdiction the Bishops of the primitive and purest Ages had full as much as ours of England in these latter times And if I have done this as I hope I have it may more rationally be inferred though perhaps not so safely as the times now are that Bishops or Episcopacy being of Divine and Apostolical institution no humane invention cannot with piety be abrogated by a less Authority than that by which it was ordained at the first appointment This is the sum and this is the end of my design In prosecution of the which I had drawn down my story to the times of Constantine by whose power and favour the Church began to settle in all parts of the Empire where it had formerly been persecuted with all kind of Extremities which either the wit of Tyranny could invent or an
the care of all the Church should appertain that so the seeds of schism might be rooted up And from the time when Paul ordained those Presbyters in Lystra and Iconium and those other Churches which was in Anno 48. according as Baronius calculates it unto Saint Paul's return unto Hierusalem which was in Anno 58. are but ten whole years Before which time immediately upon his resolution to undertake that journey and from thence to Rome he had appointed Bishops in the Churches of his own plantation so that the government of the Presbyters in the largest and most liberal allowance that can be given them will be too short a time to plead prescription Now that Saint Paul ordained Bishops in many of the Asian Cities or in the Churches of those Cities which himself had planted before his last going thence into Greece and Macedon may well be gathered out of Irenaeus who lived both neer those times and in those parts and possibly might have seen and known some of the Bishops of this first foundation Item l. 3. c. 14. Now Irenaeus his words are these In Mileto enim convocatis Episcopis Presbyteris qui erant ab Epheso reliquis proximis civitatibus c. Paul saith he calling together in Miletum the Bishops and Presbyters which were of Ephesus and other the adjoyning Cities told them what things were like to happen to him in Hierusalem whither he meant to go before the Feast Out of which words of Irenaeus I collect thus much First that those Presbyters whom Paul called to Miletum to meet him there were not all of Ephesus though all called from Ephesus Ephesus being first appointed for the Randevouz or place of meeting and secondly that amongst those Presbyters there were some whom Paul had dignified with the stile and place of Bishops In which regard the Assembly being of a mixt condition they are entituled by both names especially those Presbyters which had as yet no Bishops over them having the charge and jurisdiction of their Churches under the Apostles as before was said And this perhaps may be one reason why the Apostle in his speech to that Assembly makes no words of Timothy who being present with the rest received his charge together with them as also why he gave the Presbyters of Ephesus no particular charge how to behave themselves before their Bishop there being many Bishops there which were not under the command of Timothy However we may gather thus much out of Irenaeus that though we find not in the Scripture the particular names of such as had Episcopal Authority committed to them but Timothy and Titus yet that there were some other Bishops at that time of S. Paul's Ordination who doubtless took as great a care for Thessalonica and Philippos for Lystra and Iconium as for Crete and Ephesus And that these two were by Saint Paul made Bishops of those places will appear most fully by the concurrent testimony of ancient Writers And first for Timothy that he was Bishop of the Church of Ephesus and the first Bishop there appeareth by an ancient Treatise of his death and martyrdom bearing the name of Polycrates who was himself not only Bishop of this Church of Ephesus but born also within six or seven and thirty years after the writing of the Revelation by Saint John Which treatise of Polycrates entituled De martyrio Timothei is extant amongst the lives of Saints printed at Lovaine An. 1585. and cited by the Learned Primate of Armagh in his brief Discourse touching the original of Episcopacy Sigebertus de Eccl. Script Certain I am that Sigebertus doth report Polycrates to be the Author of a Book entituled De passione Sancti Timothei Apostoli but whether that it ever came unto the hands of those of Lovain I am not able to determine More like it is the book is perished and the fragments of the Treatise which remain in Photius Photius in Biblioth n. 254. touching the death and martyrdom of Timothy is all which have escaped that shipwrack And yet in those poor fragments there is proof enough that Timothy was Bishop of the Church of Ephesus in which it is expresly said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that Timothy was both Ordained and Inthroned Bishop of the Metropolis of Ephesus by the great Apostle Secondly this appeareth by the testimony of Eusebius who reckning up Saint Pauls assistants his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and coadjutors as it were bringeth in Timothy for one and this adds thus of him Eccles hist l. 3. c. 4. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that as Histories recorded of him he was the first Bishop of the Diocess of Ephesus Thirdly by Epiphanius Epiph. har 75. n. 5. who in a glance gives him the power and stile of Bishop where he relateth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that the Apostle speaking unto Timothy being then a Bishop doth advise him thus Rebuke not an Elder c. Fourthly by Ambrose if the work be his Ambr. Praef. in Epist 1. ad Timoth. who in the preface to his Commentaries on the Epistles unto Timothy thus resolves the point Hunc ergo jam creatum Episcopum instruit per Epistolam that being now ordained a Bishop he was instructed by Saint Pauls Epistle how to dispose and order the Church of God Fifthly by Hierom who in his Tract De Eccles Scriptoribus doth affirm of Timothy Hieron de Script Eccles Ephesiorum Episcopum ordinatum à Beato Paulo that he was ordained Bishop of the Ephesians by Saint Paul Sixthly by Chrysostom as in many places so most significantly and expresly in his Comment on the Epistle to the Philippians saying Chrysost Hom. in 1. ad Tim. in Praef. ad eand Paul saith in his Epistle unto Timothy Fulfil thy Ministry ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã being then a Bishop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for that he was a Bishop appears by Pauls writing thus unto him Lay hands hastily on no man Seventhly by Leontius Bishop of Magnesia Concil Chal. Act. 11. one of the Fathers in the great Council of Chalcedon affirming publickly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that from blessed Timothy unto his times there had been 26 Bishops of the Church of Ephesus Eighthly by Gregory the Great De cura Pastorali pars 2. c. 11. where he saith that Paul admonisheth his Scholar Timothy Praelatum gregi being now made the Prelate of a Flock to attend to reading Com. in 1. ad Tim. c. 1. Ninthly by Sedulius an ancient writer of the Scotish Nation who lived about the middle of the first Century affirming on the credit of old History Timotheum istum fuisse Episcopum in Epheso that Timothy to whom Paul wrote had been Bishop of Ephesus Primas in Tim. 1. Ep. 1. c. 4. Tenthly by Primasius a writer of the first 600 years who in the Preface to his Commentaries on the first to Timothy gives us this short note Timotheus Episcopus fuit Discipulus Pauli that
Paraeus in Apocal c. 3. v. did afterwards recover and get strength again instanceth in Anatotius and Stephanus both eminent and learned men and both Bishops there whereas indeed they were not Bishops of this Laodicea but of Laodicea in Syria called antiently Seleucia Tetrapolis as he might easily have seen by a more careful looking on those places of Eusebius which himself hath cited Now in the Nicene Council if we like of that we find the Successors of those several Angels subscribing severally to the Acts thereof Act. Conc. Nic. in subser amongst other Prelates of that time as viz. Menophanes of Ephesus Eutychius B. of Smyrna for the province of Asia Artemidorus B. of Sardis Soron or Serras B. of Thyatira Ethymasius B. of Philadelphia for the Province of Lydia and finally Nunechlus B. of this Laodicea Perpet gover cap. 13. p. 269. for the Province of Phrygia for Theodotus who by Bilson is affirmed to have subscribed as Bishop of this Laodicea was Bishop of Laodicea in the Province of Syria amongst the Bishops of which Province his subscription is which I marvel that most learned and industrious Prelate did not see And though we find not him of Pergamus amongst them there yet after in the Council of Chalcedon doth his name occur In fine by the person that speaketh to the Pastors and those seven Churches and the name he gives them it is plain and evident that their vocation was not only confirmed by the Lord himself but their Commission expressed He speaketh that hath best right to appoint what Pastors he would have to guide his Flock till himself come to judgment The name he giveth them sheweth their power and charge to be delivered them from God and consequently each of them in his several charge and City must have Commission to reform the errors and abuses in their several Churches at whose hands it shall be required by him that shall sit judge to take account of their doings And so much for the Angels of the seven Churches in Asia remembred in the book of the Revelation But to go forwards to S. John the Author of it immediately on his return from Patmos he sets himself unto the reformation of these Churches calling together the Bishops of the same as before we shewed and governing both those and the adjoyning Churches of Asia minor by his Apostolical Authority and preheminence Which having done on the intreaty and request of some godly men he went unto the neighbour Nations ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Clemens Alex. ap Euseb hist l. 2. c. 17. in some places instituting or ordaining Bishops in others rectifying and reforming the whole Churches and in a word by the direction of the spirit founding a Clergy in the same It seems the journey was not far the places which he visited being said to be ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the neighbouring Nations and indeed the Apostle was now grown too old to endure much travel being near an hundred at this time And therefore I conceive that the Episcopal Sees of Traellis and Magnesia were of his foundation Concil Chal. in subscript being Cities not far off and after reckoned as the Suffragans of the Archb. or Metropolitan of Ephesus Certain I am that they were both of them Sees of Bishops as doth appear by the Epistles of Ignatius in which he nameth Polybius Bishop of Trallis Ignat. Epist ad Magnesi and Damas Bishop of Magnesia and those not titular Bishops only but such as were to be obeyed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã without gain-saying and without whose allowance there was ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã layed upon the Presbyters who were not to do any thing in their ministrations but by his authority One other Bishop there is said to be of S. John's ordaining viz. the young man which Clemens speaks of Clem. Alex. ap Euseb hist l. 2. c. 17. whose aspect being liked by the Apostle he left him to the care and tutorage of an ancient Bishop of those parts And when the Young man afterwards for want of careful looking to became debauched and made himself the Captain of a crew of Out-laws the blessed Saint with much ado reclaimed him from that wretched course and afterwards having new moulded him and prepared him for it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã made him a Bishop in the Church But whether that the word will bear that sense as to the making him a Bishop or that it only doth imply that S. John placed him in some function of the holy Ministery Ecclesiae ministeriâ praefecit as Christophorson reads it I will not contend Only I cannot but observe that where the Bishop to whose care he was committed is in the prosecution of the story called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã some have collected from the same Unbishopping of Tim. Tit. p. 126. that Bishops in those times were no more than Presbyters But this will prove if better looked on but a plain mistake the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in that place noting the Bishops age and not his office as doth appear by that which followeth in the story where he is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which certainly doth signifie an ancient man but not a Presbyter The Asian Churches being thus setled and confirmed in the faith of Christ partly by the pains and travel of this blessed man but principally by the Gospel and other pieces of Divine holy Scripture by him written and published about this time Beda de sex aetatibus In Annal. Ecc he went unto the Lord his God in a good old age being then 98 years old as Beda reckoneth in the beginning of the second century Anno 101. according to the computation of Baronius The Church at his departure he left firmly grounded in all the points of faith and doctrine taught by Christ our Saviour as well setled in the outward government the polity and administration of the same which had been framed by the Apostles according to the pattern and example of their Lord and Master For being that the Church was born of Seed immortal and they themselves though excellent and divine yet still mortal men it did concern the Church in an high degree to be provided of a perpetuity or if you will an immortality of Overseers both for the sowing of this Seed and for the ordering of the Church or the field it self This since they could not do in person they were to do it by their Successors who by their Office were to be the ordinary Pastors of the Church and the Vicars of Christ Now if you ask the Fathers who they were that were accounted in their times and ages the Successors of the Apostles they will with one accord make answer that the Bishops were To take them as they lived in order it is affirmed expresly by Irenaeus Iren. l. 3. c. 3. one who conversed familiatly with Polycarpus S. John's Disciple He speaking of those Bishops which were ordained by the Apostles
and shewing what perfections were in them required then adds Quos Successores relinquebant sunm ipsorum locum magisterii tradentes whom they did leave to be their Successors delivering unto them their own place of government Cypr. Epist 42. vel l. 2. ep 10. S. Cyprian next writing to Cornelius then Bishop of Rome exhorts him to endeavour to preserve that unity Per Apostolos nobis Successoribus traditam which was commended by the Apostles unto them their Successors So in another place speaking of the commission which our Saviour gave to his Apostles he adds that it was also given to those Praepositi Id. Epist 69. vel l 4. ep 10. rulers and governours of the Church Qui Apostolis Vicaria ordinatione succedunt which by their ordination have been substituted as Successors to them And lest we should mistake his meaning in the word Prupositi Firmilianut anothe âi shop of those times Firmil ep Cy. Epist 79. in an Epistle unto Cyprian useth instead thereof the word Episcopi not varying in the rest from those very words which Cyprian had used before Hieron ad Marcell adv Mont. Hierom although conceived by some to be an adversary of the Bishops doth affirm as much Where speaking of Montanus and his faction he shews this difference betwixt them and the Church of God viz. that they had cast the Bishop downwards made him to be the third in order Apud nos Apostolorum locum Episcopi tenent but in the Catholick-Church of Christ the Bishops held the place or room of the Apostles The like he saith in his Epistle to Euagrius Id. ad Euagr. where speaking of the parity of Bishops amongst themselves that the eminency of their Churches did make no difference in their authority he gives this reason of the same Omnes Apostolorum successores sunt because they were all Successors to the Apostles So also in his Comments on the Book of Psalms writing upon those words Id. in Psal 44. Instead of thy Fathers thou shalt have Children he tells us that at first the Apostles were the Fathers of the Church but they being gon Habes pro his Episcopos filios the Church had Bishops in their stead which though they were her Children as begotten by her Sunt tamen patres tui yet they were also Fathers to her in that she was directed and guided by them August in Psal 44. S. Austin on the same words hath the like conceit the Fathers of the Church saith he were the Lords Apostles Pro Apostolis filii nati sunt tibi constituti sunt Episcopi instead of those Fathers the Church hath Children Bishops that be ordained in her such whom she calleth Fathers though her self begat them constituit in Sedibus patrum and placed them in the seats or thrones of those holy Fathers August Epist 42. The like the same Saint Austin in another place to the same effect The root saith he of Christian Religion is by the seats of the Apostles Successiones Episcoporum and the succession of the Bishops dispersed and propagated over all the world Grego Magn. hom 26. And so S. Gregory discoursing of the power of binding and loosing committed by the Lord unto his Apostles applies it thus Horum nunc in Ecclesiâ locum Episcopi tenent that now the Bishops hold their places in the Church of Christ Not that the Bishops do succeed them in their personal graces their mighty power of working Miracles speaking with tongues giving the Holy Ghost and others such as these which were meerly temporary but in their Pastoral charge and government as the chief Rulers of the Church the ordinary Pastors of the Flock of Christ Now that the Bishops are the ordinary Pastors of the Church and so conceived to be by the ancient Fathers will be made evident by as good authority as the point before Ignatius Ignat. Epist ad Antioch who conversed with most of the Apostles writing unto the Antiochians requireth them to call to mind Euodius who was his Predecessor in the See of Antioch ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Tertull. de fuga in persecut their most blessed Pastor Tertullian discoursing on those words of Christ The hireling seeth the Woolf coming and fleeth but that the good Shepherd layeth down his life for the Sheep Joh. 10. inferreth thereupon Praepositos Ecclesiae in persecutione fugere non oportere that the Prelates or Governours of the Church are not to fly in persecution By which it is most clear not to dispute the truth of his assertion that Pastor Praepositus Ecclesiae do come both to one Cypr. de Aleatore S. Cyprian in his tract de Aleatore is more plain and positive Nam ut constaret nos i. e. Episcopos Pastores esse ovium Spiritualium c. that it might evidently appear saith he that we the Bishops are the Pastors of the Flock of Christ He said to Peter feed my Sheep And in another place for fear the former Book may prove none of his expostulating with Pupianus Id. Epist 69. who charged him as it seemeth for some defect in his administration he thus drives the point Behold saith he for these six years Nec fraternitas babuerit Episcopum neither the Brother-hood hath had a Bishop nor the People a Praepositus or Ruler nor the Flock a Pastor nor the Church a Governour nor Christ a Prelate nor God a Priest Where plainly Pastor and Episcopus and so all the rest are made to be the same one function More clearly in another place of the same Epistle where he defineth a Church to be Plebs sacerdoti adunata Pastori suo grex adhaerens that is to say a People joyned or united rather to their Priest a Flock adhering to their Pastor Where by Sacerdos as before and in other Authors of the first times he meaneth no other than a Bishop as doth appear by that which followeth Vnde scire debes Episcopum in Ecclesia c. From whom thou oughtest to understand saith he the Bishop to be in the Church and the Church to be also in the Bishop and that whoever is not with the Bishop is not in the Church Optatus saith the same in brief Opta de schismate lib. 1. by whom Pastor sine grege Episcopus sine populo a Bishop without a Church or People and a Pastor without a Flock are joyned together as Synonyma S. Austin speaking of two sorts of Over-seers in the fold of Christ some of them being Children and the others hirelings then adds Praepositi autem qui filii sunt Pastores sunt Augâst Traââ 46. in Job the Rulers which are Children of the Church they are the Pastors And in another place not long since cited speaking of Episcopale judicium the condemnation that attends the Bishops sentence he presently subjoyns Pastoralis tamen necessitas Id de corrâpt grat c. 15. that yet the necessity
incumbent on the Pastoral Office doth many times inflict such sentences for the publick safety of the Flock I might be infinite in this search but that I have spoke somewhat to the point already and am moreover saved all further labour in it by our learned Andrews affirming positively and expresly Resp ad Epis Petri Motinaei Apud veteres Pastorum nomen vix adhiberi nisi cum de Episcopis loquuntur the name of Pastor is scarce used among the Ancients but when they have occasion to speak of Bishops And Binius in his Notes upon the Councils excepts against a fragment of the Synod of Rhemes said to be held Anno 630. as not of that antiquity which is there pretended and that he doth upon this reason only Eo quod titulum âastoris tribuat Parocho because the stile of Pastor is there given to the common Presbyter Tom. 3. part 2. p. 978. contrary to the usage of those elder times And certainly it is no wonder that it should be so that he who is Episcopus Pastor animarum the Bishop and Pastor of our Souls as Saint Peter calls him 1 Petri 2 2â should confer on them both his Titles since he hath substituted and appointed them to be his Vicars here on Earth The Pope may challenge if he will this Title to himself alone but since antiquity hath given it to all Bishops equally to every one as much as to him of Rome Saint Ambrose hath resolved it generally Ambros in 1. ad cor cap. 11. Episcopus personam habet Christi the Bishop saith he susteineth the person of Christ and therefore every Woman ought to behave her self before the Bishop as before her Judg giving this reason therewithal Quia Vicarius domini est because he is the Vicar of the Lord. The Commentaries on Saint Matthew ascribed to Chrysostom doth affirm the same Opus imperfect in Matth. hom 17. where shewing that such men as persecuted or molested those of the holy Sacerdotal Order were either Gentiles or at least sordid and sensless Christians he gives his reason for the same Quia nec intelligunt nec considerant sacerdotes Christi Vicarios esse because they neither understand nor do consider that the Bishops whom he there meaneth by Sacerdotes are the Vicars of Christ Saint Austin to the same effect Lib. qu. vet N. test qu. 127. as before Saint Ambrose The Bishop is to be more pure and pious than another man for he seemeth to sustein the person of God Est enim Vicarius ejus for he is his Vicar The Fathers in the Council of Compeigne Anno 833. thus Scire omnes convenit Concil Com. it behoveth all men to understand what is the nature of the Government or Ministry of Bishops Quos constat esse Christi Vicarios who as it evidently appears are the Vicars of Christ Nay even Blesensis Petr. Blesens Serm. 47. though he lived and writ when the Papacy was at the height makes this description of a Bishop Ordinatur Christi Vicarius Ecclesiae Praelatus c. He is ordained a Vicar of Christ a Prelate of the Church a Father of men and a Pastor of Souls So far the Ancients have attested to the present business and yet there is one Testimony more which as it is more ancient so it is as pertinent as any hitherto produced viz. The Declaration of the Fathers in the Council of Carthage Anno 258. or rather the attestation of the Fathers to that which was affirmed by Clarus of Muscala one of the Bishops there assembled who being to give his Vote upon the business then in agitation first thus laid his grounds Conc. Carth. sub Cypr. Manifesta est sententia Domini nostri c. The judgment of our Lord and Saviour JESVS Christ is plain and evident bequeathing that authority unto his Apostles which had been given him by his Father to which Apostles we are now the successours eadem potestate Ecclesiam Domini gubernantes governing the Church by that authority which they had before In which we see a clear and manifest derivation of this power this Vicarship from God the Father unto Christ from Christ to his Apostles and by them also to the Bishops and their successours in the Church for ever Not that each Bishop in particular hath some particular Apostle whom he doth succeed I conceive not so but that the Bishops generally do succeed the Apostles and are in general Vicars unto Christ our Saviour as to the general Government of the Church of God Apostolis datos esse Episcopos successores non siagulis Apostolis sed in solidum universis De rep Eccles l. 2. c. 5. n. 3. as the unfortunate Arch-Bish of Spalato hath right well observed conform unto the Tenet of the Fathers in this very point The sum of these three Sections then in brief is this Christ by the mission which he had from his heavenly Father devolves all power on his Apostles for teaching governing and directing his little flock and they being sensible of their own mortality ordain by like authority a line of Bishops to succeed them ad consummationem seculi by whom that care might be perpetuated In whom as there is plenitudo potestatis a fulness of authority for that end and purpose Amb. in Ep 4. the Bishop as is said by Ambrose being made up of all the Orders in the Church nam in Episcopo omnes ordines sunt as his words there are so he both doth and may assume such and so many associates assistants and subservient Ministers in partem oneris for the discharge of this great trusi as were assumed by the Apostles or ordained by them rather for the publick service of the Church Thus have we seen the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour dispersed in very little time over all parts and quarters of the World of so much of it at the least whereof the Acts and Monuments have been recorded to posterity and therewith a transmission also of that form of Government which was begotten by it and grew up with it Nor is there any doubt at all but that into what coasts soever the Lords Apostles preached the one they also in the same did plant the other The late discoveries of those parts and Countreys which were unknown unto our Predecessours make this clear enough there being no place nor Region how remote soever where there was extant any thing of the Christian Faith in which there were not found as apparent footsteps of the Episcopal form of Government A pregnant evidence that as the Lords Apostles were by the Holy Ghost instructed in that Faith which they were to preach so by the same eternal Spirit they were directed to that form of Government which they were to plant They could not else have fallen so unanimously on the self same project nor had God blessed it with so flourishing and fair increase a growth so suddain and miraculous had
business deals for all the world like the naughty Cow that gives a good meals milk and kicketh it down with her heel For having shewed some pains and learning in his Apology for Ignatius in vindicating these Epistles from all those who except against them Yet in the body of the Text when ever he doth meet with any thing which runneth cross unto his fancies that he excepts against himself as supposititious and adulterate or else destroyeth a good Text with a faulty Comment But let us take the Author as he gives him to us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ignat. ad Tral Be subject to the Bishop saith the good Father as unto the Lord and to the Presbyters as to Christs Apostles Vedelius hereupon observes that the Presbyters are the proper successors of the Apostles Vedel Annotat in Ep. ad Trallian c. 3. contrary unto that of Bellarmine who makes them as he saith to succeed the seventy In which Vedelius doth the Bishops a far greater courtesie than I believe he did intend them making the disproportion more considerable between the Bishop and his Presbyters than any Champion of the Prelacy had done before him For if Vedelius may infer from our Authors words that the Presbyters are successors unto the Apostles we may as well infer from the self same grounds that Bishops are the successors of Christ our Saviour The like obedience to the Bishop he presseth in another place of the same Epistle ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Reverence your Bishop as you would do Christ as the Apostles have commanded Ignat. ibid. And then he gives this reason of it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for what else is the Bishop but one superiour unto all in place and Power what else the Presbytery but an holy Company the Counsellers and Assessors of the Bishop In which we have as great a difference betwixt a Bishop and his Presbyters as is between a Prince and his Privy Council In that to the Magnesians thus Id. ad Magn. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. It becomes you to obey your Bishop not being refractory against him in any thing for a most terrible thing it is to contradict him and oppose him in that the contumely or reproach doth redound to God In his third Epistle Id. ad Philad that to the Philadelphians he writeth thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Priests are good and so are the Deacons as being Ministers of the Word but better or more excellent is the Chief Priest as being only trusted with the Holy of Holies and the secrets of God Id. ad Smyrn The like occurs in that to those of Smyrna ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. Honour God as the Author and Lord of all things and your Bishop as the chief Priest bearing the Image of God that is to say of God as he is chief and of Christ as Priest And though Vedelius brands this last as supposititious Vedel in marg Ep. ad Philad and in the former by chief Priest will have our Saviour meant and not the Bishop yet he that looks upon the place without prejudice Id. in exercit n. Ep. ad Smyrnens cap. 18. will easily discern the contrary the comparison which there Ignatius maketh being between the Ministers of the Church with one another and not between the Ministers and the Master betwixt them and Christ with whom it were both impious and absurd to make comparisons It were an endless piece of work to instance in all those several places wherein the superiority of Bishops over all the flock is pleaded and declared by this blessed Martyr I therefore shut up all with this Conclusion Ignat. Ep. ad Smyrnens ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let the Lay-people be subject to the Deacons the Deacons to the Presbyters the Presbyters unto the Bishop and the Bishop unto Christ as he to his Father An heavenly and Divine subordination Not one of all the ancient Fathers that speaks more clearly and distinctly of the Degrees and Orders in the Hierarchy than this blessed Martyr assigning unto every one his due place and station If in one place he calls the Presbyters by the name of Bishops as writing unto Hero one of the Deacons of the Church of Antioch it is plain he doth it was at such time and on such occasion when he himself being the Bishop of that place was ravished from them and the chief Government thereof was to them committed as in the times of vacancy or absence it hath since been done which gave them the authority of Bishops though not the Order For point of Jurisdiction next he gives us first this charge in general It is expedient saith he that whatsoever things you do ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã do it not without your Bishop that is to say as he expounds himself in another place Id. ad Smyrn ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã nothing that appertains unto the Church or concerns Religion And this he grounds on the obedience of our Saviour Christ Id. ad Magnes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who doth not any thing without his Father resolving finally that they who give unto their Governour the name of Bishop Id. ibid. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and yet do what they list without him do in effect as those did unto Christ our Saviour who said unto him Lord Lord and yet did nothing which he said As for particulars he would have those which marry or are given in marriage Id. in Epist ad Polycar ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to take the Bishop along with them that so their marriage may be made according unto Gods Commandment and not for wantonness The Eucharist he would not have performed but by the Bishop either by him in person or by his authority nor Baptism to be administred without his licence and permission This last expresly in his 4th Epistle being that unto the Church of Smyrna Id. ad Smyrn It is not lawful without the Bishop ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã either to baptize or present Oblations or celebrate the sacrifice of the blessed Eucharist or solemnize the Love feasts but all things to be done agreeably unto his direction according to the will and pleasure of Almighty God In which as to the Sacrament of Baptism Tertul. lib. de Baptismo Tertullian also doth concur as we shall see hereafter in its proper place And for the celebrating of the Eucharist by himself in person and the assembling of the people upon his appointment the same good Father gives it thus Ignat. Ep. ad Smyrnens ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Let that administration of the Eucharist be held good and valid which is done by the Bishop or such as he permits to do it And where the Bishop shall appear there let the Congregation be assembled as where Christ is there all the Hosts of Heaven do stand round about him Those that assemble otherwise than thus and do not take the Bishop
of his time it is clear and evident that Bishops had been setled even in those early days in many Cities wherein we do not find that any had been formerly ordained by the Apostles But how they were so setled and by whose authority hath in these later days been made a question Our Masters in the Church of Rome appropriate the power of instituting and erecting new Episcopal Sees to their Bishop only as being the only universal and supream Pastor of the Church Bellarmine hath resolved it so in terms express Bellarm. de Rom. pont l. 2. c. 12. Apostolorum proprium erat It properly pertained saith he to the Apostles to constitute Churches and propagate the Gospel in those Churches wherein it never had been Preached So far unquestionably true but what followeth after Et hoc ad Romanum Pontificem pertinere ratio experientia ipsa nos docet And that this doth belong to the Popes of Rome both reason and experience teach us Belong it doth indeed to the Popes of Rome so far we dare joyn issue with him but that it doth belong to the Pope alone and not to any other Bishops but by his sufferance and authority which is the matter to be proved that there is neither reason nor example for No reason certainly for if this did belong to all the Apostles as Bellarmine affirms it did then other Bishops which derive their pedigree from Andrew James John Paul or any other of the Apostles have as much interest herein as the Popes of Rome who challenge their descent from Peter And for Examples if they go by that they have a very desperate cause to manage 'T is true indeed that Clemens one of the first Bishops of the Church of Rome Ino Carnotens in Chron. M.S. citat à Patr. Junio did ordain several Bishops in his time and placed them in the chief Cities of those parts of Gallia which lay near unto him as viz. Photinus at Lions Paul at Narbon Gratian at Tours others in other places also as Ino Carnotensis hath reported of him But then it is as true withal that other Bishops did the like in their times and places Christianity and Episcopacy had not else in so short a time been propagated over all the World if those which dwelt far off and remote from Rome could not have setled and ordained Bishops in convenient places without running thither or having a Commission thence And though we have no precedent hereof in the present age yet we may see by the continual practice in the ages following that Bishops were first propagated over all the Churches by the assistance of such neighbour Churches in whom there had been Bishops instituted either by the Apostles and Evangelists themselves or by their Successors Frumentius being in some hope of gaining the Indians beyond Ganges to the faith of Christ was made a Bishop for that purpose ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Socrat. Eccles hist lib. 1. c. 15. as the story hath it not by the Pope of Rome nor with his privity or consent that we can hear of but by Atbanasius the great and famous Patriarch of Alexandria Theodoret. hist Eccles l. 5. c. 4. And when Eusebius Samosatanus had a mind for the suppressing of the growth of Arianism to erect Dolicha ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as my Author calls it a small City but greatly pestred with that Heresie into an Episcopal See we find not that he sent to Rome for a Commission but actually ordained Maris Bishop of the place and went himself to see him inthronized in the same So in like manner Saint Basil ordained Gregory Nazianzen Bishop of Sasima making that Town a Bishops See which before was none Gregor Presb. in vita Nazian and thereupon Gregorius Presbyter writing the life of Nazianzen calls it very properly ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a Bishoprick or Episcopal See of a new foundation And thus Saint Austin also in the age succeeding erected an Episcopal See in Fussata a City or walled Town in his own Diocess of Hippo making one Antonius the first Bishop there August Epist Bellarm. de Ecc. lib. 4. c. 8. the Primate of Numidia returning with him in the Ordination Nor did they this as fain the Cardinal would have it à sede Apostolica facultatem habentes by force of any faculty procured from Rome which is gratis dictum but by their own proper and innate authority as they were trusted with the Government of the Church of Christ So then the Bishops only of the Church of Rome had not the sole authority of instituting Bishops where none were before That 's a dream only of the Pontifician Authority they had to do it as had others also and hereof doth occur a notable and signal evidence in this present Age viz. the setling of the Church of Britain and planting Bishops in the same by Pope Eleutherius Damas in vita Eleuther apud Bin. in Concil Tom. 1. Of him it is affirmed in the Pontifical ascribed to Damasus who lived about the year 370. accepisse Epistolam à Lucio Britannico Rege ut Christianus efficeretur per ejus mandatum that he received an Epistle from Lucius a British King desiring that by his authority he might be made a Christian Our venerable Bede a right ancient Writer thus reports the story Anno ab incarnatione Domini 156 Beda hist Eccl. lib. 1. c. 4. c. In the 156 year after Christs Nativity Marcus Antonius Verus together with Aurelius Commodus his brother did in the fourteenth place from Augustus Caesar undertake the Government of the Empire In whose times when as Eleutherius a godly man was Bishop of the Church of Rome Lucius King of the Britains sent unto him obsecrans ut per ejus mandatum Christianus efficeretur intreating by his means to be made a Christian whose vertuous desire herein was granted and the faith of Christ being thus received by the Britains was by them kept inviolate and undefiled until the times of Dioclesian Wherein as I submit to Beda as to the substance of the story so I crave leave to differ from him as to the matter of Chronologie For by this reckoning Eleutherius must attain the Popedom Anno 167. as Beda elsewhere doth compute it Beda in histor Epitom which is ten years at least before the time assigned him by most other Writers And therefore I shall rather chuse to follow the commonly received account by which the said two Emperours are brought upon the Government of the Roman Empire Anno 161. and the attaining of the Popedom by this Eleutherius is placed in the 17th year of Mareus Anno 177. Lucius Aurelius Commodus being dead before But in this Controversie as it belongeth to Chronology I shall not meddle at the present It is enough that the planting of the Gospel amongst the Britains was as the greatest so the first action of this Pope done by him as we read in Platina
some of these viz. the second and the three last there is good constat in Antiquity whether there be the like of all the residue I am not able to determine So for the Bishops or Arch-bishops of York of the British line besides Faganus the first Arch-bishop of this See as before was said and besides Eborius formerly remembred amongst the Subscribers to the Council of Arles Godw. in Archiep Ehoracen our Stories tell us of one Sampson said to be made the Bishop of the place in the time of Lucius Galfrid Monumet hist l. 9. c. 8. of one Pyramus preferred unto this honour by King Arthur whose domestick Chaplain he then was and finally of Tadiacus who together with Theonus the last Bishop of London of this line or Race fled into Wales the better to avoid the tyranny of the Saxons Math. westmon Matth. Florilegus in An. 586. Liber Eccles Landavens who then made havock of the Church And for the Bishops or Arch-bishops of Caerleon upon Vsk which was the third Metropolitical City in the account and estimate of those times we have assurance of Dubritius a right godly man ordained Bishop of the same by Germanus and Lupus two French Prelates at such time as they came to Britain for the suppressing of the Pelagian Heresie whose Successours we have upon Record under the Title of Llandaffe to this very day That Gloucester also in those times was a Bishops See besides what did appear before is affirmed by Cambden Cambden in dedescript Brit. in Dobunis who tells us that the Bishops of the same occur in the subscriptions to some ancient Councils under the name of Cluvienses for by the name of Clevum or Caer-Glowy was it called of old But not to wander into more particulars either Sees or Bishops Athanas Apo. 2. in initio we find in Athanasius that in the Council of Sardica holden in Anno 358. some of the British Bishops were assembled amongst the rest concurring with them in the condemnation of the Arian Heresies As also that in the Council of Ariminum Sulpit. Severus in hist sacr l. 2. held the next year after the British Bishops were there present three of the which were so necessitous and poor that they were fain to be maintained at the publick charge Sanctius putantes fiscum gravare quà m singulos thinking it far more commendably honest to be defraied out of the Exchequer than to be burdensom unto their Friends And when Pope Gregory sent Austin hither for the conversion of the Saxons Beda Ecc. hist l. 2. cap. 2. he found no fewer than seven Bishops in the British Churches viz. Herefordensis Tavensis Paternensis Banchorensis Elwiensis Wiccensis and Morganensis or rather Menevensis as Balaeus counts them Balaeus Cent. 1. c. 70. All of which that of Paternensis excepted only do still remain amongst us under other names Now if I should be asked whom I conceive to have been the Primate of the British Church during the time it flourished and stood upright neither oppressed by the tyranny of Dioclesian nor in a sort exterminated by the Saxons fury I answer that it is most likely to be the Metropolitan or Arch-bishop of York And this I do upon these reasons Tacit. Annal. lib. 14. For first however it appears by Tacitus that London was a Town of the greatest Trade copia negotiorum commeatuum maxime celebris as that Author hath it Id. ibid. yet neither was it ever made a Roman Colony nor made the seat at any time of the Roman Emperours But on the other side York was a Colony of the Romans even of long continuance as appears not only by the testimony of Ptolomy and Antoninus Cambden in Brit. descript but by this ancient inscription vouched by Mr. Cambden and by an old Coin of Severus the Roman Emperour bearing this inscription COL EBORACUM LEG VI. VICTRIX And as it was a Colony of the Roman people so was it also for a time the seat of the Roman Emperours For here the Emperour Severus before remembred yielded up his Soul and here Constantius Chlorus deceased also Id. ibid. having both kept their seat there a good time before here Constantine the great advancer of the Faith and Gospel Id. ibid. was first brought forth into the World and here did he first take upon him together with the name of Caesar the Government of that part of the Roman Empire which had belonged unto his Father So that Eboracum or York being the ancient seat of the Roman Emperours what time they pleased to be resident in the Isle of Britain was questionless the seat of their Vicarii or Lieutenants General when they were absent from the same and so by consequence the seat of the British Primate according to the Rules and Platform before laid down Add here that for the time the Romans held this Island in their possession they setled their Praetorium for the administration of Justice in the City of York drawing thither the resort of all the subjects which had any business of that kind for dispatch thereof in which regard it is called by Spartianus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Spartian in vita Severi the City as by way of excellence Veniens in Civitatem primùm in templum Bellonae ductus est speaking of the entrance which Severus made into the City of York But that which most of all confirms me is the subscription of the British Bishops to the Council of Arles as it is published amongst the Gallick Councils by Sirmundus thus Eborius Episcopus de Civitate Eboracensi Provincia Britannia Restitutus Episcopus de civitate Londinensi Provincia supradicta Adelphius Episcopus de civitate Colonia Londinensium exinde Sacerdos Presbyter Arminius Diaconus By which subscription it is plain that the Bishop or Archbishop of York having place of London was Primate of the British Church there being otherwise no reason why he should have precedence in the Subscription And so much for the setling of Episcopacy in the Church of Britain at this reception of the Gospel from the See of Rome being the first time that the Faith of Christ was publickly received and countenanced not in this Island only but any other part of the World whatever All which I have laid down together that I might keep my self the closer to my other businesses to which now I hasten CHAP. III. The Testimony given unto Episcopal Authority in the last part of this second Century 1. The difference betwixt Pope Victor and the Asian Bishops about the feast of Easter 2. The interpleading of Polycrates and Irenaeus two renowned Prelates in the aforesaid cause 3. Several Councils called about it by the Bishops of the Church then being with observations on the same 4. Of the Episcopal succession in the four prime Sees for this second Century 5. An Answer to some Objections made against the same 6. The great authority and esteem of the said
four Sees in those early days 7. The use made of this Episcopal succession by Saint Irenaeus 8. As also by Tertullian and some other Ancients 9. Of the Authority enjoyed by Bishops in Tertullians time in the administration of the Sacraments 10. As also in enjoyning Fasts and the disposing of the Churches Treasury 11. And in the dispensation of the Keys 12. Tertullian misalledged in maintenance of the Lay-Presbytery 13. The great extent of Christianity and Episcopacy in Tertullians time concludes this Century HAVING thus setled the affairs of the Church of Britain we will look back again towards Rome where we find Victor sitting as successor unto Eleutherius and the whole Church though free from persecutions yet terribly embroyled with Schisms and Heresies For in the later end of Eleutherius Blastus and Florinus two notorious Hereticks had broached this doctrine ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Euseb Eccl. hist l. 5. c. 19. that God was the author of sin and possibly might have spread the venom of their Heresie exceeding far if Irenaeus that great and learned Bishop of Lyons being then at Rome had not prescribed a speedy and a sovereign Antidote in several Tractates and Discourses against the same But Eleutherius being dead and Victor in his place there hapned such a Schism in the Church of Christ by his precipitance and perversness that all the water which Irenaeus and many other godly men could pour into it Id. l. 5. c. 23. 24. was hardly sufficient to quench the flame The business which occasioned it was the feast of Easter or indeed not the Feast it self upon the keeping of the which all Christians had agreed from the first beginnings but for the day in which it was to be observed wherein the Churches of Asia had an old Tradition differing from the rest of Christendom For whereas generally that festival had been solemnized in the Church of Christ on the Lords Day next after the Jewish Passeover as being the day which our Redeemer honoured with his Resurrection the Christians of the Asian Churches kept it upon the 14th day of the month precisely being the very day prescribed for the Jewish Passeover A business of no great importance more than for a general conformity in the Church of Christ yet such as long had exercised the patience of it even from the time of Pius Pope of Rome who first decreed it to be kept on the Lords Day Die Dominico Pascha celebrari as it is in Platina Platina in vita Pii Pont. Euscb Ecc. hist l. 5. c. 24. but followed with most heat and violence by this Victor perhaps upon the Omen of his name Of whom Eusebius thus reporteth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. that he attempted to cut off the whole Church of Asia together with the Churches adjacent from the Communion of the Catholick ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as if they had maintained some heterodox or dangerous Doctrine contrary to the Faith of Christ A matter taken very tenderly not only by the Asian Bishops whom it most concerned but also by some other of the Western parts who more endeavoured the preservation of the Churches peace than the advancement and authority of the See of Rome those of chief note which interessed themselves therein being Irenaeus Polycrates the one Bishop of the Metropolitan Church of Lyons in France the other of the Church of Ephesus the Queen of Asia both honourable in their times and places And first Polycrates begins deriving the occasion and descent of their observation from Philip ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. ibid. one of the twelve Apostles not of the seven Deacons as our Christopherson most ridiculously and falsly doth translate it who died at Hierapolis a City of Phrygia and from Saint John ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who rested on the bosom of our Lord and Saviour as also from Polycarpus and Thracias Bishops of Smyrna and both Martyrs Sagaris B. of Laodicea Papyrus and Melito and many others who kept the feast of Easter as the Asians did As for himself he certifieth that following the Traditions of his Elders he had done the like that seven of his kindred had been Bishops ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã himself being the eighth and all which did so observe the feast of Easter when the Jews did prepare the Passeover that having served God 65 years diligently canvassed over the holy Scriptures and held both intercourse and correspondence with many of the brethren over all the World ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he was the least disturbed at those Bruta fulmina Adding withal that he might here commemorate those several Bishops that were assembled at his call to debate the point ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but that this bare retital of their names was too great a trouble who though they could not but be sensible of his imperfections yet thinking that he bare not those gray hairs for nought did willingly subscribe unto his Epistle So far Id. ibid. c. 24. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and to this purpose he And on the other side Irenaeus writing unto Victor utterly dislikes that his severe and rigid manner of proceeding in cutting off so many Churches from the Communion of our Lord ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã only because they did adhere to the Tradition of their Ancestors in a point of Ceremony shewing how much he differed in this business from the temper and moderation of his Predecessours Soter Anicetus Pius Higinus Sixtus and Telesphorus who though they held the same opinions that he did did notwithstanding entertain the Asian Bishops when they came unto them with great affection and humanity sending to those who lived far distant the most blessed Eucharist in testimony of their fellowship and Communion with them Nor did he write thus unto Victor only ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but to the Governours or Bishops of many other Churches also And certainly it was but need that such a Moderator should be raised to atone the difference the billows beating very highly and Victor being beset on every side for his stiff perversness by the Prelates of the adverse party ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã sharply assaulting him both with words and Writings For the composing of this business before it grew to such a heat there could no better means be thought of than that the Bishops of the Church in their several quarters should meet together to debate and determine of it And so accordingly they did Euseb hist Eccl. l. 5. c. 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and many Synods and assemblies of the Bishops were held about it viz. one in Caesarea of Palestine wherein Theophilus B. of the place and Narcissus B. of Hierusalem did sit as Presidents another at Rome a third of all the Bishops of Pontus in the which Palmas ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as the chief amongst them of that Order did then preside A fourth there was of the French or Gallick Churches in the which Irenaeus sat
Tertul. lib. de jejuniis c. 13. That Bishops use to impose Fasts upon the people is not done of purpose for lucre or the Alms then given but out of a regard of the Churches welfare or the sollicitousness which they have thereof Wherein as he removes a cavil which as it seems was cast upon the Church about the calling of those Fasts so plainly he ascribes the calling of them to the Bishop only according unto whose appointment in unum omnes ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã agitabant they met together for the humbling of themselves before God the Lord. So for disposing of the Churches Treasure for Menstrua quaque die modicam quisque stipem vel quam velit Id. in Apol. c. every month the people used to bring their Offerings as we call them now every man as he would and could that also appertained unto the Bishop Which as it was distributed most commonly amongst the Clergy for their present maintenance so was it in the Bishops power to bestow part thereof upon other uses as in relief of Widows and poor Virgins which appears plainly in that place and passage of Tertullian Tertul. de Virg. veland cap. 9. in his book de Virginibus velandis where speaking of a Virgin which contrary to the custom of the Church had been admitted into the rank of Widows he adds cui si quid refrigerii debuerat Episcopus that if the Bishop did intend to allow her any thing towards her relief and maintenance he might have done it without trespassing on the Churches discipline and setting up so strange a Monster as a Virgin-Widow And this is that which after was confirmed in the Council of Antioch Conc. Antioch Can. 25. where it is said ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that the Bishop ought to have authority in the disposing of the things or goods that appertained unto the Church ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that so he might dispose them unto such as stood in need in the fear of God Finally for the reconciling of a Penitent to the Church of God in the remitting of his sins Tertul. de pudicitia cap. 18. and bringing of him back to the fold again that in Tertullians time was a Peculiar of the Bishop also For speaking of Repentance after Faith received de poenitentia post fidem as he calls it he is content to give this efficacy thereunto though otherwise he held being then a Montanist that heinous Sinners after Grace received were not to be admitted to Repentance I say he is content to give this efficacy thereunto that for smaller sins it may obtain pardon or remission from the Bishop for greater and unpardonable from God alone But take his own words with you for the greater surety and his words are these viz. Salva illa poenitentiae specie post fidem quae aut levioribus delictis veniam ab Episcopo consequi potest aut majoribus irremissibilibus à Deo solo Pamel Annot. praedict lib. 159. In which Pamelius seems to wonder at his moderation as being of a better temper in this point than was Montanus into whose Sect he now was fallen who would have no man to make confession of his sins to any other than to God and seek for reconciliation from no hands but from his alone And in another place of the same book also Tertul. lib. de Pudicit cap. 1. although he seem to jeer and deride the usage he granteth that the Bishops of the Christian Church did usually remit even the greatest fins upon the performance of the Penance formerly enjoyned For thus he bringeth in the Bishop whom in the way of scorn he calleth Pontifex Maximus and Episcopus Episcoporum proclaiming as it were a general Pardon to such as had performed their Penance Ego moechiae fornicationis delicta poenitenti functis dimitto that he remitted to all such even the sins of Fornication and Adultery Which words of his declare not more his Errour than the Bishops Power in this particular What interest the Presbyters of the Church did either challenge or enjoy in this weighty business of reconciling Penitents to the Lord their God we shall see hereafter when as the same began to be in practice and was by them put in execution Mean time I take it for a manifest and undoubted Truth that properly originally and in chief it did belong unto the Bishop both to enjoyn Penance and admit the Penitent and not to the inferiour Presbyters but as they had authority by and under him Which lest I may be thought to affirm at random let us behold the manner of this Reconciliation as layed down by Sozomen Sozomen Eccl. hist l. 7. c. 16. not as relating to his own times but to the times whereof we speak ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã c. They stand saith he in an appointed place sorrowful and lamented and when the Eucharist is ended whereof they are not suffered to be partakers they cast themselves with grief and lamentation flat upon the ground ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã The Bishop then approaching towards him kneeleth also by him on the ground and all the multitude also do the like with great grief and ejulation ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã This done the Bishop riseth first and gently raiseth up the prostrate Penitent and having prayed for those that are thus in the state of Penance as much as he thinks fit and requisite they are dismissed for the present And being thus dismissed every man privately at home doth afflict himself either by fasting or by abstinence from Meats and Bathes for a certain time ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as long as by the Bishop is enjoyned him Which time appointed being come and his Penance in this sort performed he is absolved from his sins sins ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and joyned again unto the residue of the Congregation And this saith he hath been the custom of the Western Church and especially of the Church of Rome ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from the very first beginning to this present time So that both in the City of Rome in which Tertullian sometimes lived and in the Western Church whereof he was a member being a Presbyter of Carthage and in the times in which he flourished for thus it was from the beginning the Bishop regularly had the power both of enjoyning Penance and reconciling of the Penitent as it still continueth Nor doth that passage in Tertullian any way cross the point delivered where speaking of the several acts of humiliation which were to be performed by the Penitent before he could be reconciled to the Church of God Tertul. lib. de Poenitent c. 9. he reckoneth these amongst the rest Presbyteris advolvi aris or caris Dei adgeniculari for whether of the two it is adbuc sub Judice omnibus fratribus legationes deprecationis suae injungere to cast themselves before the Presbyters to kneel before the Altars or the Saints of God to entreat the Prayers
The like he also proves by the electing of Matthias Bishop in the place of Judas which was performed in medio Discentium in the middest of the Disciples and in the chusing of the seven done in the face of all the People This is the sum of what is there delivered by St. Cyprian and out of this I find three Corollaries or Conclusions gathered Smectymn p. 34. First that the special Power of judging of the worthiness and unworthiness of a man for the Prelacy was in the brest of the People Secondly The special Power of chusing or rejecting to his place according as they judged him worthy or unworthy resided in the People Thirdly That this power did descend upon the People de Divina Autoritate by Divine authority These are the points collected from St. Cyprians words which with the words themselves out of the which they are collected are to be taken into consideration because the weight of all this business doth rest upon them And first as for St. Cyprians words there is no such command of God touching Eleazar Pamel Annot. in Cypr. fol. 68. in any Bibles now remaining as is there laid down which thing Pamelius well observed And more than so the Text of Scripture now remaining is contrary to that which is there alledged God willing or commanding Moses to bring Aaron and Eleazar his son up into Mount Hor whither the people neither did nor might ascend Government of the Church c. 15. Numb 20.27 c. as it is well observed by our learned Bilson So that Eleazar not being chosen by the People but by God immediatly and his Ordination solemnized on the top of the Mount Moses and Aaron being only at the doing of it this can be no good Argument that the Election of the Prelate doth specially pertain unto the People And therefore it is very probable that Cyprian met with some corrupted Copy of the Book of God or else that we have none but corrupted Copies of the books of Cyprian As for the Election of Matthias Acts 1.15 though it was done in medio Discentium in the presence of the Disciples as the Scripture tells us yet surely the Disciples had no hand in the Hection the calling of an Apostle being too high a work for any of the sons of men to aspire unto ibid. ver 24. peculiar only to the Lord our God to whom the choice is also attributed in holy Scripture As for the Seven being they were to be the Stewards of the People in the disposing of their goods for the common benefit of the Church as before was noted good reason that the Election should be made by them whose goods and fortunes were to be disposed of So that there is no Law of God no Divine Ordinance of his expressed in Scripture by which the People are entituled either unto a special power of chusing their Bishops or to a necessary presence of the action though there be many good and weighty reasons which might induce the Fathers in the Primitive times not only to require their presence but sometimes also to crave their approbation and consent in the Elections of the Prelate Now for the presence of the People that seemeth to be required on this reason chiefly that their testimony should be had touching the life and behaviour of the party that was to be Ordained lest a wicked and unworthy person should get by stealth into the function of a Bishop it being required of a Bishop by St. Paul amongst other things that he must have a good report And who more able to make this report than the People are 1 Tim. 3. quae plebs viz. singulorum vitam plenissime novit who being naturally inquisitive Cypr. Epi. 68. know each mans life and hath had experience of his Conversation And as for their consent there wanted not some reasons why it was required especially before the Church was setled in a constant maintenance and under the protection and defence of a Christian Magistrate For certainly as our Reverend Bilson well observeth Bilson's perpetual Government c. 15. the People did more willingly maintain more quietly receive more diligently hear and more heartily love their Bishops when their desires were satisfied in the choice though merely formal of the man than when he was imposed upon them or that their fancies and affections had been crossed therein But yet I cannot find upon good authority that the special power of chusing or rejecting did reside in them though indeed somewhat did depend upon their approbation of the party and this no otherwise than according to the custom of particular Churches In Africk as it seems the use was this that on the death or deposition of a Bishop Cypr. Ep. 68. Episcopi ejusdem Provinciae quique proximi conveniant the neighbouring Bishops of the Province did meet together and repair unto that People who were to be provided of a Pastor that so he might be chosen praesente Plebe the People being present at the doing of it and certifying what they knew of his Conversation And this appears to be the general usage per Provincias fere universas through almost all parts of Christendom Where plainly the Election of the new Prelate resided in the Bishops of the same Province so convened together and if upon examination of his life and actions there was no just exception laid against him manus ei imponebatur he was forthwith ordained Bishop and put into possession of his place and Office But it was otherwise for a long while together in the great Patriarchal Church of Alexandria in which the Presbyters had the Election of their Bishop Presbyteri unum ex se Electum as St. Hierom noteth Hieron ad Euagrium the Presbyters of that Church did chuse their Bishop from amongst themselves no care being had for ought appeareth in the Father either unto the Peoples consent or presence And this continued till the time of Heraclas and Dionysius as he there informeth us of whom we shall speak more hereafter But whatsoever interest either the Clergy in the one Church or the People challenged in the other there is remaining still a possession of it in the Church of England the Chapter of the Cathedral or Mother-Church making the Election in the name of the Clergy the King as Caput Reipublicae the head and heart also of his people designing or commending a man unto them and freedom left unto the People to be present if they will at his Election and to except against the man as also at his Confirmation if there be any legal and just exception to be laid against him Next for the Ordination of the Presbyters it was St. Cyprians usual custom to take the approbation of the People along with him as he himself doth inform us in an Epistle of his to his charge at Carthage inscribed unto the Presbyters and Deacons and the whole body of the people In ordinandis clericis
posset de illo statim vindicari by vigour of his Episcopal function and the Authority of his Chair he had power enough to be straightway avenged of him for the same Yet being the matter was referred unto him he declares his thoughts that if the Deacon whom he writ of would repent his folly and give some humble satisfaction to the offended Bishop he might not do amiss to remit the fault But if he did provoke him further by his perverse and petulant behaviour fungeris circa eum potestate honoris tui ut eum vel deponas vel abstineas he should exercise the authority of his place or honour and either degrade or excommunicate him as he saw occasion Here was no sending to the Clergy to have their advice no offering of the matter unto their better consideration but all referred unto the Bishop to do therein as unto him seemed best of his own authority So that both Cyprian and other Bishops both might and did and durst do many things without advising with the Clergy contrary to what some have told us And this they might do well enough without dread or fear Smectymn sect 9. p. 38. Ibid. that any of their Sentences might be made irrita or void by the fourth Council of Carthage which was not held until 130 years and upwards after Cyprian's death And for the interest of the People in these publick Censures I find them not at all considered but where the crime was hainous and the Church scandalized by the sins and lewdness of the party punished In which case there was such regard had of them that the Sentence was published in facie Ecclesiae in the full Congregation of Gods people And that as well that they might the more heartily detest such scandalous and sinful courses as that they might eschew his company and conversation as they would do the company of an Heathen or of a Publican Tunc se ab ejus conjunctione salubriter continet Aug. cont Ep. Parmen lib. 3. cap. 2. ut nec cibum quisquam cum eo sumat not one of them so much as eating with the man who is so accursed Which as they are St. Austins words so by the tenor of the place they seem to intimate St. Cyprians practice So that if Excommunications had not passed in former times Smectymn p. 40. without the knowledge and approbation of the body of the Church to which the delinquent did belong as some men suppose it was upon this reason only as themselves affirm because the people were to forbear Communion with such And being that in the Church of England the Excommunication of notorious sinners is publickly presented unto the knowledg of the People for that very reason because they should avoid the company of Excommunicated persons I see not any thing in this particular I mean as to the publication of the Sentence in which the Church of England differs from the Primitive and ancient practice And did our Bishops keep the power of Excommunicating to themselves alone and not devolve it upon others they did not any thing herein but what was practised by Saint Cyprian For Reconciling of the Penitent which naturally and of course is to come after Excommunication I find indeed that many times St. Cyprian took along with him the counsel and consent both of his Presbyters and People And certainly it stood with reason that it should so be that as the whole Church had been scandalized at the heinousness of the offence so the whole Church also should have satisfaction in the sincerity of the Repentance Many and several are the passages in this Fathers Writings which do clearly prove it none more exactly than that in his Epistle to Cornelius where wishing that he were in presence when perverse persons did return from their sins and follies Videres quis mihi labor sit persuadere patientiam fratribus nostris Cypr. Ep. 55. you would then see saith he what pains I take to persuade our brethren that suppressing their just grief of heart recipiendis malis curandisque consentiant they would consent to the receiving and the curing consequently of such evil members Yet did he not so tie himself to this observance but that sometimes according as he saw occasion unus atque alius obnitente plebe contradicente mea tamen facilitute suscepti sunt some though not many had been reconciled and reimbosomed with the Church not only without the Peoples knowledg but against their wills So that the interesse which the People had in these relaxations of Ecclesiastical Censures were not belonging to them as in point of right but only in the way of contentation The leading voice was always in the Bishop and so the negative voice was also when it came to that He was to give his fiat first before the Clergy had any thing to do therein St. Cyprian telling of himself Id. Ibid. quam prompta plena dilectione that he received such Penitents as came unto him with such affection and facility that by his over-much indulgence to them pene ipse delinque he was even culpable himself And if it were no otherwise in his time with the Church of Carthage in this case there it appears to be in the third Council there assembled the Bishop had not only the leading voice but the directing and disposing power Concil Car. III. cap. 32. a negative voice into the bargain For there it is ordained Vt Presbyter Episcopo inconsulto non reconciliet Poenitentem that the Presbyters were not to reconcile a Penitent unless it were in the Bishops absence or in a case of urgent and extream necessity as in point of death it being there declared withal that it belonged unto the Bishop Ibid. c. 31. poenitentiae tempora designare to appoint the time and the continuance of the Penance as he saw occasion And this to be the practice of S. Cyprians time is most clear and evident by the displeasure he conceived against some Presbyters who had admitted men which before were lapsed without leave from him to the blessed Sacrament Cypr. Ep. 10. A matter which he aggravates to the very height charging them that neither mindful of the Gospel nor their own place and station nor of the future day of Judgment nor of the authority of him their Bishop they had admitted such as fell in time of persecution to the Churches Sacraments not being by him authorized so to do And this he saith was sure an insolency quod nunquam omnino sub Antecessoribus factum which never had been done in any of his Predecessors times and being now done cum contumelia contemptu Praepositi was done in manifest contempt and reproach of their Bishop threatning withal that if they did persist in these wilful courses he would make use of that authority qua me uti Dominus jubet which God had given him for that purpose viz. suspend them from their Ministery and bring them
But for this School of Alexandria the first Professor there which occurs by name Id. ibid. is said to be Pantaenus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a man renowned in all parts of Learning first a Philosopher of the Sect of Stoicks and afterwards a famous Christian Doctor A man so zealously affected to the Gospel of Christ that for the propagating of the same he made a journey to the Indies and after his return he took upon him the Professorship in the School aforesaid ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã opening the treasures of Salvation both by word and writing Id. l. 5. c. 11. And I the rather instance in him because that under him Clemens of Alexandria learned his first Principles of Religion and after him succeeded in his Chair or Office who being by birth of Athens and of the same family with the former Clemens the fourth Bishop of Rome upon his coming and abode at Alexandria gained the surname or additament of Alexandrinus Now that Clemens was Divinity-reader in the School of Alexandria Id. l. 6. c. 5. is said expresly by Eusebius where he affirmeth also ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that Origen was one of his Disciples Who after coming to the place himself Id. li. 6. cap. 12. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was followed in the same by Heraclas and Dionysius successively both of them Scholars in the School of Origen both severally and successively Readers or Doctors in the same and both first Heraclas Dionysius next Bishops or Patriarchs of Alexandria So that within the space of half an hundred years this School thus founded or at the least advanced in reputation by Pantaenus brought forth the said four famous Doctors Clemens and Origen Heraclas and Dionysius all of them in their times men of great renown and the lights and glory of their Age. And though I might relate the names of many other men of fame and credit who had their breeding in these Schools did it concern the business which I have in hand yet I shall instance in no more but these and these it did concern me to make instance of because their Acts and Writings are the special subject of all that is to come in this present Chapter and were indeed the greatest business of that Age. And first for Clemens not to take notice of those many Books which were written by him a Catalogue whereof Eusebius gives us and from him St. Hierom Euseb hist Ecc. l. 6. c. 11. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã those which concern us most were his eight books inscribed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which are now not extant and those entituled ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which are still remaining In the first eight he tells us in the way of story that Peter James and John after Christs Ascension Id. l. 2. c. 2. how high soever in the favour of their Lord and Master contended not amongst themselves for the place and honour ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but made choice of James surnamed the Just to be the Bishop of Hierusalem that Peter on perusal of the Gospel writ by Mark ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. ib. c. 14. confirm'd the same by his authority for the advancement of the Church that James ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. Ibid. cap. 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to whom the Bishoprick of Hierusalem had been committed by the Apostles was by the malice of the Jews done to a cruel death that John the Apostle after Domitian's death Id. l. 3. c. 17. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã returned to Ephesus from Patmos and going at the intreaty of his friends to the neighbour Nations ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in some parts he ordained Bishops in others planted or established Churches in others by the guidance of the holy Spirit electing fit men for the Clergy telling withal the story of a certain Bishop to whom the said Apostle did commit a young man to be trained up All which he might affirm with the greater confidence because he tells us of himself Id. l. 6. cap. 11. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that he lived very near the Apostles times and so might have the better light to discern their actions And for the other eight remaining although there is but little in them which concerns this Subject the Argument of which he writeth not having any thing to do therewith yet in that little we have mention of the several Orders of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons in the Churchof God And first for Bishops speaking of the domestick Ministeries that belong to marriage he shews that by the Apostles Rule Clement Alexand Stroma lib. 3. such Bishops are to be appointed for the Church of God ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as by the orderly government of their private families may be conceived most fit and likely to have a care unto the Church Where clearly by his ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he means not Presbyters as the Apostle is conceived to mean in his Epistle to Timothy For howsoever the Presbyters might be trusted with the charge of a particular Congregation yet had they never the inspection the care or governance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of a whole Church or many Churches joyned together as the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã may be rendred That was the privilege and power of Bishops So for the two inferiour Orders we find them in another place Id. ibid. li. 7. where he divides such things as concern this life into ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã matters of improvement and advantage and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã subservient only thereunto then adds that in the Church of God the Deacons exercise the subservient Offices ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but that the Presbyters attend those others which conduce to our amendment or improvement in the way of godliness Out of which words if any man can gather that judging of the conversation or crimes of any members of the Church that discipline which worketh emendation in men is in the power of the Elders Smectymn p. 38. as I see some do he must needs have a better faculty of extraction than the best Chymist that I know of In all that place of Clemens not a word of Judging nor so much as a syllable of Discipline A power of bettering and amending our sinful lives he gives indeed unto the Presbyters but that I hope both is and may be done by the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments with which the Presbyters are and have been trusted This is the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the bettering and improving power which belongs to them and not the dispensation of the Keys which have been always put into other hands or if at any time into theirs it hath been only in a second and inferiour place not in the way of judging in the course of Discipline Next let us look on Origen a man of most prodigious parts both for Wit and Learning who at the Age of eighteen years was made a
Closet ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã after the manner of Kings and Princes Or if the Seat or Throne here spoken of were a Tribunal as it is said by Cassiodore we must not look upon him in the Church but in the Consistory in which he would have nothing ordinary like to other Bishops but all things suted and adorned like the Bench or Judgment-seat of a Civil Magistrate As for the men to whom the execution of the Sentence was committed which is the next thing here to be considered Eusebius tells us that they were the Bishops of Rome and Italy And possibly the Emperour might commit the judgment of the cause to them because being strangers to the place and by reason of their absence not ingaged in the business or known to either of the two Pretenders they might with greater equity and indifference determine in it This is more like to be the reason than that the Emperour should take such notice of the Popes authority as to conceive the Judgments and Decrees of other Bishops to be no further good and valid quam eas authoritas Romani Pontificis confirmasset Baron in Annal Anno 272. n. 18. than as they were confirmed by the Bishop of Rome as fain the Cardinal would have it If so what needed the Italian Bishops to be joyned with him The Pope might do it of himself without their advice indeed without the Emperours Authority This was not then the matter whatsoever was and what was like to be the matter we have said already And more than that I need not say as to the reason of the reference why the Emperour made choice rather of the Western than the Eastern Bishops to cognisance the cause and give possession on the same accordingly But there is something else to be considered as to the matter of the reference to the point referred as also to the persons who by this Sovereign Authority were enabled to determine in the cause proposed And first as for the point referred whereas there were two things considerable in the whole proceedings against Paulus viz. his dangerous and heretical Doctrine and next his violent and unjust possession the first had been adjudged before in the Council and he deposed for the same With that the Bishops either of Rome or Italy had no more to do than to subscribe unto the judgment of the Synod or being being a matter meerly of spiritual cognizance might in a like Synodical meeting without the Emperors Authority as their case then stood have censured and condemned the Heresie though with his person possibly they could not meddle as being of another Patriarchat But that which here I find referred unto them was a mere Lay-fee a point of title and possession and it was left unto them to determine in it whether the Plaintiff or Defendant had the better right to the house in question This was the point in issue between the parties and they upon the hearing of the cause gave sentence in behalf of Domnus who presently upon the said award or sentence was put into possession of the house and the force removed by the appointment of the Emperour And it is worth our notice also that as they did not thrust themselves into the imployment being a matter meerly of a secular nature so when the Emperor required their advice therein or if you will make them his Delegates and High Commissioners they neither did delay or dispute the matter nor pleaded any Ancient Canons by which they might pretend to be disabled from intermedling in the same A thing which questionless some one or other of them would have done there being so many Godly and Religious Prelates interessed therein had they conceived that the imployment had been inconsistent with their holy calling A second thing to be considered in this delegation concerns the parties unto whom it was committed which were as hath been said before the Bishops of Italy and of the City of Rome In which it will not be impertinent to examine briefly why the Bishops of Italy Niceph. hist Eccl. l. 6. c. 29. and the Bishops of Rome ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as by Nicephorus it is given us in the plural number should be here reckoned as distinct since both the City of Rome was within the limits and bounds of Italy and Italy subordinate or rather subject to the City of Rome the Queen and Empress of the World For resolution of which Quaere we may please to know that in the distribution of the Roman Empire the continent of Italy together with the Isles adjoyning was divided into two parts viz. the Prefecture of the City of Rome conteining Latium Tuscia and Picenum the Realm of Naples Vide chap. 3. of this 2. Part. and the three Islands of Sicily Corsica and Sardinia as before was said the head City or Metropolis of the which was the City of Rome And secondly the Diocess of Italy containing all the Western and broader part thereof from the River Magra to the Alpes in which were comprehended seven other Provinces and of the which the Metropolis or prime City was that of Millain ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as in Athanasius Athanas in Epist iad solitar vitam agentes Optat. de Schis Dona. l. 2. So that that Church being in the Common-wealth according to that maxim of Optatus and following the pattern of the same in the proportion and fabrick of her publick Government the Bishops of the Diocess of Italy were no way under the command of the Patriarch or Primate of the Church of Rome but of their own Primate only which was he of Millain And this division seems to be of force in the times we speak of because that in the subscriptions to the Council of Arles Conc. Tom. 1. being about 40 years after that of Antioch the Bishops of Italy stand divided into two ranks or Provinces that is to say Provincia Italiae and Provincia Romana the Province of Italy of which Orosius the Metropolitan of Millain subscribeth only and then the Province of the City of Rome for which Gregorius Bishop of Porto subscribeth first In after Ages the distinction is both clear and frequent as in the Epistle of the Council of Sardica extant in Athanasius In Athanas Apolog. 2. Atha ad solitar vitam agentes and an Epistle of the said Athanasius written unto others So that according to the Premisses this conclusion followeth that the Popes or Patriarchs of Rome had no Authority in the Church more than other Primates no not in Italy it self more than the Metropolitan of Millain as may appear should all proofs else be wanting by this place and passage by which the Bishops of the Diocess of Italy taking the word Diocess in its civil sense were put into a joynt commission with the Bishops of the Patriarchat of Rome with the Pope himself Which tending so expresly to the overthrow of the Popes Supremacy as well Christopherson in his Translation of Eusebius as
now resolved on in the present too Accordingly the Bishops of those Churches and as many other as could be drawn together in that dangerous time Platina in vita Marcel Assembled at Sinuessa now called Suessa a City of Campania 180. in the total as it is in Platina Where though they had sufficient proof of that foul offence yet because Marcellinus stood upon the Negative negabat se thurifieâsse as the Acts declare Acta Conc. Sinuessani ap Bin. To. 1. they thought it fit not to proceed unto the sentence till they had brought him to confession Ex ore tuo justificaberis ex ore tuo condemnaberis as Petrus one of the Bishops then assembled did press it on him Not that being met Synodically they did want Authority to proceed against him as the Pontifician Doctors vainly say Bellarm. de Pont. Rom. l. 2. c. 26. Act. Concil Sinuessani but that it was more consonant to the Roman Laws that to the testimony of the Witnesses the confession of the party should be added also Which when they had procured from him Subscripserunt in ejus damnationem damnaverunt eum extra Civitatem they all condemned him say the Acts and all subscribed unto the Condemnation Helchiades one of the Bishops there Assembled being the first that led the way And therefore that which followeth after Prima sedes non judicabitur à quoquam that the Bishop of the first See shall be judged of none which Bellarmin so much insists on was either foisted in by some later hand Bellar. ut supra the better to advance the Popes Supremacy or else must be interpreted as it fairly may non judicabitur à quoquam that no particular person of what rank soever had any power to judge his Primate So great a person as Marcellinus being fallen so foully though after he recovered footing and died a Martyr for the Gospel It is the less to be admired Damas Platina Alij if many of inferiour quality did betray the cause and fell into the like Idolatries The persecution was both fierce and long though never at the height till the last years of Dioclesian and more than ever were the Lapsi who had for saving of their lives denied their Saviour Who when they came unto themselves and having made their way unto it by some appearance of contrition desired to be admitted to the blessed Sacrament the Bishops were much troubled with their importunity those godly Prelates being as well careful of the Churches Discipline as the unfortunate estate of those wretched men Besides the quality of their offence appearing in some greater in some less than others it put them unto no small trouble how to proportion the intended penance unto the nature of the crime For remedy whereof Petrus the godly Patriarch of Alexandris diversa adhibens pro conditione cujusque medicamenta vulneribus Id. ibid. n. 20. fitting each several wound with a proper plaister as Baronius hath it published certain Canons and instructions for their direction in the same A copy of the which we have both in Baronius and the Bibliotheca This as it gave great ease unto the Prelates in the Eastern parts where the authority of the man was great and prevalent So in the West the Bishops of particular Churches spared no pains nor labour for the upholding of that Discipline which they received from the hands of their Predecessors In Spain particularly where both the number and condition of these Lapsi seemed more considerable Id. ibid. n. 39. the Bishops of the Province of Betica called a Council at Eliberis then a prime City of those parts near to the ruines of the which the City of Granada standeth Osius that famous Confessor being there amongst them where they established divers Canons 81. in all for confirmation of the publick Discipline and holding up of that severity by which the same had been maintained Of all which number those which concern our business are these five especially Conc. Eliberit Can. 19. First it is ordered that neither Bishops Presbyters nor Deacons should leave the place in which they served to follow Merchandise de locis suis negociandi causa non discedant nor wander up and down the Countrey after gainful Markets In which it was provided notwithstanding that ad victum sibi conquirendum that for their necessary maintenance they might send abroad on those employments their Sons or Freed-men or Servants or any other and for their own parts if they would needs take that course intra Provinciam negotientur they were required to contain themselves within the compass of the Province in the which they ministred It seems the Fathers of the Council were not so severe though otherwise tenacious enough of the Ancient Canons as to conceive that Merchandizing a secular imployment doubtless was utterly inconsistent with holy Orders especially if either it conduced unto the maintenance of their selves and Families or that it did not take them off from the attendance on those places in which their Ministery was required This for the maintenance the next was for the honour of Episcopacy For in the 32. it is ordained Ibid. can 32. that those who in some grievous Lapse be in danger of eternal death apud Presbyterum poenitentiam agere non debere sed potius apud Episcopum ought not to make confession to or be enjoyned penance by a Presbyter but to or by the Bishop only unless it be in urgent and extream necessity in the which case a Presbyter might admit him unto the Communion as might a Deacon also by the appointment of the Presbyter Of this sort also this that followeth Ibid. can 53. by which it is decreed ut ab eo Episcopo quis accipiat Communionem that Sinners be admitted to the Sacrament by that Bishop only by whom for their offences they had been formerly Excommunicated and that if any other Bishop presumed to admit him thereto the Bishop who had Excommunicated him neither being made acquainted with it nor consenting to it he was to render an account of it unto his Colleagues Cum status sui periculo even with the danger of his place Ibid. can 77. Of the same temper is a fourth wherein it is enacted That if any Deacon having a cure or charge committed to him shall Baptize any of that cure without a Presbyter or Bishop Episcopus eos per benedictionem perficere debebit the Bishop is required to confirm the party by his Episcopal benediction With this Proviso notwithstanding that if the party do decease before confirmation Sub fide qua quis credidit poterit esse justus it is to be conceived that by the Sacrament of Baptism he had received all things necessary to salvation Nor did the Fathers in this Council take order only for the Bishops in point of honour but they provided also for the whole Clergy in point of safety Ibid. 75. decreeing by a full consent
that is to say that we may will the things which are good and following or assisting that we do not will them to no purpose we are not able to do any thing in the works of Piety And by comparing the said Clause with St. Augustins words it cannot easily be discerned why the one party should be branded for the Enemies of the Grace of God while theo ther is honoured as the chief Patron and Defender of it It cannot be denied but that they ascribe somewhat more to the will of man than some of the rigid Lutherans and Calvinians do who will have a man drawn forcibly and irresistably with the cords of Grace velut inanimatum quiddam like a sensless stock without contributing any thing to his own salvation But then it must be granted also that they ascribe no more unto it than what may stand both with the Grace and Justice of Almighty God according to that Divine saying of St. Augustine viz. Si non est gratia Dei quomodo salvat mundum Si non est liberum arbitrium quomodo judicat mundum Were it not for the Grace of God no man could be saved and were there not a freedom of will in man no man with justice could be condemned And as for the Reproachful words which King James is noted to have spoken of them it hath been said with all due reverence to the Majesty of so great a Prince that he was then transported with prejudice or particular Interesse and therefore that there lay an Appeal as once to Philip King of Macedon from the King being not then well informed to the same King whensoever he should be better informed Touching their proceedings it was observed 1. That he had his Education in the Kirk of Scotland where all the Heterodoxies of Calvin were received as Gospel and therefore could not so suddenly cast off those opinions which he suckt in as it were with his MOthers Milk 2. He was much governed at that time by Dr. Mountague then Bishop of Bath and Wells and Dean of his Majesties Chappel Royal who having been a great Stickler in the Predestinarian Controversies when he lived in Cambridg thought it his best way to beat down all such Opinions by Kingly Authority which he could not over-bear by the strength of Arguments And thirdly That K. James had then a turn to serve for the Prince of Orange of which more anon which turn being served and Mountague dying not long after his ears lay open to such further informations as were offered to him which drew him to a better liking both of the Men and then Opinions than he had formerly entertained of either of them It is objected secondly that these Doctrines symbolize so much with the Church of Rome that they serve only for a Bridg for Popery to pass over into any Church into which they can obtain admittance This Calamity first laid upon them in a Declaration of the States General against Barnevelt before remembred wherein they charge him with a design of confederating with the Spaniard to change the Religion of those Countreys and countenancing to that end the Arminian party as his fittest Instruments which clamor being first raised in Holland was afterwards much cherished and made use of by the Puritan or Calvinian party amongst us in England By one of which it is alledged Justificat of the Fathers c. that Mr. Pym being to make a report to the House of Commons Anno 1626. touching the Books of Richard Mountague after Bishop of Chichester affirmed expresly that the whole scope of his Book was to discourage the well-affected in Religion and as much as in him lay to reconcile them unto Popery He gives us secondly a Fragment of a scattered Paper pretended to be written to the Rector of the Jesuits colledg in Bruxels in which the Writer lets him know that they had strongly fortified their Faction here in England by planting the Soveraign Drug Arminianism which he hoped would purge the Protestants from their Heresie Thirdly he backs this Paper with a Clause in the Remonstrance of the House of Commons 1628. where it is said that the hearts of hsi Majesties Subjects were perplexed in beholding the daily growth and spreading of the Faction of Arminanism that being as his Majesty well knew so they say at least but a cunning way to bring in Popery To all which being but the same words out of divers mouths it is answered first That the points which are now debated between the Calvinians and the old Protestants in England between the Remonstrants and the Contra-Remonstrants in the Belgick Churches and finally between the rigid and moderate Lutherans in the upper Germany have been as fiercely agitated between the Franciscans and the Dominicans in the Church of Rome The old English Protestants the Remonstrants and the moderate Lutherans agreeing in these points with the Franciscans as the English Calvinists the Contra-Remonstrants and the rigid Lutherans do with the Dominicans So that there is a compliance on all sides with one of the said two differing parties in the Church of Rome And therefore why a general compliance in these points with the Fryers of S. Dominick the principal sticklers and promoters of that Inquisition should not be thought as a ready a way to bring in Popery as any such compliance with the Fryers of St. Francis he must be a very wise man indeed which can give the reason Secondly it is answered that the Melancthonian or moderate Lutherans which make up infinitely the greatest part of the Lutheran Churches agree in these points with the Jesuits or Franciscan Fryers and yet are still as far from relapsing to the Church of Rome as when they made the first separation from it And therefore thirdly that if Arminianism as they call it be so ready a Bridg for passing over to Popery it would be very well worth the knowing how and by what means it should come to pass that so few of the Remonstrants in the Belgick Provinces and none of those whom they call Arminians in the Church of England should in so long a time pass over that Bridg notwithstanding all the provocations of want and scorn which were put upon the one and have been since multiplied upon the other In the next place it is observed that the Arminian Doctrines naturally incline a man to the sin of pride Justif of the Fathers c. p. 34. in attributing so much to the power of his own will and so little to the Grace of God in chusing both the means and working out of the end of his own salvation And for the proof hereof a passage is alledged out of the History of the Council of Trent that the first Opinion that is to say the Doctrine of Predestination according to the opinion of the Dominican Fryers as it is hidden and mystical keeping the mind humble and relying on God without any confidence in it self knowing the deformity of Sin and
Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Ridley Bishop Hooper c. 9. The Doctrine delivered in the Book of Articles touching the five controverted points 10. An answer to the Objection against these Articles for the supposed want of Authority in the making of them 11. An Objection against King Edwards Catechism mistaken for an Objection against the Articles refelled as that Catechism by John Philpot Martyr and of the delegating of some powers by that Convocation to a choice Committee 12. The Articles not drawn up in comprehensive or ambiguous terms to please all parties but to be understood in the respective literal and Grammatical sense and the Reasons why I Have the longer stood upon the answering of this Objection to satisfie and prevent all others of the like condition in case it should be found on a further search that any of our godly Martyrs or learned Writers who either suffered death before the Reign of Edward VI. or had no hand in the carrying on of the Reformation embraced any opinions in Doctrine or Discipline contrary to the established Rules of the Church of England For otherwise as we must admit all Tyndals Heterodoxies and Friths high flying conceits of Predestination which before we touch'd at so must we also allow a Parity or an Identity rather in Priests and Bishops because John Lambert another of our Godly Martyrs did conceive so of it In the primitive Church saith he there were no more Officers in the Church of God than Bishops and Deacons that is to say Ministers as witnesseth beside Scripture S. Hierom in his Commentaries on the Epistles of S. Paul Whereas saith he that those whom we now call Priests were all one and no other but Bishops and the Bishops no other but Priests men ancient both in age and learning so near as could be chosen nor were they instituted and chosen as they be now a days the Bishop and his Officer only opposing them whether they can construe a Collect but they were chosen also with the consent of the people amongst whom they were to have their living as sheweth S. Cyprian But alack for pity such elections are banished and new fashions brought in By which opinion if it might have served or a Rule to the Reformation our Bishops must have been reduced to the rank of Priests and the right of Presentation put into the hands of the people to the Destruction of all the Patrons in the Kingdom If then the question should be asked as perhaps it may On whom or on whose judgment the hrst Reformers most relied in the weighty business I answer negatively First That they had no respect of Calvin no more than to the judgement of Wicklef Tyndal Barns or Frith whose offered assistance they refused when they went about it of which he sensibly complained unto some of his friends as appears by one of his Epistles I answer next affirmatively in the words of an Act of Parliament 2. 3. Edw. 6. where it is said That they had an eye in the first place to the more pure and sincere Christian Religion taught in the Scriptures and in the next place to the usages of the Primitive Church Being satisfied in both which ways they had thirdly a more particular respect to the Lutheran Plat-forms the English Confession or Book of Articles being taken in many places word for word out of that of Ausberg and a conformity maintained with the Lutheran Churches in Rites and Ceremonies as namely in kneeling at the Communion the Cross in Baptism the retaining of all the ancient Festivals the reading of the Epistles and Gospels on Sundays and Holy-days and generally in the whole Form of External Worship Fourthy in reference to the points disputed they ascribed much to the Authority of Melancthon not undeservedly called the Phoenix of Germany whose assistance they earnestly desired whose coming over they expected who was as graciously invited hither by King Edward the Sixth Regiis literis in Angliam vocari as himself affirms in an Epistle to Camerarius His coming laid aside upon the fall of the Duke of Sommerset and therefore since they could not have his company they made use of his writings for their direction in such points of Doctrine in which they though it necessary for the Church to declare her judgment I observe finally That as they attributed much to the particulars to the Authority of Melancthon so they ascribe no less therein unto that of Erasmus once Reader of the Greek Tongue in Cambridge and afterwards one of the Professors of Divinity there whose Paraphrases on the four Evangelists being translated into English were ordered to be kept in Churches for the use of the People and that they owned the Epistles to be studied by all such as had cure of souls Concerning which it was commanded by the injunctions of King Edward VI. published by the advice of the Lord Protector Somerset and the Privy Council Acts and Mon. fol. 1181. in the first year of the said Kings Reign 1. That they should see provided in some most convenient and open place of every Church one great Bible in English with the Paraphrase of Erasmus in English that the People might reverently without any let read and hear the same at such time as they listed and not to be inhibited therefrom by the Parson or Curate but rather to be the more encouraged and provoked thereunto And 2. That every Priest under the degree of a Batchellour of Divinity should have of his own one New Testament in English and Latine with the Paraphrases of Erasmus upon the same and should diligently read and study thereupon and should collect and keep in memory all such comfortable places of the Scripture as do set forth the Mercy Benefits and Goodness of Almighty God towards all penitent and believing persons that they might thereby comfort their flock in all danger of death despair or trouble of Conscience and that therefore every Bishop in their Institution should from time to time try and examine them how they have profited in their studies A course and care not likely to have entred into the thoughts of the Lord Protector or any of the Lords of the Council if it had not been advised by some of the Bishops who then began to have an eye on the Reformation which soon after followed and as unlikely to be counselled and advised by them had they intended to advance any other Doctrine than what was countenanced in the Writings of that Learned man Whereupon I conclude the Doctrine of the points disputed to be the true and genuine Doctrine of the Church of England which comes most near to the plain sense of holy Scripture the general current of the Fathers in the Primitive times the famous Augustane Confession the Writings of Melancthon and the Works of Erasmus To which Conclusion I shall stand till I find my self encountred by some stronger Argument to remove me from it The ground thus laid I shall proceed unto the Reformation
Clergy Mr. John Hooker Bishop of Gloucester and Martyr of whose Exposition of the Ten Commandments and his short Paraphrase on Romans 13. we shall make frequent use hereafter a man whose works were well approved of by Bishop Ridley the most learned and judicious of all the Prelates who notwithstanding they differed in some points of Ceremony professeth an agreement with him in all points of Doctrine as appears by a Letter written to him when they were both Prisoners for the truth and ready to give up their lives as they after did in defence thereof Now the words of the Letter are as followeth But now my dear Brother forasmuch as I understand by your works which I have but superficially seen that we throughly agree and wholly consent together in those things which are the grounds and substantial points of our Religion Acts and Mon. fol. 1366. against the which the world now so rageth in these our days Howsoever in times past in certain by-matters and circumstances of Religion your wisdom and my simplicity and ignorance have jarred each of us following the abundance of his own sense and judgment Now I say be you assured that even with my whole heart God is the witness in the bowels of Christ I love you in truth and for the truths sake that abideth in us and I am persuaded by the grace of God shall abide in us for evermore The like agreement there was also between Ridley and Cranmer Cranmer ascribing very much to the judgment and opinion of the learned Prelate as himself was not ashamed to confess at his Examination for which see Fox in the Acts and Monuments fol. 1702. By these men and the rest of the Convocation the Articles of Religion being in number 41 were agreed upon ratified by the Kings Authority and published both in Latine and English with these following Titles viz. Articuli de quibus in Synodo Londinens A.D. 1552. ad tollendam opinionum dissentionem consensum verae Religionis firmandum inter Episcopos alios eruditos viros convenerat Regia authoritate Londin editi that is to say Articles agreed upon by the Bishops and other learned men assembled in the Synod at London Anno 1552. and published by the Kings Authority for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and for the establishing of consent touching true Religion Amongst which Articles countenanced in Convocation by Queen Elizabeth Ann. 1562. the Doctrine of the Church in the five controverted points is thus delivered according to the form and order which we have observed in the rest before 1. Of Divine Predestination Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God whereby before the foundations of the World were laid he hath constantly ordered by his Council Artic. 17. secret unto us to deliver from curse and damnation those whom be hath chosen in Christ out of man-kind and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation as vessels made to honour Furthermore we must receive Gods promises in such wise at they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture and in our doing the will of God that is to be followed which we have expresly declared to us in the Word of God 2. Of the Redemption of the World by the faith of Christ The Son which is the Word begotten of the Father begotten from everlasting of the Father c. and being very God and very Man did truly suffer was Crucified Dead and Buried Artic. 2. to reconcile his Father to us and be a Sacrifice not only for Original guilt but also for the actual sins of men The Offering of Christ once made Artic. 31. is this perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction to all the sins of the whole world both Original and Actual 3. Of mans will in the state of depraved nature Artic. 9. Man by Original sin is so far gone from Original righteousness that of his own nature be is inclined to evil so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit and therefore Works done before the grace of Christ Artic. 13. and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ neither do they make men meet to receive grace or as the School Authors say deserve grace of Congruity 4. Of the manner of Conversion The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works Artic. 10. to faith and calling upon God wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God without the grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will 5. Of the uncertainty of Perseverance The Grace of Repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism in regard that after we have received the Holy Ghost Artic. 16. we may depart from grace given and fall into sin and by the grace of God we may arise again and amend our lives and therefore they are to be condemned which say they can no more sin as long as they live here or deny the place of Repentance to such as truly repent Now in these Articles as in all others of the book there are these two things to be observed 1. What Authority they carried in respect of the making And 2. How we are to understand them in respect of the meaning And first for their Authority it was as good in all regards as the Laws could give them being first treated and agreed upon by the Bishops and Clergy in their Convocation and afterwards confirmed by the Letters Patents of Edw. VI. under the Great Seal of England But against this it is objected That the Records of this Convocation are but a degree above blanks that the Bishops and Clergy then assembled had no Commission from the King to meddle in Church business that the King durst not trust the Clergy of that time in so great a matter on a just jealousie which he had of the ill affections of the major part and therefore the trust of this great business was committed unto some few Confidents cordial to the cause of Religion and not unto the body of a Convocation To which it hath been already answered That the Objector is here guilty of a greater crime than that of Scandalum magnatum making King Edward VI. of pious memory no better than an impious and lewd Impostor in fathering those children on the Convocation which had not been of their begetting For first the Title to the Articles runneth thus at large Articuli de quibus c. as before we had it which Title none durst adventure to set before them had they not really been the products of the Convocation Secondly the King had no reason to have any such jealousie at that time of the major part of the Clergy but that he might
works of the spirit 2. More plainly doth he speak in the second place of Universal Redemption Id. in cap. 1 6. telling us that all men which either for their Original sin or for their Actual sin were out of Gods favour and had offended God should by Christ only be reconciled to Gods favour and have remission of their sins and be made partakers of everlasting life that Christs death was a full and sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole World Id Ibid. ãâã 1. and for all them that shall be sanctified and saved that Christ by his death once for all Id. Ibid. ãâ¦ã hath fully and perfectly satisfied for the sins of all men and finally that there re this is an undoubted truth ever to be believed of all Christians that Christ by his Passion and Death hath taken away all the sins of the World In the next place he puts the question with reference to the application of so great a benefit for what causes God would not have his Word preached unto the Gentiles till Christs time and makes this answer thereunto First That it is a point not to be too curiously searched or enquired after Secondly That it is enough for us to know that it was so ordered by Gods Will Id. Ibid. G. 2 3. But thirdly That it might yet be done either because by their sins they had deserved their blindness and damnation as indeed they had or that God saw their hard hearts or their stiff necks and that they would not have received it before Christs comings if the Gospel had been preached unto them or finally that God reserved that mystery unto the coming of our Saviour Christ that by him all goodness should be known to come to us Id. cap. 2. H. 7. c. As for the necessary influences of Gods Grace and mans co-working with the same he telleth us briefly That no man ought to ascribe the good works that he dâth âs himself or to his own might and power but to God the Author of all goodness but then withal that it is not enough for men to have knowledge of Christ and his benefits but that they must encrease in the knowledge of God Idââ cap. 4. which knowledge cometh by Gods Word And finally as to the point of falling away he gives us first the example of Demas who as long as all things were prosperous with S. Paul was a faithful Minister to him and a faithful Disciple of Christ but when he saw Paul cast into Prison he forsook Paul and his Doctrine and followed the World then he inferreth that many such there be in the World c. of whom speaketh Christ Matth. 13. Many for a time do believe but in time of tribulations they shrink away And finally he concludes with this advice That he that standeth should look that he did not fall and that he do no trust too much to his own might and power for if he did he should deceive himself and have a fall as Demas had And so much for the judgment and opinion of Master L. Ridley in the points disputed who being Arch-deacon of Canterbury as before was said may be presum'd to be one of those who concurred in Convocation to the making of the Articles of K. Edwards book 1552. to find the true and natural meaning of which Articles we have taken this pains CHAP. XV. Of the Author and Authority of King Edwards Catechism as also of the judgment of Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr in the Points disputed 1. The Catechism published by the Authority of King Edward VI. Ann. 1553. affirmed to have been writ by Bishop Poinet and countenanced by the rest of the Bishops and Clergy 2. Several passages collected out of that Catechism to prove that the Calvinian Doctrines were the true genuine and ancient Doctrines of the Church of England 3. With a discovery of the weakness and impertinency of the Allegation 4. What may most probably be conceived to have been the judgment of Bishop Pointer in most of the Controverted Points 5. An Answer to another Objection derived from Mr. Bucer and Peter Martyr and the influence which their Auditors and Disciples are supposed to have had in the Reformation 6. That Bucer was a man of moderate Counsels approving the first Liturgy of King Edward VI. assenting to the Papists at the Dyet of Ratisbone in the possibility of falling from grace and that probably Peter Martyr had not so far espoused the Calvinian quarrels when he lived in Oxon. as after his return to Zurick and Calvins Neighbourhood 7. The judgment of Erasmus according as it is delivered in his Paraphrases on the four Evangelists proposed first in the general view and after more particularly in every of the Points disputed SEcuri de salute de gloria certemus Having shewed the cause by so many pregnant Evidences derived from the Articles and Homilies Tacit in vita Agric. and backt by the consenting Testimonies of Learned men and godly Martyrs it would add something at the least in point of Reputation if not of glory also to gain Bishop Poinet to the side of whom as to his personal capacity we have spoken already and must now look back upon him in relation to a Catechism of his setting forth Printed by Wolfe in Latine and by Day in English Anno 1553. being the next year after the Articles were agreed upon in the Convocation a Catechism which comes commended to us with these advantages that it was put forth by the Authority of King Edward VI. to be taught by all School-masters in the Kingdom By another of the same persuasion Prin. Anti-Armin Pag. 44. that the King committed the perusal of it to certain Bishops and other Learned men whom he much esteemed by whom it was certified to be agreeable to the Scripture and Statutes of the Realm that thereupon he presixt his Epistle before it in which he commands and charges all School-masters whatsoever within his Dominions as they did reverence his Authority Anti-Armin Page 48. and as they would avoid his Royal displeasure to teach this Catechism diligently and carefully in all and every their Schools that so the youth of the Kingdom might be setled in the grounds of true Religion and furthered in Gods worship The Church Historian seems to give it some further countenance Ch Hist lib. 7. fol. 421. by making it of the same extraction with the book of Articles telling us that by the Bishops and Learned men before-mentioned we are to understand the Convocation and that it was not commanded by his Majesties Letters Patents to all School-masters only but by him commended to the rest of the Subjects which cost these several Authors have bestowed upon it out of an hope of gaining some greater matter by it towards the countenancing and advancing of the Calvinian Doctrine Predestination as the true genuine and ancient Doctrine of this Church certain I am that both Mr.
being thus discharged he shews in the next place Ibid. 48. that as God desireth not the death of man without relation to his sin so he desireth not the death of the sinful man or of the wicked sinful man but rather that they shoudl turn from their wickedness and live And he observes it is said unto the Goats in St. Matthews Gospel Ite malidicti in ignem paratum he doth not say Maledicti patris Go ye cursed of the Father as it is Benedicti patris when he speaks of the sheep God intituling himself to the blessing only and that the fire is prepared but for whom Non vobis sed Diabolo Angelis ejus not for you but for the Devil and his Angels So that God delighteth to prepare neither Death nor Hell for damned men The last branch of his Discourse he resolves into six consequences as links depending on his Chain 1. Gods absolute Will is not the cause of Reprobation but sin 2. No man is of an absolute necessity the child of Hell so as by Gods grace he may not avoid it 3. God simply willeth every living soul to be saved and to come to the Kingdom of Heaven 4. God sent his Son to save every soul and to bring it to the Kingdom of Heaven 5. God offereth Grace effectually to save every one and to direct him to the Kingdom of Heaven 6. The nelgect and contempt of this Grace is the cause why every one doth not come to Heaven and not any privative Decree Council and Determination of God The stating and canvasing of which points so plainly curtly to the Doctrines of che old Zuinglian Gospellers and the modern Calvinians as they take up the rest of the Sermon so to the Sermon I refer the Reader for his furtehr satisfaction in them I note this only in the close that there is none of the five Arminian Articles as they commonly call them which is not contained in terms express or may not easily be found by way of Deduction in one or more of the six consequences before recited Now in this Sermon there are sundry things to be considered as namely first That the Zuinglian or Calvinian Gospel in these points was grown so strong that the Preacher calls it their Goliah so huge and monstrous that many quaked and trembled at it but none that is to say but few or none vel duo vel nemo in the words of Persius durst take up Davids sling to throw it down Secondly That in canvasing the absolute Decree of Reprobation the Preacher spared none of those odious aggravations which have been charged upon the Doctrines of the modern Calvinists by the Remonstrants and their party in these latter times Thirdly That the Sermon was preached at St. Pauls Cross the greatest Auditory of the Kingdom consisting not only of the Lord Mayor the Aldermen and the rest of the chief men in the City but in those times of such Bishops and other learned men as lived occasionally in London and the City of Westminster as also of the Judges and most learned Lawyers some of the Lords of the Council being for the most part present also Fourthly That for all this we cannot find that any offence was taken at it or any Recantation enjoyned upon it either by the high Commission or Bishop of London or any other having Authority in the Church of England nor any complaint made of it to the Queen or the Council-Table as certainly there would have been if the matter of the Sermon had been contrary to the Rules of the Church and the appointments of the same And finally we may observe that though he was made Archbiship of York in the Reign of King Charles 1628. when the times are thought to have been inclinable to those of the Arminian Doctrines yet he was made Master of Pembrook Hill Bishop of Chichester and from thence translated unto Norwich in the time of King James And thereupon we may conclude that King James neither thought this Doctrine to be against the Articles of Religion here by Law established nor was so great an Enemy to them or the men that held them as some of our Calvinians have lately made him But against this it is objected by Mr. Prin in his book of Perpetuity c. printed at London in the year 1627. 1. That the said Mr. Harsnet was convented for this Sermon and forced to recant it as Heretical 2. That upon this Sermon Perpetulty c. 304. and the Controversies that arose upon it in Cambridg between Baroe and Whitacres not only the Articles of Lambeth were composed of which more hereafter but Mr. Wotton was appointed by the University to confute the same 3. That the siad Sermon was so far from being published or printed that it was injoyned by Authority to be recanted For Answer whereunto it would first be known where the said Sermon was recanted and by whose Authority Not in or by the University of Cambridg where Mr. Harsnet lived both then and a long time after for the Sermon was preached at St. Pauls Cross and so the University could take no cognisance of it nor proceed against him for the same And if the Recantation was madea t St. Pauls Cross where the supposed offence was given it would be known by whose Authority it was enjoyned Not by the Bishop of London in whose Diocess the Sermon was preached for his Authority did not reach so far as Cambridg whither the Preacher had retited after he had performed the service he was called unto and if it were injoyned by the High Commission and performed accordingly there is no question to be made but that we should have heard of in the Anti-Arminianism where there are no less than eight leaves spend in relating the story of a like Recantation pretended to be made by one Mr. Barret on the tenth of May 1595. and where it is affirmed that the said Mr. Harsnet held and maintained the same errors for which Barret was to make his Recantation But as it will be proved hereafter that no such Recantation wass made by Barret so we have reason to believe that no such Recantation was imposed on Harsnet Nor secondly can it be made good that the Controversies between Doctor Whitacres and Dr. Baroe were first occasioned by this Sermon or that Mr. Wotton was appointed by the University to confute the same For it appears by a Letter written from the heads of that University to their Chancellor the Lord Treasurer Burleigh dated March 18. 1595. that Baroe had maintained the same Doctrines and his Lectures and Determinations above 14 years before by their own account for which see Chap. 21. Numb 80. which must be three years at the least before the preaching of that Sermon by Mr. Harsnet And though it is probable enopugh that Mr. Wotton might give himself the trouble of confuting the Sermon yet it is more than probable that he was not required so to do by that
composing those differences not by the way of an accommodation but an absolute conquest and to this end they dispatch'd to him certain of their number in the name of the rest such as were interessed in the Quarrel Dr. Whitacres himself for one and therefore like to stickle hard for the obtaining their ends the Articles to which they had reduced the whole state of the business being brought to them ready drawn and nothing wanting to them but the face of Authority wherewith as with Medusa's head to confound their Enemies and turn their Adversaries into stones And that they might be sent back with the face of Authority the most Reverend Archbishop Whitgift calling unto him Dr. Flecher Bishop of Bristol then newly elected unto London and Dr. Richard Vaughan Lord Elect of Bangor together with Dr. Tyndal Dean of Ely Dr. Whitacres and the rest of the Divines which came from Cambridg proposed the said Articles to their consideration at his House in Lambeth on the tenth of Novemb. Anno 1595. by whom those Articles were agreed on in these following words 1. Deus ab aeterno praedestinavit quosdam ad vitam quosdam reprobavit ad mortem 2. Causa movens aut efficiens praedestinationis ad vitam non est praevisio fidei aut perseverantiae aut bonorum operum aut ullius rei quae insit in personis Praedestinatis sed sola voluntas beneplaciti Dei 3. Praedestinatorum praefinitus certus est numerus qui nec augeri nec minui potest 4. Qui non sunt Praedestinati ad salutem necessario propter peccata sua damnabuntur 5. Vera viva justificans fides spiritus Dei justificantis non extinguitur non excidit non evanescit in Electis aut finaliter aut totaliter 6. Homo vere fidelis id est fide justificante praeditus certus est plerophoria Fidei de Remissione peccatorum suorum salute sempiterna sua per Christum 7. Gratia salutaris non tribuitur non incommunicatur non conceditur universis hominibus qua servari possint si velint 8. Nemo potest venire ad Christum nisi datum ei fuerit nisi pater eum traxerit omnes homines non trahuntur à patre ut veniant ad filium 9. Non est positum in arbitrio aut potestate uniuscujusque hominis servari 1. God from Eternity hath predestinate certain men unto life certain men he hath reprobate 2. The moving or efficient cause of predestination unto life is not the foresight of Faith or of perseverance or of good works or of any thing that is in the person predestinated but only the good will and pleasure of God 3. There is predetermined a certain number of the Predestinate which can neither be augmented or diminished 4. Those who are not predestinated to salvation shall be necessarily damned for their sins 5. A true living and justifying Faith and the Spirit of God justifying is not extinguished falleth not away it vanisheth not away in the Elect either totally or finally 6. A man truly faithful that is such an one who is indued with a justifying faith is certain with the full assurance of faith of the remission of his sins and of his everlasting salvation by Christ 7. Saving Grace is not given is not granted is not communicated to all men by which they may be saved if they will 8. No man can come unto Christ unless it be given unto him and unless the Father shall draw him and all men are not drawn by the Father that they may come to the Son 9. It is not in the will or power of every one to be saved Now in these Articles there are these two things to be considered first the Authority by which they were made and secondly the effect produced by them in order to the end proposed and first as touching the authority by which they were made it was so far from being legal and sufficient that it was plainly none at all For what authority could there be in so thin a meeting consisting only of the Archbishop himself two other Bishops of which but one had actually received consecration one Dean and half a dozen Doctors and other Ministers neither impowred to any such thing by the rest of the Clergy nor authorized to it by the Queen And therefore their determinations of no more Authority as to binding of the Church or prescribing to the judgment of particular persons than as if one Earl the eldest son of two or three others meeting with half a dozen Gentlemen in Westminster Hall can be affirmed to be in a capacity of making Orders which must be looked on by the Subject as Acts of Parliament A Declaration they might make of their own Opinions or of that which they thought fittest to be holden in the present case but neither Articles nor Canons to direct the Church for being but Opinions still and the Opinions of private and particular persons they were not to be looked upon as publick Doctrines And so much was confessed by the Archbishop himself when he was called in question for it before the Queen who being made acquainted with all that passed by the Lord Treasurer Burleigh who neither liked the Tenents nor the manner of proceeding in them was most passionately offended that any such Innovation should be made in the publicck Doctrine of this Church and once resolved to have them all attainted of a Premunire But afterwards upon the interposition of some Friends and the reverend esteem she had of the excellent Prelate the Lord Archbishop whom she commonly called her Black Husband she was willing to admit him to his defence and he accordingly declared in all humble manner that he and his Associates had not made any Articles Canons or decrees with an intent that they should serve hereafter for a standing Rule to direct the Church but only had resolved on some Propositions to be sent to Cambridge for the appeasing of some unhappy differences in the University with which Answer her Majesty being somewhat pacified commanded notwithstanding that he should speedily recall and suppress those Articles which was performed with such care and diligence that a Copy of them was not to be found for a long time after And though we may take up this relation upon the credit of History of the Lambeth Articles printed in Latin 1651. or on the credit of Bishop Mountague who affirms the same in his Appeal Appeal p. 71. Resp Nec p. 146 Anno 1525. yet since the Authority of both hath been called in question we will take our warrant for this Narrative from some other hands And first we have it in a book called Necessario Responsio published by the Remonstrants Anno 1618. who possibly might have the whole story of it from the mouth of Baroe or some other who lived at that time in Cambridge Cabul p. 117. and might be well acquainted with the former passages And secondly We find the same
c. The King is the Head Modus tenendi Parl. Ms. c. 12. the beginning and end of the Parliament and so he hath not any equal in the first degree the second is of Arch-bishop Bishops and Priors and Abbots holding by Barony the third is of Procurators of the Clergy the fourth of Earls Barons and other Nobles the fifth is of Knights of the Shire the sixth of Citizens and Burgesses and so the whole Parliament is made up of these six degrees But the said Modus tells us more and goeth more particularly to work than so For in the ninth Chapter speaking of the course which was observ'd in canvassing hard and difficult matters it telleth us that they used to choose 25 out of all degrees like a grand Committee to whose consideration they referred the point that is to say two Bishops and three Proctors for the Cleergy two Earls three Barons fire Knights five Citizens and as many Burgesses And in the 12th that on the fourth day of the Parliament the Lord High Steward the Lord Constable and the Lord Marshal were to call the House every degree or rank of men in its several Order and that if any of the Proctors of the Clergy did not make appearance the Bishop of the Diocess was to be fined 100 l. and in the 23d Chapter it is said expresly that as the Knights Citizens and Burgesses in things which do concern the Commons have more Authority than all the Lords so the Proctors for the Clergy in things which do concern the Clergy have more Authority than all the Bishops Preface to the 9th part of Reports Which Modus if it be as antient as the Norman Conqueror as both Sir Edward Coke conceiveth and the title signifieth it sheweth the Clergies claim to a place in Parliament to be more antient than the Commons can pretend unto but if no older than the Reign of King Edward III. as confidently is affirmed in the Titles of Honour Titles of hon pt 2. c. 5. it sheweth that in the usage of those latter times the Procurators of the Clergy had a right and place there as well as Citizens and Burgesses or the Knights of the Shires And this is further proved by the Writs of Summons directed to the Arch-bishops and Bishops for their own coming to the Parliament in the end whereof there is a clause for warning the Dean and Chapter of their Cathedrals and the Arch-deacons with the whole Clergy to be present at it that is to say the Deans and Arch-deacons personally the Chapter and Clergy in their Proctours then and there to consent to such Acts and Ordinances as shall be made by the Common Council of the Kingdom The whole clause word for word is this Praemunientes Priorem Capitulum or decanum Capitulum Extant ibid. pt 2. c. 5. as the case might vary Ecclesiae vestrae N. ac Archidiacanos totumque Clerum vestrae Dioceseos quod iidem Decanus Archidiaconi in propriis personis suis ac dictum Capitulum per unum idemque Clerus per duos Procuratores idoneos plenam sufficientem potestatem ab ipsis Capitulo Clero habentes praedicto die loco personaliter intersint ad consentiendum iis quae tunc ibidem de communi consilio ipsius Regni nostri divina favente clementia contigerit ordinari Which clause being in the Writs of King Edward I. and for the most part of the Reign of his next Successors till the middle of King Richard the second at which time it began to be fixt and formal hath still continued in those Writs without any difference almost between the Syllables to this very day Id. ibid. Now that this clause was more than Verbal and that the Proctors of the Clergy did attend in Parliament is evident by the Acts and Statutes of King Richard the second the passages whereof I shall cite at large the better to conclude what I have in hand The Duke of Glocester and the Earl of Arundel having gotten the mastery of the King obtained a Commission directed to themselves and others of their nomination Statut. 21 R. 2. c. 2. to have the rule of the King and his Realm and having their Commission confirmed by Parliament in the 11. year of his reign did execute divers of his Friends and Ministers and seized on their Estates as forfeited But having gotten the better of his head-strong and rebellious Lords in the one and twentieth of his reign he calls a Parliament in the Acts whereof it is declared That on the Petition of the Commons of the assent of all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Proctors of the Clergy Ibid. c. 2. he repealed the said Statute and Commission and with the assent of the said Lords and Commons did ordain and establish that no such Commission nor the like be henceforth purchased pursued or made This done the Heirs of such as had been condemned by vertue of the said Commision demanded restitution of their Lands and Honours And thereupon the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Procurators of the Clergy the Commons having prayed to the King before as the Appellants prayed severally examined did assent expresly that the said Parliament and all the Statutes Ibid. c. 12. c. and restitution made as afore is said And also the Lords Spiritual and Temporal the Procurators of the Clergy and the said Commons were severally examined of the Questions proposed at Nottingham and of the Answer which the Judges made unto the same which being read as well before the King and the Lords as before the Commons it was demanded of all the States of the Parliament what they thought of the Answers and they said that they were lawfully and duly made c. And then it followeth whereupon the King by the assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Procurators of the Clergy and the said Commons and by the advice of the Justices and Sergeants aforesaid who had been asked their Opinion in point of Law ordained and established that the said Parliament should be annulled and held for none Add unto this that passage in the 9 of Edward 2. where it is said that many Articles containing divers grievances committed against the Church of England the Prelates and Clergy were propounded by the Prelates and Clerks of our Realm in Parliament and great instance made that convenient remedy might be appointed therein Proem ad articalos Cleri that of the complaints made to the King in Parliament by the Prelates and Clergy of this Realm 50 Ed. 3.5 8 Rich. 2. c. 13. and that of the Petition delivered to the King in the Parliament by the Clergy of England Selden hist of Tithes c. 8.33 4 Hen. 4. c. 2. And finally that memorable passage in the Parliament 51 Edw. 3. which in brief was this The Commons finding themselves agrieved as well with certain Constitutions made by the Clergy in
together can conclude on any thing unto the prejudice of the third Bodinus that renowned States-man doth resolve it Negatively and states it thus nihil à duobus ordinibus discerni posse quo uni ex tribus incommodum inferatur Bodin de Rep. l. 3. c. 7. si res ad singulos ordines seorsum pertinet that nothing can be done by two of the Estates to the disprofit of the third in case the point proposed be such as concerns them severally The point was brought into debate upon this occasion Henry the 3d. of France had summoned an Assembly of the three Estates or Conventus Ondinum to be held at Bloys Anno 1577. the Form and Order of the which we have at large by Thuanus Lib. 63. But finding that he could not bring his ends about so easily with that numerous body as if they were contracted to a narrower compass he caused it to be mov'd unto them that they should make choice of 36 twelve of each Estate Tonanus in hist temp l. 63. quox Rex cum de postulatis decerneret in consilium adhibere dignaretur whom the King would deign call to Council for the dispatch of such Affairs and motions as had been either moved or proposed unto him Which being very readily assented to by the Clergy and Nobility who hoped thereby to find some favour in the Court and by degrees to be admitted to the Privy Council was very earnestly opposed by Bodinus being then Delegate or Commissioner for the Province of Veromandois who saw full well that if businesses were so carried the Commons which made the third Estate would find but little hopes to have their grievances redressed ââiin de Rep. â 1. c. 7. their petitions answered And therefore laboured the rest of the Commissioners not to yield unto it as being utterly destructive of the Rights and Liberties of the common people which having done he was by them intrusted to debate the business before the other two Estates and did it to so good effect that at the last he took them off from their resolution and obtained the cause What Arguments he used in particular neither himself nor Thuanus telleth us But sure I am that he insisted both on the ancient customs of the Realm of France as also of the Realm of Spain and England and the Roman Empire in each of which it was received for a ruled case nihil à duobus ordinibus statui posse quo uni ex tribus prejudicium crearetur that nothing could be done by any of the two Estates unto the prejudice of the third And if it were a ruled case then in the Parliament of England there is no reason why it should be otherwise in the present times the equity and justice of it being still the same and the same reasons for it now as forcible as they could be then Had it been otherwise resolved of in the former Ages wherein the Clergy were so prevalent in all publick Councils how easie a matter had it been for them either by joyning with all the Nobility to exclude the Commons or by joyning with the Commonalty to exclude the Nobles Or having too much conscience to adventure to so great a change an alteration so incompatible and inconsistent with the Constitution of a Parliament how easily might they have suppressed the potency and impair the Priviledges of either of the other two by working on the humours or affections of the one to keep down the other But these were Arts not known in the former days nor had been thought of in these last but by men of Ruine who were resolved to change the Government as the event doth shew too clearly both of Church and State Nor doth it help the matter in the least degree to say that the exclusion of the Bishops from the House of Peers was not done meerly by the practice of the two other Estates but by the assent of the King of whom the Laws say he can do no wrong and by an Act of Parliament whereof our Laws yet say quae nul doit imaginer chose dishonourable that no man is to think dishonourably Plowden in Commentar For we know well in what condition the King was when he passed that Act to what extremities he was reduced on what terms he stood how he was forced to flye from his City of London to part with his dear Wife and Children and in a word so overpowred by the prevailing party in the two Houses of Parliament that it was not safe for him as his case then was to deny them any thing And for the Act of Parliament so unduly gained besides that the Bill had been rejected when it was first brought unto the Lords and that the greater part of the Lords were frighted out of the House when contrary unto the course of Parliament it was brought again it is a point resolved both in Law and Reason that the Parliament can do nothing to the destruction of it self and that such Acts as are extorted from the King are not good and valid whereof we have a fair Example in the book of Statutes 15 Ed. 3. For whereasz the King had granted certain Articles pretended to be granted in the Form of a statute expresly contrary to the Laws of the Realm and his own Prerogative and Rights Royal mark it for this is just the case which he had yielded to eschew the dangers which by denying of the same were like to follow in the same Parliament it was repealed in these following words It seemed good to the said Earls Barons and other wise men that since the Statute did not proceed of our Free will the same be void and ought not to have the name nor strength of a Statute and therefore by their counsel and assent we have decreed the said Statute to be void c. Or if it should not be repealed in a formal manner yet is this Act however gotten void in effect already by a former Statute in which it was enacted in full Parliament and at the self-same place where this Act was gained that the Great Charter by which and many other Titles the Bishops held their place in Parliament should be kept in all points and if any Statute be made to the contrary 42 Ed. 3. c. 1. it shall be holden for none CHAP. VI. That the three Estates of every Kingdom whereof Calvin speaks have no Authority either to regulate the power or control the actions of the Sovereign Prince 1. The Bishops and Clergy of England not the Kings make the third Estate and of the dangerous consequences which may follow on the contrary Tenet 2. The different influence of the three Estates upon conditional Princes and an absolute Monarch 3. The Sanhedrim of no Authority over the persons or the actions of the Kings of Judah 4. The three Estates in France of how small Authority over the actions of that King 5. The King of Spain not over-ruled or
Courts Coke Institutes part 4 p. 45. out of the Records of Parliament and in his Margent pointing to the 13th of King Edward the third doth instruct us thus viz. Abbates Priores aliosque Praelatos quoscunque per Baroniam de Domino Rege tenentes pertinet in Parliamentis Regni quibuscunq ut pates Regni praedicti personaliter interesse ibique de Regni negotiis ac aliis tractari consuetis cum caeteris dicti Regni Paribus aliis ibidem jus interessendi habentibus consulere tractare ordinare statuere definire ac caetera facere quae Parliamenti tempore imminent facienda Which if it be the same with that which we had before differing only in some words as perhaps it is yet we have gained the Testimony of that Learned Lawyer whose judgment in this Case must be worth the having For hear him speaking in his own words and he tells us this viz. Coke Institut fol. 4. That every Lord of Parliament either Spiritual as Arch-bishops and Bishops or Temporal as Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons Peers of the Realm and Lords of Parliament ought to have several Writs of Summons where plainly these words Peers and Lords of Parliament relate as well to Spiritual as to the Temporal Lords And therefore if the Arch-bishops and the Bishops may be granted to be Lords of Parliament they must be also granted to be Peers of the Realm Now to the Testimony and Authority of particular persons we shall next add the sentence and determination of our Courts of Law in which the Bishops are declared to be Peers of the Realm and to be capable of all the priviledges which belong to the Peerage For first in the aforesaid Case of the Bishop of Winchester when he was brought upon his Trial for departing from the service of the Parliament without leave of the King and pleaded sor himself quod esset unus è Paribus Regni c. The priviledg of Barony It was supposed clearly both by Court and Council that he was a Peer that part of his defence being not gainsayed or so much as questioned So in the Year-Books of the Reign of King Edward the 3d in whose Reign the Bishop of Winchester's Case was agitated as before is said a Writ of Wards was brought by the Bishop of London and by him pleaded to an Issue and the Defendant could not be Essoyned or have day of Grace for it was said that a Bishop was a Peer of the Land haec erat causa saith the Book which reports the Case In the like Case upon an Action of Trespass against the Abbot of Abbingdon who was one of the Lords Spiritual day of Grace was denied against him because he was a Peere de la Terre So also it is said expresly that when question was made about the returning of a Knight to be of a Jury where a Bishop was Defendant in a Quare impedit the Rule of the Court was that it ought to be so because the Bishop was a Peer of the Realm And in the Judgment given against the Bishop of Norwich in the time of Richard the 2d he is in the Roll expresly allowed to be a Peer for he had taken exceptions that some things had passed against him without the Assent or knowledg of his Peers of the Realm To which Exception it was Answered that it behoved him not at all to plead that he was a Prelate for traversing such Errors and misprisions as in the quality of a Souldier who had taken wages of the King were committed by him Thus also in the Assignment of the Errors under Henry the fifth for the Reversal of the Attainder of the Earl of Salisbury one Error is assigned that Judgment was given without the consent of the Prelates which were Peers in Parliament And although that was adjudged to be no Error yet was it clearly allowed both in the Roll and the Petitions that the Bishops were Peers Finally in the Government of the Realm of France the Bishops did not only pass in the Ranks of Peers but six of them were taken into the number of the Douze-pairs or twelve Peers of that Kingdom highly esteemed and celebrated in the times of Charlemayne that is to say the Arch-bishop and Duke of Rhemes the Bishop and Duke of Laon the Bishop and Duke of Langres the Bishop and Earl of Beuvois the Bishop and Earl of Noyon the Bishop and Earl of Chalons And therefore it may be inferred that in the Government established by the Anjovin and Norman Kings the English Bishops might be ranked with the Peers at large considering their place in Parliament and their great Revenues and the strong influence which they had on the Church and State But there is little need for Inferences and book-Cases and the Authorities of particular men to come in for Evidence when we are able to produce an Act of Parliament to make good the point For in the Statute made the 4th year of King Henry the fifth it was repeated and confirmed That no man of the Irish Nation should be chosen by Election to be an Arch-bishop Bishop Abbot or Frior nor in no other manner received or accepted to any dignity and benefice within the said Land c. The Reason of which inhibition is there said to be this viz. because being Peers of the Parliament of the said Land they brought with them to the Parliaments and Councils holden there some Irish servants whereby the privities of the Englishmen within the same Land have been and be daily discovered to the Irish people Rebels to the King to the great peril and mischief of the Kings lawful Liege people in the said Land And if the Bishops and Arch-bishops of Ireland had the name of Peers there is no question to be made but the name of Peers and the right of Peerage may properly be assumed or challenged by them Now as this Statute gives them the name of Peers so in an Act of Parliament in the 25th year of King Henry the 8th they are called the Nobles of your Realm as well Spiritual as Temporal as all your other Subjects now living c. Which Term we find again repeated by the Parliament following the Nobles Spiritual and Temporal and that twice for failing so that we find no Title given to Earls and Barons Nobles and Peers and Lords as the Statutes call them but what is given to the Bishops in our Acts of Parliament and certainly had not been given them in the stile of that Court had any question then been made of their Right of Peerage And that their calling had not raised them to a state of Nobility concerning which take this from the Lord Chief Justice Coke for our more assurance and he will tell us that the general division of persons by the Law of England is either one that is Noble and in respect of his nobility of the Lords House of Parliament or one of the Commons of the
too much to our ancient Martyrs c. exemplified in the parity of Ministers and popular elections unto Benefices allowed by Mr. John Lambert Page 547 2. Nothing ascribed to Calvins judgment by our first Reformers but much to the Augustine Confession the Writings of Melancthon Page 548 3. And to the Authority of Erasmus his Paraphrases being commended to the use of the Church by King Edward VI. and the Reasons why ibid. 4. The Bishops Book in order to a Reformation called The institution of a Christian man commanded by King Henry VIII 1537. correcied afterwards with the Kings own hand examined and allowed by Cranmer approved by Parliament and finally published by the name of Necessary Doctrine c. An. 1543. ibid. 5. The Doctrine of the said two Books in the points disputed agreeable unto that which after was established by King Edward VI. Page 549 6. Of the two Liturgies made in the time of King Edward VI. and the manner of them the testimony given unto the first and the alterations in the second Page 550 7. The first Book of Homilies by whom made approved by Bucer and of the Argument that may be gathered from the method of it in the points disputed ibid. 8. The quality and condition of those men who principally concurred to the Book of Articles with the Harmony or consent in judgment between Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Ridley Bishop Hooper c. Page 551 9. The Doctrine delivered in the Book of Articles touching the five controverted points ibid. 10. An Answer to the Objection against these Articles for the supposed want of Authority in the making of them Page 552 11. An Objection against King Edwards Catechism mistaken for an Objection against the Articles refelled as that Catechism by John Philpot Martyr and of the delegating of some powers by that Convocation to a choice Committee Page 553 12. The Articles not drawn up in comprehensible or ambiguous terms to please all parties but to be understood in the respective literal and Grammatical sense and the Reasons why ibid. CHAP. IX Of the Doctrine of Predestination delivered in the Articles the Homilies the publique Liturgies and the Writings of some of the Reformers 1. The Articles differently understood by the Calvinian party and the true English Protestants with the best way to find out the true sense thereof Page 555 2. The definition of Predestination and the most considerable points contained in it ibid. 3. The meaning of those words in the definition viz. Whom he hath chosen in Christ according to the Exposition of S. Ambrose S. Chrysostom S. Jerom as also of Archbishop Cranmer Bishop Latimer and the Book of Homilies Page 556 4. The Absolute Decree condemned by Bishop Latimer as a means to Licentiousness and Carnal living ibid. 5. For which and making God to be the Author of sin condemned as much by Bishop Hooper ibid. 6. Our Election to be found in Christ not sought for in Gods secret Councils according to the judgment of Bishop Hatimer Page 557 7. The way to find out our Election delivered by the same godly Bishop and by Bishop Hooper with somewhat to the same purpose also from the Book of Homilies ibid. 8. The Doctrine of Predestination delivered by the holy Martyr John Bradford with Fox his gloss upon the same to corrupt the sense Page 558 9. No countenance to be had for any absolute personal and irrespective decree of Predestination in the publique Liturgie ibid. 10. An Answer to such passages out of the said Liturgie as seem to favour that opinion as also touching the number of Gods Elect. CHAP. X. The Doctrine of the Church concerning Reprobation and Universal Redemption 1. The absolute Decree of Reprobation not found in the Articles of this Church but against it in some passages of the publick Liturgie Page 560 2. The cause of Reprobation to be found in a mans self and not in Gods Decrees according to the judgment of Bishop Latimer and Bishop Hooper ibid. 3. The Absolute Decrees of Election and Reprobation how contrary to the last clause in the seventeenth Article Page 561 4. The inconsistency of the Absolute Decree of Reprobation with the Doctrine of Vniversal Redemption by the death of Christ ibid. 5. The Vniversal Redemption of man-kind by the death of Christ declared in many places of the publick Liturgie and affirmed also in one of the Homilies and the Book of Articles Page 502 6. A further proof of it from the Mission of the Apostles and the Prayer used in the Ordination of Priests ibid. 7. The same confirmed by the Writings of Archbishop Cranmer and the two other Bishops before mentioned Page 563 8. A Generality of the Promises and an Vniversality of Vocation maintained by the said two godly Bishops ibid. 9. The reasons why this benefit is not made effectual to all sorts of men to be found only in themselves ibid. CHAP. XI Of the Heavenly influences of Gods grace in the Conversion of a Sinner and a mans cooperation with those Heavenly influences 1. The Doctrine of Deserving Grace ex congruo maintained in the Roman Schools before the Council of Trent rejected by our ancient Martyrs and the Book of Articles Page 564 2. The judgment of Dr. Barns and Mr. Tyndal touching the necessary workings of Gods grace on the will of man not different from that of the Church of England Page 565 3. Vniversal grace maintained by Bishop Hooper and approved by some passages in the Liturgie and Book of Homilies ibid. 4. The offer of Vniversal grace made ineffectual to some for want of faith and to others for want of repentance according to the judgment of Bishop Hooper ibid. 5. The necessity of Grace Preventing and the free co-operation of mans will being so prevented maintained in the Articles in the Homilies and the publique Liturgie Page 566 6. The necessity of this co-operation on the part of man defended and applied to the exercise of a godly life by Bishop Hooper ibid. 7. The Doctrine of Irresistibility first broached by Calvin pertinaciously maintained by most of his followers and by Gomarus amongst others Page 567 8. Gainsaid by Bishop Hooper and Bishop Latimer ibid. 9. And their gain-sayings justified by the tenth Article of King Edwards Books Page 568 And 10. The Book of Homilies ibid. CHAP. XII The Doctrine of Free-will agreed upon by the Clergy in their Convocation An. 1543. 1. Of the Convocation holden in the year 1543. in order to the Reformation of Religion in points of Doctrine Page 569 2. The Article of Free-will in all the powers and workings of it agreed on by the Prelates and Clergie of that Convocation agreeable to the present Doctrine of the Church of England ibid. 3. An Answer to the first Objection concerning the Popishness of the Bishops and Clergie in that Convocation Page 571 4. The Article of Free-will approved by King Henry VIII and Archbishop Cranmer Page 572 5. An Answer to the last Objection concerning the Conformity of
luck in making choice of three such instances which if true would not serve his turn Page 681 8. The danger which lyeth hidden under the disguise of such popular Magistrates as are here instanced in by Calvin Page 682 9. What moved Calvin to lay these dangerous stumbling-blocks in the Subjects way Page 683 10. The dangerous positions and practices which have hence ensued in most parts of Europe Page 684 11. The sect of Calvin professed Enemies to Monarchy and the power of Princes Page 685 CHAP. V. What are the three Estates in each several Kingdom of which Calvin speaks and what particularly in the Realm of England 1. Of the division of a People into three Estates and that the Priests or Clergy have been always one Page 687 2. The Priests employed in Civil matters and affairs of State by the Egyptians and the Persians the Greeks Gauls and Romans Page 688 3. The Priests and Levites exercised in affairs of Civil Government by Gods own appointment Page 680 4. The Prelates versed in Civil matters and affairs of State in the best and happiest times of Christianity Page 690 5. The Clergy make the third Estate in Germany France Spain and the Northern Kingdoms Page 692 6. That anciently in the Saxon times the Ecclesiasticks of this Realm were called to all publick Councils Page 694 7. The Prelates an essential fundamental part of the English Parliament ibid. 8. Objections answered and that the word Clerus in the Legal notion doth not extend unto the Prelates Page 698 9. That the inferior Clergie of the Realm of England had anciently their Votes in Parliament to all intents and purposes as the Commons had Page 700 10. Objections answered and that the calling of the Clergie to Parliaments and Convocations were after different manners and by several Writs Page 703 11. The great Disfranchisement and Slavery obtruded on the English Clergy by the depriving of the Bishops of their Votes in Parliament Page 705 12. A brief discussion of the question whether any two of the three Estates conspiring or agreeing together can conclude any thing unto the prejudice of the third Page 706 CHAP. VI. That the three Estates of every Kingdom whereof Calvin speaks have no Authority either to regulate the power or controll the Actions of the Sovereign Prince 1. The Bishops and Clergy of England not the King make the third Estate and of the dangerous consequences which may follow on the contrary Tenet Page 708 2. The different influence of the three Estates upon conditional Princes and an absolute Monarch Page 710 3. The Sanhedrim of no Authority over the Persons or the actions of the Kings of Judah Page 711 4. The three Estates in France of how small Authority over the actions of that King Page 712 5. The King of Spain not over-ruled or regulated by the three Estates Page 713 6. Of what Authority they have been antiently in the Parliaments of Scotland Page 714 7. The King of England always accounted heretofore for an absolute Monarch Page 715 8. No part of Sovereignty invested Legally in the English Parliaments Page 716 9. The three Estates assembled in the Parliament of England subordinate unto the King not co-ordinate with him Page 719 10. The Legislative power of Parliaments is properly and legally in the King alone Page 720 11. In what particulars the power of the English Parliament doth consist especially Page 723 12. The Kings of England ordinarily over-rule their Parliaments by themselves their Council and their Judges Page 724 13. Objections answered touching the power and practice of some former Parliaments and the testimonies given unto them Page 726 14. No such Authority given by God in Holy Scripture to any such Popular Magistrates as Calvin dreams of and pretends Page 727 15. The Application and Conclusion of the whole Discourse Page 728 De jure Paritatis Episcoporum The Right of Peerage vindicated to the Bishops of England Page 739. FINIS
their Authority and power in Spiritual matters from no other hands than those of Christ and his Apostles their Temporal honours and possessions from the bounty and affection only of our Kings and Princes their Ecclesiastical jurisdiction in causes Matrimonial Testamentary and the like for which no action lieth at the common Law from continual usage and prescription and ratified and continued unto them in the Magna Charta of this Realm and owe no more unto the Parliament than all sort of Subjects do besides whose Fortunes and Estates have been occasionally and collaterally confirmed in Parliament And as for the particular Statutes which are touched upon that of the 24 H. 8. doth only constitute and ordain a way by which they might be chose and consecrated without recourse to Tome for a confirmation which formerly had put the Prelates to great charge and trouble but for the form and manner of their Consecration the Statute leaves it to those Rites and Ceremonies wherewith before it was performed and therefore Sanders doth not stick to affirm that all the Bishops which were made in King Henries days were Lawfully and Canonically ordained and consecrated the Bishops of that time not only being acknowledged in Queen Maries days for lawful and Canonical Bishops but called on to assist at the Consecration of such other Bishops Cardinal Pool himself for one as were promoted in her Reign whereof see Masons Book de Minist Ang. l. c. Next for the Statute 1 E. 6. cap. 2. besides that it is satisfied in part by the former Answer as it relates to their Canonical Consecrations it was repealed in Terminis in the first of Queen Maries Reign and never stood in force nor practice to this day That of the Authorizing of the Book of Ordination in two several Parliaments of that King the one à parte ante and the other à parte post as before I told you might indeed seem somewhat to the purpose if any thing were wanting in it which had been used in the formula's of the Primitive times or if the Book had been composed in Parliament or by Parliament-men or otherwise received more Authority from them then that it might be lawfully used and exercised throughout the Kingdom But it is plain that none of these things were objected in Queen Maries days when the Papists stood most upon their points the Ordinal being not called in because it had too much of the Parliament but because it had too little of the Pope and relished too strongly of the Primitive piety And for the Statute of 8 of Q. Elizabeth which is chiefly stood on all that was done therein was no more than this and on this occasion A question had been made by captious and unquiet men and amongst the rest by Dr. Bonner sometimes Bishop of London whether the Bishops of those times were lawfully ordained or not the reason of the doubt being this which I marvel Mason did not see because the book of Ordination which was annulled and abrogated in the first of Queen Mary had not been yet restored and revived by any legal Act of Queen Elizabeths time which Cause being brought before the Parliament in the 8th year of her Reign the Parliament took notice first that their not restoring of that Book to the former power in terms significant and express was but Casus omissus and then declare that by the Statute 5 and 6 E. 6. it had been added to the Book of Common-prayer and Administration of the Sacraments as a member of it at least as an Appendant to it and therefore by the Statute 1 Eliz. c. 2. was restored again together with the said Book of Common-prayer intentionally at the least if not in Terminis But being the words in the said Statute were not clear enough to remove all doubts they therefore did revive now and did accordingly Enact That whatsoever had been done by virtue of that Ordination should be good in Law This is the total of the Statute and this shews rather in my judgment that the Bishops of the Queens first times had too little of the Parliament in them than that they were conceived to have had too much And so I come to your last Objection which concerns the Parliament whose entertaining all occasions to manisest their power in Ecclesiastical matters doth seem to you to make that groundless slander of the Papists the more fair and plausible 'T is true indeed that many Members of both Houses in these latter Times have been very ready to embrace all businesses which are offered to them out of a probable hope of drawing the managery of all Affairs as well Ecclesiastical as Civil into their own hands And some there are who being they cannot hope to have their sancies Authorized in a regular way do put them upon such designs as neither can consist with the nature of Parliaments nor the Authority of the King nor with the privileges of the Clergy nor to say truth with the esteem and reputation of the Church of Christ And this hath been a practice even as old as Wickliffe who in the time of K. R. 2. addressed his Petition to the Parliament as we read in Walsingham for the Reformation of the Clergy the rooting out of many false and erroneous Tenets and for establishing of his own Doctrines who though he had some Wheat had more Tears by odds in the Church of England And lest he might be thought to have gone a way as dangerous and unjustifiable as it was strange and new he laid it down for a position That the Parliament or Temporal Lords where by the way this ascribes no Authority or power at all to the House of Commons might lawfully examine and reform the Disorders and Corruptions of the Church and a discovery of the errors and corruptions of it devest her of all Tithes and Temporal endowments till she were reformed But for all this and more than this for all he was so strongly backed by the Duke of Lancaster neither his Petition nor his Position found any welcome in the Parliament further than that it made them cast many a longing eye on the Churches patrimony or produced any other effect towards the work of Reformation which he chiefly aimed at than that it hath since served for a precedent to Penry Pryn and such like troublesome and unquiet spirits to disturb the Church and set on foot those dreams and dotages which otherwise they durst not publish And to say truth as long as the Clergy were in power and had Authority in Convocation to do what they would in matters which concerned Religion those of the Parliament conceived it neither safe nor fitting to intermeddle in such business as concerned the Clergy for fear of being questioned for it at the Churches Bar. But when that Power was lessened though it were not lost by the submission of the Clergy to K. H. 8. and by the Act of the Supremacy which ensued upon it then did the Parliaments
Eccles l. 4.21 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Five books he writ as both Eusebius and Saint Hierom tell us touching the Acts and Monuments of the Church of God this last affirming of the work that it contained many things ad utilitatem legentium pertinentia exceeding profitable to the Reader De scriptor Eccles though written in a plain and familiar stile Some fragments of his cited by Eusebius we have seen before the body of his Works being eaten by the teeth of Time and one we are to look on now being the remainder of a most accurate and full confession of his Faith Euseb ut supra which he left behind him There he relates ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that in a Journey towards Rome he did confer with many Bishops and that he found amongst them all the same Form of Doctrine there being no City where he came no Episcopal succession wherein he found not all things so confirmed and setled as they were prescribed by the Word taught by the Prophets and Preached by our Lord and Saviour Particularly he tells us of the Church of Corinth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that it continued constantly in the Orthodox Faith till the time that Primus was there Bishop with whom he had much conference as he sailed towards Rome staying with him many days at Corinth and being much delighted with his Conversation Of Rome he only doth inform us that he abode there till the time of Anicetus whose Deacon Eleutherus at that time was who not long after did succeed in his Pastors Chair Soter succeeding Anicetus Eleutherus succeeding Soter Where by the way De viris ill in Egesip I wonder how Saint Hierom came to place the coming of Egesippus unto Rome sub Aniceto when Anicetus was there Bishop considering that Egesippus tells us he was there before and that he there continued ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã until the time of Anicetus as before was said Discoursing of the Errours of the Jews his Countrey-men he sheweth that after James the Just was martyred in defence of Christs Truth and Gospel Simeon the son of Cleophas and Uncle to our Saviour was erected Bishop all the Disciples giving their voices unto him as being of their Masters kindred He addeth that Hierusalem whereof he speaketh was called for long time the Virgin Church as being undefiled with the filth of Heresies and that Thebulis was the first who broached strange Doctrine in the same the man being discontented as it seemed ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã because he was not made a Bishop So far the pieces of this Journal or Itinerary direct us in this present search as to discern how strong a bulwark the Episcopal succession hath been and been accounted also of Gods sacred Truths how strong a Pillar for support of that blessed building At the same time with Egesippus lived Dionysius the learned and renowned Bishop of the Church of Corinth Euseb Eccles hist l. 4. c. 22. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã De scriptor Ecc. successor to that Primus whom before we spoke of A man as both Eusebius and Saint Hierom say of such both industry and Eloquence ut non solum suae Civitatis Provinciae populos that he instructed not alone by his Epistles the people of his own City and Province but also those of other Churches One writ he saith Eusebius to the Lacedemonians at once confirming them in faith and love another unto the Athenians about the time that Publius their Bishop suffered Martyrdom exhorting them to live according to the prescript of Christs holy Gospel In that Epistle he makes mention of Quadratus also who succeeded Publius in that charge declaring also that Dionysius the Areopagite being converted by Saint Paul was made the first Bishop of that City Of which three Bishops of Athens Quadratus is much celebrated by Eusebius for an Apologie by him written Euseb l. 4. c. 3. and tendred unto Adrian the Emperour in the behalf of Christians being the first piece of that kind that was ever written in the World and written as it seems with such power and efficacy Id. ibid. c. 9. that shortly after Adrian desisted from his persecuting of the Church of God making a Law or Edict for their future safety But to go on with Dionysius A third he writ unto the Nicomedians opposing in the same the Heresies of Marcion a fourth unto the Gortynaeans in which he much commended their Bishop Philip in that the Church committed to his care and governance ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã had been made famous by so many tryals both for faith and constancy He writ unto the Church of Amastris also and the rest in Pontus speaking by name of Palma the Bishop there as also to the Church of Gnossus in the Isle of Crete in which he did persuade Pintus Bishop of the same ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not to impose that grievous yoke of Chastity upon his brethren as a matter necessary but to consider rather the infirmity and weakness of them Finally there was extant in Eusebius's time another Epistle of this Dionysius to the Church of Rome wherein he magnifieth their abundant charity towards all the Brethren which were in want or persecution not only of their own but of other Cities highly commending Soter who was then their Bishop who did not only study to preserve them in so good a way ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but also did encourage them to improve their bounties So much remains of Dionysius and his publick Acts by which we may perceive that though the Bishops of those times as since had their particular Sees and Cities yet did their care extend unto others also maintaining a continual intercourse betwixt one another not only for their mutual comfort in those dangerous times but also for the better government of the Church it self the Unity whereof was then best preserved by that correspondence which the Bishops in the name of their several Churches had with one another For other Bishops of those times not to say any thing of Melito or Polycarpus whom before we spake of nor of the Bishops of the four Patriarchal Sees which we shall have occasion to remember shortly those of most fame were Papias and Apollinarius Euseb Hist l. 3. c 23. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Bishops successively of Hierapolis a City of Phrygia Pothinus Bishop of Lyons in France Id. l. 4. c. 25. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. l. 5. c. 6. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. c. 21. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Id. c. 25. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ibid. c. 18. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea Cassius Bishop of Tyre Clarius Bishop of Ptolomais all three in Palestine Publius Julius Bishop of Debelto a Colony in Thrace with many others of great eminency whereof consult Euseb Hist Eccles 5. c. 18. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã cap. 21. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã By this that hath been said of Dionysius and other Bishops