off in Pomp and Noise For its Extent was confin'd within Europe all the Churches in Asia and Africa disowning it and there still remain'd in the heighth of their Triumph Bodies of Men that Opposed their Superstitions and many of them with their Blood Sealed to the Truth Besides its Reign is not near of that Length it pretends to The continual Attempts it made upon the Jurisdiction of other Churches and the aiming at Universality were long in agitation and never yet settled to their mind farther than in Italy and there next door it is rejected in Sicily It s Pernicious Errours have generally been Disowned by their soundest Members and by their greatest and ablest Writers and few Established by Authority till the Council of Trent after the Reformation was begun as you may see amongst others in our excellent Dr. Field of the Church Yet these and all other Considerations do not Captivate a good Christian so as to make him lay aside all his Reason but in the midst of Miracles and the Power of the Holy Ghost with the Noble Bereans search the Scripture whether Things be so or no. How suddenly would our Schisms Vanish away were some among us so Ingenuous as to go to the Fountain-Head to Search the Scriptures and not have Mens Persons so much in Admiration as to take all for Gospel that they say Ye see then the modest Cautiousness which ought to be used to confirm us in the Truth lest either by too much Implicitness we suffer Error to grow upon us or by Assuming too much to our selves we be Misled by our own Indiscretion I shall refer my self in this Point to what St. Augustine says in a Treatise against the Donatists Who knows not that the Holy Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are contained within their certain Limits and are so far Preferr'd before all after-Writings of Bishops that the Truth or Justice of whatever appears to be Written in them is not to be doubted or call'd in question But what Episcopal Determinations have been or are made since the Canon of the Holy Scriptures has been confirm'd may if they appear Faulty be Corrected either by a Hand happily more Skilful or by the Authority and Prudence of more Bishops and Wiser Men or by Councils And Councils themselves which are held of particular Nations or Provinces are without more adoe to yield to the Authority of Plenary and General Councils and they likewise which have gone before to submit to the Correction of the later when any thing is discover'd which was not known before and that without the least swelling of Pride transport of Arrogance or spiteful Contention but with a Sanctify'd Humility in Catholick Peace and Christian Charity Wherefore St. Cyprian so much the Greater by being the more Humble and who was so in love with the Behaviour of St. Peter that he said setting it forth as an Instruction to us of Concord and Patience that we should not be too fond of our own ways but rather esteem those to be ours if True and Just which are now and then opportunely suggested to us by our Brethren and Colleagues He shews plainly enough how easily he would have alter'd his Opinion if any one had made it appear to him that Christian Baptism might be Administred to others by those who left the Church for the same Reason that they cannot lose their own by their Departure Of which though I have said much I should not have dar'd to have utter'd one Word unless I had been supported by the joynt Authority of the Universal Church to which I make no doubt he had likewise yielded if in his time the Question had been canvased and decided by a plenary Council But though the Rule of Discretion and common Prudence taken from the natural Course of things direct this way yet such is the headstrong Temper of corrupt Nature as will break through all For we see in the very Infancy of Christianity when Mens outward Senses were Gratified with continual Miracles their Minds taught by the Insallible Guides of the Church the Apostles Their Expectation and Dependance upon Things here below prevented by incessant Persecutions and powerful Oppositions yet would they not retain Sincerity and Innocence For we see even in those Days there was an Hymeneus and an Alexander and a Diotrephes and divers others complain'd of by the Apostles themselves there was the Heresie of the Nicolaitans and that of the Gnostics too if some have guess'd aright which provok'd St Peter to give this Warning There shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of c. And St. Iohn thus counsels Christians upon the same Account Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world No wonder then if the Scripture advertises us of the Mischiefs which should happen to the Church in after-Days Now the spirit speaks expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisie But more emphatically have we it from the same hand in the Charge given at Miletus to the Clergy of Ephesus Take heed unto your selves and to all the flock over the which the holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them Which is confirmed by the Mouth of Truth it self Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many And that we may be apprised of the Reason why it has seemed good to the Divine Wisdom to expose the Church to these uneasie Tryals we are told I hear there are divisions among you There must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you Being thus forewarned of those Unnatural Distractions wherewith our Holy Profession is to be Visited and that in all probability they will continue to the end of the World because the Reason for them does so Ye ought always to be upon a strict Guard against the Incroachment of so Dangerous an Evil. For the Honour of God the Support of Truth the Salvation of Mens Souls and the Peace of the Church are all concerned in it What is it preserves the Communion of so many Churches so widely distant in Place Discipline and Worship but the Harmony of Confession the Consent in that which is the Life and Soul of our Holy Religion the Articles of our Faith It is our Creed
best of Pretences to the contrary The specious colour of Edification and a more holy Worship is blown off with the plain Discovery of having Mens Persons in admiration and the shameful minding of Earthly Things And yet lest neither Admonition nor Warning with evidence of Reason should prevail St. Paul fortifies his Commands from the Example of his own Practice Now we command you Brethren in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that ye withdraw your selves from every brother that walketh disorderly and not after the tradition which he received from us For your selves know how ye ought to follow us for we behaved not our selves disorderly among you The word Disorderly in the Original is borrowed from the Military Discipline as may be seen in the Martial Laws of Athens amongst which I cannot forbear to mention Three because they do so exactly square with the Constitution of Ecclesiastical Affairs For if we consider the Church as it is Militant the Laws need only be mentioned to shew their fitness for either Discipline The first puts a badge of Disgrace upon those that take the Profession upon them without being sent The next punishes those that break their Ranks and do not observe Order In the same Law and under the same Penalties are comprehended such as run away from their Colours and will serve in their Place no longer but it may be betake themselves to some other Calling being mentioned under the Title of Desertens The third Law is against such as cast away their Arms and will not Labour in their Calling And Disorderliness seems to take in all the Faults where the Law in general prescribes to all Behaviour Good and Bad. Let those that have behaved themselves well be advanced and the disorderly degraded Thus much I have said to demonstrate that whilst we are in the Flesh we must take such Measures as are best suited to our Infirmities and which are so absolutely necessary to our Condition here below that no Proposition in Euclid can be better made out For all Vocations and Professions are Practised by some agreed and set Rules which cannot be Transgressed without hurt to the Constitution and a great part of this consists in the Behaviour of such Members as make up the Corporation who for this end ought every one to keep to his proper Station and to mind his own Business and not anothers In Matters of Speculation we all agree in the common Rules for supporting the Truth of Propositions and look upon it as a Jest when any one goes about to question them The Data in Geometry and the Propositions deduced from them have remained uncontested unless by some vain or wanton Scepticks from their first Assertion to this day Now I think the best Thought why Moral Maxims and Proofs do not pass so current has been not that these are less evident in themselves than those other but they are engaged with the Affections and Interests of Men which oftentimes stifle the most flaming and unquestionable Truths with the gross Mists of corrupt Prejudices After all a Man may no doubt and ought to withdraw himself from the Communion of a Church which exacts a Consent to false and pernicious Doctrines or a Compliance with unlawful Practices But then he must be sure to go upon a good Bottom and not out of a weak and crazy Humour make that Sinful which is Indifferent nor make the Faults of others an Occasion of his committing a greater by Separation Ye know St. Paul's Opinion in the case of receiving the blessed Sacrament and let us see what was the Practice of the greatest and best Men in after-Times By no means are we to quit the Unity of the Church for fear of Communion with wicked men St. Cyprian was fully persuaded that the Church was under a great Mistake and that it did grievously err in not Rebaptizing of Hereticks which Opinion he pursued so far as to call a Provincial Council about it and there Establish it and yet all this could not induce him to a Separation from the rest of the Churches Ye are used says St. Augustin to the Donatists to urge Cyprian ' s Letters Cyprian ' s Opinion Cyprian ' s Council Why do ye make use of Cyprian ' s Authority to justify your Schism and reject his Example in preserving the peace of the Church Nay he quotes his Authority as well as Practice For says he when writing to Antoninus he held forth to him that by no means before the time of the last Separation of the Iust and Unjust are we to depart from the Unity of the Church by reason of mixt Communion whereby he shew'd what a Holy Man he was and how most worthy the renown of that Martyrdom which he attained to He then says What a swelling of Arrogance is it what a forgetfulness of Humility and Gentleness and how great a boasting of his Arrogance that any one should dare or believe that he could do what the Lord did not allow so much as to his Apostles that he should think himself able to discern between the Tares and the Wheat Ye may see then Brethren what manner of Spirit they are of who wittingly Promote the scandal of Schism For a great Difference must be made between poor Simple Souls seduced and them that pretend to Knowledge These latter are those to whom St. Cyprian addresses himself and who are so remote from the Meek and Lowly Temper of our blessed Lord from that Humility upon which God bestows his Grace Were we really cloathed with Humility we should be Subject one to another and not blow our selves up with Imaginary Reasons and Self pleasing Principles to the subverting of the Churches Peace for Things that are entirely in the disposal of Authority being in themselves Indifferent So that he must have a very strong Bias let him make what Grimace he pleases that can be Troublesome upon this account purely for Conscience sake But ye have so full Discussions of this Point in Dr. Whitgift's Answer to an Admonition to the Parliament and his Vindication of that Answer Dr. Morton of the Three Ceremonies and Dr. Burges his Vindication and Cassander Anglicanus written by Mr. Sprint 1618. who had been formerly a Non-Conformist that ye will find better and sounder Store in your Studies than I can pretend to furnish you with Only give me leave to quote to you one Passage in an Account of the Habassin Religion and Customs composed by Zaga Zaba the King of Ethiopia's Ambassador at Lisbon We do observe nothing but what we find in the Law and the Prophets and in the Books of the Synods of the Apostles or if any thing else is observed by us it is done only for the sake of Order and for the Peace of the Church so as not to reckon it a Sin not to observe it that is simply in it self abstract from Scandal or perverse
Intention II. And to your Doctrine Which is the other part of the Charge and is that Depositum which the Apostle so carefully minds him of O Timothy keep that which is committed to thy trust Which Trust is not only generally agreed by Commentators to be the Doctrine of the Gospel but is I think evidently so explain'd from the Words of the same Apostle to the same Person The things that thou hast heard of us among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also Now this is the Foundation of our whole Religion For upon this we build our Faith our Works and the whole Frame of our Righteousness By the sound Expression of this we square all our Religious Thoughts and Actions avoiding prophane and vain janglings and opposition of Science falsly so called which some professing have erred concerning the Faith Our Office for Ordaining Priests takes a just and a wise course to prevent running after every Spirit and taking up Doctrines upon too easie Terms when it exacts this Promise of those that are to be Ordained To teach nothing as required of necessity to eternal Salvation but that which you shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved by the Scripture All other Writings derive their Authority from the Author's Veracity or Judgment the former qualifies him for a good Witness and the second for a good Judge but yet so as to be Tryed by the Touchstone of the Holy Scripture The four first General Councils have a particular Weight 1. From the great Credit of those that sate in them and 2. From the Universal Deference paid to them by all Churches in all Ages Therefore our Constitutions give no Authority or Power to order determine or adjudge any Matter or Cause to be Heresie but only such as heretofore have been determined ordered and adjudg'd to be Heresie by the Authority of the Canonical Scripture or by the first Four General Councils or any of them or by any other General Council wherein the same have been declar'd Heresie by the express and plain Words of the said Canonical Scripture or such as hereafter shall be ordered judged or determined to be Heresie by the High Court of Parliament of this Realm with the Assent of the Clergy in their Convocation By which Words ye see 1. The sure Foundation our Church is built upon the Holy Scripture and what is Authoritatively delivered from it and agreeable to it 2. The just Method for Establishing any Doctrine so delivered not by the confus'd way of setting up private Spirits but according to the Mind of that God who is the God of Peace by submitting to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as supreme c. that is by the most Publick General and Authentick Consent that a Nation is capable of which with us is that of Parliament and Convocation What had the Apostles to justify St. Paul against the Complaints of the Iews but by convincing them that he walk'd orderly and kept the law However there is a Just and Decent Liberty due to all Christians whereby to Judge for themselves in the Essentials of Religion But yet such a Liberty it is as is beset on each hand with most dangerous Rocks such as threaten Shipwrack to any Vessel that shall Strike upon them For if on the one hand we run into that Popish Extreme to take away all Liberty by an absolutely blind Obedience and implicite Faith swallowing down all that is given without Tasting or Chewing upon it we act more like Beasts than Men and as easily take down Poyson as wholesom Food but on the other hand if with the Fanatick we assume to our selves an unlimited Power of following the Wild-goose-Chase of our wanton and uncertain Imaginations we shall Tear the Church in Ten Thousand Pieces and expose it to all Uncharitableness And therefore a Sober Christian tempers all his Proceedings with Modesty and Humility and has that discreet Jealousie of himself as wherever he breaks Communion to do it upon so certain Grounds that the Grievousness of the Error imposed or the Wickedness of the Fact commanded shall be Notoriously evident Otherwise in the Meekness of Wisdom he defers to the Judgment of his Neighbours rather than to his own and thinks himself in Modesty in common Discretion and in Duty bound for the sake of Peace Unity and Concord to submit to the Determination of his Superiours especially in Authoritative Assemblies For in the multitude of counsellors there is safety And we have a Proverb which is deriv'd from its Authority He that is his own adviser has a fool to his counsellor Indeed it is want either of Judgment or Honesty that makes Men give in so much to their own Opinions and so little to those of others For it is certain the chief End of our being Conversable and Sociable Creatures was that we might be Assisting one to another and the more Important and Universal the Subject is the greater regard ought to be had to its Determination So that not only in Things Indifferent where it is absolutely our Duty to submit but much more in the Weightiest Matters of the Law where our Eternal Welfare is so immediately concerned we ought with the greatest Care and Caution to Proceed and never think we can take too much Advice That Noted Mark of Catholick Truth which Vincentius Lirinensis Prescribes to Submit to that which has been believed in all places at all times and by all goes a great way with every Modest and truly Humble Christian. Because the Starting of Doubts and Questions so Confound the Apprehensions of Men oftentimes that it is very hard for them to come to a Resolution of themselves And in that Case there is no other way to come to the Acknowledgment of the Truth but by a Prudent Deference to Authority For we cannot well imagine it Consistent with the Divine Goodness and Wisdom to suffer an Error so to Prevail or rather to Reign so absolutely in his Church as to bear these three Atchievments I question whether ever any Heresie attained completely to any one of them St. Ierom ye know indeed says The World wondred to find it self become Arian But this Expression must be taken as generally such are by a Trope of the whole for the greatest or at least most Noisie Part. For it it evident from all the Accounts given us of those Days that there were many bore Witness for the Truth even to the Death and more would have done so if their Courage would have served Besides that at all Times was wanting It was an Upstart Heresie that lasted no longer than Supported by Force and Violence which bears no great Analogy with Gods Methods in Propagating the Gospel But Popery seems to lay the greatest Claim to this Character of Orthodoxy and yet when thoroughly consider'd the largest Part of it goes