be reputed the Ministers of Christ who enter by Simony WHAT is here proposed is a Case upon the Resolution whereof dependeth the Satisfaction and Tranquility of the Conscience both of the Priest and People of the Pastor and of his Flock in reference to their respective Concerns in the Administration of the Ministerial Duties For when he who by Simony hath procured an Entrance into the Sacred and Spiritual Office receives Ordination Collation Institution and is invested with the Charge of a Flock he Preacheth the Word he Administrateth the Sacraments he Exerciseth the Power of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven he bindeth he looseth and in a word dispenseth all things that belong to the Ministery The People see him clothed with Orders and Authority from the Church and set over them as their Pastor from whose Hands they are invited to expect those Spiritual Benefits which God hath promised to convey to Souls by the Ministery of the Gospel in those Divine Ordinances Now if he be the lawful Minister of Jesus Christ all is secure enough on both hands he may confidently Exercise the Acts of the Evangelical Priesthood and by a good Title Administer the Sacred Things belonging thereto and they may confidently promise to themselves the gracious Effects of his Ministration But if he be not then doth he but boldly usurp and intrude himself and hath no right to Dispense these Mysteries and may expect as little Thanks from God for his medling 1 Sam. 13.12 13. as Saul had for presuming upon a Burnt-Offering and as Vzziah 2 Chron. 26.18 19. for attempting to offer Incense in the Temple Nor can the People derive any Spiritual Benefit from his Ministery who never received what he pretends to give and whose Administrations can have no more Vertue than the Exorcisms of the Sons of Sceva Acts 19.14 15 16. For the Resolution of this Doubt it is seriously to be considered What it is that constitutes a Man in the Ministerial Office And I lay it down as a sure Hypothesis uncontroverted amongst the Orthodox That Ordination according to the Divine Rule of Ecclesiastical Oeconomy is the ordinary Way and Means appointed by God for Constituting of Men in any Degree of the Sacred Hierarchy and for Consecrating them to the Priestly Office in the Church and making them the Ministers of Christ and that thereby Authority and Power is conveyed upon the Person thus Consecrated of Dipensing the Mysteries of the Gospel and Administring the Ordinances of God Wherefore we must consider That in Ordination there is a Divine Spiritual Power and Authority and there is a Ministerial Ecclesiastical Seal And howsoever this Power and Authority be conveyed by the hands of Man as the external Agent and Instrument in conferring the Ecclesiastical Seal yet these external Rites of Ordination perform'd by Man do not give the Power but are only Declarative of that Spiritual Power and Grace which is deriv'd from God alone and flows from the influence of his Blessed Spirit as the Internal and Principal Author and Efficient upon the Person call'd by him thereto And therefore Dionysius Areopagita or whosoever else is the Author of The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy says of the Person that confers Orders That he is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Proclaimer or Declarer of the Divine Election De Eccles Hier. Cap. 9. Who says he by his own Gift doth not advance those who are Consecrated unto the Honour or Power of Ecclesiastical Order This he ascribes only to God whom he calls there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Prince of Consecration or chief Ordainer and pleads the Authority of Jesus Christ for ascribing this Power to God alone and his Holy Spirit Nor can it be rationally suppos'd to be otherwise for if a Spiritual Power be necessary as is undeniable to the Ministration of Spiritual and Sacred Things then this Power can be derived from no other Fountain than the Divine Spirit And therefore did our Lord and Saviour both by his Words and Actions intimate the same to flow from him upon the Persons of his Apostles whilst at the giving of their Commission he told them That the Authority and Power which he transmitted unto them was but an emanation of that Power which he had received from above saying Matth. 28.18 19. All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth go ye therefore and teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And Joh. 20.21 22 23. As my Father hath sent me so send I you And when he had said this he breathed on them and saith unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost Whosesoever's Sins ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosesoever's Sins ye retain they are retained And telling them Acts 1.8 Ye shall receive Power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you And ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost Parts of the Earth Whereby he meaneth That they have both the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both the Authority and the Power of their Ministery from the Holy Ghost And not only did our Saviour ascribe this unto him in the Persons of these extraordinary Ministers whom he immediately Ordained and sent forth but the Apostle Paul ascribes it also to him in the Persons of the ordinary Pastors of the Church who were Called and Ordained mediately by the Hands of Men saying unto them Acts 20.28 Take heed unto your selves and unto all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers Wherefore from so clear Premisses we cannot but conclude That to a right and sufficient Ordination to constitute a Man a true Minister of Jesus Christ and to endow him with a lawful Ministerial Power there must be with the external Instrument a concurrence of the internal Principal Efficient as it was in the Out-sending of Barnabas and Saul who received their Power and Authority from God and the external Seal thereof from the Church the Holy Ghost gives the Command and calls them Acts 13.2 3. and their Brethren gave them Imposition of Hands And therefore Ambrose proposeth the Question Lib. De Dignit Sacerdot Cap. 5. Who gives the Gift or Grace of Ordination And he answered Sine dubio Deus without doubt God Sed tamen says he per hominem dat Deus but notwithstanding God gives it by Man Homo imponit manus Deus largitur gratiam Sacerdos imponit supplicem dextram Deus benedicit potenti dextra Man lays on the Hands God bestows the Grace The Priest lays on the right Hand of Prayer and God blesseth with the right Hand of Power And without this the external Seal Administred by the Hands of Men signifies nothing Hence then the Collection is easie and the Conclusion evident That he who enters by by Simony upon the Sacred
THE ANATOMY OF SIMON MAGUS Or the Sin of SIMONY Laid OPEN Make not my Father's House an House of Merchandise John 2.16 LONDON Printed by W. Bowyer for Charles Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Paul's Church-yard 1700. THE CONTENTS Chap. I. OF the Nature of Simony what it is Page 1 Chap. II. Of the several Ways whereby the Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in the Entrance upon a Spiritual Office p. 35. Chap. III. How Simony is practised in the Administration of a Spiritual Office p. 73 Chap. IV. Of the Heinousness of the Sin of Simony p. 98 Chap. V. Whether they are to be reputed the Ministers of Christ who enter by Simony p. 122 Chap. VI. A Warning to Young Men in reference to their Entry upon Spiritual Offices in the Church p. 158 Chap. VII A Word of Warning to Patrons p. 182 Chap. VIII An humble Advice to Bishops and Governours of the Church p. 197 THE ANATOMY OF Simon Magus c. CHAP. I. Of the Nature of Simony what it is AS the great Design of the Son of God's coming into the World and and giving himself to Death was to purchase and purifie to himself a glorious Church which might be holy without blemish spot or wrinkle so it was no less his Design to intimate how zealous he would be to have a glorious Purity maintain'd in his Church under the Gospel than it was to reprove the Jews Profaneness that he took the Scourge in his Hand and with such Authority drove out of the Temple the Buyers and Sellers and overthrew the Tables of the Money-changers and the Seats of them that sold Doves sharply thus rebuking them Matth. 21.13 It is written My House shall be called the House of Prayer but ye have made it a Den of Thieves and charging them saying Joh. 2.16 Make not my Father's House an House of Merchandise This was not done nor spoken meerly in behalf of the old Temple whose Glory was now tending to its Period and whereof shortly the Abomination of Desolation was to take possession but in behalf of the Christian Church and with intuition to that Purity and Holiness which the Lord was to require in his Spiritual Temple which was immediately to be set up and to continue to the end of the World Wherefore Origen expounding these Words says Mystice autem Templum Dei est Ecclesia Christi c. By the Temple of God is mystically meant the Church of Christ and that by these three sorts driven out thence by Christ are designed three kinds of covetous Persons who are to be accounted unworthy to be in the Church and Communion of the Saints By the Buyers and Sellers are understood such as amongst Christians are taken up about nothing but the Cares of Trading for Worldly Gain By the Money-changers those who having the Charge of the Poor's Alms do not acquit themselves faithfully but mis-employ the fame or enrich themselves thereby And by those that sold Doves are signified the Bishops and Priests who sell the Gifts of the Holy Ghost and make Merchandise of Churches And than this last there is no Corruption more dangerous nor is there more need of watching against any Evil than to preserve the Church from the Impurity of this Simoniacal Malady which when suffered to creep in consumes her very Vitals by filling her Bowels with a corrupt Priesthood For as says Chrysostome Super Matth. Hom. 37. Si Sacerdotium integrum fuerit tota Ecclesia floret si autem corruptum fuerit tota fides marcida est If the Priesthood be found the whole Church flourisheth but if it be corrupt then all Faith and Religion withereth and decayeth Wherefore how long that Spirit of Christ which made the zeal of God's House to eat him up possessed the Governours of the Church it moved them to make very strict and cautious Laws and Canons for stopping all those Conduits whereby this Corruption might be fear'd to enter and to inflict severe Censures upon such as they found guilty of this sin But when that Primitive Fervour began to decay and the Spirit of the World to take hold of the luke-warm Clergy then began Simon Magus again to set up the Head being animated by the secret Favour of a strong Party in the Church of whom though he knew they would not avowedly own his Interest he was confident they would prove clandestine Abettors of his Designs And this indeed is the lamentable Policy of this degenerate Age wherein though Men be ashamed to espouse his odious Name yet do they secretly caress and nourish him and cover his Deformities with such artificial Dresses as may best serve not only to deceive others whose Simplicity is easily abused but also to impose upon themselves and make them yield up their own Consciences to those voluntary Deceptions which may prove advantageous to their Interest Wherefore out of a single Principle of Zeal for the Purity of the Church and Glory of God I have resolved not only to Unmask but to Anatomize and rip up the very corners of the Heart and Bowels of this Monster that his Nakedness being discovered and his loathsom Deformities laid open before the World those who have never fully known what the sin of Simony is may learn to understand it others may be asham'd to give it any countenance And such as have any way polluted their Consciences with the guilt thereof may repent of this their Wickedness and pray God if perhaps it may be forgiven them My first Work then must be to shew what Simony is I trust it is known to most who talk thereof that this sin of Simony deriveth its Name from Simon Magus yet must we not therefore suppose that it had its first beginning from him but that we read him to have been the first Author thereof in the Christian Church and was guilty of this sin in an eminent degree and upon this account it is that it derives its Denomination from him Wherefore by considering what the Fact of Simon Magus was we shall the more easily define what the sin of Simony is We read in the 8th Chapter of the Acts that this Man was a Sorcerer or Magician and therefore is call'd Simon Magus but when the People of Samaria were Converted to the Christian Faith and Baptized by Philip he embraced also the Faith and was Baptized And when upon the report of the Conversion of the Samaritans the Apostles Peter and John came down from Jerusalem to Confirm them whilst he saw that by the Imposition of the Apostle's Hands the the Gift of the Holy Ghost was given he thereupon offer'd them Money Act. 8.19 20 21 22 23 saying Give me also this Power that on whomsoever I lay Hands he may receive the Holy Ghost But Peter said unto him Thy Money perish With the 〈◊〉 accuse thou hast thought that the Gift of God may be purchased with Money Thou hast neither part nor lot in this
dividing to every Man severally as he will Some things again are reckoned Spiritual because they are such by the Ordinance and Appointment of God and that two ways Some things are such as being Instruments and Means appointed by God for working spiritual Effects Thus the Word and the Sacraments and the Offices in the Church and the Vocation Ordination and Authority to dispense the same and to exercise these Sacred and Spiritual Offices are set apart as things Sacred and Spiritual and these are call'd the Gifts of God because they are given of God and his Spirit as Instruments whereby he worketh as our Saviour said to his Father of his Disciples I have given them thy Word It is his Gift And as the Apostle saith of him Joh. 17.14 When he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive and gave Gifts unto Men. Eph. 4.8 11 12. And he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ Some things again are by God's Appointment reckoned Spiritual as being conjoin'd and annexed to Sacred and Spiritual Things as Ministeries and Helps thereto Thus things set apart and dedicated to Holy and Spiritual Uses and for the support and maintainance of Spiritual Offices with the Rights and Titles thereto though in their own nature they be things Temporal yet in regard of this connexion to Spiritual Things they become Sacred and Spiritual And these things God lays claim to and seals them as his peculiar Gifts Thus the Lord calls the Oblations Tythes First-Fruits and Devoted Things set apart for the Priests and Levites his Gifts saying expresly more than once I have given them unto you Numb 18. Now all these Spiritual Things whether they be such of their own nature or such by the Ordinance and Institution of God are as the Canonists say Indebitae materia emptionis venditionis an improper Matter for buying and selling being the peculiar Gifts of God which cannot be subjected to Merchandise and the buying or selling whereof hath such affinity with and comes so within the predicament of the Sin of Simon Magus that whosoever is guilty thereof may be said to be guilty of buying or selling the Holy Ghost in regard he buys or sells these Gifts which are of so near a relation to the Holy Ghost and wherein whosoever offers to bargain offers to put an Affront upon God and his blessed Spirit whose peculiar Gifts they are and whose Privilege it is to give them so as Bonaventure says rightly In Sent. Lib. 4. Dist 25. Art 1. q. 4. Donum Dei impretiabile sub pretio ponens facit contumeliam Spiritui Sancto He that subjects the invaluable Gift of God to a Price doth put a Reproach upon the Holy Ghost 2dly It is a known Rule That in expounding the Law of God under the prohibition of any one Sin it is to be understood that all Sins of the same kind whether more or less hainous and also all things which are the proper Ministries Helps Occasions Accessaries and Inducements thereto are prohibited and condemn'd As in the seventh Commandment under the Prohibition of Adultery Fornication and all kind of Whoredoms are forbidden and moreover the company of Whores unclean Communication Surfeiting Drunkenness making provision for the Flesh and all things whatsoever may occasion or directly minister to such a sin are prohibited and condemned So then whilst Simon Magus is condemned by the Apostle for offering Money for the Gift of the Holy Ghost not only under this is to be understood the buying or felling of that extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost for which he intended to bargain but also all bargaining for other Sacred and Spiritual Things and for what are the Instruments and Ministeries thereto as being upon that account Spiritual is here condemned as being in the same Predicament with the sin of Simon in subjecting these Spiritual Things to buying and selling which are the improper Matter of Merchandise Thus having seen what the sin of Simon Magus was and having considered and cleared from the Words of the Apostle what is comprehended under the same we may the more easily come to define what Simony is The common Definition thereof given by the School-men and Canonists is That it is Thom. 22ae qu. 100. Art 1. Studiosa voluntas seu cupiditas emendi vel vendendi Spiritualia vel Spiritualibus annexa Bonavent in lib. 4. Sent. Dist 25. Art 1. qu. 3. A studious or earnest Will or Desire of buying or selling Spiritual Things or Things annexed to Spiritual Things But Bernard Compost in Decret Gregor 9. De Simonia cap. 1. because this defines Simony only as it is in the Affection though it may indeed by consequence reach it in the external Action and Effect yet in regard it expresseth not the same I find the Canonists therefore give also another Definition thereof calling it Decret Greg. 9. De rerum permut cap. 5. Pactio circa Spiritualia aut Spiritualibus annexa A Paction or Bargain about Spiritual Things or Things annexed to Spiritual Things But this again reacheth only the Effect whilst the Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in the Affection and Endeavour though it never come in Effect to a Paction or Bargain as it was in the case of Simon Magus himself who was guilty in the Thought of his Heart and in the Offer of his Money but did effectuate nothing Wherefore it may more fully be defined thus Simonia est peccatum circa Spiritualia quo impretiabile Dei Donum sub pretio ponitur Simony is a Sin about Spiritual Things whereby the unvaluable Gift of God is put under a Price or subjected to Merchandise And this Definition doth include both the former because whether it be by a real Paction that one buys or sells Spiritual Things or whether it be in Affection or that by Endeavour he expresseth his Affection to do so whether it be by Deed or whether it be by Desire he prostitutes to Merchandise the Gifts of God which cannot be priz'd As likewise under the name of Spiritual Things this comprehendeth these which the former Descriptions call Things annexed to Spiritual Things because by Virtue of that Annexation or Connexion as I have shewed they become through God's Appointment Sacred and Spiritual And this Definition may be well gathered from the Text which holds out that the Sin of Simon was about a thing Spiritual The Gift of the Holy Ghost And that his Trespass thereabout was That that Gift of God which could not be valued nor purchased with Sums of Money he would have subjected to a Price and offered Money for it And all Simony being but the transcript of his Sin it may then rightly be thus defined And hence it is evident That all buying or selling or bargaining about Spiritual Things whether they be such in
their own Nature as all the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Ghost whether ordinary or extraordinary or whether they be such by Divine Institution and that either as Instruments and Means for working Spiritual Effects as the Word the Sacraments the Spiritual Offices in the Church Vocation Ordination Authority to exercise these Offices and the Exercise or Administration of Spiritual Things thereby or as Ministeries and Helps to Spiritual Things as Things Consecrated and Devoted and Benefices and Maintainances set apart for the utility and support of Spiritual Offices with the Presentations Rights and Titles thereto c. All buying or selling or bargaining I say about any of these things is Simony and a grievous Sin in the sight of God in that it doth put to a Price these Gifts of God which are not the subject of Merchandise That buying or selling of any of these things save of the last kind falls under the Sin of Simony is scarce doubted by any But as for the Matters of Benefices and Church-maintainances and things set apart to serve Spiritual Offices there be many whose Interest prompts them to cavil upon that Subject And because these things are in their own Nature things Temporal therefore they are bold to argue That all such things with their Rights and Presentations and Titles thereto may be bought and sold at least the buying or selling thereof falls not under the Guilt of Simony But hereunto I Answer First If we consider these things in their own Nature as separate from the Spiritual Office and Use to which they are appointed they be things Temporal indeed and so are vendible yet by Virtue of the Annexation and Dedication to the Ministery of such an Office they become things Spiritual and so not Vendible For this altereth the Nature thereof Even as the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist are in their own Nature and whilst separate from the Sacrament things Temporal and may be bought and sold but when by Consecration they are set apart for that spiritual and sacred Use of the Sacrament they change the Nature of Temporal Things and are no more Vendible Thus things Devoted before they were Devoted were but Temporal and so Vendible But being once Devoted they could not so much as be altered or changed the Lord himself hath said Levit. 27.10 28. Every Devoted Thing is most holy unto the Lord. 2dly Whatsoever Benefices or such things as minister to Spiritual Offices and Uses may be as to the Matter yet in regard of their Connexion as I have said they become Spiritual as being Consecrated and Devoted to God so as no Merchandise can be made thereof without Usurpation upon God's Right and Violation done to his Divine Majesty in regard he hath avouched these things as Sacred and Holy to himself as is evident in the 27th Chapter of Leviticus where the Lord asserteth his Propriety in the things Devoted and in the Tythes set apart for the Maintainance of the Priests and Levites saying of every such thing It is most holy unto the Lord. Levit. 27.28 30. So that whosoever transacts by way of buying or selling for Benefices or any part of the Church-livings or Stipends dedicated for the Ministery of Spiritual Offices cannot shun to incur the Guilt either of Simony or Sacrilege If it be done meerly in contemplation of the Benefice without intuition to the Office but only that the Buyer may enjoy the Church-Revenue without any purpose to exercise or discharge the Office to which it is annexed he who either buyeth or selleth a Benefice so becomes guilty of gross Sacriledge in that he disjoineth and separateth what God hath join'd together and comes under that Increpation and Curse uttered from the Mouth of the Lord by Malachy against those that rob God saying Will a Man rob God Mal. 3.8 9. yet ye have robbed me But ye say Wherein have we robbed thee In Tythes and Offerings Ye are cursed with a Curse for ye have robbed me even this whole Nation And is liable to that Woe which is denounced against those that eat the Fat Ezek. 34.2 3. and clothe themselves with the Wool but feed not the Flock But if a Man make any such Bargain in order to the Office intending that in regard of the Connexion that the Benefice hath with the Office by a Title to the one the Buyer may come to the other he is guilty of Simony As when one buyeth a Presentation or Title to a Benefice whereby he may come to be invested with a Spiritual Office and so having the Office may enjoy the Benefice whosoever doth so incurs this Guilt because he not only buys a Benefice which being annexed to a Spiritual Office is Spiritual and Sacred as being a thing whereunto God lays a Claim of Propriety but also by that Bargain he comes to be invested with a Spiritual Office And therefore 3dly With good Reason I may say That whosoever buys or sells a Benefice or Presentation thereto buys and sells the Office also For it is a known Maxim Causa causae est causa causati That which is the Cause of the Cause is the Cause also of the Effect Now the Money which the Buyer pays to the Seller is the Cause which procures the Presentation the Presentation procures Ordination and Ordination the Office and so the Money answereth all and being the Cause of the Presentation is the Cause also of the Office which without the Presentation is not attain'd Wherefore Lombard says well Quisquis horum alterum vendit Lib. 4. Senten Dist 25. sine quo alterum non habetur neutrum invenditum derelinquit Whosoever sells the one of these things without which the other is not enjoy'd leaves neither of them unsold And what is said I suppose may be sufficient to make any Person who pretends to Religion blush to plead in behalf of such Simoniacal Transactions CHAP. II. Of the several Ways whereby the Guilt of Simony may be incurr'd in the Entrance upon a Spiritual Office THAT the buying and selling or the making Merchandise of Sacred and Spiritual Things is the sin of Simony I have shewed and how hainous a sin it is I shall afterwards God willing more fully shew Only before I proceed I cannot tell if I shall need to warn That howsoever it was Money that Simon Magus offered and that it was for this that the Apostle condemn'd him that he thought the Gift of God could be purchased with Money that none therefore suppose for I think none so ignorant as to suppose so that the Guilt of Simony cannot be incurr'd unless Money be told in the bargain But whereas many other things may be commensurate by Money and there be much Merchandizing and many sorts of Transactions in buying and selling where things of other Species come in the room of Money and become the Price of what is bought and sold Therefore every gainful Transaction and every Compact or Bargain whereby any thing is
to prefer them to others But to do so meerly upon a carnal Account because they may serve better our Temporal Ends and Designs or to prefer a Person unfit because he is a Friend bewrays an Eye more to carnal Interest than to God's Glory Neither do I say but Durandus is in the right in saying That one may lawfully confer an Ecclesiastick Office or Benefice upon him Lib. 4. Dist 25. qu. 4. who hath served him through a sense of that Worth he hath learned to be in him by Experience and daily Converse if so be he do it in contemplation of his Worth and not of his Service But if respect to this be the Principle that sways him he is guilty of Simony Wherefore I cannot but judge them exceeding guilty in the sight of God who promote Men to any degree of the Sacred Hierarchy not upon a consideration of their Sanctimony or Abilities to serve God therein but out of a Design to serve secular ends and therefore do make choice of such from whose Inclinations they can expect and promise to themselves that they will prove fittest Instruments for abetting their publick or private Interests the expectation of which Service much more if it be made a Condition in the Bargain is no less the Price of such a Promotion than if it were sold for Service already done And not without reason may it be said That those Merchants do trade for such Creatures not to be Ministers to God but Slaves to themselves But much more doth he incur this Guilt who for the purchase of such a Preferment mancipates his Conscience implicitely to follow the Dictates of his Promoter by whom whilst he is advanced upon the Condition or Expectation of such a blind Obedience I 'm sure God hath no hand in the Bargain But I think I need say no more for the discovery of these Rocks whereupon the Principal Agents in such Spiritual Traffick may chance to split in the way of Entrance upon Sacred Offices I proceed next to shew how the guilt of Simony may be incurr'd by others as being Instruments and Abettors thereof For who are thus partakers therein by walking contrary to the Rule of the Apostle who hath said Eph. 5.11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful Works of Darkness but rather reprove them they become Socii Criminis Companions in the Crime and Guilt And thus Men may be guilty several ways First A Man may incur this Guilt by promoting of a Simonical Design in becoming a Mediator or secret Agent either by Advice and Counsel or by transacting betwixt the Parties or in behalf of either of them in any Condition Compact or payment of Money or by using any sinister Devices for that effect And that he who doth so becomes in the sight of God guilty of this Sin he may be easily convinced if he consider That a Fellowship in any Sin by Advice and Counsel doth stir up the Wrath of the Almighty as well against the evil Counsellor as against the Perpetrator thereof which is evident from that Command which the Lord gave to Ezekiel Ezek. 11.2 3 4. to Prophesie against those that did devise Mischief and give wicked Counsel in Jerusalem and that the Transactors for others in wicked Purposes are lyable to the same Punishment with them whereof God's Judgment denounced against Jezebel 1 King 21.23 for her secret Transactions to possess Ahab of that bloody Purchase of the Vineyard of Naboth is a pregnant Testimony And so do those who by secret Transactions and Conveyances meddle as Instruments to promote Simoniacal Designs involve themselves in the same Guilt with those in behalf of whom they deal and sometimes into more when they do it without the Party's privity or consent And therefore were the Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon so severe against such as to decree Can. 2. That si quis mediator in tam turpibus nefandis datis vel acceptis extiterit c. If any Man should be found to be a Mediator in such filthy and nefarious Bargains of giving and receiving any thing for Spiritual Offices being a Clergy-man he should lofe his Degree or if a Laick or Monk he should be Anathematiz'd And lest by this means any should be entred into the Church the Sentence of the Canon Law is somewhat more severe Decret Greg. 9. De Simon Cap. 27. which says Electio Simoniaca est cassanda facta c. A Simoniacal Election is to be made void if it have been made by other Men's Promises of Money although he who is Elected be ignorant thereof unless it have been done of a fraudulent Purpose against him And the ground hereof is because though he have no hand therein himself yet it is by a Simoniacal Paction that he is introduc'd into the Church 2dly A Man incurs this Guilt when he complies therewith by Consent or Approbation That Consent or Approbation renders a Man guilty of the Sin to which he consents and wherein he allows the Sinner I trust none will question who hath ever read these Words whereby God declares a Man unworthy upon this account to take his Covenant in his mouth saying Psal 50.18 When thou sawest a Thief then thou consentedst with him Or the Words of Paul confessing it as his Sin that he was consenting to the shedding of the Blood of that Proto-Martyr Steven Act. 22.20 And is not he then guilty before God who seeing one as a Thief and a Robber climbing up into the Sheep-fold of Christ by Simonical means yields his consent thereto Whosoever then being conscious to a Simonical Transaction made by any person for procuring of a Title or Right to a Spiritual Office or Benefice doth consent to give him Ordination or Collation thereto by this sinful compliance becomes guilty of Simony And whosoever having notice of such a Transaction concurs with his consent to the Election Ordination or Collation of such a Person involves himself in the same Guilt 3dly A Man may incur this Guilt by Connivance when being privy thereto he winks thereat or forbeareth according to his Place and Calling either to oppose himself thereto or to censure the same How guilty Connivance or Forbearance of Sin rendereth a Man may appear by the Lord's Comminations against those who would Hide their Eyes from the Man who giveth of his Seed to Molech Levit. 20.4 and against Eli 1 Sam. 2. and 3.13 14. for conniving at the Wickedness of his Sons and against the Church of Thyatyra Rev. 2.20 for suffering jezebel Wherefore for any Man to be privy to a Person 's Simoniacal ways whereby he studies as a Thief to creep into a Charge of the Church and not to represent it to those who should by their Authority obstruct him by his Connivance he becomes guilty of Fellowship with him in his sin But so much the more if he be silent at his taking of that Oath which is usually tendred to
Transactors in this execrable Merchandise the Disciples of Balaam Gehazi and Simon Magus But some have set it forth as more hainous than the Heresie of Macedonius in regard that the Macedonians supposing the Holy Ghost a Creature made him only a Servant to God But the Simoniacks acknowledging the Holy Ghost to be God yet make him a Servant to themselves and to their own covetous or ambitious Designs nay as their very Slave they buy and sell and make Merchandise of him And some again have parallel'd it with the Treachery of Judas in regard that as he sold and made Merchandise of Jesus Christ the Son of God so do they of the Holy Ghost the Spirit of God But I desire neither to be at the pains to set down in writing nor to put others to the pains to read the several Passages in their Works Commentaries Epistles and Homilies wherein they paint it forth as a Sin of the deepest Dye The multiplicity whereof would make this Treatise swell to a greater Bulk than I design But having given this short hint I shall proceed rather to shew how by the Judgment of the Catholick Church and joint Suffrages of many Fathers together Simony hath been accounted a Crime deserving and Laws and Canons have been made for inflicting the highest Censures upon Persons guilty thereof who according to their different Qualities whether Ecclesiasticks or Laicks have been decreed lyable to Deposition or Excommunication and to be stigmatiz'd and branded with a mark of Infamy Let us then look first upon these commonly called The Canons of the Apostles which of how small Authority soever they may seem to be in regard of their supposititious Title yet may in regard of their Antiquity claim some Veneration And thus against Simony do they decree Si quis Episcopus Can. 30. aut Presbyter aut Diaconus c. If any Bishop or Presbyter or Deacon obtain this Dignity by the help of Money let him be Deposed as likewise he who gave him Ordination and be separated from the Communion as Simon Magus was by Peter More also I might thence cite but I proceed to what is of more certain Authority Let us look upon the Sentence of that famous General Council of Chalcedon pronounced by the joint consent of Six hundred and thirty Bishops and there we find Can. 2â— Si quis Episcopus per pecunias c. If any Bishop for Money or for the filthy benefit of Lucre Ordain either Bishop or Presbyter or Deacon or any of these who are numbered amongst the Clergy he shall undergo the danger or punishment of the loss of his own Degree And he who is Ordained shall reap no benefit by his Ordination but let him be driven from that Dignity which he hath acquir'd by Money And if any Man interpose as a Mediator in such vile and wicked Bargains if he be a Clergy-man let him be turned off from that Degree which he holds but if he be a Laick Person or Monk Anathematizetur let him be Excommunicate Behold also what the Second Council of Bracar says Ne aliquo pretio gratia Dei c. Let not the Grace of God and Imposition of Hands be sold for any Price because the Antient Sentence of the Fathers have defin'd saying Anathema Danti Anathema Accipienti Cursed be the Giver Cursed be the Receiver Behold also the Sentence of the Eighth Council of Toledo Decernentes omnino c. Art 3. We altogether decree That if any henceforth be discovered to have offered any Gift for attaining the Dignity of the Priesthood from thenceforth let him know himself to be condemn'd with the Reproach of Anathema or a Curse and to be separated from the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ c. And these who upon this account have received Bribes if they be Clergy-men let them be punished with the loss of that Honour but if Laicks let them be condemned into a perpetual Curse or Excommunication I coud cite more Acts and Canons of later Times whereby it is evident That notwithstanding of the growing Corruptions in the Church yet against Simony She hath still in Her Doctrine kept an Harmony with the more ancient and purer Times But for these the Decrees and Sentences of the Canon-Law may sufficiently serve wherein we find these Determinations Decret Gregor 9. De Simon Cap. 6. Sicut Simonia pestis c. As the Plague of Simony is greater than other Diseases therefore how soon the Signs thereof are made to appear by any Person it is without delay to be banish'd and driven out of the Church And a-again De Simon Cap. 10. Convictus de Simonia c. He that is convict of Simony is to be Deposed The same is to be said of him who is under the Scandal or Defamation thereof and cannot purge himself And again Cap. 23. Si contradicens c. If he who opposeth in an Election be made to forbear by Money given with the Will or Consent of him who is Elected he who is thus Elected or Chosen is holden to Renounce And again Cap. 38. Tam ementes quam vendentes c. Both the Buyers and Sellers of Offices and of the Administration of Spiritual Things are to be condemn'd as Simoniacks and thrust out of the Church Thus it may apappear That Simony in all Ages of the Church hath been judged a most hainous Sin and to deserve no less punishment than Deposition and Excommunication Moreover as if these were scarce sufficient Censures for such a Crime they who should be found guilty thereof have been also judged to deserve to be stigmatiz'd with an indelible Character of Infamy And therefore King Athalaricus by his Confirmation of the Edict of the Marble Table contain'd in that Letter which I have mention'd before decrees Simoniacal Persons to be branded with a Note of Infamy And it is Enacted in the Second Aurelian Council Can. 4. Si quis Sacerdotium per pecuniae nundinum c. If any Man should aspire to the Priesthood by the Merchandise of Money that he be thrust away as a Reprobate And what greater Infamy and Disgrace can be put upon any Man than to pass under the Character of a Reprobate And it was decree'd by that Lateran Council under Innocent the Second Five hundred and forty Years ago which yet is by near half the time later than any I have formerly mention'd Vt emptor venditor c. That the Buyer the Seller and the Medler in these Simoniacal Transactions should be dashed with a Mark of Infamy Now let any serious Man say Whether what hath been here said from Reason Scripture and Authority of the Church be not sufficient to make Simony to be abhorred as a most hainous and execrable Crime And whether it be not a most dangerous Thing to meddle with that which is hateful to all good Men and whereupon God hath put such Marks of his Displeasure CHAP. V. Whether they are to
whilst he says 2 Cor. 4.7 We have this Treasure in earthen Vessels that the excellency of the Power may be of God and not of us he will have us to understand That the Efficacy of the Gospel depends not upon the Instrument but upon the Author who can render a Blessing effectual as well from the Mouth of Balaam as from the Mouth of Aaron and can wash a Soul from Sin as well by the Baptism of Judas as of John For he may have gratiam gratis datam who hath not gratiam gratum facientem he may be endowed with the grace of Edification to save others who hath not the grace of Sanctification to save himself But all this while we speak of those whom we suppose to have Authority by a lawful Minister to dispense the Mysteries of the Gospel But the matter of our present Enquiry concerning the Efficacy of his Ministrations who enters by Simony proceeds upon another Hypothesis to wit That such a one is not the Minister of Jesus Christ and this being already prov'd we cannot but approve of Gregory's Position That Quicunque Sacros Ordines vendunt emunt Sacerdotes esse non possunt Whosoever sell and buy Holy Orders cannot be Priests And upon this ground we must proceed to Determine in this Matter Now upon this account it hath not only been much question'd by some Whether any Spiritual Blessing or Benefit can be deriv'd from the Ministery of such but it hath been confidently asserted not only by Gregory but by many others That the Ministrations of such are altogether ineffectual and can confer no good nor transmit any Spiritual Grace or Blessing Whereupon Gratian hath adopted it amongst the Decrees of the Canon Law Gratia si non gratis datur Caus 1. Qu. 1. Can. Gratia c. vel accipitur gratia non est Simoniaci autem c. Grace if it be not freely given or received is not Grace but Simoniacal Persons receive it not freely therefore they receive not that Grace which principally hath its Operation in Ecclesiastical Orders That is The Ministerial Grace or Power And if they do not receive it they have it not and if they have it not neither freely nor not freely can they give it unto any Man And it seems indeed to be asserted upon good grounds For First If such Persons as is shewed before be not the lawful Ministers of Jesus Christ then have they no Title nor Right to dispense the Ordinances of the Gospel which Christ hath intrusted only to his Ministers Matth. 19.16 Joh. 20.23 2 Cor. 5.18 20. to whom alone he hath consigned the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and committed the Ministery of Reconciliation as his Ambassadours as says the Apostle So that when they presume to meddle with these Holy Mysteries they do but sacrilegiously usurp without Authority from God and so do dispense them in vain and with an ineffective Hand the bare external Seal of Ordination by the hands of Man without the concurrence of the Divine Power being of no force to work these Effects which are the proper Emanations of the Holy Ghost so that their Administrations can be no more valid than a Remission to a guilty Person from his Hand who had surreptitiously affix'd the King's Seal thereto and without his Royal Consent or Authority had usurped the Office of an Herauld to proclaim it And therefore it was not a groundless Debate wherewith the Church of Rome was troubled for several Years in the time of Leo IX Whether Ordinations conferr'd by such Simoniacal Usurpers were effectual Or Whether they should be Re-Ordain'd who had been Ordain'd by them And howsoever Petrus Damiani wrote his Book call'd Gratissimus against those who pleaded for Re-Ordination And Leo in two several Councils at Rome Concil Tom. 3. p. 2. allowed those who had been Ordained by such to continue in their Office after the doing of Forty days Penance yet this seems to have been but of Indulgence and to have proceeded rather from Necessity than Choice in respect of the Tumult that was raised thereabout and in regard that a more strict Course would have occasion'd the Silencing of an infinite number of the Clergy and the laying waste such a multitude of Churches as many Territories should have been without the sound of the Gospel to the great prejudice of the Christian Religion as may appear by the same Petrus Damiani's Epistle to Henry Arch-Bishop of Ravenna And yet I think Leo did right not to Re-ordain them but rather upon their Repentance to re-invest them with better Authority in the Exercise of their Office since they had once received Orders how ineffective soever through the want of the Divine Concurrence with a Simoniacal Ordainer yet the Church having by the external Seal of Ordination once invested such a one with an Ecclesiastical Authority to transmit the same unto others it had not been convenient that the Church should have call'd the Character of her own Ordination in question Neither needed they who had receiv'd the same from the hand of such but the Church's Approbation for their Administration and devout Addresses to God for the Power of the Holy Ghost to render it effectual And therefore says the Canon Law Apud Grat. Caus 1. Qu. 1. Can. Statuimus Decret Simoniacos non Simoniace à Simoniacis Ordinatos misericorditer per Manûs Impositionem pro temporis necessitate in officio concedimus permanere Those whom we account Simoniacks because of their Ordination by Simoniacal Persons but have not practised Simony themselves we do by the Imposition of Hands graciously give them leave to continue in their Office through the necessity of Time Whereby it appears That it was not thought fit to Re-ordain such but only confirm their former Ordination by Imposition of Hands without more Rites of Consecration of new again Secondly It being undeniable that the whole Efficacy of the Ministery depends upon God and that the Spiritual Effects thereof flow wholly from that Power wherewith he doth indow and inable Men to Administer in the Mysteries of the Gospel and from the Concourse of his Holy Spirit with them therein For 2 Cor. 4.7 The excellency of the Power is of God and not of Man 1 Cor. 3.7 Neither is he that planteth any thing neither he that watereth any thing but God that giveth the Increase It will then undoubtedly follow That the external Rites of Ordination can transmit no Vertue or Efficacy into his Ministery who receives the same without the Call and concurrence of the Holy Ghost and without any promise of Divine Influence upon his Administrations Now that he who enters by Simony upon the Pastoral Office is destitute of these may be evident without much arguing For who can suppose that he is Call'd of God or that the Holy Ghost hath given Authority to his Ordination who hath procur'd the same by sinister means since our Saviour hath told us that such are but
granting of License to Young Men to step out to Preach the Gospel For since the Apostle hath given warning 1 Tim. 5.22 to lay hands suddenly on no Man this being the first step in order to Imposition of Hands and an Act which puts them in some capacity for Ordination is not to be done suddenly either For we find by experience that assoon as Youths are Licensed to step up in a Pulpit it is for the most part their next work immediately to lay themselves out for a Charge in the Ministery And if they be either of covetous or ambitious Inclinations they cannot have patience to wait upon the occasion of a fair Call but being sparr'd forward by the hot Desires either of Lucre or Preferment if they find out a covetous Patron they presently join with him in a Simoniacal Bargain And there being such a multitude of these Young Preachers they so throng one another that commonly the more modest and more worthy are thrust beside the Door by those who resolving to make up what is wanting in their Worth by the diligence of their Endeavours do more actively bestir themselves and fet their Friends awork by all imaginable means of Money and Bribery to attain their end For preventing whereof it may with good reason be supposed that License for Preaching should be granted to none but upon serious and mature deliberation and after a circumspect and diligent Search and Enquiry into their Qualifications not only of Literature but of their Inclinations and Dispositions of their Humility Sobriety Prudence and Piety in their Conversation And then there would be no such multitude nor such justling for Places Secondly Another Mean for the remedying of this Evil is to revive somewhat of the ancient Discipline of the Church against it and to inflict upon those whom you shall find guilty of this Sin of Simony either in cenatu aut effectu in Endeavour or in Deed Censures proportionable to their Guilt This Rod of Ecclesiastical Censure is that Scourge which your Lord and Master hath put into your hands whose Example should stir up your Zeal therewith to drive the Buyers and Sellers out of the Temple Your Severity against the Guilty will not only prove an awful curb to restrain others from venturing upon that Sin but will also create an abhorrency of it in those who before harboured lighter Sentiments thereof and will proclaim your own Innocency and holy Fervour for purging of the Church to the Silencing of those who reproach you But if you prove luke-warm in this Affair then consider what Gregory the Great says as I have told before A pud Gratian Caus 1 Qu. 1. Can. Quisquis per pecuniam Participem se reddit alienae Simoniae quisquis contra Simoniacam Haeresin pro officii sui loco vehementer non exarserit He rendreth himself partaker of another Man's Simony whosoever according to his Place and Calling is not vehemently zealous against it Or if you do not inflict a Censure proportionable to the Crime you not only thereby draw upon your selves a suspicion that you have not a just sense of the hainousness thereof but you also encourage others to adventure upon it with the greater confidence For ubi leves poenae ibi gravia scelera great Vices spread the more when they are lightly punished I shall not say how the Church of old would have censured those whom they had found though but by their Endeavours guilty of this Sin in declaring them altogether incapable of the Priesthood but I 'm sure for such Transgressours there should be appointed some considerable time of Penance for their own Humiliation and for Terrour to others e'er ever again they be rendred capable of that Sacred Office Thirdly When any Man addresseth himself to you clothed with a Presentation it were fit you should seek to be informed by what means he came by it and if you find any probable ground for suspicion of Simony that you suspend your procedure till it be cleared And so much the rather if he be a Person betwixt whose Parts and the Charge to which he is Presented there is a great Disproportion For that may give just ground of jealousie that all is not sound For though it be the Patron 's Right to give him a Title yet it is yours to look to the Purity of his Entry and to be judges of his fitness for the Charge wherein if you find not satisfaction you should be lother to lay your Hands upon his Head than to lay them upon Thorns I know that in such Cases you may readily have in your prospect many Inconveniencies and dangerous Consequences which this may draw upon you flowing from the displeasure of Patrons or of such great Persons as may be interessed at whose Hands you may fear much trouble which they may breed you together with the loss of their Favour and the worst Effects which their passionate Resentments can threaten But may I not beseech you to turn away your Eyes from what may follow upon your Doing and to fix them upon what is your Duty to do For he who reckoneth the Sequels before his Duty will make his Conscience truckle to his Fears And as Cyprian says Epist 55. Ad Cornel. Actum est de Episcopatus vigore de Ecclesiae gubernandae sublimi ac Divina potestate si ad hoc ventum est ut perditerum minas atque insidias pertimiscamus There 's an end of Episcopal Authority and the Sublime and Divine Power of Governing the Church if it be come to this pass that we fear the Threats of evil Men and the Snares they may lay for us But I hope the fears of these things from Men will neither move you to shrink from your Duty nor to comply with them in Sin since you know that your Lord and Master hath so often warned you Jer. 1.8 Ezek. 2.6 Matth. 10.28 c. not to fear Men and that you will find much more comfort and quiet in your Conscience when to please God you displease Man than when by gratifying of Man you displease God And there is nothing will discourage Simoniacal Designs more than when Men see you careful to countermine them and boldly to oppose them Fourthly It were most necessary that you should revive somewhat of the ancient Discipline against Simoniacal Patrons You know the ancient Canons did smite with Anathema Lay-Persons who transacted in such execrable Bargains And truly there is nothing could give Simony a more mortal Wound than to bring under your Censures the Sellers as well as the Buyers of Spiritual Offices and to exercise the Spiritual Weapons of the Church equally against both But Finally I should wish That your zeal and care to strengthen your own Hands for the purging of this Sin out of the Church would move you by an unanimous and joint Address to our Sovereign to Petition his Majesty to give Strength to your Endeavours by his Authority