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authority_n	church_n	power_n	synod_n	3,603	5	9.6685	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86352	A breif [sic] enquiry into the ground, authority, and rights, of ecclesiastical synods; upon the principles of Scripture and right reason occasion'd by a late book, intitul'd, Municipium ecclesiasticum: &c.	Hill, Samuel, 1648-1716.; Hill, Samuel, 1648-1716. Municipium ecclesiasticum, or, The rights, liberties, and authorities of the Christian church.	1699 (1699)	Wing H2005B; ESTC R178160	16,608	46

A Breif Enquiry INTO THE Ground Authority and Rights OF Ecclesiastical Synods Upon the Principles of SCRIPTURE AND Right Reason Occasion'd by a Late BOOK INTITUL'D Municipium Ecclesiasticum c. LONDON Printed by M. B. for Richard Sare at Gray's-Inn-Gate in Holbourn 1699. TO THE READER THE Reverend Dr. Wake in his Book Intitul'd The Authority of Christian Princes over their Ecclesiastical Synods asserted c. has chiefly argued from matters of Fact in those Instances of Power and Jurisdiction which have all along been claimed and exercised by Christian Emperours and Kings except only where the unjust Encroachments of the Papacy had prevailed against the Lawful Right of the Civil Magistrate and which by the Laws of England are actually annexed to the Imperial Crown of the Realm Now if the Historical account which he has given of this matter be defective let it be shewn either that his Quotations are false or else insufficient But if neither of these can be done I wonder how any one who has subscrib'd to the Second Canon of our Church can deny The King's Majesty to have the same Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical as the Doctor has proved the Christian Emperours to have had in the Primitive Church But much more do I admire that such a man should venture to impeach in any part the Regal Supremacy in the said Causes Restored to the Crown and by the Laws of the Realm therein established But supposing a man to pay no deference to the Authority of our Church nor yet to the Opinions of our most learned Divines many of which the Doctor has Collected in his Appeal to all true members of the Church of England in the behalf of the Kings Ecclesiastical Supremacy there is one plausible Objection that may be made against his Book and is earnestly urged by the Nameless Author of the Municipium Ecclesiasticum Chap. x. viz. That to argue a right in any one from bare Matter of Fact alone is by no means a sufficient or conclusive way of Reasoning And therefore to take off this prejudice I think it would be a very necessary and useful work to give a clear and satisfactory account of the Ground Authority and Rights of Ecclesiastical Synods from the Law of God and Reason of things Whereby it might plainly be made appear whether or no that Power which other Christian Princes have exercised and our Kings do claim and practise over them be built upon a good Foundation or else be only an Encroachment and Usurpation upon the Church What the Municipium Ecclesiasticum advances upon this subject to me seems very obscure and confused And whether the fault be in the Book or in my Understanding I know not but I must own that I am not able to frame sufficiently clear and distinct notions of the Authors Opinions or the force of his Arguments in reference to this matter which he professedly proposes to handle And altho' Dr. Wake has here and there some very useful hints upon this subject yet as they are not all laid together in one part of his Book so neither perhaps would they amount to nor were they intended for a just discourse upon this Argument Which therefore I could heartily wish that he would set himself to write as being well assured by what I have read of his other works that he is abundantly able to give satisfaction to all reasonable men in whatsoever he shall think fit to undertake To provoke therefore either him or some other Learned man to set upon this work I have drawn up the following short Essay in which I have very freely and plainly set down my own thoughts And wherever I may happen to be in the wrong I shall own my self much obliged unto any Charitable hand that shall endeavour again to set me right AN ESSAY Concerning Ecclesiastical Synods 1. BY an Ecclesiastical Synod I mean a Lawful Assembly either of Bishops alone or of one or more Bishops in conjunction with some Presbyters of the Church or Lastly of Presbyters alone duly and sufficiently Authoriz'd to consult and determine some matter relating to the good of the Church and benefit of Religion so as that others shall be oblig'd to submit and give Obedience to their Decrees and Determinations For tho' Deacons or Lay Persons may in some cases be admitted to assemble with the others in a Synod Yet I take it for granted that their absence makes it never the less or their presence the more a Synod supposing it to have all the other qualifications And if such an Assembly be not Lawful that is to say Justifiable by some sufficient Law it would rather be a Riotous or Schismatical Meeting than an Ecclesiastical Synod And if the Bishops or Presbyters when met together have not Sufficient Authority to transact matters and lay an Obligation upon others as is above said they can at most be said to be but a Prudential Assembly And Lastly if they meet upon other business wherein the Church and Religion are not concern'd Notwithstanding that the Persons who compose the Assembly may be all Ecclesiasticks yet such an Assembly I conceive can not so properly be call'd Ecclesiastical 2. From the different extent of that tract or district of the Church from whence and for which any Synod is convened It may take and derive to it self a different denomination Thus for example If a Synod be call'd from within so much of the Church only as is under the care and Government but of one Bishop It is call'd a Diocesan Synod If from within several Diocesses more immediatly consociated under the jurisdiction of one Metropolitan a Provincial Synod If from all the several Provinces of one Kingdom or People a National Synod And if from every part of the whole Church a General or Oecumenical Synod 3. Concerning Ecclesiastical Synods I shall propose Four things to be inquired into First Of what Institution they are in the Christian Church viz. Whether of Divine or Human Secondly What right they have to meet and act antecedent to the Civil Laws of each Kingdom or Common-wealth Thirdly In what things and over whom they may have Authority I mean still antecedent to the Civil Laws And Fourthly How far their right of Meeting and Acting or their Authority over others may be restrained limited or qualified by the concessions of the Church to the Civil Magistrate or otherwise by the Laws of any Kingdom or Commonwealth 4. Towards the answering the First Inquiry Let it be noted that to the Institution of any Assembly it is absolutely necessary that there be some certain Rule for the fixing and determining at the least these three things viz. First At what time and place they shall meet Secondly Of what Persons the Assembly shall be compos'd And Thirdly What they are to do when they come together For while any one of these things remain uncertain the Assembly can not be said to be Instituted or Appointed For First if the time or

Law of God and the reason of things As indeed there is for Parliaments or such sort of Assemblies in the State as well as for Synods in the Church For if no other Rule or Law can be found excepting only first the voluntary Agreement of the Church it self and afterwards the Laws of Civil States when they became Christian either first for the calling of any such Assemblies at all Or the appointing of time or place for their meeting Or secondly for prescribing and determining who and what Persons shall compose them Or Thirdly for the empowering them to Act or obliging others to submit to them Then it must follow that they are purely and altogether of Human Institution According to what I have laid down § 4. But no other Law or Rule for any of these things did ever yet appear to me upon the most impartial search that I have been able to make And therefore I cannot judge them to be of any other Institution than what I have already said And let thus much suffice for the first Enquiry 11. As to the Second Enquiry viz. What right Ecclesiastical Synods have to meet and Act antecedent to the Laws of each Kingdom and Commonwealth By a right to do any thing I understand not only a Natural but such a Moral Power of performing such an Action as that it would be unlawful for another man to hinder or obstruct the same Thus every man has a Right to make use of those things which he has honestly gotten for the preserving and sustaining of his own Life And also to worship God according as he has appointed in order to his own Salvation Nor can it at least ordinarily be Lawful for any man to debar or prohibit another in or from the doing of either of these things Let us then but set our Selves to enquire how far and in what cases it may be either Lawful or Unlawful for any Persons to hinder an Ecclesiastical Synod from Acting or Meeting And this will lead us to an exact knowledge of their Right to Meet and Act together with the just extent and measure of it 12. In the first place then Where any Persons meet together in order to do good And it also sufficiently appears that there is no probability of any evil Consequence of their meeting Such an Assembly as this ought not upon any account or by any one either to be prohibited or disturbed For as every man is under an obligation himself to do all the good which he has an opportunity for so ought he not by parity of Reason to be any hindrance to any other men in their doing whatever good may lie in their power 13. But Secondly Wherever there is a just and well grounded Suspicion that such a Meeting or Assembly will prove in the end to be of Evil Consequence However well it may perhaps by some be designed As far as any Person or Persons lie under an Obligation to prevent the Evil that is so justly beforehand suspected so far are they obliged to hinder as much as they can the Convening of such an Assembly I mean upon a supposition that the Evil Consequence is not by any other way to be avoided This I take to be as plain as any thing almost can be And therefore if the Civil Magistrate according to the best of his Understanding foresees and believes that the meeting of any Assembly altho' upon the design and business of Religion will probably create feuds and animosities among the People or keep up and heighten those which are already rais'd which in the end may tend to Faction or Division in the Church or State As he is obliged by the Trust reposed in him to preserve and maintain Peace and quietness and good order in the Commonwealth so will it Consequently be his Duty as far as he is Invested with Lawful Power for it to prevent and put a stop to any such Meetings 14. Thirdly Altho' any number and of any men whatsoever may Lawfully assemble together whensoever it is for a good end and no evil Consequence of such a Meeting is foreseen or justly to be suspected Yet even The Bishops and Presbyters of the Church have no right to meet together as an Ecclesiastical Synod That is to say they can have no Authority so to transact matters as to lay an Obligation upon others § 1. Except they have a Lawful Power and Commission for their so doing For whosoever in any case Acts without a sufficient Commission may undoubtedly be Opposed by every man who is any way concerned in the matter and may justly be obstructed and hindered in their proceedings by those who have Lawful Authority over them 15. Here then for the full and final determination of this Second Enquiry let this Question be proposed viz. From whence does an Ecclesiastical Synod derive its Power and Authority to sit and Act as a Synod In answer to which I take it First to be very plain from what I have said § 5. that Ecclesiastical Synods do not derive their Power and Authority immediately from God For if they did they must be of Divine Institution And Secondly as for the Civil Magistrate our very Enquiry supposes him as yet to have no hand in the matter Thirdly then it must remain that Ecclesiastical Synods do immediately derive their power and Authority Antecedently to the Civil Laws only from the Church its self Immediately I say For that all Lawful Power and Authority whatsoever is Mediately and Ultimately derived from God I freely grant For neither can we find any other person from whom immediately to fetch the Power of such Synods Nor is it to be doubted but that By virtue of that Power which God has given to all men over themselves the Church may in some Cases Invest a Synod with an Authority over its self as well as the People in their Civil capacity may do the same thing by a Parliament 16. The Sum then is this that as Ecclesiastical Synods are of Human Institution so antecedently to the Civil Laws their Power and Authority is immediately derived only from the Church As the Power of a Parliament is from the People in their Civil capacity And whenever a Synod is duly appointed by the Church it has a right to sit and Act Nor ought it to be therein hindered or obstructed by the Civil Magistrate except he has just ground to believe that some ill consequence will unavoidably follow from their Sitting and Acting which it is his duty to prevent And let this suffice for the Second Enquiry 17. The Third Enquiry contains two distinct Questions viz. First In what things And Secondly Over what Persons may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority But still antecedent to the Civil Laws And here I shall lay this down as a fundamental proposition viz. That as no Assembly can have greater Authority than what is Originally lodged in those Persons by whom they are appointed and empowered so neither can

they justly claim or Exercise this Authority but only in such a measure or degreé as it is Actually Communicated to them Which being premised And the truth thereof I take to be so evident as neither to need nor be capable of any proof I shall from thence draw some very plain Corollaries in Answer to the Two Questions but just now proposed 18. And First if it be demanded In what things may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority From the Proposition now laid down I answer First That the Authority of an Ecclesiastical Synod cannot possibly be so great as to make that Doctrine which is false become true or that to become Lawful which is against God's Law For this would be to alter the very Nature of things or Laws of God which Power is not in the Church nor in all mankind taken together Nor yet Secondly can they have any Authority to make that a part of Religion which Almighty God has not alreadly made so For altho' the Modes and Circumstances of Worship and Religion may be settled and determined by the Church Yet to make any thing become a part of Religion that is to say essential to it and thereby immutably and perpetually necessary to Salvation is a Prerogative that belongs to God alone But Thirdly in doubts or Controversies concerning matters of Faith or Points of Doctrine an Ecclesiastical Synod may have Power to consult and debate the things in dispute and to declare their Sense and Opinion concerning them For this is no more than what may Lawfully be done not only by the whole Church but even by any prudential Assembly of wise and good Men there being no Law of God which forbids or any way hinders them so to do But Fourthly when an Ecclesiastical Synod has thus determined any Point of Faith or Doctrine Their Authority cannot extend so far as to oblige any man either to believe the Truth of what they have so determined if it be against his perswasion or to profess it if he does not believe it to be true The former of these being impossible and contrary to the Nature of things and the later Unlawful as being forbidden by God And therefore both of them excluded by the first of those Corollaries which I have laid down in this present Section Fifthly But if an Ecclesiastical Synod shall determine any thing in favour of an Errour and even directly contrary to the truth Yet if the Error be an Innocent one that is to say contains nothing which is any way contrary either to the necessary Articles of Faith or the Rules of a good life altho' a man cannot be oblig'd to believe or profess such an errour contrary to the convictions of his own mind yet still he may be bound in Conscience to be quiet and not to give any publick opposition to such a determination for fear of disturbing the Peace or breaking the Unity of the Church thereby For altho' every Christian is required according to his ability earnestly to contend for that Faith i. e. that Religion which was once delivered to the Saints Yet for such truths as have no necessary influence either upon Faith or Practice we are no where Commanded to contend And if we cannot stand up for such a truth without the hazard of Confusion or disturbance in the Church we ought to be quiet and permit other men to abound in their own Sense untill such time as God shall think fit to bring their understandings to a better disposition and not to Sacrifice Peace and Unity which the Laws of God require us carefully to maintain unto such a truth as we are not Commanded to teach to others or zealously our selves to contend for And Lastly if an Ecclesiastical Synod duly empowered shall make any Decree to determine our Practice in any thing which is indifferent in it self and no way determined by the Law of God from thence I do conceive will arise an undoubted obligation to Obedience and Conformity to be paid unto such a Decree which is so made For if the Church by a voluntary Agreement might Lawfully lay a restraint upon themselves in such things as are indifferent which no man I presume will doubt what can hinder but that they may give a power unto a Synod to lay the like restraint upon them For whatever Obligation People of their own accord may Lawfully lay themselves under The very same Obligation to all intents and purposes may certainly be laid upon them by their Representatives duly chosen and Authorized 19. Secondly if it be demanded Over what Persons may an Ecclesiastical Synod have Authority From that Fundamental Proposition which I have laid down § 17. together with the Third Proposition which I have laid down § 15. these following Conollaries will evidently arise which will make up a full Answer to it viz. First that an Ecclesiastical Synod can have no more Authority than what is vested in the Body of that Church by which they are empowered to Sit and Act. For the Church can give no more Authority than what it first has in it self Nor can a Synod which is but a part of the Church have any greater Power than what the whole is Originally endowed with Secondly But whatsoever Authority is Lawfully vested in the Collective Body of the Church the same may by them be delegated to an Ecclesiastical Synod For neither is there any thing which should hinder such a delegation as this And where a Society is very numerous as the Church is it is morally impossible for it to exert and exercise that Power and Authority which is Originally diffused throughout the whole Body otherwise than by appointing and delegating their Representatives to do it for them As the legislative Power which in a Common-wealth is Originally founded in the Body of the People could never be brought to any useful effect if there were not appointed Parliaments or Assemblies of the Estates on purpose to represent and Act for them Thirdly therefore it will follow That an Oecumenical Synod may have Authority over the whole Church but a National Provincial or Diocesan One can extend its Authority no farther than the People Province or Diocess for and from which it is appointed and chosen Because one such Limited or particular Church is not vested with any Power or Superiority over another And Fourthly that the Authority of any Synod is greater or less according as it is given them by the Church which chuses and appoints them Provided that the Church does not pretend to Communicate greater Power to them than what is Originally vested in its self 20. To conclude this point As the Bishops and Pastors of the Church who derive their Succession down from the Apostles have thereby a divine Authority communicated to them to perform their respective Offices and to teach and Govern their respective Flocks according to the Rules prescribed by God's Law From which no variation must upon any account be allowed of or admitted So is

there no manner of Restraint laid by God either upon the Universal or any Particular Churches But that with a due subordination to his Law they may in all other things which are not thereby already provided for manage and govern themselves as other Societies do by the Rules of Reason and Prudence And appoint their Synods or Representative Assemblies to agree upon and lay down such Rules as they think most necessary to be observed And not only he who violates the immediate Divine Law and so continues without Repentance but even he also who Obstinately refuses to be conformable to the Lawful and wholesome Constitutions of the Church it self and thereby causes disturbance and division in it which is as really tho' not so immediately contrary to God's Command as the other is justly to be excluded from the Communion and privileges of the Society And so much for the Third Enquiry 21. I proceed then to the Fourth and Last Point proposed viz. How far the right of Meeting and Acting of Ecclesiastical Synods or their Authority over others may be Restrained Limited or Qualified by the Concessions of the Church to the Civil Magistrate Or otherwise by the Laws of any Kingdom or Common-wealth And in order to the clearing of this matter I shall lay down these two preliminary Propositions First that neither the Consent of the Church it self nor any Civil Law whatsoever can lay any Obligation upon the Church or any part or member thereof to do or forbear any thing If by such doing or forbearing true Religion is any way so obstructed or discouraged as that God is thereby dishonoured or the Salvation of men hindered For neither our own voluntary Act nor any Law that is enacted by an inferiour Power can free us from an Obligation which is laid upon us by an Authority that is Superiour But by the Law of God which is above all we are All obliged to promote the Interest of true Religion and thereby both to advance his Glory and set forward the Salvation of other men And therefore if we have consented to any thing or if the Civil Law has enacted any thing which proves to be contrary to this Obligation under which we beforehand indispensably lay both our consent so given and the Law so enacted must be looked upon as void I mean so far as they are thus prejudicial to Religion and all Obligations of this Inferiour sort must ever be construed with a tacit exception that they be not contrary to any former and superiour Obligation But Secondly If the Church Universal or any particular Church shall consent or if without such consent the Civil Authority of any place shall by Law enact or require any thing which no way tends to the real prejudice of true Religion nor any way obstructs either God's Glory or Men's Salvation Such a consent so given until it is duly revoked and such a Law until it is by Lawful Authority repealed shall certainly oblige all such as are members of the Church which so consented or Subjects of that Kingdom or Commonwealth in which such a Law is enacted For who can doubt but that any Society may by general consent lay an obligation upon themselves in such things as are no way Unlawful And as for the Authority of the Civil Laws the command of God runs in the most general and comprehensive terms that Every Soul should be Subject to the higher Powers And that we should submit our selves to every Ordinance of Man Nor does either reason or Scripture furnish us with any other Limitation of or Exception to this Precept save only that one of the Apostles Act. 5.29 We ought to obey God rather than Men. Which sufficiently proves that nothing can excuse us from giving Obedience unto all such Laws as are made by the Legislative Power of the Kingdom or Commonwealth of which we are Members Except it be that something is thereby required which is contrary to the Laws of God From these two General Propositions these following Corollaries with particular relation to Ecclesiastical Synods do most evidently follow in Answer to the Last Enquiry viz. First That the Church may consent and the Civil Authority may either with or without such consent Enact whatever Laws they please concerning the calling modelling manner of proceeding and Limitation of the Authority of Ecclesiastical Synods Provided that nothing is thereby done which is prejudicial to true Religion and Piety Secondly But if true Piety or Religion or any part thereof be really in danger by the breaking in of Atheism Heterodoxy or Immorality And no other way can be taken or found to prevent or redress such a mischief but onely the Assembling and free Acting of an Ecclesiastical Synod Let the Civil Law say what it will The Church notwithstanding any consent of hers given or pretended to be given to the contrary is bound to convene an Ecclesiastical Synod freely to consult and determine what is fit to be done for the redressing of such evils as these And as Dr. Wake judiciously observes If the Civil Magistrate shall so far abuse his Authority Authorit of Christian Princes pag. 43. as to render it necessary for the Clergy by some extraordinary methods to provide for the Churches wellfare That necessity will warrant their taking of them But Thirdly If any other way may as effectually be found for the preservation of the true Religion and Piety The Church ought by no means to break in upon the Civil Law Nor to Assemble or Act in an Ecclesiastical Synod in any other manner than what is agreeable to its Constitutions 23. But if any man shall be so hardy as to demand What Authority the Civil Power has to make any Laws at all in Ecclesiastical matters Their proper business being only to secure the Peace and promote the welfare of the people under them in this World alone and not to watch over their Souls or direct them in the way of Eternal Salvation which is the Office of those of another Function and mediately or immediately ought ever to be the design of all Ecclesiastical Constitutions I answer First that since Experience abundantly assures us how great an influence the due management of the affair of Religion generally has upon the Peace and Temporal welfare of any People I will follow that the Civil Government whether it be heathen or Christian to whose care the latter is committed must needs be vested in a Power of making Laws concerning the former so far as is necessary for the performance of their Office and the Execution of that Trust which is committed to them by the People And if the Temporal Magistrate at any time apprehends that differences about Religion among his Subjects may likely be improved into farther disorders and breaches of the Peace of which he is appointed the Supreme keeper and Guardian He certainly may I mean with the concurrence of the Legislative Authority enact and make such Laws as may best put

an end to such Discords and prevent those evils which thereby tho' at some distance threaten the Civil State And altho ' he has no Power by Virtue of his Civil Authority to determine Controversies in Religion Yet he may very Lawfully And by his Office he is obliged to over rule and suppress all such dissentions about it as are any way likely to prove injurious to the welfare of that Society which is committed to his Care and Charge Secondly Whereas it is very possible that Governours of the Church may assume to themselves more Power than what really belongs to them and by degrees encroach upon the Authority of the Civil Magistrate as has actually been done by the Church of Rome It is Lawful for the Magistrate in such a case to make such Laws as may effectually keep and restrain the Church within the proper bounds and Limits of it's own jurisdiction For to say that the Supreme Magistrate has not sufficient Authority to assert and maintain his Lawful Power against all Encroachments whatsoever is in effect to take away his Supremacy and so to make him Supreme and not Supreme at the same time Thirdly If the Supreme Magistrate be a Christian and a Professor of the true Religion It will be his duty to make use of that Authority in which he is vested as much as he can for the Encouragement of that Profession of which he himself is For he that has great Opportunities of doing good and yet neglects to make use of them is accountable to God for burying that Talent which he ought to have employed in his Masters Service Altho' therefore he ought not to Persecute even a False Religion as long as it teaches nothing which is Injurious to Civil Society Yet he may and he ought both to defend and encourage the true one Which cannot as I conceive sufficiently be done without making some Laws concerning Ecclesiastical affairs as well for the supporting of the Churches Authority by the Civil Power as also for the Correcting and restraining those who are Unruly and Disorderly and under the pretence of Religion would embroil the Church And perhaps the State too And cannot be kept in Order by her Discipline and Censures And if the chief Stations in the Church should happen to be filled with such Men as should oppose the making of any such Laws as really would tend to the Security Peace and Advantage of Religion I see no reason why the Civil Legislative Power If in the hands of Christians may not even without the consent of the Church enact such Laws and enforce them with such proper penalties as they are fully convinced would be really useful and serviceable to so good an end 24. But here it may perhaps be demanded suppose the judgement of the Civil Magistrate and that of the Church should in this point differ one from the other which of them ought to take place And put the case that the Church should think it at any time to be absolutely necessary for the Glory of God and the good of Religion to hold an Ecclesiastical Synod and the Civil Magistrate at the same time should refuse his consent or directly forbid them so to do And that upon a strong persuasion that the meeting of such a Synod would in such a juncture be of very dangerous Consequence either to the Church it self or to the State or it may be to both What must in this case be done Must the Church convene a Synod in Obedience to the Conviction which she has of the necessity thereof And must the Civil Magistrate yield unto it against his own judgment Or must the will of the Magistrate be obeyed and the Church act contrary to her own perswasion To which I am able to give no other answer but this That every man who is honest and sincere will always act according as he is fully convinced to be his duty as he shall answer for the same before the Tribunal of God And if the different and contrary perswasions of men do sometimes occasion some clashing and opposition between them I know not how in this world it is to be avoided But considering how both Reason and Scripture do enforce Obedience to the Civil Powers upon the Conscience of every man I think the case ought to be Exceeding plain before Subjects should offer upon any account to act contrary to the Laws of the Land And when even their most necessary duty to God Obliges them so to do yet still it ought to be with all the respect and deference to the Civil Magistrate that the case will possibly admit of that all just reason of offence may be avoided and that the World may be throughly satisfied that it is pure Conscience alone and not any discontent or turbulent humour which moves them to proceed in such a manner And so much for the Fourth and Last Enquiry FINIS Books Printed for Richard Sare at Gray's-Inn-Gate in Holbourn THE Authority of Christian Princes over Ecclesiastical Synods in answer to a Letter to a Convocation Man Octavo An Appeal to all the True Members of the Church of England in behalf of the King's Supremacy Octavo The Principles of the Christian Religion Explained in a Brief Comentary on the Church Catechism Octavo A Practical Discourse against Profane Swearing Twelves These Four by the Reverend Dr. Wake Essays on several Moral Subjects Octavo A short View of the Profaness and Immorality of the English Stage Octavo A Defence of the said View Octavo These Three by the Reverend Mr. Collier Maxims and Reflexions on Plays in Answer to a Discourse Printed before a Play call'd Beauty in Distress Written in French by the Bishop of Meaux with an Advertisement concerning the Book and Author By Mr. Collier Octavo A Gentleman's Religion in Three Parts Twelves Humane Prudence or the Art by which a Man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandeur The Seventh Edition Twelves

not from the Laws of God and that general design which he by the Principles of Reason and more fully by Revelation has made known unto us 't is certain that he forbids them not but leaves them at their own liberty to form themselves into such Civil Communities and to erect such Forms and Schemes of Government among themselves as they in their own prudence shall think fit to agree upon In like manner that the Church is a Society Instituted by Christ for the promoting of God's Glory and the Salvation of mankind That He has given divers Laws and Directions to this Society And that for the better observing and enforcing of these Directions and Laws Order and Government is necessary in the Church are things by no means to be denyed or gainsaid But that God has laid down any compleat and exact model of Ecclesiastical Government either for the whole Church in general or for the parts of it as Nations or Kingdoms in particular is what I can no where find But should be very glad if it be really so to see such clear and evident proof thereof as may safely be relied on Altho' therefore it may be granted that all Christians in general and in particular the Bishops and Pastors of the Church are under an Obligation as they have opportunity and as occasion shall call upon them to deliberate and consult about such things as may most conduce to the promoting of the great end and design of Christianity and in order thereunto to have such Meetings as they apprehend may be most serviceable to this purpose to which therefore every good Christian ought for his part to consent and as much as lies in him to concurr yet how any certain Form or Prescript of Ecclesiastical Synods either General National Provincial or Diocesan duly invested with Authority can from hence be inferred without any farther human appointment I cannot in the least imagine And however a man may put a specious and plausible gloss upon the matter yet to affirm that Ecclesiastical Synods are of Divine Institution without assigning any Law or Command of God either immediately or else by good consequence to make good those particulars that I have but now denyed § 5. must I think upon a through examination be found most absurd and unreasonable 8. But it may be it will be farther objected that it is beyond dispute that the Apostles did hold Ecclesiastical Synods And therefore we may well presume that there was a Command for this altho' we do not find it recorded expresly in the holy Scriptures To which I answer that I do indeed allow that the Apostles with some Others did sometimes meet together for the determining and setling of some things which related to the good of the Church and Benefit of Religion Act. 1.15 and 6.2 and 15.6 And therefore I will not say but that they did or might have held Ecclesiastical Synods But why must we suppose that they had a particular Command from God for the doing of that which common Prudence and natural Reason must needs suggest to all sober men in the like circumstances Or if they had any special Command from God for the holding any of those Meetings which yet is more than we can tell I cannot see how such an unrecorded and Unknown Command can ever be reckoned as a standing and perpetual Rule to the Church 9. Secondly Altho' there is no manner of Divine Institution Properly speaking Yet I freely allow that in the Law of God and the Reason of things there is a very good prudential Foundation for Ecclesiastical Synods That is to say that such things are suggested unto us partly by God's Law and partly by natural Reason as must needs convince every sober and thinking man that it is highly convenient that upon some occasions Ecclesiastical Synods should be convened and holden For as the Law of God obliges every man to do as much good as he is able in his place and station and to promote the honour of God and the Salvation of all men as far as he has or can procure opportunities for so doing so does our own Reason sufficiently assure us that these things may upon many occasions be expedited and set forward and free from such obstructions and impediments as too often do arise much better by the joint and unanimous endeavours of many wise and good men concurring together than by the distinct and separate labour of each of those men severally and apart As also that no men ordinarily can be supposed to be more fit to handle judge and determine whatever relates to matters of this Nature than they who have made these very things their chiefest care and Business that is to say than the Bishops and Pastors of the Church Whenever therefore any doubt or difficulty arises about any thing wherein the Glory of God and the Salvation of Men are concerned which cannot more readily or easily be assoiled and removed Nothing I think can be more proper and rational than that a convenient number of the Bishops and Pastors of the Church should be assembled together in order to consult and declare their Sense and Judgement in the Case And because such Assemblies would signifie little or nothing if every Man were still left at his Liberty either to give or refuse Submission to their Determinations It is therefore very proper that all those Men for whose sake and upon whose account the Assembly meets should be under some obligation to acquiesce in and be obedient unto such things as are there Concluded upon and Decreed The ground and extent of which Obligation shall be inquired into in its proper place And this I take to be a fair and rational Account of and Foundation for the Assembling and holding of Ecclesiastical Synods But by no means to denominate them of Divine Institution any more than Parliaments or any other Assemblies which are held for the promoting of the temporal welfare and happiness of men to the forwarding of which every man is as really tho' perhaps not as highly obliged by the Law of God as he is to advance the glory of God or promote the Salvation of others 10. Thirdly altho' I will not take upon me to determine whether the Apostles had any immediate Command from God for the holding of any of those Assemblies or Synods as some will have them to be of which we but just now were speaking § 8. which for ought I know they might or whether therein they followed only the Dictates of common prudence which as far as I can judge is altogether as probable as the other Yet untill I shall see some better reason to the contrary I cannot but think that From the time of the Apostles downwards All the Ecclesiastical Synods that ever have been held in the Church have been purely and altogether of human Institution Altho' as I have said in the preceeding Section there may have been a prudential Foundation for them in the