upon in some places more and in some less though we see no cause to think that Church Domination had then arrived at the height that my Antagonist pleadeth for 3. It appeareth by a strict and unbyassed View of all that Jerome here saith that no further Prelation is here hinted at than that of any Minister of the Gospel or of the Moderator of a Presbyterio for every Minister may be called Pontifex and Parens anime as the Dialect then was and may clame Subjection from the people in the Lord. What is said of Aaron and his Sons importeth no more but that all Ministers have Authority as all the Priests had it is a Similitude and it must not be stretched to an exact agreement in all things 4. That Jerome maketh a Distinction between Episcopos Clericos caâ—… be drawn to no more but this that in his time there was an observable Prelation in matter of Dignity it no way proveth a Superiority of Jurisdiction though I deny not but that some were then aiming at iâ—… His Citation out of Ep. 54 Hieron I find not he hath not told us to whom that Epistle was written It seems these Epistles are not the same way ranked in my Edition and in his That he saith there Episcopi apud nos tenent locum Apostolorum cannot prove his point for the same may be said of all Presbyters and Jerome saith so expresly of them Ep. ad Ocean as I cited § 3 they succeed to the Apostles in that part of Church power that is competent to them and he cannot prove that Bishops succeed to them in all the power they had but the Dispute about this will fall in afterward That Jerome speaketh about an Ecclesiastical Prince or Governour is also inconcludent for the Fathers sometimes speak as big words of Presbyters He citeth also Ep. ad Paulinum Episcopi saith he Presbyteri habeant in exemplum Apostolos Apostolicos viros quorum honorem possidentes habere nitantur meritum All that he can draw from this is that there was such a Distinction in Jerome's time which is not denyed but Jerome doth not here define what power the one of these had above the other He had been telling Paulinus how Men of other Professions laboured to imitate them who had excelled in their way and instanceth the Roman Captains Philosophers Poets Orators and this he applieth to Church men that they also should follow the best Examples it were ridiculous to strain it to this sense that Bishops should imitate the Apostles and Presbyters the Apostolick men especially seing our Author will say that many of these were Bishops His exors ab omnibus eminens potestas he mentioneth by so indistinct a Citation that I know not where to find it and therefore shall say nothing of it To his Recapitulation of all that he had said on Jerome p. 79 80. I oppose the Answers I have given to the several things he there mentioneth which duely considered let the Reader judge what ground there is for his Triumph that he concludeth this Discourse with § 13. Our Author proceedeth p. 80 seq to vindicate Augustine that he was no Presbyterian And pray who ever said he was one That way was past its Meridian in the World a little before his time only we bring his Authority to prove that some great Lights of the Church did not look on Episcopacy as of Divine Right or to have been in the Church from the Apostolick Age. He prefaceth this Dissertation with a Digression as himself calleth it containing insolent Contempt of and Reproach against the Presbyterians calling all that have written beside Blondel and Salmasius the little Bouffoons of the Party he must here understand the London Ministers the five eminent Men under the name of Smectymnus Rutherford Didoclavius Gersom Bucer and many others If Presbyterians did incline to act the part of Bouffoons this Book and many others like it might furnish them plentiful Matter He chargeth them with Impiety p 82. calleth them factious and unmortified Men their Opinions Dreams saith they have nothing more in their view than to gratifie their Revenge and other Passions imputeth Impudence and Irreligion to them on account of this their Opinion And his Confidence swelleth so high as to tell us how astonishing it is that so much is written for Parity If we believe the Ecclesiastical Records there remaineth no Debate that Episcopacy is Divine Apostolical received without Interruption and that by the Universal Church That Scepticism will by natural Consequence pull down things more sacred than the outward Hedge of Government If his Arguments prove to bear any Proportion to his big Words there can be no standing before him He had been wiser if he had asserted less and proved more and if he had managed this Controversie with a more sedate Mind it may be his success had been no less I will not contest with him in Railling nor huffie and bold asserting what is in controversie but am willing to reason the Matter fairly and calmly The Passage out of Augustine which Blondel and Salmasius bring is Ep. 19. which is ad Hieronymum quanquam secundum honorum vocabula quae jam Ecclesiae usus obtinuit Episcopus Presbytero major sit tamen in multis rebus Augustinus Hieronymo minor est I freely yield to my Antagonist that the design of that Epistle is to invite Jerome to use all freedom in their Epistolary Conversation and I add that this was needful considering the higher Character in the common estimation of that Age that Augustine sustained above Jerome a Presbyter and therefore I lay not the stress of our Argument on his owning Jerome to be in some things above him nor do I think that Augustine lookt on himself and Jerome as standing on a Level in respect of Dignity as then it was esteemed but I place the force of our Argument on these two the one is Augustine insinuateth no Prelation that he had above Jerome even according to the Sentiment of that Age but what was secundum honorum vocabula he had a higher Title he giveth no hint of a Superior Jurisdiction that he a Bishop had above Jerome a Presbyter which had been much more pertinent and full as consistent with the Modesty and Humility that he expresseth The other is that even that superior Honour he doth not derive from Divine Institution or Apostolical Tradition or constant Practice from the beginning but from the Custome of the Church that then that is in that Age prevailed § 14. After setting down at length this Testimony from Augustine he undertaketh to shew that the latter Sectaries so he is pleased to dignifie the Presbyterians mistake his meaning and that Augustine never thought that Parity obtained in the Christian Church He endeavoureth then to prove that by usus Ecclesiae Augustine meant no other thing than the universal Practice of the Christian Church from the beginning and that this Notion is very
l. 2. r. the. p. 204. l. 15. r. Andabatarum p. 207. l. 2. r. injoyn p. 242. l. 36. r. Holy p. 247. l. 1. r. Congregations p. 247. l. 26. r. Religious p. 257. l. 16. r. sound p. 279. l. 33. r. Ceremony p. 284. l. 37. r. Solemnities p. 297. l. 13. r. acquainted p. 309. l. 16. r. Things p. 310. l. 35. r. Writings If there be any other Mistakes of the Press it is left to the Readers Candor to Correct them THE Good old way defended c. IT hath been observed by some who have read this Book that the Author hath been much beholden to some of the Jesuits and other Papists not only for his Arguments but even for his Invectives and Reproaches cast upon his Adversaries had he been so just as to acknowledge the true Authors of his fine Notions there had been less blame in it and even the imputation of Noveltie of the Opinions of Presbyterians with which the Frontispiece of his Book is adorned is the same Reproach that the Romanists do constantly cast on the whole of the Protestant Doctrine which in their ordinary cant is the new Gospel If he hath proved or shall prove that our Principles for Paritie and against Prelacy is newer than the first settling of Gospel-Churches by the Apostles he hath some advantage against us Yet if our way have been owned and practised in Scotland before the Papacy and among the Waldenses for many Ages The edge of his prejudice against it will be a little blunted The former I have already debated with some of his Partie and may have occasion to resume that Dispute before I have done with this Book The other may be easily made appear For in their Confession of Faith after they had fled to Bohemia called Confessio Taboritarum Joan. Lukawitz Waldensia P. 23. They expresly deny that By Scripture warrant Ordination is to be performed only by Bishops and that Bishops have more Authority than single Priests Perin Hist. of the Vaudois p. 53 62. cited by Owen of Ordination p. 4. Sheweth that they had no other Ministers for 5â—0 years than such as was ordained by Presbyters Walsing Hist of England pag. 339. Telleth us that the Lollards the same Sect with the Waldenses had their Ministers Ordained by Presbyters without Bishops Now of this Sect even their Enemies witness that they were very Antient. Reinerius an Inquisitor in his Book contra Haereticos sayeth that it had continued longest of all the Sects For some say these are his Words they have been from the days of Pope Silvester 1. who was in the time of the first Nicen Council others from the dayes of the Apostles § 2. It may also be made appear that his own opinion of the Divine Right of Prelacy is much newer than ours not only by the Fathers as will after appear but even the Church of England was not of that Opinion till Bishop Lands time and but few of them after it Spellman p 576. In the Canons of Elfrick and Wolfin hath these words Ambo siquidem unum tenent eundem ordinem quum sit dignior illa pars Episcopi Catal. test verit To. 2. saith of Wicklif tantum duos ordines minâ—strorum esse debere judicavit viz. Presbyteros Diaâ—onos Fox Act. monum T. 2. Among the Answers that Lambert the Martyr gave to the 45. Questions put to him hath these words p. 400. As touching Priest-hood in the Primitive Church there was no more Officers in the Church of God than Bishop and Deacons as witnesseth the Scripture full apertly He citeth also Jerom for this After the Reformation in the Book called the Institution of a Christian man made by the whole Clergy 1537. Authorized and injoyned by King and Parliament to be preached through the whole Kingdom it is said That the new Testament mentioneth but two Orders Presbyters or Bishops and Deacons Cranmers and other Bishops Opinion I have Cited S. 2. § 2. Out of a Manuscript in Stillingfleets Ira. In the Book called the Bishops Book it is said that the difference between Bishops and Presbyters was a device of the ancient Fathers not mentioned in Scripture For the same Opinion Owen of Ordination p. 114 115. citeth Jewel Morton Whitaker Nowell and the present Bishop of Sarum § 3. Yea that this our Opinion for Paritie and against the Divine right of Episcopacy is as old as the Reformation from Popery is clear from the Articuli Smalcaldici signed by Luther Melanchthon and many other Divines as they are set down lib. concord Printed An. 1580. Lipsiae art 10. p 306. Where they plead their power of ordaining their Pastors without Bishops And cite Jerome saying Eam Ecclesiam Alexandrinam primum ab Episcopis Presbyteris Ministris communi operâ gubernatam fuisse These articles were agreed on An. 1533. After p. 324 325. They affirm of Jurisdictio Potestas excommunicandi absolvendi that liquet confessione omnium etiam adversariorum nostrorum communem esse omnibus qui presunt Ecclesiis sive nominentur Pastores sive Presbyteri sive Episcopi And they cite Jerome as holding the same Opinion and from his words observe hic docet Hieronymus distinctos gradus Episcoporum Presbyterorum sive Pastorum tantum humana authoritate constitutos esse idque res ipsa loquitur quia officium mandatum plane idem est quia autem jure divino nullum est discrimen inter Episcopum Pastorem c. These Articles were subscribed by the Electoral Princes Palsegrave Saxonie and Brandenburg by 45. Dukes Marquesses Counts and Barons by the Consuls and Senates of 35. Cities Yea to shew that this Opinion was not then disliked even in England Bucer and Fagius who subscribed them were brought into England by Cranmer and employed in promoting the Reformation The subscriptions of the Noblemen mentioned you may find at the End of the Preface of that Book It is then a confidence beyond ordinary to call the Presbyterian principle of Paritie a new Opinion § 4. It is further to be considered that as Antiquity is not by it self a sufficient Patrocinie for any Opinion So Noveltie is not alwayes a just prejudice against it If our Adversaries plead Antiquitie for Prelacy so may it be done for many principles which themselves will call Errors and this sort of Arguments hath in all Ages of the Church been judged invalide It is Divine Institution not humane practice Custome or Antient Opinion that must be a Foundation for our belief and when they expose our way as new they should consider that what is Eldest in respect of its beeing and Gods appointment may be new in respect of its discovery and observation What is old in it self may be new to us because by the corruption of many Ages it hath been hid and at last brought forth to light again So Christianity it self was a Noveltie to the Athenian Philosophers and by them treated with disdain and mocking on that account
1. § 1 and 2. As also how weak the consequence is from its noveltie such as I have acknowledged to its being false The dangerous consequence of it is in general asserted but he hath not told what hazard in particular ariseth to the Church from this way of Government many think that the greatest and most essential concernments of Religion have been more promoted under Parity than under Prelacy if he will prove his Assertion making the contrary appear we shall consider the strength of his Reasons § 7. He asserteth that our Opinion is not only different from the uniform Testimony of Antiquity which we deny and shall consider his proofs in the subsequent Debate but also the first Presbyterians among our selves who declare in their Confession of Faith that all Church Policy is variable so 〈◊〉 one they from asserting that indispensible Divine and unalterable Right of Pâ—…rity He addeth that they only pretended that it was allowable and more to this purpose Let me a little examine this confident Assertion of matter of Fact I suppose by the Confession of Faith of the first Presbyterians he meaneth that Summ of Doctrine which they appointed to be drawn up 1560 as that Doctrine that the Protestants would maintain there Artiole 22 are these words Not that we think any Policy and an order of Ceremonies can be appointed for all Ages times and places for as Ceremonies such as men have devised are but temporary so may and ought they to be changed when they rather foster Superstition than edifie the Church using the some Here is not a word of Church Government neither can these words rationally be understood of Ceremonies in a strick sense as contradistinguished from Civil Rites and natural Circumstances in religious actings for Ceremonies peculiar to Religion the reforming Protestants of Scotland never owned but such as were of Divine Institution But that they did not hold the Government of the Church by Prelacy or Parity to be indifferent is evident in that in the Book of Policy or 2d Book of Discipline they do own only four sorts of ordinary and perpetual Office bearers in the Church to wit Pastors Doctors Elders and Deacons where the Bishop is plainly excluded nor did they ever look on Superintendents as perpetual Officers but for the present necessity of the Church not yet constituted It is like this Debate may again occur wherefore I now insist no further on it § 8. He blindly throweth Darts at Presbyterians which sometimes miss them and wound his own party as p 13 he hath this Assertion when a Society of men set up for Divine absolute and infallible Right they ought to bring plain proofs for what they say else they must needs be lookt on as Impostors or at least self conceited and designing men and much to this purpose Is it easie to subsume but this Author and his Partizans set up for Divine absolute and infallible right for Prelacy and yet they bring not plain proofs for what they say therefore he and they are Impostors self conceited and designing men they indeed pretend to plain proofs and so do we let the Reader then judge whose proofs are plainest and best founded and who are to be judged Impostors by his Argument But in truth there is no consequence to a mans being an Impostor from his owning a Divine Right even though his Arguments be defective in plainness and in strength it only followeth that such do mistake and understand not the mind of God in that matter so well as they should and that their strength of Reason doth not answer the confidence of their Assertion and if this be a Blame as I think it is no men in the world are more guilty than his party nor among his party than himself as will appear in examining his Assertions and Arguments For self conceit the Reader will easily see where it may be observed if he consider the superciliousness with which his Book is written If Presbyterians be the designing men they are great fools for there are no Bishopricks nor Deanries nor very fat Benefices to be had in that way which might be the Objects of such designs Who are the head strong men that will knock others on the head unless they will swear they see that which indeed they cannot see may be judged by the Excommunications and the Capias's and consequents of these which many of late did endure for pure Nonconformity I am not acquainted with these Presbyterians who say that none but wicked men will oppose our Government this is none of our Doctrine it is rather his own who excludeth from the Church such as are for Presbytery and affirmeth it to be dangerous to continue in the communion of such we do not Excommunicat any who differ from us about Church Government for their Opinion nor for not joining with us Neither do we pronounce such a heavy Doom on the Prelatists who separate from us as I. S. doth on them who separate from the Episcopal Church Principles of the Cyprianick Age p 19. His calling our Arguments a labyrinth of dark and intricat Consequences obscure and perplexed Probabilities Texts of Scripture sadly wrested and Distorted p. 15. This I say is a silly Artifice to forestal the Readers mind before he hear the Debate which will take with few even of his own party We are not ashamed to produce our Arguments for all this insolent Contempt SECTION III. Some Arguments for Parity not mentioned nor answered by the Enquirer IN this Enquiry our Author pretendeth to answer our Arguments and thinketh he hath done his work when he hath taken notice of two Texts of Soripture which yet he confesseth that our ablest Writers such as Beza and Salmasius lay little weight on one Argument from the Homonymie of the names of Bishop and Presbyter and some Citations of the Fathers Here we desiderate Ingenuity 〈◊〉 in his picking out our most doubtful Arguments while he doth not 〈◊〉 these which were hardest for him to answer also representing them in such a dress as we do not so make use of them and they may be easiest for him to Debate It had been fairer dealing if he had represented our cause in its full strength and then answered what we say Before I come to these Arguments which he is pleased to name I shall propose some others which he or some others may consider when next they think fit to write § 2. Our first Argument shall be this our Lord hath given power to Presbyters not only to dispense the Word and Sacraments but to rule the Church and joyn in the exercise of the Discipline of the Church but he hath given no majority of power to one Presbyter over the rest nor made this exercise of that power to depend on one of them therefore he hath not Instituted Prelacy but left the Government of the Church to be exercised by Presbyters acting in paritie The first Proposition many of the Episcopalians yield yea the
contemporary Records This I pass as a piece of his usual and groundless Confidence He saith when Blondel's Book appeared the Presbyterians concluded before ever they read it that it was all pure and undenyable Demonstration And that his Countreymen the Scots Presbyterians think they need no other Answer to what is written against them but to say that Episcopacy and all that can be found for it is quite ruined by Blondel and Salmasius and yet that few of them read them It is not manly so to despise an Adversary whom one undertaketh to refute neither is it Wisdom to spend so many hours as he hath done to argue the Case with them who are so despicable nor is it Christian so to undervalue others whose Praises are in the Gospel which I am sure may be said of some eminent Presbyterian Writers who now having served their Generation enjoy their Reward but it is his way thus to supply what is wanting in the strength of his Arguments I wonder who told him that the Presbyterians did so extoll Blondel's Book before they read it or that few of them have read him and Salmasius Who of us ever said that saying Blondel and Salmasius had ruined Episcopacy was a sufficient Refutation of it May not we without such blame commend the Works of these learned Men as well as he p. 40. telleth us that every Line of them is sufficiently exposed and frequently and for this cryeth up the Bishop of Chester He saith we shut our eyes against the clearest Evidences that we think that Blondel ' s Book may barre all Disputation on that Head that we refuse to enter into closs Engagement with them These are a parcel of Words in which there is no Truth and if we should Retort every Syllable of them on himself I say not on his whole Party among whom I know there are learned Men who would be ashamed of this manner of pleading their Cause how should this Contest be decided Some who have spent more of their Years in Reading than this Author hath done and also have given better proof of it have not so insulted over their Adversaries as men of no Reading There is also little ground given for his insisting on this as one of our main Arguments for tho the Presbyterians will not part with the Suffrage of the Fathers while the Controversie is about paritie of Church power and the Jurisdiction of one Presbyter over the rest yet they use oftner to act the defensive part with respect to Antiquity that is latter than the Canon of the Scripture and which is of more weight they never laid the stress of their Cause on Humane Testimony but build their Opinion on the Sacred Writings But seing he is pleased to lead us in this way we are willing to engage with him as closly as he will on this Head and to debate both on whose side the Fathers are his or ours and whether their Testimony be so convincing as he pretendeth it to be § 2. Although I do much dislike my Antagonists rude Treatment of so great a man as Blondel was saying that he studyed to please the Independents rather than the Presbeterians because they were then more potent and numerous so p. 42. and calling his Arguments childish Reasonings p. 43. Yet I do not undertake to make it appear that every Testimony he bringeth from the Fathers is fully concludent by it self I observe also that this Author though he professeth to answer the Citations brought by Blondel yet medleth but with a few of them and these none of the most evident except what Blondel bringeth out of Jerom The first Testimony that he mentioneth is the Inscription of Clements Epistle to the Corinthians written from Rome which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is the Church of God dwelling in Rome to the Church of God dwelling in Corinth Blondel hence concludeth that there was no Bishop in either place seing no notice is taken of him To this our Authors answer is this would make for Independency and that the Laity as he speaketh had an equal share in Jurisdiction with the Bishops and Presbyters And that this would prove the equality of Softhenes Timothy and Sylvanus with Paul because he sometimes joineth them with himself in the Inscription of some of his Epistles And that it was the Humility of Clement that made him so write Answer 1. He mistaketh the Opinion of Independents they have their Church Rulers and do not put the Exercise of the Government in the hand of the Multitude though I confess many of them give the people somewhat more than their due 2. If this was an Epistle of a whole Church to a whole Church as Blondel taketh it there was no need of mentioning either Bishop or Presbyters and so equality of Jurisdiction of the people with them cannot be hence inferred but if it was an Epistle of a Bishop to a Church where another Bishop governed as this Author will have it It is an unusual Stile not to mention the Bishop at least of that Church to which the Epistle was directed the Humility of Clement might make him not to distinguish himself from the people but our Bishops would count it no Humility but Rudeness so to treat his brother Bishop at Corinth 3. The Apostle Paul nameth some of the Pastors of the Church with himself in the Inscriptions of some of his Epistles as his fellow Pastors who had joint though not equal Authority in the Church with him but he never assumeth a whole Church into that Society with himself By the Church in both places it may be rationally thought Clement meant the teaching or ruling Church or the Church representative and in that case it might have been expected if he were for Episcopacy that the Bishop at least in Corinth should have had some peculiar mark of Honour as when a Presbytery among us is addressed the Stile is to the Moderator and the rest of the Brethren c. though no special Jurisdiction be ascribed to the Moderator But after all I look on Blondel's Observation on this Passage as rather an Introduction to what he had further to say from this Epistle and a cumulative Argument than to be fully concludent by it self § 3. Another Passage out of the same Epistle of Clement brought by Blondel our Author taketh a great deal of pains about from p 43. It so entangles him that he cannot with much strugling get out of the Net The words of Clement cited by Blondel are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is wherefore they the Apostles preaching through Countries and Cities placed their first fruits whom by the Spirit they had tryed to be Bishops and Deacons for them who should believe neither was it a new thing for of old it had been written of Bishops and Deacons I will make their Bishops in Righteousness and their Deacons in Faithfulness From this Passage Blondel observeth first that in Clement's time there was Bishops in
distinguisheth them than as the one word signifieth Office or ruling Power the other the Age of them who use to be put into that Office and though Presbyter is often used to signifie the Office yet not when it is joined with and distinguished from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And it is clear that in that place Clement is exhorting them to be subject to the Presbyters as he had done several times in the Epistle as they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rulers not one but more in the Church of Corinth and as they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elder in years wherefore he exhorts young men to Sobriety § 5. It is unaccountable Tergiversation that this Author pretending to examine some of the most remarkable Testimonies brought from Antiquity by Blondel insisteth only on that which is of least weight even in the Testimony already mentioned as is above shewed and likeways passeth over all the rest brought out of the same Fathers Writings without so much as mentioning them Blondel sheweth out of the Epistle of Clement already mentioned that Clement telleth us that the Apostles knowing per Dominum by Divine Revelation that there would be Contentions about the Name of Bishop therefore they appointed Presbyters and Deacons to manage the Affairs of the Church so far were they saith Blondel from thinking Prelacy the best or only Remedie against Schism as some did in after ages He doth also shew how Clement teacheth that the Presbyters or Bishops for he often interchangeth these two Names as signifieing the same persons were set in the Church by the Apostles and after by other excellent men so that the Apostles made no Change in the Government that they were placed with the consent of the whole Church not by the Bishop and Patron and he pleadeth that such as had well done the work of a Bishop should not be turned out for the holy Presbyters who have finished their Course need fear no Change And after sheweth how absurd it was that the most ancient Church of Corinth it had then stood as it is thought about 25 years should move Sedition against her Presbyters some turbulent Spirits among them withstood not a single Bishop of whom not a word in all this Discourse but the Presbyters of the Church and he adviseth the Seditious rather to depart that the Flock of Christ might enjoy Peace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with the Presbyters that were settled in it it seems he did not name the Bishop nor provided against Sedition against him because he knew no such person at Corinth And again he biddeth them be subject to the Presbyters Now all this insisted on by Blondel he passeth by which was his wisdom and insisteth only on the Dichotomie of the Clergy which hath far less weight than these Passages have § 6. He next taketh to Task what Blondel citeth out of Polycarp which is that writing to the Church of Philippi he taketh no notice of their Bishop that he biddeth them be subject to the Presbyters and Deacons not mentioning the Bishop but a plurality of Presbyters which was in that one Church His Answer to all this is first that Blondel himself taketh notice that Polycarp distinguisheth himself from the rest of the Presbyters while he saith Polycarp and the Presbyters that are with him to the Church in Philippi and that by this he assumes a kind of Prelation above the rest of the Presbyters at Smyrna He fancieth that this is mighty uneasie to Blondel but it had been more ingenious to tell us that Blondel brings this as an Objection against himself and answereth it fully and easily calling it nuda Conjectura and giving several Reasons for Polycarp's naming himself from his being the older man and the older Minister And being ordained by an Apostle which was a Dignity though it gave no Superiority of Power as being better known to the Philippians and Blondel bringeth abundance of parallel Passages where no Superiority of Power can be imported All this our Author passeth over in silence Next he saith this is still the Bipartite division of the Clergie which is a mistake for here is Subjection required to Presbyters in Commune which could not all be Diocesans and their Head the Bishop is not noticed and his Dichotomie here is Argumentative because as was above shewed of Clement he is telling them what Church Officers they should respect where the Bishop was chiefly to be mentioned if such a person had been in that Church He will prove p. 51 that this can be no Argument for Parity Because first Irenâ—… refutes the Heresies of the Valentians from the unanimous Dâ—… preserved among the single Successors of Polycarp which could be no Argument if the Ecclesiastical Power of the Church of Smyrna had been equally lodged in the Colledge of Presbyters I ask him how doth the Parity of Church power weaken this Argument Do not Ministers in any Church succeed one to another as well as Bishops And if they be faithful they will continue the true Doctrine and hand it down to their Successors as welâ— as Bishops would do Neither hath it any force that single Successon are mentioned for if there were more Flocks and Pastors in Smyrna there was one Moderator in the Presbyterie who is mentioned as more eminent though having but equal power If there was but one Pastor and many ruling Presbyters he and his Successors did preserve the Truth by faithful Doctrine not by Episcopal power His other proâ—… is the Epistles of Ignatius are zealously recommended in that Epistle of Polycarp in which Episcopal Jurisdiction is asserted of which our Author wâ—… speak in due time When he shall please to speak of Ignatius we shâ—… consider what he saith and hope to find that all the proof he caâ—… thence bring is insufficient Mean while it is an odd way of arguing an Author commendeth a Book Ergo he approveth all that is in it 〈◊〉 he had said Polycarp commendeth Ignatius's Epistles in that they assâ—… Prelacy that had been to the purpose otherways his Inference 〈◊〉 without all force § 7. The next Father cited by Blondel is Hermas in his Book calleâ— Pastor on whom he layeth very little stress as is evident to any whâ—… will read Blondel without prejudice and I think Blondel needed not 〈◊〉 have mentioned him both because he is of little Authority it beiâ—… most uncertain what Hermas was the Author of that Book whether 〈◊〉 mentioned Rom. 16. 14. or the brother of Pius Blondel bringeth not few Authors on both sides Also this Hermas saith little either for or against Parity I observe several things of my Antagonists conduct witâ— respect to Hermas 1. He pretendeth to bring two palpable Evidences froâ— him that Episcopacy was the Ecclesiastical Government when that Book wâ—… written which he laboureth to prove p. 5. because the sending circulâ—… Letters is insinuated to be the peculiar priviledge of Clement then Bishop 〈◊〉 Rome Answer This Evidence and the
Act that he had committed ob illatum per summum nefas Virgini stuprum was driven away from the Communion of the Church by his own Father on which occasion he came to Rome and attempted to be received into that Church he was rejected by the Presbyterie after which he preached his Errours in that City and made great Disturbance Now the Argument that we draw from this Passage is not only that the Presbyterie did not reject his Petition as being incompetent Judges in that Case but their Answer implyeth a Recognition of their power in this Matter for they tell him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we cannot do it without the permission of thy worthy Father nor this because of his Fathers Episcopal power but because there is one Faith and one Agreement the Bond of Unity between Rome and that Church in Pontus I think its Name was Sinope and was that which they gave as the reason of their Refusal seing he was cast out of one Church it was not reasonable that he should be received into another without her consent Romes Headship was not then known But what followeth is yet stronger for our Cause 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we cannot go contrary to our excellent Collegue or Fellow Labourer thy Father where Presbyters look on a Bishop as their Collegue and in no higher Degree and that when they are speaking of the Exercise of Church Authority they plainly suppose that they had the same power to take in that he had to cast out but they would not irregularly exerce that power as they must have done if they had recived Marcion § 9. Another of Blondel's Citations our Author answereth with a great deal of slighting and contempt it s taken out of Justine Martyr's Apology for the Christians where he giveth an account of the Church Order that was among the Christians and mentioneth no Officer in the Church but Praepositus Diaconus His Answer to this is Justine's design was only to vindicate the Christians from the Reproaches cast upon them about their Meetings he had no occasion to speak of the Hierarchy the Christians concealed their Mysteries as much as they could and the Names of Bishop and Presbyter as well as their Offices were known to the Heathen How to make the parts of this Answer hang together I know not if the Heathen knew their way why did they conceal it Neither is there any ground to think that they concealed their Mysteries the Knowledge of which was the mean of convincing Heathens Yea the design of his Apology was to make their Mysteries known that it might be seen how excellent they were And to say that Justine had no occasion to speak of the Hierarchy here is a mistake for he did mention some of the Church Officers and because he mentioned no more it is like he knew no more He seems now to be weary of his undertaking and no wonder it hath succeeded so ill with him and therefore p. 60. he telleth us how nauseous it is to repeat more and hudleth up some other Citations cited by Blondel in a general Answer that it is a silly Quible to found an Argumen◠on Dichotomies and telleth us the Names as well as the Offices were distinguished in the earliest Monuments of the Church and for this he citeth Usher mentioning Acta Martyrii S Ignatii but is not pleased to name Book nor Page of that learned Author who hath written many things The same he doth with Clemeus Alexandrinus Tertullian and Origen but neither words nor place he mentioneth such arguings are to be neglected Blondel also citeth Papias calling all the Ministers of the Word Apostles and others from whom he had learned what he wrote Elders or Presbyters This Author will have it to be meant of their Age not Office I lay not much weight on this Testimony more than he doth But that Papias doth not mean the Age only of them whom he mentioneth may be gathered from what he saith of the second John whom he mentioneth for after he had named John among the Apostles he nameth another John after Aristion and him he calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This cannot be meant of his Age when he saith John the elder for John the Apostle was older than he It must then be understood of his Office And Euseb lib 3 c. 35. telleth us that there were two Johns buried at Ephesus and that the Monuments of both remained in his time Being now weary with arguing and it seems fretted with what he could not well answer He falleth to downright Railling p. 61. he putteth on a Confidence beyond ordinary this is the way of some when they are most at a loss This Conduct will not take with wise and considering Men. He telleth of the unconquerableness of Prejudice in the Presbyterians no doubt because they will not yield to his Dictats and what he looketh on as an Argument and of their miserable Condition in reading the Ancients with no other design than to distort their words Before he taxeth us for not reading them now we read them but with an ill design I must tell him it is too much for him either to judge how we are employed in our Closets and what Books we read or what inward designs we have in our reading We think he distorteth the words of the Ancients we judge not his designs in reading them he thinketh we distort them let the Reader judge Next he representeth us as having sold our selves to the Interest of little Parties and shut our Eyes against the express Testimonies of these Fathers whose broken Sentences we torture and abuse to support Novelties and more of this Stuff which it is not fit to answer because of the Wise Man's Advice Prov 26 4. § 10. Now he will p. 62. have the Reader to make an Estimate of the Presbyterian Candor from two Instances The first is Blondel citeth the Gallican Church sending Irenaeus to Rome and calling him a Presbyter when he was Bishop of Lyons Our Author contendeth that he was not then Bishop and that Photinus his Predecessor was not then dead This piece of Chronology though maintained by Eusebius and Jerome Blondel disproveth by many Authentick Records as he thinketh And now where is the want of Candor in this case Is every man who after diligent search into History doth mistake in Chronology about a Matter of Fact so disingenious and that to such a Degree as this Author's Clamour would represent This I say supposing that Blondel doth mistake in this Matter I think it not worth the while to examine the large Discourse he hath and the manifold Citations to confirm his Opinion finding that Debate somewhat Intricate whether Photinus was then alive or not when Iraeneus was sent to Rome and called a Presbyter and the Matter of it is of no great Consequence It seems our Author hath been at as little pains as I am at leasure now to take about this Debate but referreth
you to Dr. Pearson for satisfaction and yet he hath the confidence to charge so great a man as Blondel was with perplexed Conjectures and affected Mistakes we think it neither Christian nor Manly nor Scholar like so to treat the learned Men of his opposite Party The other Instance whereby he thinketh to prove want of Candor yea Impudence in the Presbyterians is p. 63. that we sometimes cite Cyprian on our side and can name nothing plausibly but that wretched Quible of the bipartite Division of the Clergy He thinks it needless to bring Testimonies against us out of Cyprian there are so many he calleth us also Schismaticks and supposeth that we have not read Cyprian Who can stand before such potent Ratiocinations He referreth the Vindicator of the Kirk to a Book then expected I suppose he meaneth I. S. his Principles of the Cyprianick age which I saw long before I saw this Book of his where indeed all that can be drawn from Cyprian and much more is carefully gathered together And I refer him for satisfaction about Cyprian's Opinion in the point of Church Government to the Answer to that Book under the Title of the Cyprianick Bishop examined In which Book I shall take this occasion to confess a Chronological Mistake this Author would have the Charity to call it the want of Candor or what else he pleaseth to impute to his Adversary it is p. 20 near the end Basil and Optatus are said to live in the same Age with Cyprian whereas they lived in the next Century this was occasioned by an over hasty Glance into the Chronological Tables I hope the Reader will pardon this Digression Thus my Antagonist leaveth Blondel in quiet possession of the far greatest part and most evident Testimonies that he bringeth out of the Fathers for Parity some will think he had better not begun this Work than thus leave it imperfect if others have answered all Blondel's Citations what he hath done was needless if not he doth his Work but by halves § 11. I shall add some other Testimonies out of the Fathers which our Author at his leisure may consider Chrysost on 1 Tim. 3. asketh the Question why the Apostle passeth from giving Directions in and about the Qualifications of Bishops immediatly to Deacons omitting Presbyters and giveth this Answer that there is almost no difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter and the care of the Church is committed also to Presbyters which maketh it evident that Chrysost did not think that Bishops ruled alone only he maketh the difference to be in Ordination which he is so far from looking on as of Divine Institution that he maintaineth saith Durham that in the Apostles time Presbyters ordained Bishops This same Author on Tit. 1. Homil. 2. by the Elders whom Titus was to ordain in every City understandeth Bishops because saith he he would not set one over the whole Island and after for a Teacher should not be diverted by the Government of many Churches but should be taken up in ruling one where he maketh the Teacher and Ruler to be the same person also assigneth but the Government of one Church to one man both which are inconsistent with Diocesan Episcopacy Ambros in Tim 3. 9. hath this Passage qui tanta cura Diaconos eligendos praecepit quos constat esse ministros Sacerdotum quales vult esse Episcopos nisi sicut ipse ait irrepraehensibiles where he plainly supposeth all the Church Officers who are not Deacons to be Bishops and a little after Post Episcopum tamen Diaconatus ordinationem subjecit quare nisi quia Episcopi Presbyteri una ordinatio est uterque enim Sacerdosest Episcopus tamen primus est ut omnis Episcopus Presbyter sit non tamen omnis Presbyter Episcopus hic enim est Episcopus qui inter Presbyteros primus est Denique Timotheum Presbyterum ordinatum significat sed quia ante se priorem non habebat Episcopus erat All this seemeth to be a Description of a Presbyterian Moderator for he giveth the Bishop no Prelation but that of Precedency or Priority to a Presbyter and that not by a new Ordination which should give him a superior power but a Seniority or Priority of Ordination which was the way of a Moderator's being set up at first but was after changed into Election when it was found that sometimes the oldest man was not the fittest man for that Work From all this it is clear that in the time of Ambros which was in the fourth Century Majority of Power in a Bishop above a Presbyter was not lookt on as Juris Divini nor that a Bishop must have after he is ordained a Presbyter a new Ordination or Consecration whereby he getteth Jurisdiction over his fellow Presbyters and their Flocks I do not deny but that Ambrose doth in some things mistake the primitive Order of the Church and misunderstand the Scripture account that is given of it wherefore he ingeniously confesseth on Ephesians 4. 11. thus ideo non per omnia conveniunt scripta Apostolica ordinationi quae nunc est in Ecclesia yet he giveth ground to think that even then the Distinction between Bishop and Presbyter was not arrived at a Majority of Power or sole Jurisdiction I observe here also obiter that ordinatio in the primitive times did not always signifie authoritative setting apart one for a Church Office which our Author else where doth with much zeal plead If the Reader please to add to these all the Testimonies cited by Blondel which out Author thought not fit to medle with he may see abundant cause to think that our Opinion about Paritie is not so Novel as this Enquirer fancieth it to be Though I lay little weight on the Opinions of the School-men in the controverted Points of Divinity and especially in the Point of Church Government yet considering that they owned the Roman Hierarchy a Testimony from them or other Papists seemeth to be a Confession of an Adversary extorted by the force of Truth Lombard lib 4 Sententiar dist 4 after he had asserted seven Orders of the Clergy when he cometh to speak of Presbyters p 451. Edit Lovan 1567 apud veteres saith he idem Episcopi Presbyteri fuerunt p. 452. cumque omnes nempe septem ordines Cleri spirituales sunt sacrae excellenter tamen Canones duos tantum sacros Ordines appellari consent nemâ—â— Diaconatus Presbyteratus quia hos solos primativa Ecclesia legitur habuisse de his solum praeceplum Apostoli habemus Cajetan on Titus 1. 5. 7. hath these words ubi adverte eundem gradum idemque officium significari à Paulo nomine Episcopi nomine Presbyteri nam praemisit ideirco râ—liqui te in Creta ut constituas Presbyteros modo probando regulam dicâ— oportet enim Episcopum c. Estius lib 4 Sententiar dist 24. when he iâ—… proving Episcopal Jurisdiction above a Presbyter doth not refer it to Divine
but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Moderator of the Presbytery by whom the Epistle was to be communicated to the rest of the Pastors and by them to the People and indeed it is certain that the Word may be so taken and if we should yield this to our Brethren it cutteth the Nerves of their Argument unless they can prove that these single persons had Jurisdiction over the rest of the Pastors of these Churches Which they can never do from the Epistles themselves for all the Reproofs and Commendations may be intended for the Colledge of Presbyters tho addressed to them by the Praeses Nor can the Direction of the Epistle to a single person prove what they intend there is nothing more ordinary than to address a Community by the Praeses of their Meeting if a Letter be Directed to the Moderator of a Presbytery for the use of the Presbytery doth this Entitle him to Episcopal Jurisdiction The third Opinion to which I most incline is that Angel is here to be taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 o◠Collectively for the Colledge of Presbyters so that to the Angel is in our Phrase to the Moderator and remanent Brethren In the Contents of the old Translation of the Bible which expresseth the sense of the old Church of England in this matter they are called Ministers So it was understood by Aretas Primasius Ambrose Gregory the Great Beda Haymo and many others saith Owen of Ordination C. 2. p. 35. § 21. I shall first prove that it may be so taken next that it mu◠be so understood For the former it is usual in the Scripture and particularly in the Mystical Parts of it in Types and Visions and th◠most of the Book of Revelation is written in that Stile every one knoweth to put the Singular Number for the Plural or to mean a Multitude when but one is exprest how often is a People or Nation expressed by the Virgin or the Virgin Daughter of such or such a Place Th◠Ram Daniel 8. 3. is interpreted to be the Kings of Media and Persia 〈◊〉 20. The whole Succession of the Apostate Bishops of Rome is calle◠Antichrist the Man of Sin the Son of Perdition The Antichristian Church consisting of Priests and People is called a Beast the Whore So an inferior Number is put for a great Multitude the Enemies of the Church are called four Horns and her Deliverers four Carpenters Zech. 1. 18 20. The Directions given to Judges are often in the singular number thou shalt do so and so hundreds of Instances of this nature may be given Whence it is easie to conclude that there is no Absurdity nor is any Violence done to the Text if by Angel we understand the Rulers of the Church or the Colledge of Presbyters My next work is to prove that Angel must be so understood for which I bring these Arguments 1. The Lord here useth a Title that doth not signifie Rule or Jurisdiction but Gods Messenger to the People as also Rev 1. 16 20. These Angels are called Stars which importeth their Teaching or holding forth Light to the People both which are common to the Presbyters seing then he doth not use a word of Authority whereby the Bishop is pretended to be distinguished from the Presbyters but of Embassy and giving Light whereby the Presbyters are distinguished from the people this word cannot be taken for a Ruling Bishop but for Teaching Presbyters It were a strange thing if our Lord designing to single out one person from all the rest of the Church would design him by that which is common to him with many others and not by that which is peculiar to himself It doth also strengthen this Argument that both in the Old and New Testament they whom God sent to his People to reveal his Mind to them are called Angels Jud. 2. 1. Hag. 1. 13. Mal. 2. 7. 1 Cor. 11. 10. Yea the Legions of Angels who are imployed to Encamp about the People of God for their Safety are called the Angel of the Lord Psal 34 7. § 22. Argument 2. It is not without a Mystery that Rev 1 20 our Saviour in opening the Mystery of the Vision speaketh twice of the seven Churches but shunneth calling the Angels seven he saith not the seven Stars are the seven Angels of the Churches but the Angels of the seven Churches as by the seven Spirits Rev 1 4 and 3 1 is meant the Spirit of God sufficient for the needs of all the seven Churches so here the Angels of the seven Churches must be the Pastors whom the Lord hath provided for the use of his Churches tho they were not one only for every Church but more Argument 3. It is manifest from Acts 20 28 and I have evinced it § 3. of Sect. 3. that there were more Presbyters or Bishops at Ephesus than one If then Christ wrote to the Rulers of the Church of Ephesus under the Title of Angel he could not mean a single person It cannot be denyed that they who are called Overseers of the Church of Ephesus Acts 20 28 are they whom Christ here calleth Angel the same thing is expressed in the one Place in a more plain Stile in the other in a more Obscure and Mystical Stile Argument 4. Our Brethren will not deny that there were more Church Officers imployed in Teaching each of the Churches than one Bishop Now these must either be comprehended under the Candlestick or under the Star they cannot be a part of the Candlestick for they give Light as the Candlestick doth not but by the Candlestick is meant the People to whom the Light shineth they must then be comprehended under the Star and consequently under the Angel whence it followeth that the Angel is a Plurality of Persons So that we may conclude that as by Candlestick i◠understood the Collective Body of People so by Star or Angel is understood a Body of Church Officers and not a single Bishop Argument 5. Many things are said in these Epistles which cannot be Expounded with respect to a single person as at Ephesus the Angels forsaking his first Love is threatned with removing the Candlestick that is Unchurching that People can we think that such a fearful Judgment could be threatned for the Sin of one Bishop if the rest of the Elders and People were free and this we must say unless we acknowledge that the Angel to whom the Epistle is Directed is not a single person but a Community The same may be said of several other Churches would the Lord spu◠out all the Presbyters and People of Laodicea for the Hypocrisie of one Bishop Argument 6. There are several Passages in these Epistles wherein a Plurality is expressed as that which is meant by Angel to whom the Epistle is addressed as the Devil shall cast some of you into Prison can that be Expounded some of thee Bishop of Smyrna or some of your Pastors and People and unto you I say 〈◊〉
Diligence to the next Assemblie which last our Author overlooketh 16. His Translating of Ministers is no more but that his Consent or that of the whole Church must be had to a Transportation it was then necessarie when there was no Presbyteries to Judge of such Matters 17. He greatly mistaketh when he saith that the Assemblie Enacteth that Ministers for the General Assemblie should be brought with the Superintendents c. which he will have to be Nominating them and he alloweth the rest of the Synod but a Consent whereas Spotsw p. 219. words it such as the Superintendents shall choose in their Diocesan Synods If he could choose them by himself there needed no Synod for this end that Expression can signifie no less than the Synods suffrage in the Election My Lord Glaâ—… Letter that he mentioneth is not Authentick 18. He held Diocesan Synods because he was their Moderator 19. They might appoint Fasts is their bounds but with Advice of the Ministers 20. Modifying of Stipendâ— is no Spiritual Power and therefore impertinently here brought in 21. Appeals was made to him and his Synodal Convention here is no sole Jurisdiction 22. His power of Fineing is no Spiritual Power 23. Determining Cases of Conscience and otheir Questions was never committed to him alone but in the Synod and to them Yea Questions so determined were to be reported to the General Assemblie next ensewing so that Manuscript that he so often Citeth p. 14. 24. To judge of Divorces is a civil Power and not to our purpose 25. It is clear by his own Relation that the Injunction of Pennance as he calleth it is to be by the Superintendent with the Synod 26. Restoring of Criminals or Absolution did the same way belong to him 27. Notifying Criminals to the Magistrat is no part of Jurisdiction 28. Excommunication was not to be done by his sole Authority but by his Advice 29. His Power over Colleges And 30. His Licensing of Booke both of them Depend on the Civil Power and are not to our present purpose These short Notes may shew how little cause there is for his Triumph with which he concludeth this his Enumeration of the Superintendents Prerogatives They prove a Disparity between him and other Ministers I confess which the Church in that her State thought necessarie for a time but on the other hand it is evident that some of them Prove as much Disparitie from and inconsistencie with the Prerogatives of a Diocesan Bishop which our Brethren plead for as belonging to him Jure Divino § 12. His next Work from p. 140. is to dissipat the Mist wherewith the Paritie Men are so very earnest to darken the Prelatical Power of the Superintendents he mentioneth Three of their Exceptions The 1. Is it was not intended to be a perpetual standing Office but was Temporary and for the then Necessities of the Church For this he Citeth Calderwuod and Petrie asserting this with whom I do cordially joyn Against this he thus reasoneth p. 142. whether it was Temporary or not it was Prelacy and this is all that I am concerned for And to Fortiâ—e this he taketh in by force a Similitude from the Presbyterians making Address to King James a rare but useless piece of Wit Ans. If he be concerned for no more than this we are agreed And he yieldeth that our Reformers were not Episcopal but Presbyterian who in a case of extream Necessity gave for a time more Power to one Minister than another but made them all equal assoon as that Necessity was over It is such an Argument as if there were but one Congregation with their Minister and Elders in an Island they manage Church Discipline by themselves but assoon as they encrease and there are moe People and church Officers and more Congregations they set up a Presbyterie to which all the Congregations and their Pastors are Subordinate will any say that they are Independents because they were forced to Act Independentlie at first there is as little reason to conclude that our Reformers were Episcopal though they were forced to use a kind of Prelacie for a time Beside that I have above shewed some considerable Differences between the Prelacie of Superintendents and that of Bishops which our Brethren plead for § 13. His second Undertaking is to shew that we have no sufficient Ground in the Records of these times for pretending that the Office of Superintendents was designed to be Temporal To prove his Assertion he saith he hath seen no more insisted on to make out this but a Phrase in the first Head of the Book of Discipline at this time He transcribeth the whole Passage out of Petrie Cent. 16. p. 218. and so must I what was their the Superintendents Office saith he appears by the first Book of Discipline wherein it is written thus we consider that if the Ministers whom God hath endued with his singular Graces among us should be appointed to several places there to make continual Residence that then the greatest part of the Realm should be destitute of all Doctrine which should be not only the occasion of great Murmure but also dangerous to the Salvation of many and therefore we have thought it a thing expedient at this time that from the whole Number of Godly and learned Men now presently in this Realm be selected ten or twelve for in so many Provinces we have divided the whole to whom Charge and Commandment should be given to Plant and Erect Kirks to set Order and appoint Ministers as the former Prescribed to wit the former Head to the Countries that shall be appointed to their Care where none are now Afterward it is added these must not be suffered to live as their idle Bishops have done neither must they remain where they gladly would but they must be Preachers themselves and such as may not make long Residence in one place till the Kirks be Planted and provided of Ministers c. To this our Author replyeth by giving us a Sense of his own of these Words in the first Book of Discipline viz. that because there were then so few Qualified for the Office of Superintendencie the Ten or Twelve were by far too few for the whole Kingdom yet at that time they thought it expedient to Establish no more and though when the Church should be sufficiently Provided with Ministers it will be highly reasonable that the Superintendents should have Places appointed them for their continual Residence yet in that Juncture it was necessary that they should be constantly travelling into their Districts to Preach and Plant Churches Before I Examine what he saith to Prove this to be the true Gloss of that Passage I shall Prove it to be contrarie to and inconsistent with the Passage it self And 1. There is nothing in that Discourse that doth so much as insinuate the scarcitie of Men fit to be Superintendents but of Ministers fit to Preach to the People they no way hint that this Setlement
suppose also that there are so few Ministers that there cannot be Men got to supplie Places but such as are palpably insufficient for the Work here is a Dilemma either Gospel Ordinances must be neglected or unduely managed by these Men or on the other hand they who are Qualified must be set over these for a time to Preach now and then in their Places to Direct and injoyn them what is right to Plant the Places with Qualified Men when they can be got all which is supposed to be cross to the letter I do not say to the Meaning and Design of the Institution in the first Case the Church should sin in neglecting that which is the main Design of all Gospel Institutions viz. Edification and Saving of Souls therefore she doth not sin on the other hand by crossing the Letter of the Institution otherwise she should be under a Necessity of sining without her own fault bringing her under that Necessity 2. Although our LORD did forsee all the Cases and Circumstances in which his Church was to be unto the end of the World and could have fully Provided for them all by giving distinct Laws suted to every one of them yet infinite Wisdom thought fit to give Laws for regulating the ordinary cases of the Church leaving these that are rare and Extraordinary to be Managed according to the general Rules of Scripture and sound reason because distinct Laws for all possible Cases would have swelled the BIBLE to a bigness which would have made it less useful to us and of this it may be said as of a Case not unlike to it John 20. 30 31. The World could not have contained at least Men could not have Read and Retained the Contents of all the Books that should have been Written no doubt when GOD made the Law forbidding that the Shew Bread should be eaten by any but by the Priests he forsaw what case David and his Men would be in but he thought it not fit to provide for that Case by an Express Exception from the Law but left it to be Ordered by his more general Laws Even so it is in the Case that we Dispute about § 21. I shall now Answer his Reason brought against this yielding to Necessitie in cases of Divine Institution which is that if Necessitie can oblige Christians to forsake or to cross Institution in one Case why not in all Cases The Consequence that this his Question implyeth we simply Deny And I may Confidently say that himself in his cooler thoughts will be ashamed of it at least he will have few Men of Sense whether Learned or unlearned that will allow such a Consequence Farless that will Joyn wit him in what followeth viz. that crossing Institution when forced to it by the Law of Necessity what is it else than to open a door to Gnosticism to Infidelity to Apostasie and to all imaginable kinds of Antichristian Perfidie and Villanie To clear this Matter and to still this Noise and that the Reader may understand this Debate about the Force of Necessitie better than this learned Author seemeth to do I shall shew when Necessitie may warrant an Action which without such Necessitie were unwarrantable and when not 1. It is not feigned or pretended Necessitie that can have this Force we are far from thinking that it is a sufficient Excuse when on hath done an evil thing to say there was Necessitie for it I could not shun it if our Reformers did but pretend Necessitie for setting up Superintendents or if we do but pretend it for them if my Antagonist can prove as he hath alleged that there was no Necessitie for it but that if they had been for Paritie they might have Promoted the Gospel without thus diverting from it for a time we shall quit this Argument GOD is Judge in that case whether the Necessitie be real or only pretended And in many cases Man may Judge and Punish them who break the Law and pretend Necessitie for their Action 2. It must be a Necessitie of GOD'S making not of our own bringing on as I hinted before If either a Church or a Person do sinfully bring themselves under a Necessitie of Transgressing the Law the sinful Cause maketh the Action sinful which is consequential to it 3. The Necessitie that we shelter our Actions under must not only be of the Means nor only of the End but of both I suppose a Man cannot save his Life his Libertie or Estate but by doing what is sinful or omitting what is a Moral and perpetual duty or is such hic et nunc Here is the Necessitie of Means but it cannot excuse him because there is no Necessitie of the End it is not necessarie that we should Live be at Libertie nor that we have Estates there is neither an absolute Necessitie of these nor comparative Necessitie none of them is so necessarie as it is to keep a good Conscience and to please GOD and shun sin Again suppose the End be necessarie V. Gr. to advance the Interest of Religion but this End may be attained to by means that do no way cross any of GOD'S Institutions to do what is cross to Institution in that case is no way Excusable For there is no necessitie of the Mean If my Antagonist can shew that either the End of setting up Superintendents was needless or that that could be attained without encroaching a little on Paritie for a time then shall we no more plead Necessitie for what they did but judge that they were not for Paritie in their Principles 4. We distinguish with respect to the Force of Necessitie between these Actions which are Moral from their Nature and these that are Moral only by Institution How far Necessitie may Warrant or not Warrant an Action against the Moral-Law I shall not now Dispute our present Debate not being concerned in that Question it is evident that there are some cases in which Necessitie even in such Actions hath place as Adam's Sons Marrieing their Sisters of which Lyra and Menochius in Gen. 4. 17. say Initio mundi necessè fuit Sorores Fratribus nubere And it is also certain that no Necessitie can dispense with some other Actions that are naturally Moral such as Blasphemy Lying c. but in Matters of Institution the LORD hath not so strictly bound his People nor made his Institutions to clash with the natural and indispensible Commands that he hath laid on them as is evident in David's case above-mentioned If Institution in some Circumstances that the LORD hath cast his People in do clash with the Moral Dutie of saving Life this Moral Dutie superceedeth the Obligation of Institution in that time and in that case much more when present Circumstances make Institution to clash with the great End of Institution as in the case in hand without dispensing with Paritie in this case the End of Church Government had been lost viz. the Edification of the Church and Promoting
the Order Decencie and Policie that the LORD requireth in his Church may be obtained without them as the Patrons of them do on the Matter confess when they tell us that these and all the rest of the Ceremonies are in themselves and antecedently to the Churches imposing them indifferent Beside not the Principle only or the Opinion that Men have about these Days is condemned in these Scriptures but the Practice it self § 7. Our Fourth Reason is the imposing of the Holy Days doth derogate from that Christian Libertie that the LORD hath given to his People which the LORD doth not allow Gal. 5. 1. They are contrarie to this Libertie two ways 1. It is the Libertie of Christians to be under no Yoke in matters of Religion we refuse not civil Subjection to our Rulers in all lawful things but that of Christ to have him for their only Law-giver James 4. 12. He hath not given Power to Men to make new Laws for his Church but to declare his Laws and to Execute his Censures that he hath Appointed on the Breakers of them Wherefore when Christ hath given us one Holy day to be perpetually Observed and no more if Men will enjoyn moe Days they make Laws of their own and bring the People under their Yoke which is not Christs And the Places last Cited do evidently Import this The LORD had now delivered his People from the Yoke of Ceremonies which himself had laid on them and the false Apostles were endeavouring to wreath that Yoke still on their Necks and it is as much Bondage if any will wreath another Yoke upon them which is none of Christs now that Scripture biddeth them beware of such Yokes 2. The fourth Commandment alloweth the People of GOD six days of the Week for their lawful worldly Imployments this Instituting of Holy days Abridgeth that Libertie and that merely by the Authoritie of Men. It is not so when occasional Solemnities are Appointed because the Religious Solemn Work on which abstinencie from Labour doth necessarily follow is determined by the Lord and intimated to us by his Providence the Church doth no more but Chuse this Day rather than that If it be said that Magistrats may Restrain People from their Work for civil Causes why not then for Religious Reasons Answer Men have not the the same Power in Religion as in Civil Things though restraint from Work is the same in both so is not the occasion the one must be chosen by the LORD the other may by Men. Beside that Magistrats must have some good Ground for such Restraint otherwise they will not be appointed of GOD though obeyed by the People I might here add all the Arguments that we commonly use against Humane Ceremonies in Religion that it is an Addition to the Word or Rule that GOD hath managed the Affairs of His house by A symbolizing with the Papists without Necessitie It is Superstition being above and beyond what GOD hath Enjoyned c. I shall only adde that the Scripture calleth the weekly Sabbath the LORDS Day as a Name of distinction from other Days but it could be no distinguishing Name if the Nativitie Circumcision c. were all Dedicated to our LORD for every one of these were the LORDS Day as well as it And therefore when John said he was in the Spirit on the LORDS Day we could not know whether it was Christmass day or Easter day or Good Friday or the first of January the Circumcision Day or some ordinary first day of the Week § 8. I come now to Examine what my Antagonist bringeth for his Holy Days and against our Opinion He sayeth p. 169. they were Originally appointed to Commemorat the Mysteries of our Redemption with all possible Zeal gratitude and Solemnity If he can shew us that Christ or his Apostles appointed them for these Ends we shall lay our hand on our Mouth and not mutter against them but if they be so Appointed by Men we ask quo warranto CHRIST himself hath appointed Ordinances for these Ends particularly the LORD'S Supper is Instituted as a Commemoration of the Mysteries of our Redemption this do in remembrance of Me if he hath said so of any of the Controverted Holy Days we shall receive them But I desire to know what Power the ordinarie Pastors of the Church have to Institute special Ordinances for commemorating the Mysteries of our Redemption I shall further Debate this with him by and by Mean while I observe that he is beyond many of his Brethren who disown the Mysterie of these Days and all Religious Worship in the Observation of them and set them no higher than that they are for Decencie Order and Policie And himself some times when it is for his purpose seemeth to be of the same mind as p. 170. he frameth an Objection to himself from the Abuse of them which alas is too notour and gross and frequent His Answer is so may the most Holy Exercises and the highest Mysteries and there is nothing so Sacred in Religion or so universally useful in Nature against which some such Objection may not be started I do much wonder that a Man of his pretensions to Learning and Reading and who doth so superciliously despise others for defectiveness in both should so superficially Propose so slightly Answer an Argument that hath been so much insisted on and his Answer so fully refuted Doth he not know if he hath Read any thing of the Controversie about Ceremonies that the Presbyterians never pleaded that Holy Exercises Mysteries of Religion or things universally useful in Nature yea or what hath the Stamp of Divine Authoritie were it never so small should be Abandoned because Abused The Abuse should be Reformed and the thing retained But this our Argument speaketh only of indifferent things which have no intrinsick Necessitie nor Command of GOD to injoyn them these we say and have often Proved it should be removed when grosly and frequently Abused and that the Holy Days are so indifferent I think he will not deny if he do deny it he is obliged to prove the Necessitie of them not only against the Presbyterians but also against his own Partie who reckon them among the Indifferent things the Regulating of which is in the Courches Power § 9. I now Consider his Debate with the Vindicator of the Kirk as he calleth him about this verie Matter and particularly about observing the anniverssary Feast of CHRISTS Nativity which we call Christmass The Reader who is at pains to Compare that Book from p. 27. with what my Antagonist here sayeth against it will find that the most part and the most material Passages and what is most Argumentative in that Book to this purpose are passed over in silence and but a few things touched The first thing he is pleased to Notice is I had said the Question is not about the Commemoration of it the Nativity of CHRIST but whether this Commemoration should be by an
a Religious Conversation but differed from the Church without cause in matters of lesser moment The Episcopal Church had no Pity on such as differed in indifferent Ceremonies acknowledged to be such but drave them away from their Communion unless they would comply in these which they could not do without wounding their Conscience If he can Prove that we deny Communion with the Episcopal Church on on frivolous pretences as he supposeth p. 222 he gaineth what he contendeth for but he findeth it easier to suppose this than to Prove it It was said by his Antagonist that the Donatists forsook their lawful Pastors which Presbyterians do not the Bishops being none of our Pastors He saith this is the very Crime of the Presbyterians in their Erecting Altar against Altar Answer 1. That is not all that we plead for as is clear from what hath been said I have shewed § 8. Cases in which even lawful Pastors may be forsaken and ibid. that this may be done when they require unlawful conditions of Communion with them But I say 2. That the Bishops set up in Scotland were none of the lawful Pastors of the People over whom they pretended to Rule And I am willing that Matter be Determined 1. By the strength of Argument if he can Prove the Warrantableness of the Power that they Claim to we must yield 2. By the Suffrage of the ancient Church which was positive plain and unanimous in this that the People should chuse their own Bishop and other Church-Officers see Instances Enquirie into the Constitution c. of the Primiiive Church c. 3. p. 63. Append. ad Catalog Test veritat p. 33. The ancient Church did never own a Pastoral relation in any Man to a People on whom he was thrust by the Magistrat or any Power not Properly Ecclesiastical and without their own Consent This is our case the Church of Scotland was in Peaceable Possession of Presbyterian Government the Magistrat not the Church made a Change and set Men over the People to be their Bishops whose Office they could not own and whose Persons they had no concern in I Question whether the Primitive Church I mean the first Ages would have counted it Schism to disown such and to cleave to their own lawful Pastors who had been called by them setled by Church Authority among them and laboured among them to their Comfort and Edification His denying the Donatists to have taken their Name from Donatus a casis nigris is contrarie to Petavius rationar tempor lib. 6. p. 249. I know not what Vouchers he hath for him his Assertion p. 220. that Presbyterians have thrown Deacons out of the Church is so false that it is a wonder how he could have the Confidence to Affirm it If he understand it of Preaching Deacons he should have said so and proved such an Officer to have been appointed by CHRIST to be in his Church § 14. His Fifth Reason to prove the Presbyterians Schismaticks is from the Doctrine of Cyprian of which he is so confident that he maketh my asserting that a Bishop in Cyprians time was no more but a Pastor of a Flock or a Presbyterian Moderator not a Diocesan to be a plain Demonstration that I have never read Cyprians Writings If I had read much more than either he or I have I should not so often nor so superciliously vilisie others If I have read little he will find it the easier to refute what I have Written Another Learned Author of his Partie hath taken to task these few Lines in my Def. of Vindic. which he now undertaketh to refute Which Book I have Answered with such reading as I could attain both of Cyprian and other ancient Writers in a Book Intituled the Cyprianick-Bishop Examined where I have endeavoured to Answer all that he hath here Written before I saw it I am not willing to Transcribe it being the most part of that Book He may read it if he thinketh fit and if he or any other will refute what is there said of Episcopacie in Cyprians Age I shall be willing to be Informed by him His Triumphant Conclusion p. 225. evanisheth into smoak if what hath been said be duly Considered He begineth another Debate about Preaching Moralitie which he passeth in a Word overlooking all that had been said in Refutation of his former Book on that Head While it was told him that not all the Clergy but he and such as he was so blamed Also that Preaching Moralitie was never Censured but Applauded and lookt on as necessarie but what we Quarelled was that some do only Preach Moralitie and neglect holding forth to the People the aids of the Spirit by which they should obey the Law acceptably and the Righteousness of CHRIST on account of which they and their Works that are moraly Good should be accepted and a great deal more to this purpose was Discoursed to shew his Mistakes in that Matter to all which he maketh no Return but that his Antagonist had seen no Sermons of his in Print nor heard him and therefore could not tell what sort of Doctrine he preached I think there was sufficient ground for thinking that he useth to Preach in that strain seing he so doth Defend and Applaud it but much more occasion was given for so thinking from a large Discourse in his Book that I was then Refuting Vindicating their way of Preaching in which their is nothing of that which is the Marrow of Gospel Preaching viz. the imputed Righteousness of CHRIST and the influence of his Spirit by which we must do that which pleaseth GOD. His so often Rehearsing as he hath done the Third time an Error of the Press which maketh a Passage that is unexceptionable to be Nonsense and Blasphemie after it had been Solemnly disowned by the Author this I say sheweth the Mans temper I am sure this silly shift will Reflect more on himself in the Eyes of them who are not Malicious than it will on the Person whom he would Defame SECTION XI Of the Government of the first Christian Church of Scotland ANother Debate my Antagonist Engageth in wherein what we hold must be reckoned among the New Opinions of Presbyterians is what way the Christian Church of Scotland was at first Governed whether by Bishops or the Pastors of the Church acting in Parity We cannot give a distinct and paricular Account of their way in this Matter because of the Silence and Defectiveness of the History of these times and therefore it is a Mis-representation when he saith that we hold that they were Presbyterians if he understand Presbyterian Government in the the usual Sense as made up of Kirk-Sessions Presbyteries Synods and General-Assemblies we suppose they had a Government in that Church and that it was Managed by Church Officers and directed by the Word of GOD as they then understood it for this we can bring no other Proof but that they were Christians and we owe them that Charity having
of their own Time as many of the Historians that our Author layeth much Weight on have done but consider Things as then they were Stated and bring probable Grounds either from the Histories written by credible Persons in or near that Time or from any other Medium § 4. I now proceed to the Vindication of our Argument from History for the first Christians in Scotland being Governed without Bishops He mistakes when he saith that I bring Blondel as a Historical Witness of this I mentioned him only as Citing these Authors which assert it Which are Joan. Major de gest Scotor lib. 2. c. 2. Per Sacerdotes Monachos sine Episcopis Scoti in fide sunt eruditi and before him Fordon Scoto-Chronicon lib. 3. c. 8. Ante Palladii adventum habebant Scoti fidei Doctores Sacramentorum Ministratores Presbyteros solummodo vel Monachos Ritum sequentes Ecclesiae Primitivae It is true Blondel citeth also Boet who was later than either of them But what he citeth out of him seemeth not to be so much to his Purpose wherefore I wave that Testimony Our Authors Answer to the other two Testimonies is they were not competent Witnesses living at so great a Distance from the Time they speak of To which I Reply First they cannot be esteemed Partial Witnesses being both of them Papists and not Presbyterians and it may be rationally thought that if they had no sufficient Ground for what they said they would rather have either said what made for the Way they owned or at least suppressed what they had no good Warrant to assert against their own Way To this he saith p. 245. that the Monks advanced this Fable to gratifie the Popes Design of Exempting the Religious Orders from Episcopal Jurisdiction Reply This doth not meet with our Case for Major was no Monk and so not concerned to tell a Lie to please the Pope in that Design And for Fordon whatever Temptation he might have to endeavour the Lessening of the Extent of the Episcopal Power he would not design to root out Episcopacy wholly out of Scotland which this Testimony tendeth to for the Period he speaketh of contrary to the universal Sentiments of that Church whereof he was a Member Wherefore that Consideration doth no way derogat from the Credibility of his Testimony Secondly We have no Ground to think that these Historians spake by Guess or that they invented this Story for the contrary of it cannot be proved and the thing it self is not impossible yea Sir George Mackenzy in his Advertisement before his Book against Saint Asaph maketh it appear that in our Countrey there were very Ancient Manuscripts and that the Priests learned our ancient History from the Druids and he maketh it clear p. 2. c. that our Histories of which that of Fordon and Major are a part being received by the Generality of Mankind especially by Criticks Antiquaries and Historians ought not now to be called in Question And I must still think for all that he hath said in Opposition to it that the History of our Nation falleth if these Authors are not to be believed seing without them he shall never be able to make up a Scots History out of Roman Authors Thirdly The same Author p. 5. sheweth that Men satisfie themselves in most things with the general Belief and Tradition of a People that Manuscripts infer no Mathematical Certainty but the Authors of them might mistake that the Histories of all Nations are no better founded All which sheweth how unreasonable it is to Question the Authority of these Histories especially when none do so but one who is straitned with an Argument brought from their Testimony against a Cause that he is fond of It is also much to our Purpose that the Learned Usher de primord Eccles. Brit. 808. citeth the same Passages with Approbation he citeth also Balaeus de scriptor Britan. affirming that Palladius was sent ut Sacerdotalem Ordinem Romano Ritu institueret which we may rationally think was to set up Bishops Also the Learned Doctor Forbes Iren. p. 157. citeth the same Passage of Major and addeth of his own adeo ut Ecclesia Scoticana plus quam 230 annos erat absque Regimine Episcopali and Forbes was Zealous for Episcopacy § 5. The Testimony of these Historians is supported by other Historians who shew Palladius was the first Bishop that Ruled in the Scots Christian Church and that Church had Subsisted and had Government and others of Christs Ordinances in it above two hundred years before Palladius came among them This is Attested by Baronius and his Epitomator Spondanus ad ann 431. and by them taken out of Prosper see Spondan p. 592. this is more fully cleared first Vind. p. 4. His Answer to this I now consider He saith p. 244. that the Controversie cometh to this whether Prosper saith that two hundred years before Palladius was sent to the Scots there was a Presbyterian Church in Scotland this is a ridiculous State of the Question and made by none but himself we affirm that Prosper said that Palladius was the first Bishop sent to the Scots and we aliunde prove that there was a Christian Church in Scotland two hundred years before that time Whence the Consequence is clear that during that Space the Scots Christians had no Bishops I must ly under his Charge of Supine Negligence in not Reading the Authors I cite I only may be bold to require him to make that appear That he thus attempteth Baronius saith in the same Place of Palladius Quem perductum etiam ad Hiberniam Insulam sed cito mortuum Probus in rebus gestis Sancti Patricii scripsit dictum est superius Hibernorum quidem Conversionem Deus Sancto Patricio reservavit I hope the Judicious Reader will neither think it a Token of Supine Negligence nor of my not Reading the Books I cite that I did not Transcribe this For it was no ways to the Purpose in hand it might as well be so Constructed that I did not write over all that followeth in Baronius about Saint Patricks Descent about his Ordination his Instruction in Divinity c. But the Weight of his Objection lyeth in this that Baronius and Spondanus understood Prosper so as that Palladius was sent to Ireland and not to that part of Britain that we call Scotland Here the Enquirer giveth me Occasion to return the Civility of a good Advice to him that he would consider what he Readeth and what he Citeth out of Authors for it is against all Sense and Reason to make Baronius and Spondanus either mean this in this Passage or so to understand Prosper of a Mission to Ireland and not to Scotland It is to make a flat Contradiction between their Meaning and their Words Whereas they say Sanctus Prosper missum ait Palladium ordinatum Episcopum ad Scotos quem perductum etiam ad Hiberniam c. The Meaning then must be to our Author tho he
was Missus and Ordinatus ad Scotos he was not sent to the Scots but to Ireland Do not the Words bear it in their very Face that he was sent to Scotland and was their first Bishop and after he had been there for some time he was brought over to Ireland it is not said Missus nor Ordinatus but Perductus his Mission was to Scotland what Casuality or Design led him to Ireland is not told us neither is it Prosper but Probus that mentioneth his going to Ireland and that he never was in Ireland I have shewed in the Place Cited § 6. He further endeavoureth to overturn our Argument from Prosper as he is Cited by Baronius where he attempteth two things 1. To shew that Palladius in Prospers Sense was not the first Bishop that was in Scotland but the first Bishop that was sent to them by the Pope This he buildeth on Prospers Words both as they are Cited by Baronius and also are in the Augustane Copy the first are Basso Antiocho consulibus ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatus a Caelestino Papa Palladius primus Episcopus mittitur And the other Copy is Basso Antiocho consulibus ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatus a Caelestino Papa Palladius primus Episcopus missus est I see not what moved him to transcribe the Words twice unless he see a Mystery that others cannot observe in the Difference that is between mittitur and missus est but he will have mittitur or missus est primus Episcopus to signifie that he was not the first Bishop but the first Bishop of the Roman Mission if he be allowed to put what Sense on Mens Words he pleaseth it must be so Baronius and Spondanus did not so understand the Words neither can any Man so understand them unless his Preconceived Opinion do Darken his Mind that he cannot see things as they are If Prosper had thought that there were Bishops in Scotland before he should have spoken more plainly and told us that the Pope sent him to Rule over the Scots Bishops or that whereas Scotland was formerly Governed by their own Bishops the Pope would have them thenceforth Governed by such as he set over them He telleth us of several Bishops sent to other Churches not to introduce Episcopacy but to bring them in Subjection to the Pope This I deny not tho he instanceth only in Austine the Monk who was sent to England but this furnisheth an Argument against himself for none of them is called primus Episcopus of such a Nation except he who was sent to Scotland Augustine is neither called primus Monachus nor primus Episcopus though as Beda hist. lib. 1. c. 23. hath it he was ordinandus Episcopus si a Gente Anglorum susciperetur He saith it is not evident from Prospers Chronicon whether there was any Formed Organized Church in Scotland when Palladius was sent by Caelestine This is wholly beside the Purpose for Prospers Testimony is not brought for that End Is it not enough that it is clearly proved out of Authentick Writers that the Scots were Christians anno 199 and Palladius came to them about 431. Now can he imagine that the Scots Christians all that time were not an Organized Church if he think that therefore they were Unorganized because they wanted Bishops this is to beg the Question § 7. His other Answer is not a Refutation of me but of Baronius who took the Chronicon consulare for Prospers Work whereas our Author saith it is none of his and for this he produceth the Authority of Pithaeus which is not sufficient against that of Baronius And even Pithaeus himself confesseth that Chronicon per consules digestum hactenus in omnibus Hieronomiani Chronici editionibus Prosperi nomine subjungitur All the Ground he hath for denying it to be Prospers is that the Stile differeth from what he calleth the true Chronicon whereof a Fragment only remaineth He telleth us also that Doctor Cave saith that the Chronicon consulare is much Interpolated but that doth not prove the Book spurious neither doth it derogate from the Testimony we bring out of it unless he can say that it is one of the Interpolations may be Foisted in by some Presbyterian which if he say it will make the Presbyterians older than our Author will allow He quarrelleth that I had asserted that the Christian Faith was received in Scotland in the beginning of the second Century and calleth it a Dream because we have no certain Records of any Progress of Christianity made in the Island at that time He should not have been so confident in this Matter without Answering what was brought for that Assertion or Dream whatever he will call it He should have disproved that Donald was our first Christian King that he began to Reign anno 199 that Palladius came to Scotland 431 in all which Space the Scots lived without Bishops If I have brought our Christianity any nearer to the beginning of the Christian AEra I shall confess an Error in Calculation which I deny not that I may readily fall into What he saith of Squeezing of his Words I cannot Answer for he neither tells where nor wherein for my Book lying open to his Remarks the Reader must judge whether it be so or not and what Advantage he hath got against it the Error of my Title Page putting of in stead of for the Clergy is not such as he would represent if they do not owne it he should crave Pardon for making it if they do I have not Miscalled it tho I confess changing his own Word was an Oversight but I hope it is not a Beam but a Mote that he hath discovered by his Critical Skill SECTION XII Of Ceremonies and the rest of the Enquirers Quarrels with the Presbyterians which have not yet been touched THe last Effort made by this Author against the Presbyterians in his fifth Chapter is made up of his Essay against our Opinion about Ceremonies and other Miscellany Purposes which hardly can be reduced to one Head which I shall consider as his Discourse shall bring them in Before I Examine his Dissertation I observe two things in general concerning it The first is the course Treatment he giveth the Presbyterians without Exception as if he had them under his Feet in this Conflict before he enter on the Debate He calleth our Opinion or rather his own mistaken Apprehension of it for it is none of ours as will by and by appear a silly Theorem on which he saith we have broken the Unity of the Church and filled the Heads and Mouths of People with a thousand Airy and Unaccountable Fancies he calls what we say on this Head Raveries and a Labyrinth of Idle Talk Fooleries My other Observation is his odd Representation of our Opinion which he maketh to be altogether new and our own and indeed as he representeth it it is wholly new and none of ours but his
most Observable in the Apostolick Church I suppose that the helping such as were ready to fall did most properly belong to the Spiritual Governours This is above answered and it is not one whit stronger by being said over again Further he Asserteth but hath not shewed us how the Context leadeth to this Interpretation his supposing it to be most proper to the several guids to help them that fall doth not prove his design unless he could shew that there was an Officer in the Church who had his Designation from thus helping People and when he hath done that he must shew that this is peculiar to the Bishop and that no other Church Officer is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from helping them who are ready to fall That Grotius telleth us that the Antient Greeks interpreted the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a wronging of Grotius who saith not Graeci veteres but Graeci complures and it is nothing to his purpose for Grotius saying it doth not prove it neiâ—her doth Grotius cite any of the Graeci complures Suiceri thesaurus Ecclesiae I can not get at present but if he say what our Author alledges his sole Authority must not carry it against all others who have written Lexicons Hamond on the Place Expoundeth it of Bishops not on Account of their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Governing Power but because they had the Care of the Poor and the Dispensing of the Goods of the Church as I shewed in the Place above Cited of this Book Which if it were granted would make nothing for Episcopal Jurisdiction We maintain that the Deacons are here meant and if the Bishops be Deacons let them have this Place in the List of Church Officers For they had no Room in it before nor on the Score of Jurisdiction over other Church Officers I do not derogate from Grotius his Knowledge of the Signification of Words nor of his Ability to have Written a Lexicon but I do not look on him as beyond a Possibility of Mistake even in that wherein he excelled And indeed he speaketh very doubtfully of this Matter as his Words Cited by my Antagonist do shew nor doth he positively say that the Bishops are meant by this Word Another Proof of the Signification of the Word is from Ps. 48. 3. where the seventy use it to signifie the Lords helping his People what is this to the Purpose the Question is not whether this Word have the Notion of Help but whether it have the Notion of Government but our Author Mendeth the Matter making up by his Latine Translation what is not in the Greek for he saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must signifie cum suscipiet cam nempe Civitatem in Tutelam why must it signifie this why may it not as well be turned cum opitulabitur illi Chrysost. hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Munitionem Aquila 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad Exaltationem None of all these signifie any thing of Government but of Defence or Support so that nothing in this Word agreeth half so well to the Bishops as to the Deacons Work I hope he will not think that because the Lord who is in this Psalm said to Help His People doth also Rule them that it hence followeth that every 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is also a Ruler The same Import hath what he Citeth out of AEmilius Portus who from Suidas Translateth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propugnator Defensor Auxiliator For none of these Words import Government all that they signifie may be applyed better to the Deacon than to the Bishop I hope I have with the Current of â—xpositors offered a better Exposition of the Word we Debate about than Grotius hath Chosen and yet shall readily Comply with my Authors Advice in being far from Comparing my self with that great Man § 24. What he further saith of that Exposition of Jerom Quid facit Episcopus c. he hath often Repeated and it hath been as often Answered to which he had said something if he had shewed the Consistency of what I said could not agree but this he thinketh not â—it to Attempt only Entreats me to give a Paraphrase and Commentary on the Conclusion of that very Epistle of Jerom to Euagrius in which saith he Jerom affirmeth that the Hierarchy of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon was Founded on Apostolick Tradition and that they Hold the same Place in the Christian Church which the High Priest Priests and Levites had in the Temple For Satisfaction to this his Demand I refer him to Sect. 6. § 9 10. where what he Desireth is already Performed and it is shewed that Jerom meant no such thing as he alledgeth The hundred Things in my Book that he will not medle with and which he is pleased to call Triffling Stories or Personal Reflections must stand as they are let the Reader judge of what I have there said and of his Censure of it And yet he spendeth some Pages on a Story that he and I had formerly Debated which is of least Moment of any of them his Reason I shall not Enquire into nor do I intend to be any further Concerned in Jangle about Stories so variously told us as that is and which may be many Ways Disguised no part of which I was Witness to nor know any thing of but by Information For the Personal Reflections he chargeth me with he mentioneth but two I leave it to the Reader who shall think sit to Compare the two Books to Consider whether any thing is said of him but what to be Literally true himself had given Ground to think and they are Matters of Fact and of no great Moment save that they may derogate from the Strength of what he Writeth And let all Men of Candor and Understanding Witness between him and me whether in his Book now under Consideration and in his former Apology there be not many for one of mine of not only Personal Reflections on his Antagonist but Reflections on the whole Party without Distinction or Exception and that by Imputing to them the Worst of Evils and Treating them with the most Insolent Contempt that Words can express as I have here and there observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Reader may find presently after this his Complaint viz. 332 333 334. The Authority that the Presbyterâ—ans had over she Church of Scotland and consequently over the Episcopal Clergy I had Debated with him before I need say no more till he Answer what hath been already Discoursed on that Head What he saith p. 332. of his Resolution not to continue this Debate if not managed by greater Candor and Civility I do much approve if he will put that Condition on himself too If he or any else Write in his Strain yea if they bring not somewhat that is not yet Answered and is of Weight I think our Side will not Trouble them with more Arguings on this Head of Government there is enough said if Men will Listen to Argument if they will not what is said is too much For my Part I am weary of such Altercations and shall not be easily drawn into this Paper War any more thâ— I am Resolved by the Help of God never to Abandon the right Way of God nor to withdraw my Poor Help from the Truth and Oâ—dinances of Christ when it shall be needed and I shall be in any Capacity to aâ—â—ord â—t FINIS