Name for the favour thy good hand has vouchsafed to shed abroad on this thy Servant who was in the most profound darkness of the shadows of Death when thou didst illuminate him causing to shine on him the saving and quickning Light of the Day Star from on high drawing him from a deplorable hardness to soften his heart and freeing him from the bands of Death to restore him to Life as Lord thou hast taken away the vail which was on his heart calling him to confess the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ and hast at this time inspired him with courage to make publick Confession of thy most Holy Faith and of the hope thou hast caused to spring in his Soul enabling him to present himself in thy sight to receive Holy Baptisme the Seal of thy Covenant pledge of the remission of sins and Symbole of our entrance into thy House by Spiritual Regeneration Look Lord more and more on him with the eye of thy favour forgiving all his sins sprinkling his Soul with the precious Blood of the Lamb without spot which taketh away the sins of the Woold and making him feel the powerful vertue of its propitiation let thy Spirit sanctifie and make him a new Creature to the end that dying to sin he may live unto Righteousness and laying aside the Old Man with its Lusts he may put on the New Man which is renewed in Righteousness and true Holiness And as we are about to pour on his head the water of thy Sacrament shed forth on him the Gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit receiving him into the number of thy Servants and honouring him with the Adoption of thy Children Enable him to offer unto thee during the whole course of his Life the Obedience and Religious Service which is due unto thee and for ever to persevere in thy Holy Covenant to the end that as now in thy Name we receive him into the Communion of thy Church Militant thou wilt vouchsafe one day to receive him into thy Church Triumphant and gather him for ever into the Assembly of the First born whose Names are written in Heaven Hear us O Father of all Mercies to the end the Baptisme we confer upon him according to thine Ordinance may produce its Fruit and Vertue as 't is revealed to us in thy Holy Gospel in thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ who has commanded us to pray unto thee and say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Speaking to those who present the Catecuminy the Minister shall say to them Quest As you have been charitably imployed in the Teaching and Instructing our Brother and are Witnesses of the Baptisme he is to receive at this present by our Ministry Do you not promise in the presence of God and this Holy Assembly to continue more and more to strengthen him in the Faith and exhort him to good Works Answ Yes This being done speaking to the Catecumeny which waits kneeling to receive Baptisme powing the Water on his head the Minister shall say Having seen the Testimonies of your Faith N. I Baptise you in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen CONFORMITY There is nothing in all this formulary as large as it is which is not found in substance in what we have remaining of the Catechisms of the Antient Doctors of the Church and in what was practis'd towards those to whom Baptisme was to be conferr'd and because most part of those which converted themselves to the Christian Faith turn'd from Paganisme where they had learn'd to believe and serve several Gods the first step they were made go in the way of Salvation was to make them renounce this Diabolical Doctrine afterwards to believe and be throughly perswaded that there is but one True God which has made Heaven and Earth that supports all things by his Almighty Word who gives us our Life Being and Motion who never left himself without Witness and has manifested himself to Men not only by his Works but also by Revelation of his Will contained in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Tom. 1. pag. 93. The first act of Faith of the Catecumeny's saith St. Cyril of Alexandria in the third Book of Adoring in Spirit and Truth is to depart from the belief and opinion touching the plurality of Gods and to imbrace him who is the only true God by Nature Theodolphus Bishop of Orleans in a Treatise he made of the Order which is to be observ'd in the administration of Baptism establishes near hand the same practise when he writes in chap. 2. that the first instruction which is given to Catechumenies is that there is one true God to the end that leaving the worship of the creature they should Consecrate themselves to the Worship of God the Creator It 's true that when 't was a Jewish Proselite he was obliged before Baptisme to renounce particularly all legal Ceremonies to the Ancient Material and Typical Worship to the Jewish Washings and Purifications to their Feasts their New Moons and Sabbaths and generally to all that pertained to the Synagogue especially to the false Messias they yet expect and will never come Moreover they were to make open profession to believe in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Holy Consubstantial and individual Trinity that they should admit of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word Jesus Christ our Saviour in confessing he is come into the World and that he is made Man but not ceasing to be God the Holy Virgin having brought him forth after the Flesh and by this means being become the Mother of God It is after this manner they proceeded with the Jewish Proselites Pag. 344. Par. 1647 as we find by a Catechism in the Ritual of the Greeks which in substance answers to what 's prescrib'd in our Discipline But if it was a Mahumetan that imbraced the Christian Religion the first thing that was requir'd of him was to Anathematise Mahomet his Sectators his Successors his lying Alcoran full of Impostures and Dreams especially in what regards our Saviour Jesus Christ in a Word all the impieties which depend of the Carnal Religion of this infamous Impostor of the East which being done this Proselite made this Declaration I now adhere to Jesus Christ the only true God I believe in the Father the Son and the holy Ghost holy indivisible and consubstantial Trinity I believe the Mistery of the Incarnation and the coming into the World of one of the holy Trinity that is of the Word and only begotten Son of God who was begotten of the Father before the World began by whom all things were made and I am perswaded he is true Man without being divested of his Divinity for he is true God and true Man without confusion without conversion and without alteration with two Natures in one sole Person I confess also he suffered all things voluntarily that he was crucified
Election of the Clergy I proceed on farther and I say the same practice was observ'd in the beginning of the 13th Century therefore a Council of Avignon Assembled the Year 1219. by the Legates of Pope Innocent the 3d was obliged to prohibit it in the 5th Chapter Ubi supra p. 613. We forbid the Laity to intermedle by themselves or any else in the Election of a Bishop or of any other Church Guide And in all likelihood the Council made this Decree in regard of the Albigenses who doubtless followed the Ancient practice and with whom the Legates of this same Pope had a Conference in the City of Mountreall near Carcassone three years before whereof there is mention made in the 18th Chapter of the 2d part of the History of the Eucharist In the main I believe that since this Council of Avignon the People have by little and little been depriv'd of their just Rights from thence it is as I suppose that Pope Gregory the Tenth which order'd several things about Elections in the Council of Lyons in the year 1274 Tom. 7. Concil p. 885. ad 887. saith nothing at all of the suffrage of the People altho he speaks several times in general terms of those which do elect VII He who has consented to be Ordained to the Holy Ministry shall receive the Office which shall be given him and at his refusal shall be sollicited by all convenient Exhortations but he is not to be constrained CONFORMITY From the time that one has consented to make choice of him to settle him in the Office of the Holy Ministry he is ingag'd by a kind of promise that he is bound in Conscience to accomplish so that it is just to represent his Duty to him and to exhort him to bear without reluctancy the yoke which he had a design to take on him Nevertheless because these kind of actions should be free and that the work of the Lord ought to be without constraint it cannot reasonably be used towards those which refuse to accept this Office whatever inclination they had to it before according to which the third Council of Orleance assembled Anno Dom. 538. discharges the Pastors which were chosen into Orders by force or against their will it discharges them from their Employment without debarring them from the Communion Can. 7. t. 1. Conc. Gal. p. 250. but as for Bishops that have the confidence to make such Ordinations the Synod imposes on them a years Penance and suspends them from the functions of their Ministry The 36th Canon of those which go in the Apostles Names differs a little from this practice and is something more severe In the main the ancient Discipline never approved force nor constraint in these Occasions altho some instances are found in the Ecclesiastical History VIII The Election of Ministers shall be confirm'd by Prayers and the Imposition of hands nevertheless in avoiding all superstition according to the form which follows The manner of the Imposition of hands commonly observed in the Churches of France in the Ordination of Ministers All abovesaid having been observ'd two Pastors which for this purpose have been deputed by the Synod or Colloque to lay hands on him that is elected being come to the appointed place him of them that is to Pray shall briefly treat of the Institution and Excellency of the Ministry alledging the passages of Scripture most fitting to the occasion as Eph. 4.11 Luk 10.16 Joh. 20.21 1 Cor. 4.1 2. 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. 1 Tim. 1.2 c. and others the like exhorting each one to beware to the end that as well the Minister as the People discharge their Duty The Minister discharging himself so much the more carefully of his Employment as he knows 't is precious and excellent in the sight of God and the people receiving with all reverence the Word of God which shall be delivered by him which is sent unto them Then shall be read in the presence of all what is written 1 Tim 3. Tit. 1. and 1 Pet. 5. where the Apostle teaches what a Minister should be And to the end God would be pleased to bestow his Grace on him which is Ordain'd well and faithfully to acquit himself a short Prayer should be made to this effect wherein the said Minister shall include these words or others to the same effect That thou wouldest be pleased Oh God to endow with the Gifts and Graces of thy Spirit this thy Servant lawfully Elected according to the Order established in thy Church supplying him abundantly with all Gifts necessary for well discharging his trust to the Glory of thy Holy Name the Edification of thy Church and the Salvation of him who is now dedicated and consecrated by our Ministry Then they shall lay their hands on his head Him that Prays standing at the Chair and him for whom he prays on his knees Prayer being ended and the new Pastor standing up the two Deputies of the Synod or Colloque shall in presence of all the people give him the hand of fellowship and let this Form with the direction abovesaid be generally observed in all the Churches CONFORMITY There are several Considerations to be made on this Article and on the form which is above recited In the first place the Minister to whom it belongs to Preach ought in his Sermon to treat of the Institution and excellency of the Ministry and of the duties of this weighty Office whereupon we find a great many excellent passages in the Writings of the Ancient Fathers of the Church and several holy reflections capable to infuse into Pastors an ardent zeal and a sincere affection in performing the several Duties of their Office Not to speak of Gregory the First having compos'd an intire Treatise to explain the Functions of this Excellent Office and it is very probable that in the time of Ordination it was signify'd to those which were to receive it whereunto the conduct of souls which God committed to their charge obliged them The first Canon of the fourth Council of Carthage insinuates it thus having touched all the several things about which he will have him examin'd which is to be establish'd in the Ministry Tom. 1. Concil p. 727. he adds When he has receiv'd the Episcopacy in the Name of Jesus Christ let him not follow his pleasures nor the inclinations of his mind but let him submit and acquiesce to these Decrees of the Fathers And I make no doubt but what was practic'd in Africa in the time of this Council in the Ordination of Bishops did tacitly warn them of their Duty for we find in the second Canon that two Bishops laid on his head the Book of the New Testament and held it there during the whole action we read almost the same thing in the Constitutions under the Apostles Names and in the Roman Pontificial and in the XI Chap. of the second Book of Durandus his Rational St. Chrysostom or rather some
Rochester Lib. 3. Cap. 20. alone of himself Consecrated two Arch-Bishops of Canterbury one after another successively I now proceed to the second Head of this Article which concerns the Testimonies those are to produce who are to be Consecrated to the Holy Ministry Pastors being to be an example to their flock in word and conversation it is very fitting there should be good testimonies of their Life and Doctrine before they are established in this Divine Office insomuch as St. Paul desires that they may have a good report of those which are without fearing lest they should fall into shame and the snare of the Devil therefore the Church has ever used after this manner admitting unto this trust only those which had good and sufficient testimonies as well for their capacity as for their good Conduct it is whereunto amounted the proof St. Clement Disciple of the Apostles and Tertullian have already made mention thence it is St. Cyprian will * Ep. 67. ult Edit That the Pastor be established in the presence of all the people who perfectly know the life of each person and that have narrowly observ'd his conversation to the end that having discover'd his vertues or vices the Ordination made by the consent and approbation of all may be just and legitimate * Id. Ep. 33. And elswhere he saith to the people That he is wont to advise with them when he is about to Ordain any Clerk to the end they may examin and try altogether the life and good qualities of each one Saint Basil complaining of the relaxation of Discipline T. 3. Ep. 181. Paris 1638. and the slighting of the Canons which in time might occasion great confusions in the Church he saith That the ancient custom of Christians was carefully to search and to make very strict inquiry into the life and conversation of those who were admitted into the Ministry to find out if they were Slanderers Drunkards Fighters if they carry'd themselves soberly and if they could walk stedfastly in the ways of Sanctification without which no one shall see God Moreover this custom appear'd so good and holy to him that he will absolutely have the use of it reviv'd throughout all his Diocess that he will have the Church purg'd of all those that were enter'd into it by any other manner as being unworthy to serve in it and that for the future none should be admitted but those which were first duly examin'd and accounted worthy the Employments intended for them I will not here repeat what I alledged of the fourth Council of Carthage upon the first Article I will only say that in the third Tome of the Library of the Fathers and in the Pandect of the Cannons Printed at Oxford of late years there is a Canonical Epistle of Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria the sixth Canon of which treats of Ordinations wherein he desires the Election and consent of the Clergy the examination of the Bishop and the testimony of the people In the Book of Sacraments of Gregory the first P. 236. Paris 1642. the Bishop is to signifie to the People the Names of those which are to be chosen to the end that if any there present know any thing that might hinder the Ordination they might declare it freely and with a safe conscience thence it is that Leo the first desires in these Occasions the testimony of the People as he explains himself in his 89 Epistle And Pope Eugenius II. in a Synod assembled at Rome about the year of our Lord 826 and which is to be seen in the second part of the Roman Collection of Holstenius Printed at Rome 1642 I say with the Synod prescribes in the very terms of the Apostle Cap. 1. the manner of Ordination that is to say that he requires that he which desires to receive it may be adorn'd with the Qualities recommended by St. Paul and that he may be acceptable to all the world by his good Works The Emperor Alexander Severus so highly approv'd this use and practise as also the publishing which was made of those which were to be admitted into the Ministry of the Church whereof I shall speak on the tenth Article Aelius Lampri in Alex. Sev. that he would have it be put in practice in establishing Governours of Provinces of the Empire and other Magistrates The Fathers of the first Council of Nice in the Letter they wrote to the Church of Alexandria and which has been transmitted to us by Socrates and Theodoret these Fathers term this L. 1. c. 9. Offering to the People the Names of those which were to be advanced to any Dignity in the Church St. Chrysostome in the 18th Homily upon the 2 Epist to the Corinthians Establishes and confirms this custom by the Example of the Apostles which us'd the same when Mathias was to be chosen and also by that of the Seven Deacons Something of the same kind is to be seen in 61 and 76 Epistles of Synesius according to which Nicetas in the Life of St. Ignatius Patriarch of Constantinople in the IX Century which is contain'd in the Preliminaries of the eighth Council of Constantinople which the Latins hold for Oecumenical but is rejected by the Greeks Tom. 6. Concil pa. 872. Nicetas observes that several were named to sill the vacant Chair and that St. Ignatius was preferred before the rest V. The Examination of him that shall be presented shall in the first place be made by Propositions out of the Word of God upon the Texts of Scripture which shall be given to him the one in French of necessity the other in Latin if it be thought expedient by the Colloque for each of which he shall be allowed 24 hours time to prepare himself if therein he satisfies the Company it shall be farther known by a Chapter in the New Testament which shall be assign'd him whether he is skilful in the Greek so as to interpret it and as for Hebrew it will be requisite to know if he understands it so far as to make choice of good Books for the better understanding the Scriptures whereunto shall be added an Essay of his Industry and skill on the most necessary Parts of Philosophy all in Charity without affectation of difficult and unnecessary Questions To conclude there must be requir'd of him a short confession of Faith in Latin upon which he shall be examin'd by way of Dispute and if after this trial he shall be found capable the Company representing to him the obligation of the Office whereunto he is called shall declare to him the power which is given to him in the Name of Jesus Christ of Administring as well the Word as the Sacraments after his intire Ordination into the Church whereunto he is appointed the which shall have notice of his Election by Acts and Letters of the Synod or Colloque carried and read by one of the Elders CONFORMITY After what I have hitherto said it cannot
of time and place CONFORMITY In the Christian Church there has ever been persons appointed to take care of the conduct of those which were Members of it and to watch over their Flocks to the end no scandalous actions should be committed therein nothing that should be unbecoming the profession of the Gospel Origen at least tells us that in his time which was the third Century it was so practised for he declares in his answer to Celsus that there was in the Churches Lib. 3. pag. 142. of Cambridge Edit 1658 Persons established to take notice of the life and conversation of those which imbraced the Christian Religion that when they committed any evil actions to expel them out of the Congregations and on the contrary to receive with great affection all those which lived orderly and well to the end to improve and make them better from day to day Tertullian before Origen Apolog. c. 39. had sufficiently intimated this same practice speaking in his Apologetick of Censures inflicted on sinners in Christian Assemblies which banished from their Communion those which were convicted of heinous offences for example of Idolatry Murder and of Fornication which proceeding shews there was in each Church persons intrusted to keep watch over the life and manners of the People and these persons were the same which we call Elders which also is the name St. Austin gives them in the nineteenth Sermon on the words of our Lord and which at this time is the third in the Appendix of the tenth Tome In this Sermon which others attribute to Maximus Bishop of Turin and which is the 66th amongst those of St. Ambrose there is to be seen the Name and the Office of Elders the same in effect as they are amongst us for the Author whoever he be having observed that Soldiers and those in any Office could not bear to be reprov'd and to be told of their Duty he speaks after this manner When the Elders reprove them for any misdemeanor and that any of them are asked why they are drunk wherefore they took away other folks goods wherefore they committed murder They presently answered What would you have me do being one of the World and a Soldier Do I profess to be a Frier or a Clergy-man IV. The office of Deacons is to collect and distribute by direction of the Consistory the Money belonging to the Poor to Prisoners and to sick folks to visit and have care of them CONFORMITY It appears by Chap. 6. of the Acts of the Apostles that the Office of Deacons is what our Discipline does represent because they were first of all appointed to serve at Tables that is to say to take care of the Poor Oecumenius in his Commentaries on this Chapter of the Acts I now mentioned observes expresly that they were appointed to distribute to Widows and Orphans with care the things necessary for their subsistence According to which the Enemies of Cecilian Bishop of Carthage laid it to his charge as a great crime That being Deacon he hindered people from giving meat to the Martyrs whereas he ought to have carried them some himself Fascicul rer Expet fug fol. 32. vers Coloniae 1535. Cardinal Julian who presided at the Council of Basle remonstrates to Pope Eugenius the Fourth That there are several things he ought to do himself and others which he may refer to the care of those which are under him after the example of the Apostles who to attend the more freely to the Preaching of the Word instituted seven Deacons which served Tables and the administration of things of less weight It is nevertheless true Apolog. 2. pag. 99. that in the time of Justin Martyr it was the Pastor that distributed the Money to the Poor which was appointed for their Maintenance which was given by Peoples Charity But this Distribution in all likelihood was made by the Ministry of Deacons Cap. 39. Tertullian indeed in his Apologetick declares one had care of the Poor of Orphans of Old Folks of those which had lost their Goods by Shipwrack of those which laboured in Mines who were banished into Islands or detained in Prisons for the Gospel sake but he don't mention by whom it was done The Church of Rome in the time of Cornelius its Bishop that is about the middle of the third Century Apud Euseb Hist lib 6. c. 43. p. 244. maintained above 1500 poor as well Widows as others who were reduced to poverty or afflicted with sickness or infirmities The charity of that of Antioch was no less conspicuous than that of the Church of Rome as we find by some of St. Chrysostom's Homilies on St. Matthew particularly the 67 and 86th It is true we are not certain that the Deacons were charged with the care of these two Churches in the days of Cornelius and of St. Chrysostom but we know very well the Deacons amongst us attend on the things for which they were established by the Apostles that is that they should take care of the Poor and Necessitous according to their Primitive institution It was on this account that Fabian Bishop of Rome divided amongst seven Deacons in the third Century the fourteen Quarters of the City of Rome that is to say to the end they should take care of the Poor which were in each of these Quarters as is to be seen in the Roman Breviary on the 20th day of January and as Binnius observes in the Life of Fabian Tom. Conc. pag. 114. But what the Deacons did at first was in time performed by the Ministry of Oeconoms and others of which the ancient Canons make so frequent mention in such a way nevertheless that the Bishop had the chief power in the distribution which however was not done without the knowledg of these Deputies when they had taken the place and office of those first Deacons and that it is so I explain what Zozomen says of St. Epiphanius Lib. 7. Chap. 27. Read what shall be said on the second Art of the 4th Chap. V. The office of Deacons is not to Preach the Word of God and administer the Sacraments Nevertheless if necessity require the Consistory may chuse certain Elders and Deacons to Cacechise in Families as also it is permitted to Elders in absence of the Pastor to read Publick Prayers on working-days being chose by the Consistory for that purpose and that they follow the usual form in Reading the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament As for the Deacons who are wont to Catechise publickly in some Provinces the inconveniences which have already or may hereafter ensue being heard and considered the Churches where this custom is not yet introduced are desired to forbear and the others where it is to continue and to order that the said Deacons if they are found capable would enter into the Ministry of the Gospel as soon as they can possible CONFORMITY What I have said of the Office of Deacons doth highly
the Church-book if the Children are begotten in lawful Wedlock A Form of Baptism of those which shall be Converted to the Christian Faith as well Pagans Jews Mahometans and Anabaptists which have not been Baptised made at the National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France held at Charanton in the year 1644. the 26 of December and the following Days AFter that the Catechumeny has been sufficiently instructed and Catechis'd to give an account of his Faith and that the Church shall by good Testimonies have taken cognisance of the Integrity of the Persons Life and Learning they shall by the said Persons be presented to the whole assembly of believers to be baptised in their presence And the Minister shall say The first Demand Do you not confess that you are a Child of Wrath deserving death and everlasting damnation Answer Yes Demand Are you not displeased and grieved for all the the sins you have committed ever since you were born and don 't you promise for ever to forsake them Answer Yes Dem. Do you not with all your heart forsake the seducements and temptations of the Devil and his Angels of all the Pomps and Vanities of the World and of all the Affections and Lusts of the Flesh Answ Yes If it be a Pagan the Minister shall say to him Dem. Do you not believe there is one only God which made Heaven and Earth who supports all things by his powerful Word and in whom we live move and have our being Answ Yes Then the following demand shall be made which is common to all and which are to be offer'd to all Dem. Do you not believe this great God which has created Heaven and Earth is one in Fssence and distinguished into three Persons Equal and Coeternal the Father the Son begotten of the Father from all Eternity and the Holy Ghost proceeding Eternal from the Father and the Son Answ Yes If it be a Pagan the three following Questions shall be propos'd Dem. Do you not believe this great God never leaving himself without Witness has manifested himself to Men not only by his Works which from their first production continually publish his Praise and Glory but also by revealing his Will for the Salvation of Mankind contained in the Holy Scriptures called the Old and New Testament Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that all these Holy Scriptures are divinely inspired and continue the perfect Rule of our Faith and good Living Answ Yes Dem. Do you not protest to resist the Devil to the last minute of your Life whom you have hitherto adored serving sdols made with hands or the host of Heaven or to conclude those which by Nature are no Gods Answ Yes If it be a Jew these sive Questions shall be made omiting the four above expressed they belonging to Pagans Dem. Do you not detest the Rebellion and Obstinacy of the Jews and do not you beg pardon for having been so long time ingaged therein Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that what God has been pleas'd to reveal to us of his Will is contain'd not only in the Books of the Old but also in those of the New Testament Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that Jesus the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived in her by the ineffable Power of the Holy Ghost and after condemned to dye on the Cross through the false Accusation of the Jews by the wicked Sentence of Pontius Pilate raised from the dead the third day and now sitting in Glory is God manifest in the Flesh the Eternal Word of the Father by which he created and maintains the whole Vniverse the blessed Seed promised to Adam presently after his Fall by vertue of whom the Serpents head is broken whose coming all the Patriarchs expected with Hope and the great Prophet and true Messias foretold as well by Moses as by the other Prophets which lived after him Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus is the fulfilling of the Law in Righteousness to all which believe the truth of his Types and Figures the true Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World and that in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that now the observation of Legal Ceremonies is not only superfluous but also wholly prejudicial to a good Conscience Answ Yes If the Catecumeny be a Mahometan the Minister shall ask these following Questions omitting the former which particularly refer to Pagans or Jews Dem. Do you not believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are inspir'd of God and conttain his whole Will for the Salvation of Mankind and the only perfect Rule of Faith and good Living Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that Jesus the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived in her by vertue of the Holy Ghost and made after the Flesh of her substance is God and Man blessed for ever perfect God and perfect Man Man made of a Woman in the fulness of time and God ingender'd of God the Father before all Eternity Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus from his first conception after the Flesh was Holy Innocent without Spot separate from Sinners and that he suffer'd not Death for his Sins but for ours¿ Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that his Death is the propitiation of our sins yea for the sins of the whole World and that this propitiation is of infinite Merit whereby Eternal Glory and Salvation has been acquir'd for us Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe Mahomet was a Deceiver and that his Alcoran is a Sacrilegious heap of Dreams full of absurdities and broached a purpose to set up a false and abominable Religion Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus is the power of God to Salvation in all them which believe That the only Christian Religion is the power of God to Salvation in all them which believe that the only Christian Religion is that alone whereby God the Father has revealed his good pleasure for the Salvation of Mankind until the end of the World that since the manifestation thereof there is no other to be expected that the Lord Jesus Christ only is the great Prophet promis'd to the Believers of the Old Testament and that God having formerly spoken in divers manners to Men before and under the Law has spoke to the Church of the New Testament by the Mouth of his only Son Jesus Answ Yes Quest Repeat the summary of your Faith Answ I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth c. If the Catecumene be an Annabaptist the Minister shall say Quest Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus is and shall be true God and Man in both Natures Eternally that he was according to his Manhood like to us in all things sin only excepted so that he was the true Son of Abraham of David of the Blessed
one else in his name teaches in the Homily that there is but one Legislator of the Old and New Testament he teaches I say that the reason wherefore this Ceremony was practis'd in the Ordination of Bishops was to mind them that to be Rulers over others they were subject nevertheless themselves to these Divine Laws and oblig'd to observe its Commands Moreover it appears by all I have said that the Author of the Book of Divine Offices which is falsly attributed to Alcuin Tutor to Charlemaign and to Amalarius Fortunatus who liv'd in the time of Lewis le Debonair it appears they were deceiv'd when they said the former in the 37th Chap. and the other in Chap. 14. of the Book of Fcclesiastical Offices that this Ceremony which I have touched was not countenanc'd by the authority of the Ancients The second Consideration regards the Imposition of hands which the Apostles used in Establishing of Deacons Acts 6.6 and in that of Pastors and Ministers under the name of Elders Acts 14.23 for the Greek word which may be referr'd to the suffrages of the people does commonly signifie the Imposition of Hands whereof express mention is made 1 Tim. 4.14 5.22 a Ceremony which the ancient Christians always practis'd in these Occasions I should be over-tedious should I cite all the passages which confirm this truth wherefore I shall only instance some places of Antiquity where mention is made of this imposition of hands St. Cyprian makes mention of it in his 68 Epist the last Edition Cornelius Bishop of Rome in the same St. Cyprian Ep. 46. Eusein the 8 23 and 43. of the sixth Book of his Ecclesiastical History and in the 32. and 7. Book St. Basil in the first Canon of his first Canonical Epistle to Amphilokius and in the 192. to the Priests of Nicopolis The Great Council of Nice in the ninth Canon that of Antioch in the 10. and 17. and the fourth of Carthage in the second I pass in silence a great number of other passages which favour the use of this Holy Ceremony to observe That in the very time when they added a great many other things to this Imposition of hands yet it was nevertheless consider'd as the chief of all the rest Insomuch that in the Theses that were maintain'd at Paris in the year 1633 June 7. it was taught That in Orders where Imposition of hands was us'd it suffic'd Antir 2. Part 2. c. 8. p. 72. Paris 1634. Ad valorem firmitatunque Sacramenti which also is the judgment of many Learned Divines saith the Jesuit Sirniond We are indeed of another opinion for we do not believe that Orders is a Sacrament but I have alledged this Example to shew that those it self which have accompanied the Ordination of Pastors with several Ceremonies which are not of the first nor purest Antiquity do nevertheless give the chiefest place to the Imposition of hands The third thing observable is That Prayer was joyn'd to the laying on of Hands as appears by the passages in the Holy Scriptures cited in the foregoing Section which was Religiously practis'd by those which succeeded those first Ministers of Jesus Christ the second Canon of the fourth Council of Carthage represents to us one of its Bishops imploring the Blessing of God upon him on whom they laid their hands St. Basil in his Morals saith To. 2. Reg. 70. C. 1. p. 476. To. 4. pag. 383. T. 5. p. 326. Paris 1632. That that ought to be done with Prayer and Supplications St. Ambrose saith the same in his Book of the Dignity of Priesthood and in the 60 Epist Thence it is that the Deacon Hilary in the third Tome of the Works of the same St. Ambrose expounding the 14 verse of the 4th Chap. of the 1st to Tim. he looks on the Imposition of hands as so many mystical words whereby him that is Ordain'd is confirm'd for the work of the Ministry Tom. 4. p. 192. Paris 1623. St. Jerome saith positively on the 58th Chap. of Isaiah That Ordination is compleated not only by Prayer but also by the laying on of hands Theodoret in the 19th Chap. of his Religious History in the third Volume of his Works Printed at Paris Anno 1642 Theodoret joyns these two actions together to wit Imposition of Hands and Prayer as things which should not be separated in the Ordination of Pastors Twenty five years ago the Letters of Photius Patriarch of Constantinople in the Eleventh Century were Printed at London and at the end of these Letters five more of this same Patriarch were subjoyn'd which were taken out of an ancient Eastern Manuscript in the fourth of which Letters he declares that Hands were not impos'd on a Bishop But to implore the Grace of the Holy Spirit which is needful for a Minister Tom. 4. Conc. 525 Ibid. pag. 531 To 1. Conc. Gal. It is doubtless upon this account that the Council of Sarragosa in the year 592 Can. 9 calls this the Benediction as also the fourth of Carthage and the first of Barcelona in the year 599. Can. 3. The Blessing of Consecration The first of Orleans Anno 511. Can. 10. speaks of the Benediction of the laying on of hands This third Consideration opens the way to us for a fourth which regards the posture of him which is Consecrated and of him which Consecrates It may easily be observ'd from what has been said that him which Consecrates is standing and him which is Consecrated kneeling otherwise it had been hard and almost impossible to lay his hands on him and to pray to God holding them on his head to the end he would be pleas'd liberally to bestow on him the Gifts and Graces necessary duly to discharge the Office wherewith he is honour'd But were it so that the truth of this practice which is very just could not be gather'd from this Discourse Theodoret gives us no cause to doubt of it for he observes in the 15th Chap. of the fourth Book of his Ecclesiastical History that when there was need of appointing a Successor to Eusebius Bishop of Samosatia the Synod of the Province cast their Eye on Antiochus his Nephew and that after his Election he was led towards the Communion Table and there he was made to kneel down to receive the Imposition of Hands It remains now to say something of the Number of the Pastors which are to be present at this Holy Ceremony The 4th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice appoints this should be done by all the Bishops of the Province or if that cannot be that there should be three at the least the others by their Letters approving of the Ordination The 19th of that of Antioch prescribes partly the same thing that is to say it declares That 't were to be wished that all the Bishops of the Province could be present but when there is any hindrance it doth not specify as that of Nice the number of those which ought to be