some Prophets some Euangelistes some Pastors and Doctors for the repayring of the Saintes for the worke and the Ministerie and for the edification of the body of Christ. And againe vppon these wordes A Bishop must be vnreproueable c. hee meeteth with the common obiection for the equalitie of Ministers because euery Minister is called a Bishope sometimes in the Scriptures and sayth that the word Bishoppe notwithstanding it be oftentimes vsed by S. Paule for euery pastor of the church of God who haue a kinde of ouersight ouer theyr seuerall charges and so may suo modo after a sort bee called Superintendents and Bishops c. yet heere it signifieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Primarios illos ecclesiarum pastores c. Those chiefe pastors to whom the ouersight of the liues and manners of the other ministers is committed whom according to the force of the Greeke appellation we in these dayes do call Superintendents Hitherto then it appeareth as I take it what is both the practise of the reformed Churches in Germany and the iudgemēt also of the chiefe learned men there since Melanchthon Bucers times concerning Bishops or Superintendents with their preheminence charge and authoritie Some there are indeed beyond the seas who followinge the immoderate proude and slaunderous humor that Melanchthon Camerarius spake of before haue vttered their great mislike of the Germaine Superintendents and that with lesse modestie a great deale then doth well become them In reproofe of one of them Gerlachius a learned man of Tubing writeth in this sort Licet titulos ordinum c. Although thou beholdest with disdaine as it were from aboue the titles of orders after the fashion of hypocrites and of the Anabaptistes yet with a vaine perswasion of knowledge foolish arrogancye whereby thou contemnest our countrymen in respect of thy selfe and dost chalenge especiall knowledge to thee and thy fellowes onely Plus turges quà m omnes Doctores et Superintendentes nostri Thou swellest more with pride then all our Doctors and Superintendents And what commeth into thy minde that thou shouldest cauill at the degrees of ministers as though it were not lawfull to ordayne such degrees for the building and gouernment of the Church Did not God himselfe in the old Testament appoint a chiefe Bishop Priests and Leuits And in the new Testament gaue hee not some Apostles some Prophets some Euangelists and some Pastors and Doctors Had not the primatiue church accordingly Bishops Priestes and Deacons And againe a little after in the same booke whilest thou a proude man girdest so often at the title of Superintendent I affirme that thou reprehendest the Apostle Paule himselfe who hath giuen this name to a distinct order of ministers of the church And our Auncestors following this Apostle haue thought it meete that for the edifying of the church and for orders sake there should be certaine Superintendentes that is ouerseers not onely of the flocke but of the nisters in like manner Thus farre Gerlachius who if hee were in England knewe into what an extremitie the like persons are growen vnto in the same case amongst vs It would peraduenture moue him For nowe there is no remedye with our ministers of that consorte but they must all bee equall They cannot endure it no the meanest of them to haue anye of their owne coate their Superior They are fallen into the contradiction of Chors and doe tell both Moyses and Aaron that they take to much vpon them All Pastores saye they are and ought to be of equall authoritie in their seuerall Parishes and no one to haue power ouer another Euery parish Priest with them must bee a Bishop and haue as full iurisdiction in his Parochiall dioces as it is lawful for any Bishop in the world either to haue or to execute For orders sake they are content that in their Classicall prouinciall or Nationall assemblies some one minister bee chosen from amongst thēselues to be the moderator for the propounding of matters gathering of voices c. But his office preheminence is to continew no longer then whilest those assemblies last Otherwise or for any further authoritie either of Bishops or Archbishops whether they haue abolished popery reformed religiō maintained the gospell abandoned superstitiō or whatsoeuer they haue done or yealded vnto they holde it altogether vnlawfull do raile against them all against their callings and against all that defend them and that with more then heathenish scurrilitie Cartwright is the chiefe man that began this course in Englande and you shall see howe pretily his schollers follow him Archbishops Bishops sayth he are new ministeries neuer ordayned by God The first step to this kind of Bishopricke beganne at Alexandria and not at Syon The name and office of an Archbishop is vnlawfull his function is of the earth and so can do no good but much harme in the church he is a knobbe or some lumpe of flesh which being no member of the body doth burthen it and disgrace it Whereupon foorth come his schollers crying out amaine that Archbishops Bishops are superfluous members of the body of Christ and that they mayme and deforme his body making it by that meanes a monster That they are vnlawfull false bastardly gouernors of the church That they are the ordinances of the Diuell That they are in respect of theyr places enemies of God that they are petye Popes pety Antichristes Bishops of the Diuell and incarnate Diuels that none euer defended this gouernmēt of our Bishops but Papists and such as were infected with Popish errours That the Lawes that mayntaine the Archbishops and Bishops are no more to bee accounted of then the Lawes that mayntaine Steves and that the true church of God ought to haue no more to do with them and their Synagogues then with the Synagogue of Sathan All which Consistorian and modest assertions aswell for the equalitie of Ministers as against the calling of Bishops being ioyned together are wholy opposite to all that which hitherto I haue writt̄e touching this matter Euen as though they should haue cast downe their gauntlets proclaymed an vtter defiance to all the Churches that euer were established in the world for much aboue three thousande yeares the Churches whilest the law continued the churches in Christs time the Churches in his Apostles times the Churches throughout all christendome for a thousand fiue hundred yeares against all the generall Councels all the auncient fathers all ecclesiasticall histories against al the chiefe reformers of religon in this latter age against all the learned mens iudgements before mentioned and against all the reformed churches whersoeuer in christ̄edome that eyther haue BB. or Superint̄edents God forgiue th̄e this great sin of pride presumption deliuer th̄e out of the number of those of wh̄o it is said that their mouthes speake proud things that they dispise gouernment that they
him and wholy agreeth with Erastus mind vz. that therby Moses meaning was as it is word for word set downe by the prophet Ezechiel that the priests should teach the people out of the law what was holy what vnholy what cleane what polluted and that as Malachy saith the priests are and ought to be the interpreters of the law Now if maister Beza maister Cartvvright and the rest will stand to maister Caluins iudgement who is so excellent an interpreter of the scriptures what shall become of their eldership Neither Moses the Chronicles Ieremie nor Ezechiel can helpe thē and to haue Erastus expositions thus iustified and theirs reiected I suppose they will not indure it Their only shift then plea must needs be as I take it that first wher they extolled M. Caluin so highly for his interpretation of the scriptures their meaning was alwaies to except themselues and secondly as concerning their offer that they are yet content if we wil to refer it to M. Caluins iudgement whether there ought to be an eldership or not in euery parish Marrie for the proofes that must vphold it for the time of the institution of it and for such matters therin they will leaue him as neuer meaning to be iudged by him in those points which is as though the eye and the eare should say the one that it could see better the other that it could heare better then he himselfe that made both the eye and the eare Wel I am fully persuaded that if M. Caluin were now again at Geneua but for 3 or 4 daies and should find M. Beza with al his partakers Cartvvright Iunius the rest so mightily plunged for the maintenance of his deuise as that they shuld be driuē some of thē to run into Egypt some into the wildernes to mount Sinay some they know not whither and al of them to run so far out of his paths he would be greatly offended much amased at the matter could he take it in any good part that Beza specially being a man whō he had made such choise of to be a principal defender of the cōsistoriall discipline should by his intermedling with the gouernment of other churches haue pulled so many men vpon him as that for the defense of his own at home he should be driuē to seeke the first institution of it in Leuit. 10. v. 10. either there to hunt it out or to giue it ouer in the plaine field Surely there is great reason he should But what is that to me otherwise then that you thereby might be informed what constant hold their pretended holy elderships haue hither to found in the old testament and how they agree in the interpretation of such scriptures as should sustaine them Lastly as touching maister Caluins own opinion for the institution of his eldership after the captiuitie of the Iewes there doth not come into my memorie at this present any especiall place alleaged by him out of the scriptures to that purpose Neither do I find in him so much as that God did euer command this Sanedrim which hee speaketh of to be euer erected Only he sayth Hoc legitimū fuit Deoque probatū regimē They are a lavvful regimēt allovved of God Allowed of God not commanded I know that Cartvvright some others do bring for the cōtinuance of their pretēded elderships after the captiuitie certain places out of Ezra Nehemiah wher ther is mētion made of the cheefe of the fathers and of elders likewise of certain that stood by Ezra whē he preached to the people but the places are so apparantly wrested as no man that readeth them can be so dull but he must needs discerne it But I meruaile what maister Caluin meaneth when attributing to the Sinedriū or councel erected by the Iewes after their returne from Babylon Censuram morum doctrinae The censure of maners and doctrine In another place where he speaketh of the sayd constitution or erecting of it hee affirmeth that the 70 elders which vvere from time to time chosen to be of the Sanedrim vvere of the stocke of Dauid and of their former kings I hope they will not say that consequently their counterfeit elders ought all of them to be of the blood roiall But breefely for this matter of the Sanedrim or courts of iustice after the captiuitie I cannot iudge them to be any other then such courts and assemblies as were before ordained by Moses and had to do as well in ciuile caules as ecclesiasticall as it may at large appeare to those that will take the paines to read some part of doctor Sutclifs bookes whither for this time if they list I send them And so leauing any further to trouble you with this disciplinarie harmonie drawne by the eares out of the old testament I will come to the new Many things haue bene spoken of throughout the whole course of this booke which might be fit for this place as their iarring and disagreement in euery chapter almost hitherto which alwaies doth rise because that euery one of them in effect if he account himselfe to bee any body will writh and expound the scriptures as occasions serue and his affections do moue him The most of those places in the new testament that maister Caluin dooth expound of pastors and preachers only Beza Iunius Cartvvright and others of the disciplinarie mould and no men els do wrest and violently draw them vnto their Aldermen They forsooth are prophets to vvhom the spirits of other prophets must be subiect they are bishops for the feeding of Christs flocke Of their office it is sayd that he vvho desireth a bishopricke desireth a good vvorke That which S. Paule speaketh of himselfe as that he is a minister of the gospell and a vvitnesse appointed of those things vvhich he had seene vvhen the Lord appeared vnto him as he vvas going to Damascus Iunius will needs extend to these consistoriall companions Hereof you may see more in the sixt chapter where they ascribe vnto them all those names that since the Apostles times haue only bene giuen to the ministers of the word Maister Caluins authoritie is little regarded in this behalfe euen of those men who account him the best interpreter of the scriptures that euer was in the world these 1500 yeares Cartvvright being pressed sometimes with maister Caluins authoritie in expounding certaine places to be meant of pastors and ministers of the word where he will needs thrust in amongst them his Aldermen doth vse this wrangling shift viz. that although M. Caluin say that such ministers are there vnderstood yet he saith not that they only are there vnderstood By the which maner of euasion what can be spoken that may not be peruerted I do not remember that the scriptures do say in anie place that Christ had onelie twelue Apostles and then by Cartvvrights shift we may say he had as manie as we list
oppression as the Israelites were in it is altogether vnlike that they should haue the benefites of Magistrates of their owne Indeede now he hath won his spurs In effect all that he saith is but thus much It is likely that the Elders he buildeth vppon were such officers as hee dreameth of It is likely It is probable Well I trust the vizards of such maskers will be so throughly weatherbeaten in short time as that the simplest will be able to discerne their deformities For in this cause assuredly they pretending onely probabilities all probabilities indeede are flatly against them Is it probable if Christ had appointed any such gouernment as they speake of to haue continued to the end of the world or if the Apostles themselues had ordayned or practised it in their times that all the auncient Martyrs Councels and godly Fathers would with one consent haue abolished it It is probable Moyses being so carefull as it is to another purpose by thē alledged that he would not omit to signifie vnto his people euen the smallest matters that God gaue him in charge till he came to their basons besomes and pinnes about the Tabernacle that he woulde haue made no mention of such a waighty point as this is pretended to be if the Lord had euer giuen him commaundement for the institution of it Is it likely Moyses so ofte speaking of the institution of the publicke courts for Iustice and correction of manners amongst the Iewes which he knew were but to continue vntil the cōming of Christ that he would haue beene silent as touching the institution of this spirituall gouernement which should haue lasted till the day of iudgement if he had receaued any such Commission To draw therefore to an end of this point The institution of this pretended gouernment cannot be shewed out of the old Testament and then by theyr owne confessions in effect it may not be vrged out of the new Because they say that Christ appointed no other forme of regiment then they thought they could haue found to haue beene instituted by Moyses But my conclusion shal be built vppon one of Vdals demonstratiue propositions vz. That gouernement whose originall is vnknowen hath no warrant in Gods word and is vnlawfull But the originall of the Geneua platforme of Discipline is vnknowen therefore it hath no warrant in Gods word and is vnlawfull And thus you see that as I sayd in the beginning the first time that euer this fained Geneuian deuise saw light for ought I can read or iudge was at Geneua Whether for my part I doe remitte it again to see if they can deduce the pedigree of it from any further Monuments of antiquity or that else they may blotte it out of their now deuised Creede whereof you shall heare hereafter CHAP. VI. The seekers of the pretended Discipline are not yet agreede what name they should giue vnto their Hierarchicall parish-meetinges THings for the most part are not long in being before they haue their names In that therefore the name of this pretended gouernement is so vncertaine as now I shall shew you it argueth in my opinion that it is but a counterfaite The time was not long after the creation of all kind of cattell and of the fowles of the Heauen and of the beastes of the field but they were brought to Adam to giue them theyr names And I am perswaded the like course hath still been euer obserued that in a manner as soone as thinges haue had their being they haue also had their names giuen thē or at the least they haue not beene long without them Let Cartwright then first tell vs here if he will still relie vppon his likelihood mentioned in the former Chapter What was the name of his Ecclesiasticall Hierarchy before the law But you shall finde him herein as mute as a fish Marry if you will come to the time of the law when forsooth as Beza saith it was instituted then both he Beza and diuerse others will soone satisfie any man that will not bee wilfull What will they shew it vs in the old Testament Surely the chiefest of them haue not yet done it neyther will they euer be able as I thinke to doe it And therefore they are driuen to seeke it in the Iewes Talmud which is saith Beza blasphemus liber a blasphemous booke Would a man haue thought that men so curious to admitte of nothing that is not in the Scriptures would haue stooped so low as to the Talmud I cannot thinke that seeing Almighty God would not suffer the beastes of the earth and fowls of the aire to be without their names past two or three daies that he could be content that such an excellent creature as this is pretended to bee shoulde be without a name so many hundreth yeares as from Moyses time vntill the Iewes Talmud was made I trust no man will say that Moyses was in this point vnfaithfull or that the Lorde bringing it vnto him to know how he would call it he obstinately refused to giue it any name Peraduenture Moyses a ciuile Magistrate foreseeing that this regiment was to be placed in euery parish or Synagogue and that so he himselfe should become subiect vnto it did seeke to disgrace it as much as he could and therefore left it namelesse Indeed that is an exception which the Atturnies for it in these dayes doe make in effect against such Christian Princes and magistrates as doe refuse to admitte it within their dominions But to come to the name which they finde in the Talmud They say it was called amongest the Iewes Sanedrim a corrupt worde by them vsed that was degenerated from the true Greeke name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Beza doth translate Councell A strange thing that the Hebrew tong should be so penurious as that it was not able to afforde an Hebrewe name to suche a worthy regiment or that it shoulde bee namelesse vntill the Iewes and the Gretians had such familiar intercourse as that they eyther coulde or would vouchsafe to borow any thing from them which as most men thinke was not till Alexanders time or not much before But straunge or not straunge be it as it may be By this doctrine then of the Talmud and maister Bezaes translation shall wee tearme this parochiall regiment a Councell and the Gouernours therein how manie soeuer so manie Councellors Surely this were greatly to the honour of England and to the benefite of her Maiesties subiectes For whereas nowe they haue many occasions to come to the Court to their Lordships for the redresse of manie great enormities they should haue a Councell table to repayre vnto in euerie Parrishe But it will heere bee aunswered peraduenture that wee may not call it a Councell For that our Sauiour Christ minding as they say to translate the forme of the Iewes ecclesiasticall gouernement tearmed Sanedrim from the lawe to the Gospell vsed not that name of Councell but
called it ecclesia that is the Church Very well any thing will content me Howbeit for ought I know there was no cause why it might not haue pleased our sauiour Christ if he had conceiued so notable a liking of that Iewish platforme but that hee might also haue retayned the olde name and so haue made no alteration at all The authour of the booke of Discipline hauing as it should seeme some such like consideration in his head or what other I know not and thinking scorne as I gesse to runne to the Iewes Talmud for a name for this regiment is not afraid to dissent from Caluin Beza his olde tutor Cartwright and a number of other his good maisters here in saying obseruandum est vnà cum re ipsa nomen etiam a Iudaeis ad nos translatum esse It is heere to be obserued that together with the thing it selfe the very name also is translated vnto vs from the Iewes And what name is that Forsooth saith he Nomen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is congregation or church saepius apud Mosen certis delectis viris tribuitur qui a toâ—a congregatione adres obeundas designarentur is often giuen by Moses vnto a certaine number of chosen men that were to be appointed by the whole congregation to deale in sundry affaires So as by this fellowes saying Christ made no alteration at all when he said Dic ecclesiae tell the church but kept euen the olde name of it vz which it had before giuen vnto it by Moses How blinde then was Beza Cartwright and the rest that they could not finde this proper name of their soueraigntie in all the olde testament but were faine to flie to the Talmud But will Beza thinke you take this at his handes No I warrant you For saith he vocabulo ecclesiae significari ciuium conuentum nemo est qui ignoret c. Haebrei 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocant Sed postea communis loquendi consuetudo fecit vt pro eoruÌ„ caetu accipiatur qui ChristuÌ„ profitentur There is no man ignorant that the word ecclesia doth signifie an assembly of Citizens The Hebrews do call it an assembly or company met together But afterward by custome it came to passe that it was taken for the assembly of them that do professe Christ. Which custome I hope it will be confessed did begin about Christes time and not in Moses time And then the disciplinarian Trauerser is very well serued for his sawcinesse in taking vpon him to proceed further then his sayd Maisters had giuen him in commission But howsoeuer these fellows will agree amongst themselues me thinketh a man might be bold by their place of Mathew to call their parochiall regiment by the name of the church For they all wil coÌ„fesse that Christ called it so And then it will follow by their grounds that euery parish or church must haue a newe church erected in it which new church must haue authoritie to command censure the old and so one Church must be ouer another Yea but saith Beza in effect we are rather to follow the apostles in this point then Christ. That which he called Church meaning the Synedrium that is Councell the apostles called presbyteriuÌ„ Eldership Quod Christus ecclesiam iam mutato Synagogae vel Synedrij nomine appellarat Paulus presbyterium nominauni That which Christ called the Church changing the name of Synagoge or Councell Paul called Eldership Againe quod Iudaei Synedrium Christiani presbyterium teste Apostolo vocarant That which the Iewes called Councel the Christians as the Apostle witnesseth called Eldership And why Beza would blush if he could not giue a reason for any thing Idcirco fortassis potius quam Synedrium ne qua pateret calumniandi occasio quasi Christiani statum publicum turbare de magistratuum authoritate ac iurisdictione quicquam ad se protrahere vellent The Apostles peraduenture called this regiment rather Eldership then Councell least there might be giuen thereby some occasion of slaundering as though the christians had purposed to haue troubled the publicke state and to haue taken to themselues some part of the Magistrates authoritie and iurisdiction Well and are we yet come to an issue how we may call this forme of gouernement Shall we tearme it the Eldership No surely if wee will follow some other reformed Churches which are so ofte commended vnto vs. Presbyterium vocare Consistorium apud nos mos est It is the maner and fashion with vs at Geneua saith Beza to call the Eldership a consistorie With whom agreeth I.B. the superintendent as it is thought of the Italian Church in London saying Although we haue in our churches the same order which the Apostles ordained yet we haue changed the name of Eldership do call it now by another name vz consistory And good reason It is so called at Geneua The Apostles call it Eldership but yet they dispensing with that point doe call it as they list Men no doubt of a soueraigne prerogatiue But to proceede It shoulde seeme that as these men haue chaunged the name of Eldership into Consistorie so haue others in some places done it into Synod Against both which sort Bannosius in his long and tedious disciplinarian discourse is verie bold to write his minde that it ought rather to be called Eldership then eyther Synode or consistory And that for two reasons vz first because some men do not distinguish sufficiently the assemblies of the christians from the Synodes of the Iewes and secondly because the Hierarchy of Rome doth call their presbyterium Eldership consistorium a consistory From all these as I suppose many of the French Churches or at the least that of Heidelberge doth dissent For thus Iunius lately a chief Ruler there writeth Concilium ecclesiae Senatumue appellamus quod Paulus presbyterium That which Paul called the Eldership wee call the councell of the churche or the Senate and so the Elders there are Senators Which names both of Senate and Senators sayth Beza Vt ciuilibus dignitatibus couuenientius calumniae obnoxium videtur studio quodam vetus purior ecclesia in occidente repudiasse as being proper to ciuile dignities and subiect to slaunder the olde purer churche in the West doth seeme of purpose to haue reiected And Bannosius affirmeth that the reason that moued those where hee was to call the Eldershippe a consistorie was quod nomen minus odiosum quam Senatus esset because it was a name lesse odious then the name of Senate You haue heard also before out of Beza that the Apostles themselues refused the name of Synedrium as being all one with Councell or Senate for the same respects But all this notwithstanding now that belike they thinke themselues in some places to haue laid such sufficient foundations for the coÌ„tinuance of their regiment as that it shall not be remoued what soeuer the Magistrates shall
conceaue of it they shew themselues in theyr colours and doe call it plainely a Senate neither respecting the wisedom which themselues doe ascribe vnto the Apostles nor the foresayd example of the purer West Churches And indeede although at Geneua the name of the Consistory be most in vse yet I gesse that Beza would gladly bring it to be chaunged and called a Senate And I doe partly so thinke because in his printed Booke of excommunication he hath left out the reason why the Apostles called it not Senate but Eldership which reason is in his written Booke that Erastus confuted Besides also oftentimes in his notes vppon the new Testament hee tearmeth the forme of that gouernmēt by the name of Ecclesiasticall Senate And namely where they dreame it was commaunded by Christ in these wordes Dic Ecclesiae tell the Church Constat hic agi de Ecclesiastico Senatu it is manifest saith he that here Christ speaketh of the Ecclesiasticall Senate In another place also he saith tell the Church that is the Eldership and here in effect tell the Ecclesiasticall Senate So that to my vnderstanding he confoundeth Eldership and Senate making them both one Which peraduenture will bring himselfe within the compasse of his own words against Castalion To translate Presbyterium Eldership Senatum a Senate doth argue a greate vanitye of witte and is indeede a prophane innouation But to let that passe by hooke or crooke it must be a Senate which tickleth and pleaseth some of our reformers insomuch as in their Latine discourses of Discipline there is little but Ecclesiasticall Senate and Senatours Christus pro more Iudaeorum Ecclesiam Ecclesiasticum Senatum appellauit Christ after the custome of the Iewes called the Ecclesiasticall Senate the Church Againe Ecclesiasticall Senate is an assembly of Elders c. And againe Cum hic Senatus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Paulo appellatur Presbyteros esse hos Senatores necesse est Seeing this Senate is called by Paul an Eldership it followeth of necessity that the Elders must be Senatoures I omitte some old English names which haue beene giuen to this Minion as Congregation Assembly Segniory c. and some Latine names also as the Epitome of the Church and Diaconia Presbyterorū the Deaconship of Elders because they are now growen as it seemeth to bee too base Rather let vs call it with Iunius if I conceaue his meaning materfamilias the huswife of the Churche in Christes absence or with Maister Beza Tribunal Christi the Tribunall seate of Christ. But yet for all these wordes I greatly doubt it that such honourable titles will not long be continued For if Maister Beza his interpretation of Christes speaches Dic Ecclesiae doth proue to be authenticall then they must be enforced in my opinion to call their gouernement by a name of no great estimation amongest those that professe Christ. For let the place be considered and hee maketh Christ in effect to say Tell the Church that is tell the Senat Archisynagogorum of the Archrulers of the Synagogue who had the power and iurisdiction that is there spoken of in their handes By which exposition if Christ had beene pleased to haue spoken properly without vsing of any figure when he saide Tell the Church he should haue said Tell the Synagogue and the word Church in that place must needes be so expounded Whereby it followeth that if Christes authority by Bezaes exposition may be regarded they ought by theyrowne collections and interpretations to call their seuerall Senates so many Synagogues Besides Maister Beza saith that Synedrium and Synagogue were both one in Christes iudgement and there is nothing more reasonable in theyr writings then to call theyr Senats Synedria which sheweth that at the least they may aswell by Christs testimony call them Synagogues if they list I would not haue troubled you with this tedious discourse of the seuerall names of this pretended regiment but that you might vnderstand how their tongues are deuided about such a trifle and thereby also perceaue the infancy or new birth of this fancy of theirs in that as yet they are not agreede howe to name the Childe If it fall out that it get the name of Senate what an honourable stile will this be Senatus populusque Romanus the Senate and people of Sainct Giles in the Fieldes and so of all other parishes in England CHAP. VII Of their vncertainty concerning the places where this pretended regiment should be erected MAister Cartwright and all his English followers that I haue read doe affirme it moste confidently that by the commaundement of God by the institution of Christ by the rules of Gods word and by the practise commandement of the Apostles There ought of necessitie to be an Eldership in euery parish in euery Congregation Church by Church in euery particular Congregation and not only in Cities but in all Churches in the Countrye and vplandish townes wheresoeuer there is a Pastor without the which Eldership euery such church or Congregation is to be accounted maymed vnperfect no entyre body 10 want the exercise of the principall offices of charity to be destitute of no small part of the Gospell of true Religion of Christs gouernment of the piller of truth and of all those priueledges profits which are assigned by them vnto the enioying of it Hereunto is fit to be added what they haue further written concerning this worde Church and howe they describe their said Parish The Church sayth Cartwright is eyther taken in the Scriptures for the whole body of the Catholique church or for one particular congregation or for the faythfull company of one house This one particular Congregation when it hath an Eldership placed in it they terme it the body of one particular Church and a perfect and vnmaymed body of Christ wherein the ministers of the word and the Elders are the eyes and the Deacons the handes without the which members though it may liue a while they confesse yet saie they it so pineth and wanteth that in the ende it will become a deade corpes vppon the grounde And for the quantitie of this body the dimensions of it or the description of such a particular Congregation or Parish as they speake of thus M. Cartwright squareth it out Euerye competent congregation and particular bodye of a church should haue hir parts in neighbourhood of dwellings wel trussed one with another Againe a Parish well bounded is nothing else but a number of those families which dwelling neere together may haue a commodious resorte and be at once taught with one mouth With these points of our English Eldership I meruell how their associates in other Countries will bee satisfied By the Discipline in Fraunce concluded vppon by fiue generall Synodes of the reformed Churches of that Realme It was agreed vpon that request should be made to the
Geneua at the least that of all likelyhood as diuers housholdes by his owne rule do concurre together to make one conuenient parish So diuerse parishes in one citie suburbes and territorie thereof may be vnited and rightlye beare the name of the church Except wee shall thinke that Christ referring as they suppose his Apostles to the imitation of the Iewes church gouernment they were so negligent workemen as there being at that time 400. Synagogues in that one citie they had erected in all their times but one congregation christian church or parish answerable to one Synagoge it being lawfull for them by the square of that platforme to haue erected if they had could 400. But let this passe as a thing impertinent and to returne to the maimed pining Parishes at Geneua You will say did not Cartwright know the ecclesiasticall gouernment of that citie when he writ his bookes or shall we once conceaue that he thought to condemne that regiment which in other places hee doth so greatly extoll certainly for mine owne part although I do not greatly respect what he will saie that hee either knoweth or thinketh yet I suppose he will neuer for shame denie it but that he misliketh that forme of church regiment For first besides the premises being vrged with Caluins authoritie who thought the church of Geneua with all her sayde Parishes to make but one body of a church his answere to that point in effect is this Admit Caluin so thought I am of opinion that if Caluin had not soe thought hee would neuer haue erected vp such an Eldership And if Beza did not thinke so still I iudge hee would alter it Secondly also vppon another occasion he resembleth the order of certaine reformed churches which in this sence must be necessarily either of Scotland Flaunders or Geneua vnto the custome in S. Ieromes time when Bishops besides their one onely church had certaine other congregations belonging to their ouersight c. and in mislike thereof sayth for parte of his answere to this pointe being pressed by his aduersary against him I appeale to the institution of God and vse of the purer times after the Apostles But amongst other qualifications which he maketh least we should thinke that where such reformations are made as haue diuers parishes belonging to one Eldership there the old Diocesse and Bishops are in effect not abrogated but a little altered he sayth that one in such Eldership is aboue the rest but for a time as Caluin was chosen thereunto euery two yeares and not during his ministerie Which authority ouer many parishes but for a time although he will not plainly condemne it in the reformed churches which hee fauoreth yet speaking against the order of the church of England both he his companions doe make it a steppe whereby Sathan did aduaunce the kingdome of Antichrist Lastly as hitherto you haue found M. Cartwright with his friendes opposite in this matter vnto Geneua and Scotland differing also much from the churches in the Low countries so he seemeth to mee to crosse himselfe For in his second booke hee sayth that particular churches are nowe in steed of Synagogues and that their Synagogues were the same that our particular churches are And in his third booke he writeth thus For my part I confesse that there commeth not to my minde whereby I could precislie conclude out of the olde testament that there was an eldershippe amongst the Iewes in euery of their Synagogues If that can not then be shewed out of Moses who was so faythfull in setting downe all that was committed to his charge and that Christ commaunded no new thing but such as Moses instituted how hath hee vrged so mightely that we must haue his Elderships in euery Parish We shall see peraduenture that in shorte time M. Cartwright will giue ouer this holde and betake himselfe to the citie consistories framing new Diocesses to bee subiect vnto them as in other countries you haue heard they are Well I would wishe that before their Elderships were graunted vnto them they should agree together where they ought to place them But nowe to the seuerall partes of euery Eldership CHAP. 8. Of Bishops generally of the pretended equalitie of Pastors or new parish Bishops and how the chiefe impugners of Bishops beginne to relent IN the olde testament the high Priest besides that he was a figure of Christ had also vnder Moses Iosua the Iudges and Kinges for the better ordering and gouernment of the church authoritie and iurisdiction ecclesiasticall within that countrie of Canaan vnder whom for the same purpose were other Priests at least 24. that were called Principes Sacerdotum Princes of the Priestes all of them inferior to the high Priest but superior to the rest In the new testament our Sauiour Christ whilst hee liued on the earth had his Apostles and in degree vnder them his 70. Disciples After his ascentiō the same inequality of the ministery of the word continued in the Church by all mens confession as long at the least as the Apostles liued In the Apostles times Saint Marke was Bishop of Alexandria Saint Iames was Bishop of Ierusalem Timothy was Bishop of Ephesus and Titus was Bishop of Crete if the ancient fathers and Ecclesiastical histories be of any credite The Apostles hauing receaued the promise of the holy Ghost after a short time dispersed themselues by aduise into diuerse regions And there by painefull preaching and labouring in the Lords haruest they planted no doubt very many Churches As the number of Christians grew and had their particular assemblies and meetings in many Cities and countries within euery one of their circuites they placed pastors in euery congregation they ordained certaine Apostolicall men to bee chiefe assisters vnto them whom they placed some one in this particular countrey another in that and some others in sondry Cities to haue the rule and ouersight vnder them of the Churches there and to redresse and supply such wantes as were needefull And they themselues after a while and as they grewe in age and escaped the crueltie of tyrantes remained for the most part in some head Citty within their compasse to ouersee them all both Churches Pastors and Bishops or Superintendents and to giue their directions as occasions required and as they thought it conuenient When any either of these Apostolicall assistantes or of the Apostles themselues dyed there were euer some worthy men chosen and appointed to succeede them in those Cities and Countries where they had remained For wee may not idlely dreame that when they dyed the authoritie which was giuen vnto them ceased no more then we may that the authoritie of Aaron of his naturall sons expired and ended with them Besides it is manifest by all Ecclesiasticall hystories that many Churches were planted after theyr deathes And furthermore it coulde not be but that some Churches especially vnder those Apostles that were soonest put to
to their consultations what course they were best to take for their owne credits proceed to the qualities wherewithall they affirme that their Elders by the worde of god must needes be indued Chap. XV. Their vncertaintie where to find the particular offices of theyr Aldermen FOr my better enterance into this poynt followinge I will beginne with some of their owne groundes Thea gouernment of the church saith Martin must be by these officers and offices alone and by no other which the Lord hath set downe and limited in his word And the demonstrator Corah Datha◠and Abiram were punished hauinge no warrant of that they tooke in hand A very good caueat for their Elders Let vs then see what those particular duties are which they ascribe vnto them But here you must vnderstand that euery parish is to be deuided into seuerall Tribes according to the number of their Elders euery Elder hauing one of them assigned vnto his charge And their office is if any thinge be done amisse priuatly within their compasses to reproue or correct the offenders priuatly but if the offender be obstinate or the offence publick they must bring them to the Eldership Secondly they must know euery house and particular person in the parish that they may enforme the ministers of their estate If any straūger come to dwell within their seuerall tribes they must signifie the same vnto the pastor that hee may examine his religion Thirdly if any infants are to be baptised they must likewise giue the pastor notice therof Fourthly at the time of the communiō they must all ioyntly see that no excommunicate persons come into the church likewise helpe and assist the pastor at Geneua the Elder ministreth the cuppe take heede that none come to the Lords table whose religion and honesty should not be knowen vnto them and with whom the pastor and Doctor should not haue dealt before In general tearmes their whole duety is to helpe to informe and to aide the pastors and Doctors to haue a vigilant eye to the obseruation of all such ceremonies lawes and orders as they themselues with their fellow Senators should constitute and ordaine Now surely it were a goodly fight I haue occasion often to repeate it to see the noblemen and gentlemen of England discharginge all these duties in their owne persons and especially ministringe the cuppe at the holy communion In what reputation shoulde the ministers be that shoulde haue such eyes such aiders such informers What would the people thinke you say when they should see these noble men and gentlemen come to the Pastors with their caps in their hands seuerally saying May it please you Sir there is a stranger come lately to dwell within my Tribe another there is a childe to be Baptised within my tribe another this and that fellow are obstinate persons within my Tribe and altogether if they know any that presumed to come to the Communion Oh Sir here is a fellow you haue not spoken withall and when I say the people shoulde see these things c. on the other side likewise perceaue and heare their Ministers as I imagine giue a nodde with their heads and aunswere vnto them very well yee haue done your duties and we commend you for it bring this take away that c would they not fall downe think you and worship these Rabbies But you must remember alwaies that they hate superiority Equality that is it which pleaseth them Indeede they talke of an equality amongst themselues but otherwise they affect no small superiority ouer all men besides Well it is meete we should now consider what proofe they haue for all these particular dueties out of the word of God And here I pray you first of all remember that Beza is brought to this issue that whether there were any such Elders at all euer instituted by Moises from whom they fette them or not he hath nothing else to say but probabile est it is probable there were such And muche to the same effect it is that he bringeth for their seuerall offices For speaking of them especially besides that he nameth onely this one office as finding no others in the old Testament vz. that the duety of the chiefe rulers of the Synagogues was non admittere ad Synagogas quos Hierosolomitanum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indicasset not to admit them to the Synagogues whome the Councell at Ierusalem had cast out he bringeth but this simple demonstration for the proofe of it Horum proculdubio partes fuerunt out of doubt it was their partes thus to doe Proculdubio probabile est out of doubt it is probable Notable proofes Whosoeuer will take the paines to reade that parte of his Booke de Presbyterio shall finde little else in it but his probabilities and groundlesse assertions Sauing that he further saith there is mention made in the new Testament of gouernors and ruling Elders which we deny with all the ancient fathers to haue any relation to their deuised Elders and thereupon whatsoeuer hath beene thought meete to be the office of rulers is ascribed belike at Geneua vnto them The treatise is surely vnworthy such a mans as maister Beza would be accounted And vppon the like conceipt also our Englishe Reformers haue taken vppon them to set downe all the former duties mentioned of their Elders not that they find them in the word of God but because they fit their turnes and doe account them necessary to set vp their own kingdom For proofe whereof I wil only trouble you with one mans authority but that shall be authenticall both with the brotherhood of England and also with them of Geneua where the book for the excellency of it hath been reprinted The author of that booke hauing at large described the said duties with a kind of so forth alia huiusinodi so as they may adde more when they list the force of truth doth wringe from him these words First that all these said duties speciatim in Scripturis non exprimantur are not specially expressed in the Scriptures Why then let your Elders remēber your former rule least for vsurping such offices as they haue no warrant for out of the word of God they perish with Corah Dathan and Abiram Yea but saith he though the Scriptures doe not expresse them yet that there should bee suche Archrulers with these offices as were in veteri Iudoeorum Ecclesia in the old Church of the Iewes it greatly tendeth ad ordinem decorum vtilitatem fructum Ecclesi◠to the order decency profite and fruit of the Church And what if this be denied or who shall iudge whether they be so profitable or not or when will they prooue that the duties mentioned did belong to the Archsynagogians And yet for all these vncertainties or as Cartwrights terme is meere beggeries he proceedeth to another Consistorian demonstration There are no other Elders mentioned in the Scriptures to whont these so
at another time and when they haue forgotten themselues they will of purpose I feare it to abuse the worlde stand very much vppon the auncient fathers and bragge of their authoritie exceedingly As Cartwright doth in these words most vntruly We propound nothing saith he that the scriptures doe not teach the writers both olde and newe for the most part affirme and the examples of the primitiue Churches confirme Did euer any manne regard Cartwrightes credite who considering what hath beene noted out of his bookes in this whole processe doeth not pittie him with all his harte to heare him so farre to forget himselfe Hee is a manne of good learning which maketh mee to woonder at him It is surely great pittie that euer hee was so maried vnto his Eldershippe For it hath vtterly ouerthrowne all the good partes that bee in him The best lawyer that is when hee giueth himselfe to shiftes and to feed his clyentes with quirkes refusing not to brabble in anye cause be it neuer so false he looseth his estimation and with the grauer sort is little regarded Howe truely Maister Cartwright affirmeth that he and his fellows do propound nothing but that the old writers for the most parte doe affirme and the examples of the primitiue church confirme I trust it hath in part already appeared vnto you in sundry places but especially in the 5. as I saide and in the 27. Chapters I haue heard some Councellers at lawe vse the verye like course of speach when notwithstanding the cause hath falne out most directly against them yet they haue cried out Oh my Lord wee haue these and these olde euidences to shewe such and such depositions doe make for vs verye manifestly wee haue yet many witnesses to bee examined and thus they will proceed with many cracking wordes as though there had beene nothing which had made against them Is Cartwright able trowe you to finde his Parish Bishops and his counterfeit Lay-Elders which two pointes are in effecte all in all with him in the auncient fathers and primitiue Church Hee maye say as truely that the Sonne shines at midnight But yet hee sayth that Ignatius and Cyprians Bishops were but as our pastors or parsons arein euery parish For his vnministering Elders hee alledgeth the same Ignatius and Cyprian and for a surcharge hee bringeth in also Tertullian Hierome Possidonius and Socrates where they make mention of priests I was once purposed to haue set downe the places themselues which they so violently peruerte to bolster out such theyr apparaunt falshood and to haue aunswered them But then I remembred howe effectually that had beene done allready by diuers learned and woorthie menne and of late more fully and largely by two especiall persons whose books one of them is in printing and the other presently comming to the presse and therevpon I altered my mind in that point And yet something thereof agreeably to the course which hetherto I haue obserued that may peraduenture amaze some of them Vppon some occasion falling out maister Cartwright affirmeth that if the now Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury had read the ecclesiasticall stories hee shoulde haue founde easiely the Eldership most florishing in Constantines time vz. in hauing then such Bishops and Elders as hee fancieth to himselfe For he must bee so vnderstood To whome replie being made that he should bring but one ecclesiasticall historie that affirmed so much after some three or fower yeares hee brought two vz. the historie of Magdeburge and Eusebius His testimony out of the first he setteth down in these words The centuries must needes haue told him that the same orders and functions of the church were in that time which were before And what would he inferre hereof Surely if hemeane honestly and doe not dally with the word before refering it further then the Centuries meant it which was but to the age that succeeded the Apostles he could not haue directed a man to any history now extant that doth more directly confound his assertion For there the authors of that history doe most plainely affirme that by and by after the Apostles death necessitas coegit personarum gradus aliquos constituere et conseruare necessity compelled the fathers then liuing to ordaine certaine degrees of persons in the church and to conserue them This is most directly against Cartwrights assertion although for mine own part to note it by the way I thinke the Apostles knowing the necessitie mentioned had taken that order before But to follow the said historie There were three degrees then ordained say the said authors vz. Episcopatus presbyterium Diaconatus the degree of Bishops of priesthood and of Deaconship For the proofe whereof they cite Ignatius Eusebius Theodoret c. and the very place of S. Ierome where he sheweth how for auoiding of schisme one was chosen amongst the ministers to haue preheminence ouer the rest and to whome the name of Bishop was peculiarly then attributed And as concerning the priests or Elders they doe shew it out of Eusebius Nicephorus Irenaeus Iustine c. that their office was to preach the Gospell and to administer the sacraments c. The Centuries thus we see will not serue M. Cartwrights turne to the iustifying of the florishing estate of his Eldership in Constantines daies I wil therfore come vnto his sec̄od authority which he bringeth out of Eusebius It is manifest saith he that the churches were gouerned vnder Constantine by Bishops Elders and Deacons by that which is recited of an infinit number of Elders and Deacons which came to the Councel of Nice with the 250. Bishops It is manifest indeede And it is also as manifeste that there were at that time both Archbishops and Patriarches But there were at that Councel both Bishops Elders and Deacons And what then I know that many men haue wrested many places directly contrarie to the authors meaninge but I doe not remember anie one place within the compasse of my small readinge that is more grosly peruerted then this place is For M. Cartwright running still his old biace would haue men to thinke that by Bishops Eusebius meant so many parishe-ministers and by priests or Elders his said counterfaite Aldermen And his authoritie is so greate amongest his sectaries who professe their Gleaninge after him that what-so-euer he bringeth they take it vpon his credit and so runne on with a conceite that not onely all other authorities brought by him out of the auntient Fathers mentioned are truely by him expounded and applyed but that also euen this place of Eusebius is to bee vnderstood as here he woulde haue it Wherein surely they are much to blame to depend so much vpon any mans credit If they them-selues had euer read either the Fathers or the ecclesiasticall histories they coulde neuer possibly haue beene miscarried so palpably A frinde of mine hauinge some talke not many yeares since with Maister Cartwright about this place of Eusebius
out by him wil needs persuade vs that by those elders that are meant in that place such like churchaldermen must be vnderstood as he and his fellowes hâ—ue dreamed of But herein he is not like to haue any good successe For Nicholas Gallasius a Geneuian to the vttermost who hath written a coÌ„mentary vpoÌ„ that booke doth hold it for a certaintie that such elders are vnderstood in that place as did rule the people doctrina et exemplo by doctrine and exaÌ„ple which should rather agree to those that were preachers then to Cartvvrights vntâ—aching elders If this interpretation notwithstanding shal â—ot be thought suâ—ficient to encounter with Cartvvrights then heare further two or three besides Pellicane Simlerus are both of opinion that neither Gallasius preachers nor Cartvvrights aldermeÌ„ are meant there by Moses but indeed such elders as were ciuile gouernors senators princes of the people And vnto these two for an â—speciall aduantage I may ad a surpassing testimony of no common person but such a one as will bring in with him a Rabbin to assist and maintaine as much as he will tell vs. Cornelius Bertram in his booke de politia Iudaica dedicated to Beza printed at Geneua 1580 with his approbation I doubt not writeth a whole chapter of purpose to proue that the said elders were ciuile magistrats Haebreos politiaÌ„ ciuileÌ„ c. That the Hebrewes had a ciuile gouernment in Egypt it appeareth because vvheÌ„ Moses vvas to go into Egypt he had a commandement froÌ„ God that he should go to the elders c. VVho sayth Bertrame vvere the rulers moderators and gouernours of that Aristocraticall common vvealth For the which his iudgement beside sundry reasons of his own there set down he alleageth also the testimonie of Aben Hezra So as now except Cartvvright or his adherents in this point shal hereafter find a more probable likelihood then hitherto he hath brought forth to shew vs their elderships to haue had their being afore the law of Moses both he they may shue the goose by these mens opinions for any helpe they are like to haue for that purpose out of any place in Exodus In very truth the circumstances of those places which he bringeth being conferred with that which is sayd of the same elders in the former chapter are so directly against him as I can but meruaile that euer he durst presume to set downe such a strange assertion vpon so senselesse and childish a supposall And now as concerning the second sort that content theÌ„selues to looke no further for their elderships then vnto Moses time for as much as they haue many mo shewes and pretenses to dim mens sights withall then the former sort haue yet inuented I will take an aduantage which is layd before me for the better opening vnto you of their iarres and disagreements about those places which are brought out of Moses and out of some other parts of the old testament Maister Beza acknowledgeth Caluin for his maister and doth euermore tearme him doctissimum interpretem the most learned interpreter And maister Cartvvright expresseth as much but yet more fully For hee sayth that maister Caluine is the notablest instrument that the Lord hath stirred vp for the restoring of the plaine and sincere interpretation of the scriptures which hath bene since the Apostles times In respect of which his excellencie as indeed he was a singular man maister Cartvvright in another place maketh this offer to all in effect that do not like well of the Geneua discipline VVe vvill not refuse sayth he the iudgement of maister Caluin in any matter that vve haue in coÌ„trouersie vvith you Here is surely a faire offer and no man can desire a more direct issue But thinke you a man might safely take it Who is so bold they say as blind baâ—ard Surely as blind as I am I will aduenture vpon it Shall euery thing indeed bee referred to maister Caluins iudgement very well This is then a controuersie betwixt vs. Maister Cartvvright and as many as cleaue vnto him do affirme that the eldership vvas ordained in practise before the lavv We denie it Let maister Caluin be the iudge So likewise I do say againe to as many as depend vpon maister Beza if they will ioine with vs in the same issue as reason is they should maister Caluin being their leaders maister and the most learned interpreter of the scriptures Beza and all such as are tied to his sleeue do hold it as I suppose as an infallible ground for discipline that Moses did institute this pretended eldership which we denie and let maister Caluin be the iudge A number of places are brought out of Moses bookes and out of the Chronicles and Prophets by Beza Cartvvright all their schollers for the proofe of such an eldership to haue bene in those times But we are fully resolued that all those places which they bring for that purpose are wrested from their right meaning and do constantly denie that there was euer any such eldership in being in those times And therein also wee say let maister Caluin be the iudge Although peraduenture there may be diuers that will refuse to stand vpon this triall as attributing more skill in the scriptures to Beza and to themselues then they do vnto maister Caluin yet Cartvvright is surely bound to stand to his offer Now then what Caluins iudgement is in all these points it is necessarie to be considered Surely you haue heard it before in the fift chapter The summe whereof is this that the sayd pretended eldership was neuer thought of in the world till after the captiuitie And the reason why then it was ordained he sayth was this vz. because it was not lawfull for them at that time to create a king As though he should haue said that if the Iewes might haue had a king according to their former custome in times past such a manner of gouernement had neuer bene once thought of Whereas therefore Beza Cartvvright and the rest that contend so eagerly for the Geneuian discipline do fill the margents of their bookes with sundry texts out of the old testament as out of Exod. 4.29 and 17.5 Deut. 1 15. and 17.12.2 Chr. 19.8 Iere. 19 1. Ezech. 8.1 c. where there is speech of elders senates and seates of iustice Maister Caluin you see hath giuen sentence against them and doth in effect with Erastus expound all those elders of the people all those consistories or senats for ought I can find to be ciuile officers and ciuile courts appointed for the ciuile gouernment of that people and nation Besides also in the place of Leuiticus concerning the priests office of putting a difference between the holy the vnholy between the cleane and the vncleane from which words maister Beza is enforced to set the institution and iurisdiction of his eldership maister Caluins exposition is there in like maner altogether against