more particularly and effectually then Pastours doe or may by their doctrine Such labyrinths they leape into when they seeke for those things in y e sacred Scriptures which were neuer intended But were the word of God in this point indifferent which for ought I yet see is very resolute against them the generall consent of alantiquitie that neuer so expounded S. Pauls words nor euer mentioned any laie Presbyters to gouern the Church is to me a strong rampire against all these new deuises I like not to raise vp that discipline from the dead which hath lien so long buried in silence which no father euer witnessed no councill euer fauoured no Church euer followed since the Apostles times till this our age I can be forward in things that be good but not so foolish as to thinke the church of Christ neuer knew what belonged to the gouernment of her selfe till now of late that the sonne of God hath bin spoiled of halfe his kingdome by his owne seruants and Citizens for these 1500. yeeres without remorse or remembrance of any man that so great wrong was offered him I can yeelde to much for quietnes sake to this I can not yeelde They must shewe mee their Lay Presbyteries in some ancient Writer or else I must plainly auouch their Consistories as they presse them to be a notorious if not a pernicious nouelty Ierome Ambrose and others are brought to depose that the first Church had her Senate and Elders without whose aduise nothing was done but how wrongfully the deuise of Lay Elders is fathered on them I haue declared in a special discourse I wil not heere repeate it onely this I say if any of them affirme that in the Primitiue or Apostolike Church Lay Presbyters did gouerne Ecclesiasticall affaires I am content to recall all that I haue written of this present matter if not it is no great praise nor good policie for them to abuse the names and wordes of so many learned Fathers to the vtter discredite of themselues and their cause in the end Since then the Church of Christ in and after the Apostles times was not gouerned by Lay Presbyters as this newe discipline pretendeth it resteth that we declare by whom both the Apostolike church and the Primitiue after that were directed ruled which I haue not failed to performe in many chapters as farre foorth as the Scriptures doe warrant and the vndoubted Stories of Christs Church do leade In the Apostles I obserue foure things needefull for the first founding and erecting of the Church though not so for the preseruing and maintening thereof and foure other points that must be perpetuall in the Church of Christ. The foure extraordinary priuiledges of the Apostolike function were Their vocation immediate from Christ not from men nor by men Their commission extending ouer all the earth not limited to anie place Their direction infallible the holie Ghost guiding them whether they wrate or spake and Their operation wonderful as wel to conuert and confirme beleeuers as to chastice and reuenge disobeyers Without these things the Church could not beginne as is easily perceiued but it may well continue without them for now God calleth labourers into his haruest by others not by himselfe Pastors take charge of those Churches that are already planted they seeke not places where to plant new Churches The Scriptures once written serue all ages for instruction of faith and the myracles then wrought witnesse the power and trueth of the Gospell vnto the worldes ende Wherefore those thinges had their necessary force and vse to lay the first foundations of the gospel before Christ was knowen but the wisedome of God will not haue his Church still depend on those miraculous meanes which serue rather to conquere incredulitie then to edifie the faithfull signes being as the Apostle saith not for such as beleeue but for such as doe not beleeue The other foure points of the Apostolike delegation which must haue their permanence and perpetuitie in the Church of Christ are the Dispencing the word Administring the sacraments Imposing of hands and Guiding the keys to shut or open the kingdome of heauen The first two by reason they be the ordinary meanes and instruments by which the spirite of God worketh ech mans saluation must be general to al Pastors and Presbyters of Christs Church the other two by which meete men are called to the ministerie of the word and obstinate persons not only repelled from the societie of the saints but also from the promise and hope of eternall life respect rather the cleansing and gouerning of Christes Church and therefore no cause they should be committed to the power of euery Presbyter as the word and sacraments are for as there can be no order but confusion in a common wealth where euery man ruleth so woulde there be no peace but a pestilent perturbation of all thinges in the Church of Christ if euery Preshyter might impose handes and vse the keyes at his pleasure How the Apostles imposed hands and deliuered vnto Satan and who ioyned with them in those actions I haue handled in places appointed for that purpose whereby we shal perceiue that though the Presbyters of eache Church had charge of the worde and Sacraments euen in the Apostles times yet might they not impose handes nor vse the keys without the Apostles or such as the Apostles departing or dying left to be their substitutes and successors in the Churches which they had planted At Samaria Philip preached and baptized and albeit he dispenced the word and sacraments yet could hee not impose handes on them but Peter and Iohn came from Ierusalem and laide their hands on them and so they receiued the holie Ghost The Churches of Lystra Iconium and Antioch were planted before yet were Paul and Barnabas at their returne forced to increase the number of Presbyters in each of those places by imposition of their handes for so the worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth with al Greeke Diuines and Stories as I haue sufficiently proued and not to ordaine by election of the people as some men of late had new framed the Text. The churches of Ephesus and Creete were erected by Paul had their Presbyteries yet could they not create others but Timothie and Tite were left there to impose handes and ordaine Elders in euerie Citie as occasion required Herein who succeeded the Apostles whether all Presbyters equally or certaine chiefe and chosen men one in euerie Church and City trusted with the gouernment both of people and Presbyters I haue largely debated and made it plaine as well by the Scriptures as by other ancient Writers past all exception that from the Apostles to the first Nicene Councill and so along to this our age there haue alwayes bene selected some of greater gifts then the residue to succeede in the Apostles places to whom it belonged both to moderate the Presbyters of ech Church and to take the
substance had euident reason and the Apostles in so doing staied the murmuring of the Disciples and freed themselues from al suspition of neglecting their widowes which was the cause of their dislike by praying them to choose out of themselues such as they best trusted to care for their tables distribute their store By the circumstance of the Text it seemeth that where the beleeuers liued in one place and had al things in common selling their lands possessioÌ„s goods they brought the price thereof and layed it downe at the Apostles feete to be distributed to euery man according as hee had neede the Apostles had put some in trust to bestowe the Churches treasure I meane the Disciples goodes who of like being Iewes regarded the widowes that were Iewes more then the Grecians widowes And hence arose the grudging of the Grecians that their widows were neglected The Apostles then excused themselues for that they might not leaue the preaching of the word and attend for tables to see their widowes indifferently vsed and willed the whole multitude to look out from amongst theÌ„selues such as were replenished with the holy ghost with wisdom best reported of for fidelitie and industrie to take the ouersight of that businesse This is all that can bee pressed out of this storie For answere hereof first by your owne doctrine the parties there chosen receiued not power to preach and baptise but to dispence the goods of the Church for the dayly prouision of the Saints who then liued together and yeelded all their abilitie to be vsed in common at the discretion of these parties appointed by themselues And though Philip did preach and baptise at Samaria and did the like to the Eunuch of Ethiopia yet you auouch he did that not as a Deacon but as an Euangelist both which titles indeede Saint Luke giueth him in the one and twentieth Chapter of the Actes Next if it be true that Epiphanius writeth of them these seauen were all of the number of those seuentie Disciples which Christ himselfe called while she liued on earth and sent to preach aswel as Matthias and Barnabas that were named to succeede in the roome of Iudas the traitor and then by this election they had no ordinarie function in the Church but an extraordinarie charge to prouide for the widowes since none of the 70. Disciples could beginne againe at the lowest degree and become Deacons Chrysostome reasoning what office they had by this imposition of handes saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What dignitie these seauen had and what maner of imposition of hands they receiued it shal not be amisse to learn Was it the office of Deacons This now is not the Churches but this charge to looke to widows beloÌ„geth to Presbyters and as yet there was no bishop but the Apostles onely Wherefore I thinke it was neither the name of Deacons nor Presbyters expressely and plainely which these seuen receiued If these seuen were expresly neither Deacons nor Presbyters as Chrysostome thinketh they were not and the Councel in Trullo ioyneth with him in the same opinion then can their election be no proofe that others ioyned with the Apostles in the choice of Presbyters or Bishops If with Ignatius Cyprian Ierome and others we take these seuen for Deacons such as serued in the Church and attended on the Lords table when the mysteries of Christ were dispenced yet the Apostles made this no perpetuall rule for all elections otherwise neither Paul nor any other Apostle could haue imposed hands but on such as the people named and elected which is euidently repugnant to the Scriptures as in place conuenient shall appeare Againe this singular example concludeth no more for electing by voyces then the choice of Matthias doth for retaining of lots For since two sortes of elections were vsed by the Apostles presently the one vpon the other who can determine which of those twaine was prescribed to the Church as of necessity to be continued Lastly examples are noprecepts and the reasons that mooued the Apostles to referre the choice of those seven to the liking of the multitude admit infinite varieties circumstances which being altered the effect must needes alter according to the cause And therfore no general rule can be drawen from a particular fact without a strong reason to maintaine the coherence much lesse may you leape from the choice of Deacons in the Apostles time to conclude the like of the election of Presbyters and Bishops which then did and now do greatly differ both in giftes and calling from the Deacons That the Ministers and Elders of Lystra and Iconium and of the Churches confining were ordained by Paul and Barnabas can be no question the Text doth cleerely aâ—ouehit onely the signification of the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there vsed is forced by some to prooue that those Elders were chosen by the consent of others besides Paul and Barnabas because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 say they is to choose by lifting vp of handes which was the vse amongst the Grecians for the people to doe in their elections The aduantage taken vpon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not so sound as they suppose For first if that were the right Etymologie of the word yet as most words in Greeke Hebrew besides the externall action and circumstance which they first importe do signifie the effects and consequents depending on that action and circumstance and are by translation generally and vsually applied to other things so this worde doeth signifie to elect and appoint though no handes bee helde vp because electing and appointing was the effect and consequent of lifting vp the handes To prooue this wee neede go no further then the tenth chapter of this verie Booke where Saint Luke without all contradiction vseth the word in such sorte and sense as I mention This Iesus of Nazareth God raised vp the third day and shewed him openly not to all the people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to vs witnesses chosen or appointed before-hand of God It were more then absurde to imagine that God did choose the Apostles to bee witnesses of his sonnes resurrection by lifting vp of handes God hath not hands to lift vp the Apostles neither were nor could be chosen by the peoples hands wherefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie simply to choose and appoint though it â—e not doone with holding vp of hands nor by the people Againe were the word in the 14. of the Acts vsed in that signification which they vrge as namely to consent or elect with holding vp the hands yet the Text doth manifestly restraine it to Paul and Barnabas that they did elect and appoint by stretching out their hands such Elders as the Churches then needed For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is for a man to holde vp or stretch out his owne hand and not other mens hands and no example will euer be brought
Prince as his delegates or from the Princes superiour Must not Pastours doe the like Princes cannot authorize Pastours to preach the worde administer the Sacraments remitte sinnes and impose handes these things are exempted from the Princes power and charge the King of heauen hath appointed for that purpose Messengers of his will and Stewardes of his mysteries without taking their authoritie from earthlie Princes but to redresse the disorders and abuses of these things in others and to displace the doers that neither Pastoures nor laie Presbyters may chalenge to doe without the Magistrates consent and helpe where the State is Christian And where the State is not Christian from whom shall the Pastours deriue their power to represse disordered actions in others When the Church is not protected and assisted by the sword but oppressed and pursued as where the Magistrate is an heretike or an Infidell the whole may detect and disclaime any part as vnsound and vnsufferable Idcirco copiosum est corpus Sacerdotum c. Therefore saieth Cyprian is the number of Priestes many that if one of our societie should attempt to vphold an heresie and to spoyle and waste the flocke of Christ the rest might helpe represse him yea the people haue by Gods lawe where there wanteth a Christian Magistrate the desertion but not coertion of wicked and corrupt Pastours They may decline them and forsake them they may not compell them or punish them Uiolence and vengeance belong onely to the Princes sworde not to any priuate persons or assemblies Marke them saieth Paul that cause diuisions and offences contrarie to the doctrine which you haue learned and decline them My sheepe saith Christ heare my voyce and folow me A stranger they will not follow but flie from him And so Cyprian and the rest of the Bishops with him being consulted answere Separate your selues saieth God from the tabernacles of these wicked men and touch nothing of all that is theirs least you perish together with them in their sinnes Wherefore the people obeying the Lordes precept ought to separate themselues from a sinnefull Pastour or ouerseer and not to participate with the sacrifice of a sacrilegious Priest since they chiefly where the publike state embraceth not the faith haue power to admit or choose worthie Pastours and to refuse vn worthie The best writers of our age and those no small number interprete the words of S. Paul as we doe and affirme that laie Elders were gouernours of the Church in the Apostles time and part of the Presbyterie Some learned and late writers liuing vnder persecution or in free Cities where the people and Senate beare the greatest sway haue liked and commended this fourme of gouerning the Church by laie Elders ioyned in one Presbyterie with the Teachers and Pastours but I see not how it may bee defended by the word of God as tolerable except they deriue the power of that Presbyterie from the whole Church in time of persecution and in time of peace from the Magistrate in which case they be no Elders authorized by Christ or his Apostles to gouerne the Church but Commissioners deputed by the State to moderate disorders in Pastours and Teachers and so though they may haue the ouer sight of ecclesiasticall causes pertaining properly to the magistrate yet may they not chalenge any interest or right if they be laie men to impose hands or exclude frō the Sacraments which is the Pastours power and charge Otherwise if any late writers be otherwise minded I say of them as Austen sayde of Cyprian Their writings I hold not as Canonical but examine thē by the Canonical writings and in them what agreeth with the authoritie of the diuine Scriptures I accept with their praise what agreeth not I refuse with their leaues To whose praise I cannot attaine with whose labors I compare not mine whose wits I embrace with whose wordes I am delighted whose charities I admire whose deaths I honour their iudgements in that they were otherwise minded I receiue not God suffereth the best mē to haue some blemishes lest their writings shold be receiued as authentike The Text should not differ frō the gloze if both were of like trueth and certaintie In much writing many things scape the best learned euen as with long watching men oftentimes winke It is no wrong to their labours nor touch to their credites to say their writings and resolutions be not alwayes Canonicall The disputations of Catholike praise-worthie men saith Austen we ought not to esteeme as wee doe the Canonicall Scriptures that we may not without blemishing the honor due vnto those men mislike or refuse some what in their writings if happely wee finde that they otherwise thought then the trueth warranteth vnderstoode by Gods helpe either of others or of our selues Such am I in other mens writings such woulde I haue the readers of mine to be Their learning would preuaile much with me as it doth with others men I suppose of no euill mind but zealous for that which they take to be the trueth were it not that the very places which they draw to this intent in the iudgement of as learned and more ancient writers and fathers import no such thing and other places of the Scriptures where Elders are named doe rather contradict then authorize Lay Elders Paul sent for the Elders of the Church of Ephesus to Miletum and gaue them this charge Take heede to your selues and to the whole flocke ouer which the holie Ghost hath made you Bishops to feede the Church of God If all the Elders came to Miletum they were all Pastours and Bishops if your Lay Elders came not why stayed they at home Paul sending for y e Elders They must loose that name or take this charge choose which you will If they for sooke the name of Elders I haue my desire if they vndertooke this charge they were not Lay they were Pastours and Bishops I shall not neede to prooue the confinitie betweene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if they could feede the flocke and not be Pastours The charge that Christ gaue to Peter as an Apostle was this feede my sheepe If they did that they were Sheepeheards if they did not they were no Elders And so saith Peter The Elders that are among you I exhort being my selfe an Elder feede the flocke of God left to your care and when the chiefe Sheepeheard shall appeare you shall receiue an incorruptible crowne of glorie They must ioyne with him in Pastorall paines before they shall receiue a Pastorall reward If it be not their function to feede it must not be their lot to be called Elders The communion of the name and charge must goe together The Apostles wordes to Titus will soone declare what Elders were in his dayes For this cause I left thee in Creete that thou should est appoint Elders in euery Citie if any be vnreprooueable for a
of Constantinople and Chalcedon supplied the places of Bishops as their Legates and substitutes which in the Council of Chalcedon is more fully expressed But what need we rip vp these things at large which pertaine not so much to our purpose we seeke nowe for the antiquitie and authoritie of Metropolitanes and those we find not onely receiued and established in the foure first generall Councils but confessed by them to haue anciently continued in the Church euen from the beginning And surely if you graunt Prouinciall Synodes to be ancient and necessarie in the Church of Christ which you cannot denie Metropolitanes must needs be as ancient and requisite without whom the Synodes of each Prouince can neither be conuocated nor moderated If to auoid Metropolitanes you would haue the prerogatiue of calling and guiding Synodes to run round by course which order you fansied before in Bishops our answere is easie we looke not what you can inuent after 1500. yeeres to please your owne humours but what maner of ecclesiasticall gouernment the Church of Christ from the Apostles times established and continued by the generall consent of the whole world and that we prooue was not onely in euery Church and diocesse to haue a Bishop chiefe ouer the Presbyters but in euery Prouince to appoint a Mother Church and Citie and the Bishop thereof to haue this honour and dignitie aboue the rest of his brethren that hee might by letters consult or call together the Bishops of his Prouince for any question or cause that touched the faith or peace of the Church and not onely moderate their meetings but execute their decrees and see them perfourmed throughout his Prouince This was the ancient and originall vse of Christes Church long before any Princes professed the trueth and when they began to vse their swordes for the doctrine and Church of Christ then did Synodes serue for the direction of Christian Princes and Metropolitanes had the execution as well of Princes lawes as Synodall decrees committed to their power and care throughout their Prouince This course if you disdaine or dislike you condemne the whole Church of Christ from the first encreasing and spreading thereof on the face of the earth to this present age and preferre your owne wisedome if it be worthie that name and not rather to be accounted selfe loue and singularitie before all the Martyrs Confessors Fathers Princes and Bishops that haue liued gouerned and deceased in the Church of God since the Apostles deaths How well the heigth of your conceites can endure to blemish and reproch so many religious and famous lights of Christendome I knowe not for my part I wish the Church of God in our dayes may haue the grace for pietie and prudencie to follow their steppes and not to make the world beleeue that all the seruaunts of Christ before our times fauoured and furthered the pride of Antichrist till in the endes of the world when the faith and loue of most men are quenched or decaied we came to restore the Church to that perfection of discipline which the Apostles neuer mentioned the auncient Fathers and Councils neuer remembred the vniuersall Church of Christ before vs neuer conceiued nor imagined We want not the witnesse of auncient Fathers and stories that reprooue the ambicious and tyrannous dominion of Metropolitanes and Archbishops Socrates saieth The Bishoprike of Rome as likewise that of Alexandria were long before his time growen frō the bonds of Priesthood vnto worldly dominion Nazianzene not onely lamenteth the mischiefs which follow these diuersities of degrees but heartilie wisheth there were no such thing that men might be discerned onely by their vertues His words are worth the hearing For this presidencie of Bishops all our estatetottereth shaketh for this the endes of the earth are in a ielousie and tumult both sencelesse and namelesse for this we are in danger to be thought to be of men which in deed are of God and to loose that great and newe name Would God there were neither prioritie of seate neither superioritie of place nor violent preheminence that we might be discerned onely by vertue But the right hand and the left and the midst the higher and lower seate the going before and going euen with haue to no purpose done vs much hurt and cast many into the ditch and brought them to be goates and those not onely of the inferiour sort but euen of the shepeheards which being masters in Israel knew not this You may soone find of the auncient Fathers that misliked the contention ambition and pride of many Bishops in the Primitiue Church but any that misliked their calling you cannot finde The sharper they were in reproouing their vices the sounder witnesses they are in allowing their office If either Socrates or Nazianzene had opposed thēselues against the iudgement of the Nicene Council yea against the whole church of Christ before after them their credites would not haue counteruailed the weight of that antiquitie authoritie which the others caried but in deed neither of thē dispraiseth the wisedom of the Council or custome of the church only they taxe the vices of some persons ambitiō of some places which not content with the christian moderation of their predecessors daily augmented their power and their pride by all meanes possible Socrates saith the bishops of Rome and Alexandria were growen beyond the limits of their Episcopal function 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnto power dominion The fault he findeth in that place with Celestinus bishop of Rome was for taking from the Nouatians their churches and compelling their bishop to liue at home like a priuate man But herein Socrates leaned a litle too much in fauour of the Nouatians to mislike more then he sheweth cause why Would God the bishop of Rome had neuer worse offended then in so doing He toucheth Cyrillus bishop of Alexandria with like words for the same cause how iustly let the wise iudge If otherwise either of them aspired aboue the compasse of their calling I am farre from defending any pride in them or in whomsoeuer Nazianzene lighted on very tempestuous troublesom times heresie so raging on the one side discord afflicting the Church on the other that he thought best to leaue all and betake himselfe to a quiet solitarie kind of contemplation Of the councils in his time he saieth I am minded if I must write you the trueth to shunne all assemblies of Bishops because Ineuer sawe a good euent of any Councill that did not rather encrease then diminish our euils Their contention and ambition passeth my speach not that hee condemneth all Councils for what follie had that bene in so wise a man but he noteth the diseases of his time the Church being so rent in pieces vnder Valens that it could not be restored nor reformed in many yeeres after Euen so in the wordes which you alleage he traduceth not the vocation or
such sort that thereby they should serue euen the meanest of their brethren to doe them good and become all things to all men that they might winne some This he caught them that very time not in wordes onely but by deeds also for hauing washed their feete and wiped them drte he saieth vnto them Vnderstand you what I haue done to you you call me Master and Lord and you say well for I am so Then if I your Lord and Master haue washed your feete you ought to wash one an others feete I haue giuen you an example that as I haue done to you you should also doe the liked They should be so farre from striuing who should be greatest that euen the greatest and chiefest should striue to preuent the lowest and meanest with honour and seruice after the example of their Master These texts then conâ—â—â—â—e two speciall doctrines vnto vs. The 〈◊〉 that Apostles and Preachers may not chalenge by vertue of their office any compulsiue dominion or violent iurisdiction ouer their brethren but leaue that to Princes The next the greater our calling is in Christes Church the readier we should te to make our selues euen with those of the lowest degree to gaine them thereby but that Christ intended in those places to giue all sortes of Minister and helpers in his Church equall power and authoritie with his Apostles I am not perswaded and that for these causes What Christ had alreadie giuen or after meant to giue to his Apostles he would neuer crosse with any speach of his The sonne of God cannot repent his fact or alter his mind but the same kingdome that was appointed to him he appointed to them and as his father sent him so sent he them into all the world with a larger warrant from his mouth and greater power and wisedome of his holy spirit to teach all nations what he commanded them and to open all the counsell of God vnto them then was giuen to other teachers and helpers in the Church He therefore neuer recalled nor rebated any part of their Apostolike prehâ—â—nnence aboue others but onely taught them to vse it to Gods glory and the edifying of his Church Againe what Christ had prohibited no Apostle guided by his spirite would euer haue vsed or chalenged but Paul in his writings hath chalengeth and vseth an Apostolicall power and preheminence aboue other Pastours and Teachers in the Church as is alreadie declared It was therefore neuer intended by our Sauiour to make all others equall with his Apostles in the direction and regiment of his Church Lastly if those places did conclude any thing for an equalitie that must bee referred to the Apostles amongst themselues to whom Christ gaue equall power and honour as Cyprian noteth of them The Apostles were endued with like fellowship of honour and power And Ierome All the Apostles receiued the keies of the kingdome of heauen and the strength of the Church is equally grounded on them But Paul speaking of himselfe saieth not that wee haue dominion ouer your fayth but are helpers of your ioy and Peter admonisheth all Pastours to feede the flocke of God not as if they were lordes ouer Christes inheritance but as examples to the flocke Qui vocatur ad Episcopatum faieth Origene non ad Principatum vocatur sedad seruitutem totius Ecclesiae Hee that is called to bee a Bishop is called not to the soueraigntie but to the seruice of the whole Church Episcopi sacerdotes se esse nouerinst non Dominos saieth Ierome Let the Bishops vnderstand they are Priestes not Lordes or Masters And Bernard Forma Apostolica haec est Dominatio interdioitur indicitur ministratio The paterne for the Apostles themselues is this dominion is interdicted a ministration is enitâ—ned These and such like speaches in the Scriptures and fathers doe neither prooue all ministers to haue equall power and honour with the Apostles nor impugne the regiment which the Pastours haue ouer their flocks but as wee 〈◊〉 before by the wordes of our Sauiour they distinguish betweene pastorall and princely regiment and direct both Apostles and Pastours how they shall gouerne The thing so much prohibited by Christ and his Apostles whose wordes the auncient fathers doe follow is that Preachers and Pastours should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 behaue or thinke themselues to be lords and masters ouer their brethren What word is opposed to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Scriptures and wherein consisteth the relation betwixt them if we call to mind we shall not be deceiued in the right sense of these wordes Christ saieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The seruant is not aboue his lord or Master and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no seruant can serue two masters The power of lordes masters ouer their seruants is likewise expressed by our Sauiour The seruant that knoweth his masters will and doeth not according to his will shall bee beaten with many stripes And againe I say to my seruant doe this and he doeth it Yee seruants faieth Paul obey the masters of your flesh in all things for know yee not that his seruaunts you are whom you obey whereby as by infinite other places it is euident that opposite to lord and master are neither children nor brethren but seruants and he is a seruant that is vnder the yoke and bound to obey his masters will euen as he is a lord or master that may commaund his seruant to execute his will or thereto compell him with stripes for that is the right of a lord and master to commaund and punish his seruant that disobeieth What maruell then if Christ forbade his Apostles to bee lordes and masters ouer their brethren that is to commaund them and compell them aâ— their vassals since the beleeuers are no servaunts but brethren and the Pastours no lordes ouer Gods inheritance but fathers vnto the faithfull Whereby the honour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of Christes flocke is not diminished but augmented and the people not licenced the sooner to 〈◊〉 theâ— but thereby required the rather to regard them for 〈…〉 honour due to master or father and who loueth most a seruant or a sonne Amare filiorum timere seruorum est A sonne doeth loue a seruant doeth feare which God expresseth by his Prophet when he â—aith If I be a father where is mine honour If I be a Master where is my feare Wherefore to increase the loue of his sheepe towards their shepeheards Christ would not haue his Apostles to be feared as masters but to be honoured as fathers and consequently Pastours not to force but to feede not to chase but to lead the flocke committed to their charge neither toughly to intreat them as seruants but gently to perswade them as coheires of the same kingdome If at any time they require and commaund they doe it in Gods name as messengers sent to declare his will who
by the Corinthians And because the latter point is of more importance to the matter we haue in hand let that first be examined then after what is meant by deliuering vnto Satan The least we can imagine of these words is that Paul being absent requireth them to put the malefactor out of their societie and to keepe no company with him For that rule he giueth touching all notorious offendours in the same Chapter If any man that is called a brother be a fornicatour or couetous person or an Idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such a one eate not As else-where he charged the faithfull to withdrawe themselues from euery brother that walked disorderly and not after the instruction which he gaue them And if any man saith he obey not our wordes keepe no company with him that he may be ashamed If the Apostle did but this that is require them because he was not present to remooue that incestuous person from their fellowship this sheweth he had authoritie ouer them after that sort in Christes name to command them but the wordes which he vseth are farre more forcible Reproouing their negligence for not doing what in them lay to put that offendour from among them he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I haue already decreed or determined as if I were present by the power of our Lord Iesus Christ to deliuer this wicked one to Satan He asketh not their consents he prayeth not their ayde he referreth not the matter to their liking he sayeth I haue already decreed afore he wrote and afore they read that part of his Epistle What to doe To ioyne with them in deliuering the Trespassour to Satan No I haue already decreed to deliuer this sinner vnto Satan By what meanes By the power of our Lorde Iesus Christ. Then for ought that wee yet finde in this place the Apostle though absent decreed as present to do the deed himselfe and that by the power might of our Lord Iesus Christ not by the consent or helpe of the Corinthians But their assembling thēselues was required withall For he saith When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Iesus and my spirit with you The Apostle would then doe it when the whole Church might beholde it and be afraide of the like And though hee were absent in bodie yet shoulde they finde the force of his Spirite present euen the might and power of the Lorde Iesus to deliuer that hainous sinner vnto Satan Nowe howe should the power might of Christ be shewed in excluding a man from the word and sacraments Pronouncing a few words is sufficient for that matter Which maketh me to be of Chrysostomes minde that he was deliuered vnto Satan vt eum percelleret vulnere malo aut morbo aliquo to strike him with some greeuous plague or disease This power in the Apostles was neither strange nor rare Whē Ananias and his wife lied vnto Peter and thereby would try whether the holie Ghost in Peter knew the secrets of their doings Peter strake them both dead with the very breath of his mouth I meane with the sound of his words When Elymas the sorcerer resisted the preaching of the trueth and sought to turne away Sergius Paulus from beleeuing the same immediatly the hand of the Lord was vpon him at Paules worde and tooke his eie sight from him That which the Apostle saide of himselfe wee haue vengeance in readinesse against all disobedience and euen his wordes next before the rebuking and punishing of this incestuous person shal I come vnto you with a rodde or in the spirite of mildnes and If I come againe I will not spare This rodde This vengeance This not sparing importe they no more then a plaine remoouing them that sinned from the fellowship of others or as the words lie had Saint Paul the mightie power of Gods Spirite to reuenge the disobedient and to chastice the disordered The tokens saith he of an Apostle were wrought among you with signes and wonders and great workes or mightie powers And when some of them abused the Lordes supper for this cause saith he many are weake and sicke among you and many be dead or sleepe Whereby it is euident that in the Apostles times when as yet there were no Christian Magistrates to correct and punish the disorders of such as professed the Gospell the hand of God sometimes by himselfe sometimes by the Apostles did afflict and scourge the wicked and irrepentant sinners that thereby they might learne not to detaine the trueth of God in vnrighteousnes and the rest feare to prouoke his wrath with the like vncleannes And this is no such new found or vaine exposition that it should be scorned Not only Chrysostome but Ierome Ambrose Theodoret Oecumenius Theophilact diuers others embrace it as most coherent with the Text. Ierome saith To deliuer him vnto Satan for the destruction of the flesh vt arripiendi illum corporaliter habeat potestatem That the diuel may haue power corporally to possesse him or afflict him Ambrose saith This is the deliuering vnto Satan when the Apostle pronounceth the sentence the diuell which is readie to take into his power those that are forsaken of God hearing the sentence seazeth on them forthwith to let them vnderstand they are therefore tormented because they haue blasphemed Theodoret. Paul sheweth that the Lord pronounceth sentence and deliuereth him to the tormenter and appointeth how farre he shall proceede to chastise the body onely By this place we are taught that the diuell inuadeth them that are seuered from the body of the Church as finding them destitute of grace The Commentaries collected by Oecumenius For the destruction of the flesh Hee appointeth limits vnto Satan that he should touch the body only and not the soule And he wel saieth for the destruction of the flesh that is to waste him or pine him with some sickenesse Theophilact For the destruction of the flesh He doeth restraine the diuel to certaine bounds euen as he was restrained in holie Iob to touch the body onely and not the soule If we scanne the circumstances I see no cause why this exposition should be reiected That he was excommunicated I make no doubt these words of Saint Paul lead me so to thinke You haue not rather sorrowed that he which hath doone this lewd fact might bee put from among you Purge out therefore the olde leauen Put away from among you that wicked man For his excommunication these words had beene sufficient there needed no further nor other circumstances but because the fact was heinous and horrible and such as the very heathen abhorred and therefore tended to the great slander and reproch of Christs name the Apostle not content as I take it to haue him onely remooued from the company of the godly addeth that hee had already decreed to make him
to doe must needes bee theirs you must free them from both or leaue both vnto them If it shall be required at their hands they may not be forced by others if none can excuse them none may compell them We may plainely perceiue as well by their calling which they haue from God as by the account they shall yeeld vnto God that the deliuering or with-holding the Sacraments is in the Pastours power and charge and not in theirs which haue neither vocation nor commission to meddle with the word or Sacraments No small punishment saieth Chrysostome to those that ministred the Communion hangeth ouer you if knowing any man to be wicked you suffer him to be partaker of this Table His blood shall be required at your hands If he be a Captaine a Consul or a crowned king that commeth vnworthily forbid him and keepe him off thy power is greater then his If any such get to the Table reiect him without feare If thou darest not remooue him tell it me I will not suffer it I wil yeeld my life rather then the Lords body to any vnwoorthy person and suffer my bloud to be shed before I will graunt that sacred blood to any but to him that is woorthie Againe it cannot be doubted but the moderation of the keies and imposition of hands were at first setled in the Apostles and exercised by them as I haue already made proofe by the Scriptures and neither the people nor laie-Elders succeed the Apostles but onely the Pastours and ministers of the worde and Sacraments They can haue no part of the Apostolike commission that haue no shew of Apostolike succession They must looke not onely what they chalenge but also from whom they deriue it if from the Apostles then are they their successours if from Christ as Colleagues ioyned with the Apostles wee must finde that consociation in the Gospell before wee cleare them from intrusion No man should take this honour vnto himselfe but he that is called of God as the Apostles were If they be called by Christ read their assignation from Christ if they bee not surcease that presumption But in deede how should they bee called to denie the Sacramentes that are not licenced to deuide the Sacramentes or what right haue they to staie the seale that haue no power to affixe the seale The worde of God is sealed by his Sacramentes and whom he hath sent to denounce the one those hath hee chosen to annexe the other If in preaching the word laie-men were no publique parteners with the Apostles in directing the Sacraments which are the seales of the Gospell they could not bee linked with the Apostles They must be trusted with both or with neither And so are Pastours receiuing by succession the power and charge both of the word and Sacramentes from and in the first Apostles and messengers of Christ. The Elders that are among you I exhort saieth Peter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Co-elder with you feede yee the flocke of God committed to you Pastours then which feede the flocke haue coparcinerie with the Apostles Laie-men haue not and consequently the power and right granted by Christ to his Apostles and their successours may not be chalenged or communicated to them that haue no fellowship with the Apostolike function God forbidde saieth Ierome that I should speake any euill of those who succeeding the Apostolike degree make the body of Christ with their sacred mouth by whome we become Christians who hauing the keies of the kingdome of heauen in sort iudge before the day of iudgement A monke hath one calling a Clergie man another Clergie men feede the flocke I am fed It is not lawfull for me to sit before a Priest he may if I sinne deliuer mee to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirite may be saued With imposing of hands it may be the people had nothing to doe but the electing of Pastours when they came once to bee chosen pertained chieflie wholie to them as the storie of the primitiue Church declareth and so the retaining and remitting of sinnes the multitude might not chalenge but with casting notorious and scandalous offenders out of their company the whole Church did intermeddle as appeareth by Pauls wordes written to the Church and not to the Pastours or Elders of Corinth I come not yet to the maner of electing Pastours vsed in the primitiue Church when prophesie failed and the miraculous gifts of the spirite ceased I reserue it as time and order lead me to the next age after the Apostles but with the Apostles as there was no cause the people should so is there no proofe they did concurre in choosing their Pastours for the people might not appoint on whom the holy Ghost should bestow his gifts that were to tie Gods graces to their pleasures but if they were to choose they must elect such as were meete and able which then were none vntill by the Apostles handes they had receiued the wonderfull and extraordinarie giftes of the spirite to prepare and fit them for the care and charge of the Churches where the holie Ghost would make them ouerseers Against this if any thing can be obiected out of the Scriptures I would gladly heare it as yet I finde there neither example of it nor reason for it The election of the seuen Deacons is the onely precedent that can bee found in the word and that conuinceth vtterly nothing for the choice of Pastours With money matters not onely at Ierusalem but in all places the Apostles refused to meddle auoiding thereby all occasion of sinister reports and suspicion that they did any way increase or regard their priuate gaine and for that cause Paul would not so much as carrie the beneuolence of the Gentiles to the poore saints at Ierusalem without some specially trusted and chosen by the Churches to see it faithfully done All seeke their owne and not that which is Christes had poisoned so many thinking gaine to be godlinesse that Paul to cleare himselfe of that suspicion and to shew that he sought them and not theirs did not vse the power he might in liuing on the Gospell where he preached the Gospell but his owne hands ministred to his necessities And for the same reason the Apostles at Ierusalem would not haue the goods and lands of the disciples passe through their hands but to be dispensed by some such as the people liked and named to that purpose Now for choosing of Pastours or rather making them fit to be Pastours which before were not fitte the people had litle to say and lesse to doe but the holy Ghost directed the Apostles by prophesie or otherwise on whom hee would bestow his giftes and they should lay their handes in which case I cannot so much as imagine how or why the people should ioyne with the spirite of God to powre his heauenly giftes on such as hee furnished for the
accipiat satisfactionis suae modum Let him come to the Presidents by whom the keies are ministred vnto him in the Church and receiue of them that haue the ouersight of the Sacraments the maner of his satisfaction It seemed vnpossible that by repentance sinnes should be remitted saith Ambrose but Christ graÌ„ted this to his Apostles from the Apostles it descended to the Priests function Loe saith Gregory the Apostles which feared the district iudgement of God are made iudges of soules Their places now in the Church the Bishops keepe They haue authoritie to bind loose that are called to that degree of regiment A great honour but a great burden followeth this honour Let the Pastour of the Church feare vndiscretely to binde or loose but whether the Pastour binde iustly or vniustly the Pastours sentence is to be feared of the flocke The Councils generall prouinciall reserue both excommunication and reconciliation to the iudgement conscience of the Pastout Bishop and by no means impart either of them to the people or laie-Elders The great Council of Nice Touching such as are put from the Communion whether they be Clergie men or Laie by the Bishops in euery place let this rule be kept according to the Canon that they which be reiected by some be not receiued by others but let it be carefully examined that they be not cast out of the church by the weaknes waspishnes frowardnes or rashnes of the bishop And y â— this matter may the better be enquired of we like it wel y â— twise euery yere there should be kept a Synode in euery Prouince y â— all the Bb. of the Prouince meeting together may examine those matters such as haue cleerly offended their bishop let theÌ„ be held iustly excoÌ„municat by all vntil it shall seeme good to the bishops in coÌ„mon to giue an easier iudgement of them This was the ancient and vniuersall rule of Christes Church for the Pastour or Bishop to haue the power of the keyes to admit and remooue from the Sacraments such as deserued it and for the examination and moderation of their doings neither people nor laie-Presbyters were ioyned with them but a Synode of Bishops in the same Prouince euerie halfe yeere heard the matter when any found himselfe grieued with the censure of his Bishop and they according to the right of the cause were to reuerse or ratifie the former iudgement yea the Bishop had power at the time of death or otherwise vpon the vnfained repentance of the partie to mitigate the rigour of the Canons as appeareth in the 12. and 13. of the same Councill It shall be lawfull for the Bishop to deale more gently with them And againe generally for euery excommunicate person that is readie to depart this life and desireth to bee partaker of the Eucharist let the Bishop vpon triall giue him the Communion And so the generall Councill of Chalcedon We determine the Bishop of the place shall haue power to deale more fauourablie with such as by the Canons should stand excommunicate The Councill of Antioch If any be depriued the Communion by his owne Bishop let him not be admitted to the Communion by others afore he appeare and make his defence at the next Synode and obtaine from them another iudgement except his owne Bishop or Dioecesan bee content to receiue him This rule to be kept touching laie-men Priests Deacons and all others within the compasse of the Canon The Councill of Sardica If a Bishop be ouer caried with anger which ought not to be in such a man and hastily mooued against a Priest or Deacon wil cast him out of the church we must prouide that he be not condemned wheÌ„ he is innocent nor depriued the Communion And the Bishop that hath put him from the Communion must be content that the matter bee heard that his sentence may be confirmed or corrected But before the perfect exact hearing looking into the cause hee that is excommunicated may not chalenge the Communion The third Councill of Carthage Let the times of repentance be appointed by the discretion of the Bishops vnto y â— Penâ—ents according to the difference of their sinnes And that no Presbyter reconcile a penitent without the liking of the Bishop vnlesse necessitie force in the absence of the Bishop And if the fault be publike blazed abroad and offend the whole Church let hands be imposed on him before the railes or Arch which seuereth the people from the ministers Concerning those which worthily for their offences are cast out of the assemblie of the Church Augustine then Legate for Numidia sayd May it please you to decree that if any bishop or Presbyter receiue them to the Communion which are worthily throwen out of the Church for crimes committed he himselfe shall be subiect to the same chalenge that they were declining the lawful sentence of their owne bishop Sozomene declaring after what penitentiall maner the excommunicate persons in the Primitiue Church stood in an open place whence the whole assemblie might see them addeth that in this sorte euery one of them abideth the time how long soeuer which the bishop hath appointed him A thousand other places might bee noted both in Fathers and Councils to shewe that from the Apostles to this day no late person was euer admitted in the Church of Christ to ioyne with the Pastours and Bishops in the publike vse of the keies and therefore the fathers haue exceeding wrong to be made fauourers and vpholders of the late discipline and laie Presbyterie Cyprian confesseth the people consented and concurred with him in the receiuing of Schismatikes such lewd offenders to the church and Communion vpon repentance His words to Cornelius be these O if you might be present here with vs when peruerse persons returne from their schisme you should see what labour I haue to perswade patience to our brethren that suppressing their griefe of heart they would consent to the receiuing and curing of these euil members I hardly perswade the people yea I am forced to wrest it froÌ„ them before they wil suffer such to be admitted It is an easie matter to make some shewe of contradiction in the writings of the ancient fathers diuers occasions leading them to speake diuerslie but it will neuer be prooued they thought it lawfull for Laie men to chalenge the publike vse of the keyes in the Church of Christ. The causes of excommunication and times of repentance were wholie referred to the iudgement of such as had the chiefest charge of the worde and Sacramentes as wee mayperceiue by the former authorities yet in notorious and scandalous offenses when the whole Church was grieued or when a schisme was feared the godlie fathers did both in remoouing and reconciling of such persons â—taie for the liking and approbation of the whole people to concurre with them not to warrant or confirme the sentence that
he had required them to remooue that euill one from themselues in not allowing consenting or fauouring so wicked a fact in their hearts Take which you will I stand indifferent howbeit by the wordes of his second Epistle it should seeme he spake not to the whole Church of Corinth but to the leaders and teachers there when he willed them to remooue that wicked one from amongst themselues For this he writeth of the very same person Sufficient for this offendor is the punishment or reproofe that proceeded from many not from all Wherfore I pray you confirme your loue towards him For this cause also did I write that I might see the proofe of you whether you would be obedient in all things So that in excommunicating the incestuous sinner Paul asked not their consents but tryed their obedience and they with all care and zeale shewed themselues ready to execute his precept At least yet the Presbyterie ioyned with the Apostle in excommunicating that malefactour and of this Presbyterie the Lay Elders were no small part so that by this precedent of the Apostolike discipline the Pastours cannot exclude any men from the Sacraments without the liking of the Lay Elders and Presbyters What the Presbyterie might doe cannot well be resolued vntill it be first agreed of what persons this Presbyterie consisted Some thinke certaine skilfull and discreete men as well of the Laitie as of the Cleargie were appointed by the common choice of the people to deliberate and determine of manners and all other matters pertaining to the regiment of the Church and that by their aduise and consent as it were by the decree of an Ecclesiasticall Senate the power of the keyes was directed and handes imposed For this assertion they shewe the witnesse both of Scriptures and Fathers so cleare as they suppose that they cannot be auoyded Some others confesse there was a kinde of Presbyterie in the Apostles times and long after in many Churches but thence they exclude all Lay persons as no partes thereof and account in that number none but such as had charge of the worde and Sacraments and ioyntly labored the conuerting of vnbeleeuers to the faith and preseruing of the Church in trueth and godlines Which of these two positions is the sounder in processe will appeare CHAP. X. What the Presbyterie was which the Apostles mention in their writings and whether any Lay Elders were of that number or no. IT is not to be doubted that in the Apostles time euery citie where the Gospell was receiued had many Prophets Pastours and Teachers not only traueling to and fro to exhort and confirme the brethren but abiding and persisting in the same place all labouring to encrease the number of the Church and continue the faithful in their profession At Ierusalem fifteene yeeres after Christes ascention were Apostles and Elders At Antioch in the Church were Prophets Teachers Barnabas Simeon Lucius Manehen and Saul besides Marke and others In Rome when Paul wrate thither were many approued Labourers and helpers in Christ whom he knew before besides such as the citie it selfe yeelded of whome hee had then no such experience and therefore passeth them ouer vnsaluted by name as men vnknowen After when hee came thither he sheweth who were his worke fellowes vnto the king dome of God to the Church of Corinth he saith Let the Prophets speake two or three and the restiudge Being â—t Miletum he sent for the Elders of Ephesus whome the holie Ghost had set to watch and feede the Church of God He writeth to the Saints at Philippi together with the Bishops and Deacons S. Iames saieth to the Iewes dispersed If any be sicke let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray ouer him nothing there were in euery Church not one but many Elders whose office it was to pray ouer the sicke relcase their sinnes and ease their infirmities This number of Teachers and Helpers in the Gospel was not superfluous but very requisite in those daies by reason they were forced to exhort and admonish as well priuatly throughout euery house as openly when the Church was assembled for feare of seducers that secretly crept into houses leading away women loden with sinnes and subuerted whole houses teaching things they ought not for filthy lucres sake and also for that they were daily to win those to Christ that yet beleeued not In which case they were to refrain no place nor slack no time to make Christ knowen to euery particular person and house that was ignorant of him And to this end they needed more aide then otherwise to guide and direct the Church at such times as the Saints mette together Neither ceased this necessitie with the Apostles it dured manie hundred yeers after them which was the cause that in euery great citie the Pastors and Bishops had many Ministers helpers ioyned with them to labour the conuersion of miscreants to strengthen and encourage the Martyrs and Confessours that suffered by thousands for the name of Christ to visite the sicke and comfort them in their extremities to cate chise the Nouices to attend the seruice and Sacraments of the Church to examine the faith and suruey the behauiour of all that repaired to the Lordes Table and to performe a number of such sacred duties which for one Pastor or Bishop alone to do in so populous cities and assemblies as they had was vtterly impossible A Presbyterie then of Prophets Pastors and Teachers the Apostles in their times had and vsed in euery Citie where they planted the Faith and setled the Church but that lay Gouernours or Elders were part of that Presbyterie concurred ioyntly with the Pastors Prophets in imposing hands exercising the power of y t keys censuring both doctrine maners I find no such thing commaÌ„ded or warranted by the Scriptures the patrons of y t Lay Presbyterie must vndertake the burden to proue their assertion The very foundation of the Lay Presbytery so strongly conceiued eagerly pursued by men in our dayes is the place of S. Paul 1. Tim. 5. The Elders that rule well are worthie of double honor chiefly they that labor in the word doctrine Hence it is resolutely inferred ergo there were some Elders that labored not in the word and docrine and those by comparison of other places are supposed to be Gouernours which office Paul nameth amongest the spirituall functions of the Church when he saieth Hee that ruleth let him do it with diligence It is a matter of nosmal weight to giue Lay men power in euery parish to impose handes and vse the keyes yea to haue the full and whole gouernement of the Church aboue and against the Pastours by number of voyces if they differ in iudgement and therefore the ground that shall beare the frame of the Lay Presbyterie had neede be sure especially when it is vrged as a
part of Christs spiritual kingdom without the which no Church can be Christes no more then it may without the trueth of his doctrine But whether the wordes of Saint Paul 1. Timoth. 5. inferre any such thing or no this is the matter wee haue now in hand Some learned and late writers do so conceiue of that place for my parte I see so many iust and good reasons against their supposall that I can not yeelde to their iudgement The first reason I haue of the weakenes of this place to vpholde the Lay Presbyterie is that many learned and ancient Fathers haue debated and sifted the force of these wordes and not one of them euer so much as surmised any such thing to be contained in this Text. Chrysostome Ierome Ambrose Theodoret Primasius Oecumenius Theophilact and diuers others haue considered and expounded these wordes and neuer dreamed of anie Lay Presbyterie to be mentioned in them If then the wordes of Saint Paul stand faire and cleere without this late deuise as in the iudgement of these learned and ancient Writers they doe What reason after fifteene hundred yeeres to entertaine a newe platforme of gouerning the Church by Lay men vpon a bare conceit that the words of Saint Paul may sound to that effect as some imagine The second reason of my dissenting is for that Saint Paul naming the Presbyterie but once in al his Epistles excludeth al Lay Elders from that Presbyterie Neglect not the grace which is in thee which was giuen thee by Prophesie with the imposition of hands of the Presbyterie This is the onely place in all the Scriptures where the Presbyterie is namely mentioned and Lay Elders are most plainely remooued hence as no parte of this Presbyterie For this Christian Presbyterie gaue imposition of haÌ„ds to ordaine Ministers but Lay-Elders had no right to impose hands to that purpose Ergo. Lay men were no part of this Presbyterie That imposition of hands to make Ministers is a kinde of Sacrament and reserued solely to Pastours if Saint Austens authoritie were not sufficient Caluins confession is very euidâ—nt which I noted before They must be Ministers of the worde and Sacraments and succeede the Apostles in their Pastorall charge and function that must ordaine others by imposing handes and giue them power and grace to dispence both the word and Sacraments This Lay Elders in the Apostles times neither did nor might do they were therefore no part of that Presbyterie which Saint Paul speaketh of in his writings Must we take the worde not for the Colledge of Elders but for the degree and office which Timothie receiued Neither so is the force of my reason auoided For choose which you wil to be the signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 either collectiue for the whole coÌ„panie of Elders or distributiue for the degree office of euery Elder if collectiue none could be of that Colledge that might not giue imposition of hands if distributiue none might take that function and calling on him but must receiue imposition of handes as Timothie did Then Lay men which neither did giue nor receiue impositioÌ„ of hands are barred both from the degree and from the societie of Presbyterie which was in Saint Pauls time Beza thinketh best to take it for a nowne collectiue and addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est ordinis Presbyterorum quo nomine coetus ille omnis significatur qui in verbo laborabant in ea ecclesia vbi hoc factum est The Presbyterie that is the order or company of Elders by which name the whole company is signified that laboured in the word in that Church where this was done Then the whole Eldership or company of Elders in S. Pauls time labored in the word Where now were the Lay Elders that laboured not in the worde What Presbyterie were they of Had euerie Church two Presbyteries I trust not This whole Presbyterie consisted of Pastours and Teachers An other Colledge of Lay Elders and no Pastours will neuer be found My third reason is for that the Text it selfe doth clearely refuse the sense which they inforce For as they conclude there were ergo some Elders that did not labour in the word and doctrine and yet gouerned well so the wordes are more euident that they all were worthie of double honour whether they laboured or gouerned Which by Saint Paules proofes presently following and by the consent of all old and new Writers is meant of their maintenance at the charges of the Church Honour in this place saith Chry sostome Paul calleth reuerence and allowance of thinges needefull Paul will haue the rest yeelde carnall thinges to them of whome they receiue spirituall because being occupied in teaching they can not prouide thinges needefull for themselues Good faithfull Stewards saith Ambrose ought to be thought worthie not onely of high but of earthly honour that they bee not grieued for lacke of maintenance Paul willeth maintenance to be chiefly yeelded to the Pastours that are occupied in teaching For such is the ingratitude of the world that take small care for nourishing the Ministers of the worde As the poore so the Elders seruing the whole Church are to be mainteined by the goods of the Church Paul mentioning the Church treasure presently exhorteth the Ministers of the Church to be thence maintained By the name of honour is signified al godly duty and reliefe after the vse of the Hebrewe speach Now that Lay Iudges and Censors of maners were in the Apostles time found at the expenses of the Church or by Gods Law ought to haue their maintenance at the peoples hands is a thing to me so strange and vnheard of that vntil I see it iustly proued I can not possibly beleeue it S. Paul hath laied downe this rule They that serue at the Altar should be partakers of the Altar and by Gods ordinance they that preach the Gospell must liue of the Gospell Where shall we finde the like for the Lay Iudges that laboured not in the worde They were if any such were as the sagest so euery way the sufficientest men that were amongest the people for feare of faction contempt and corruption which easily grow when the weaker and baser rule ouer the richer and better sort If the Apostle will not haue the poore widowes so long as they might otherwise be succoured or employed grieue the Church would he then put the burden of the Lay Iudges and Elders in number many in state able to relieue others on the necks of the meaner and poorer brethren there is neither cause nor commandement in the word so to charge the Churches of Christ with maintaining the Lay Senate which yet must be done before this construction can be admitted The fourth reason that holdeth me from receiuing this construction is that I find diuers and sundrie interpretations more agreeable to the Text and more answerable to S. Pauls meaning then this which is
ashamed to say I could easilie presume I can not easilie prooue what they were The maner and order of those wonderfull giftes of Gods spirite after so many hundreds may be coniectured cannot be demonstrated Why should they not bee laie-Elders or Iudges of maners Because I finde no such any where els mentioned and here none prooued Gouernours there were or rather Gouernements for so the Apostle speaketh that is giftes of wisedome discretion and iudgement to direct and gouerne the whole Church and euery particular member thereof in the manifold dangers and distresses which those dayes did not want Gouernours also they might bee called that were appointed in euery congregation to heare and appease the priuate strifes and quarels that grew betwixt man and man least the Christians to the shame of themselues and slaunder of the Gospell should pursue each other for things of this life before the Magistrates who then were infidels Of these S. Paul speaketh 1. Cor. 6. Dare any of you hauing matters one against another seeke for iudgement before the vniust and not before the Saints If you haue any quarels for things of this life appoint the worst in the Church to be your Iudges I speake this to your shame Is there neuer a wise man amongst you that can looke into his brothers cause but brother goeth to lawe with brother and that before Infidels These Gouernours and moderators of their brethrens quarels and contentions I finde others I finde not in the Apostolike writings but such as withall were watchmen and feeders of the flocke None fitter then those Gouernours which you last named to restraine the vnrulie and chastise the vngodly for they censured the misbehauiors and disorders of men against men and why not likewise the sinnes and offences committed against God These Gouernours had neither authoritie necessitie nor perpetuitie in the Church of God Rather then the Christians should eagerly pursue one another before Pagans and by their priuate brabbles cause the vnbeleeuers to deride and detest the doctrine of Christ the Apostle willeth them to suffer wrong o◠els to referre the hearing and ending of their griefes to some wise and discreet arbiters within the Church but he giueth those iudges no leaue to chalenge the determining of other mens matters nor power to commaund or punish the disobeier that were to erect magistrates in the Church and to giue them the sword euen in temporall and ciuill causes which the Apostle neither did nor could warrant Besides in Christian common wealthes where there can bee no doubt of despising or scorning the Gospel for going to lawe those iudges must cease since there is no cause to decline the Tribunals of beleeuing Princes to whom the preseruing of all mens rights and punishing of all mens iniuries and enormities doeth by Gods lawe generally and wholy appertaine If these were the laie-Presbyters and Gouernours which you so much stand on they must giue place to the magistrates sword where the state vpholdeth the Christian fayth as in England it doeth and God graunt it long may Thinke ye that Pastours and Prophets in the Apostles times were hindered from their callings combred with examinations of parties principall exceptions and depositions of witnesses and such like Consistorie courses as were needfull for the triall of the trueth when any man accused How far better is it to refer these things to the hearing of certain graue good men chosen frō amongst the Laitie rather then to busie ouerload the Preachers labourers in the word with those tedious and superfluous toiles The Iudiciarie paines in the Apostles time were not great nor the processe long They medled with no matters but with so notorious that they scandalized the Church and infamed the doctrine of our Sauiour with Infidels and in those cases where euery man could speake the proofe was soone made Againe the Prophets and Pastors in those daies had the gifts of discerning spirits and knowing secrets so that malefactors were soone discouered and conuinced if the case were doubtfull S. Paul is a witnesse that to know secrets was then incident to the gift of prophesie If you all prophesie and there come in one that beleeueth not hee is rebuked of all men and iudged of all men and so are the secretes of his heart made manifest and hee will fall downe on his face and worship God and say plainly that God is in you in deed A litle before he ioineth them both together Though I had prophesie and knew all secrets To reueale things hid and foresee things to come were then annexed to the gift of prophesie not generally and perpetually but when and where the necessitie of the Church or Gods glory required it should be so Thirdly the Apostle hath plainely committed the receiuing of accusations euen against Elders and open rebuking of such as sinned vnto Timothie and he in sight was no laie man What warrant haue you then to take that from Pastours and Teachers as a burden to their calling which Paul chargeth them with and to giue it to laie Elders vpon pretence of some better policie as if the spirit of God in Paul had missed his marke in establishing the worst way to gouerne the Church That Pastours must iudicially examine and rebuke such as sinne we prooue by the euident wordes of S. Paul shew you the like for laie Elders and wee will quietly resigne you the cause Lastly since the power of the keyes and ouersight of the Sacraments did and doe clearely belong to Pastours and not is laie Elders I see not how laie men that are no magistrates may chalenge to intermeddle with the Pastours function or ouer-rule them in their owne charge without manifest and violent intrusion on other mens callings against the word and will of Christ who gaue his Apostles the holy Ghost to remit and retaine sinnes and so ioyned the word and Sacraments together that he which may not deuide the one may not dispose the other and so both word and Sacraments must pertaine to laie Elders or neither I call no man Laie in contempt or derogation either of his gifts or of that state in which I know the Church of God hath alwayes had and hath many graue and woorthie men fit for their wisedome and grauitie to be are as great or greater charge then clergie men I vse that name for distinction sake which I find in the best 〈◊〉 ancient writers for such as were not by their calling dedicated and deuoted to the publike seruice and ministerie of the Church in the word and Sacraments notwithstanding they were and bee the people of God and his inheritance euen a chosen generation and royall Priesthood by the inward sanctification of the holie Ghost to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Iesus Christ. And so the learned know the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence Laie is deriued importeth euen the Lords peculiar people which distinction of
standeth good that they retained it to themselues For of their hauing it there is no doubt of their committing it to the Presbyters of euery Church there is no proofe And therefore the Fathers doe vtterlie denie that the Apostles deliuered that power to any but to Bishops Their proofes be stronger then you take them for howsoeuer you will shift them There were Presbyters at Ephesus besides Timothie and in Creete besides Tite and yet Paul left the one at Ephesus to impose handes and the other in Creete to ordaine Presbyters in euerie Citie If without them the Presbyters of either place might haue doone it superfluous was both Paules charge they should do it and direction how they should do it But his committing that power and care to them prooueth in the iudgement of the ancient Fathers that the Presbyters without them coulde not doe it Euangelists you say they were and not Bishops Admit they were Then as yet neither Ephesus nor Creete had anie that might impose hands and yet had they Presbyters And consequently this power to impose handes was at that time reserued from the Presbyters to the Apostles and their deputies Saint Paul saieth most apparantly the Presbyterie might impose hands for Timothie receiued from them imposition of handes I haue tolde you alreadie that take the worde how you will you can prooue no such thing thence If it signifie there the degree of a Presbyter which Timothie then receiued as Ierome expoundeth the place it commeth nothing neere your purpose If you take it for the assemblie then gathered when Timothie was ordained Chrysostome telleth you they were more then Presbyters for otherwise they could not lay hands on Timothie to make him a Bishop Chrysostome you thinke erred in not expounding the place as you doe Then giue Saint Paul leaue to tell you that hee was present in the Presbyterie when Timothie was ordained and that he imposed hands on Timothie But this I haue handled before to which I referre you I onely nowe put you in minde that place will be are no such conclusion And as the Apostles reserued imposition of handes from the Presbyters to themselues so did they keepe the deliuering of offendours vnto Satan in their owne power If any obey not our sayings note him by a letter saith Paul and keepe no company with him To what ende should they note him by a letter vnto Paul vnlesse Paul had reserued the punishing of such offendours vnto himselfe Shall I come vnto you with a rodde or in the spirite of meekenesse If I come againe I will not spare such as haue heeretofore sinned and not repented I trust this be plaine enough to prooue that the Apostles kept the punishing of sinnes to themselues and referred them not ouer to the Presbyters The Apostles hauing of this power doth not exclude the Presbyters from hauing the same for at Corinth Paul not onely willeth the Church to excommunicate that incestuous sinner but rebuketh them for not doing it before he wrate Paul doth not reprooue them for not deliuering that sinner vnto Satan but for not sorrowing that he might haue beene put from among them Had they written of this notorious offence when they wrate of other things to the Apostle that he might haue considered of the offendours punishement they had doone their dueties they could maintaine factions and swell one against another through pride of their gifts but they did not sorrow to see so grieuous a crime committed and continued in the eyes both of beleeuers and Infidels nor so much as signifie the same by their letters as desiring to haue such a one excluded from their Christian fellowship This the Apostle chargeth them with hee goeth no further They shoulde haue noted him by a letter vnto Paul and kept no companie with him til the Apostle had decreed what to do with him All this doeth you no good for the Apostles neither were nor could be Bishops I am sure all the Fathers with one mouth affirme the Apostles both might be and were Bishops Cyprian Apostolos idest Episcopos Dominus elegit The Lord himselfe chose the Apostles that is the Bishops Apostoli Episcopi sunt The Apostles are Bishops saieth Ambrose Romae fuerunt primi Petrus Paulus Apostoli ijdem ac Episcopi At Rome the first were Peter and Paul both Apostles and Bishops saieth Epiphanius Iames saieth Chrysostome had the office of a Bishop at Ierusalem And so Eusebius Iames was the first that after the ascention of our Sauiour had the Episcopall seate at Ierusalem Ierome himselfe that is thought to speake much against the state of Bishops saith Peter after the Bishopâ—ike of Antioch helde the Sacerdotall chayre at Rome And againe Iames called the Lordes brother after the Lordes passion was straight ordained Bishop of Ierusalem by the Apostles Theodoret. Paul sheweth plainely that Epaphroditus had the Episcopall function committed to him by calling him an Apostle What neede wee more I remembred you before Peter himselfe calleth the Apostleship a Bishopship And why not if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be to ouersee the Lords flocke who better deserued that name then the Apostles They were more then Bishops So were they more then Presbyters and yet Saint Peter coulde tell howe to speake when hee called himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Presbyter as well as others Bishops are ouerseers but of one place Apostles of many Bishops were fastened to one place not by the force of their name but by the order of the holie Ghost who sent Apostles to ouersee manie places and settled Pastours to ouersee one but hee that is ouerseer of twentie Cities is ouerseer of euerie one And therefore the Apostles were Bishops and more then Bishops euen as Iohn was more then a Prophet and yet a Prophet Confound you their offices I keepe them distinct in that I say euerie Apostle was a Prophet a Bishop and a Presbyter but not euerie Presbyter Bishop or Prophet was an Apostle They were all the Ministers of Christ feeders of his flocke and stewardes of his mysteries but the Apostles in a greater measure of grace higher manner of calling and mightier force of Gods Spirite then the rest And whatsoeuer becommeth of the names it can not be denyed but the Apostles had that power of imposing handes and deliuering vnto Sathan which they after imparted vnto Bishops And therefore whiles they remayned in or neere the places where they planted Churches there was no such need of Bishops the Apostles alwayes supplying the wantes of those Churches with their presence Letters or Messengers as the cause required But when they were finally to forgoe those parts then began they to prouide for the necessitie and securitie of the Churches and left such fitte men as they had with Episcopall power as their substitutes to guide the Churches which they had founded The second cause why Bishops were not euery where trusted
their owne lusts and turned their eares from the trueth to fables Paul sent Timothie thither to stay these prophane and vaine bablings to commande that they taught no strange doctrine to impose hands on such as were fitte to receiue accusations against sinnefull and vngodly Presbyters and to rebuke them openly according to their deserts to reiect yong and wanton widowes and to see true Labourers in the word honored and cherished and finally to ouersee the whole house of God and euerie part thereof as well Teachers and Presbyters as Deacons widowes and hearers And not onely instructed him how he shoulde behaue himselfe as a Gouernour in the Church but charged him before the liuing God and his elect Angels that hee obserued those things without respecting persons or any inclining to partes Likewise in Creete when many vaine talkers and deceiuers of minds subuerted whole houses and loaded the Church with Iewish fables and commaundements of men Paul left Tite there to redresse things amisse to stop their mouthes that taught things which they ought not for filthie lucres sake to stay foolish questions and contentions about the Law to reiect heretikes after one or two admonitions and sharply to rebuke with all authoritie not suffering any man to despise him as also to ordaine good and religious Presbyters and Bishops in euerie Citie that shoulde be able to exhort with wholsome doctrine and improoue gainesayers And here first did Paul by writing expresse that he placed substitutes where need was with Episcopall power and honour to guide and rule the Church of God These examples make nothing to your purpose for first they did none of these things but with the aduise and consent of the Presbyterie which Bishops do not Next they were Euangelists and no Bishops and in that respect might haue this speciall deputation from the Apostle It may bee your learning will serue you to say that Paul left both these to rule the Church in Creete and at Ephesus for a weeke and in their order as the rest of the Presbyters did but such tests if you dare aduenture them will cracke both your cause and your credite Paul belike prayed Timothie to stay at Ephesus to call the Presbyterie together and to aske voyces and to doe iust what pleased the rest to decree but if you elude and frustrate the wordes of the Apostle with such additions not onelie besides but against the Text you can deceiue none saue such as will not beleeue Saint Paul himselfe if hee shoulde speake against the Lay Presbyterie For our partes wee take the wordes as they stand and so did the Catholike Fathers before vs being persuaded that Paul had witte enough to discerue to whome hee shoulde write for the performaunce of these things and not to mistake Timothie for the Presbyterie If Timothie had nothing else to do but to consult what pleased the Presbyters to determine in euerie of these pointes howe childish an ouersight was it for Paul to skip the whole bench of them and to charge and adiure him to see these preceptes inuiolably kept without sparing or fearing anie man For thus you must expound or rather imprison and fetter euerie worde that Paul speaketh in those three Epistles Commaunde with all authoritie receiue not an accusation against a Presbyter but vnder two or three witnesses rebuke them that sinne reiect heretikes after two warnings refuse yoonger widowes staie vaine contentions and vnprofitable questions ordaine Elders in euerie Citie impose handes hastily on no man that is as you interprete call the Presbyterie together and aske them whether they be contented it shall be so or no. And so I adiure and charge thee before God and Christ and the elect Angels that thou obserue these precepts inuiolable and vnblameable that is obserue them if the Presbyterie will consent and agree vnto thee else not But I thinke you dare not stand to these mockeries of the Scriptures and therefore you will rather flie to the second part of your answere that they were authorized to do these things as Euangelists and not as Bishops We expressed so much that they were Euangelists and no Bishops Euangelists you should say and Bishops for when they left following the Apostles and were affixed to certaine places with this power and authoritie which I haue mentioned what els could they bee but Bishops They assisted the Apostles present and supplied their absence and did continue the Churches in that state in which the Apostles left them Nowe if the Apostles in respect of this power and care were Bishops when they staied in any place much more the Euangelists If the same â—idelitie and authoritie be still needful and therefore perpetuall in the Church of God they did these things not by their Euangelisticall calling which is long since ceased but by their Episcopall which yet doeth and must remaine for if this power and preheminence descended from them to their successours it is euident this commission and charge was Episcopal since no part of their Euangelship was deriued to their after-commers We cannot endure to haue them called or counted Bishops In deed if succession of Episcopall power came from the Apostles to them and so to their successours we shall soone conclude that Bishops came from the Apostles and therefore you doe wisely to resist it but by your patience you must endure it the best Stories and Writers of the Primitiue Church doe make them Bishops and likewise Pauls precepts to them the very paternes of Episcopall charge and duetie Timothie saieth Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is by the stories reported to bee the first that tooke the bishoprike of Ephesus as Tite also did of the churches in Creete Ierome whose wordes you strongly presse to prooue there were no Bishops in the Apostles times but such as were equall with Presbyters and not superiours vnto them saieth Timothie was ordained Bishop of Ephesus by blessed Paul and Tite Bishop of Creete preached the Gospell there and in the Islands round about Ambrose Paul by his epistle instructeth Timothie now created a Bishop how he ought to order the Church And so of the other The Apostle had consecrated Tite to be a Bishop and therefore he warneth him to be carefull in ecclesiasticall ordination Chrysostome Paul saieth in his epistle to Timothie Fulfill thy ministerie when he was now a Bishop for that Timothie was a Bishop Paul declareth by his writing thus vnto him Laie hands hastilie on no man And againe which was giuen thee by the imposition of handes of the Presbyterie for by no meanes Presbyters could ordaine a Bishop And shewing how Euangelists might become Bishops he saith Why doeth Paul write onlie to Timothie and Tite where as Silas and Luke were also his Disciples and endewed with marueilous vertues Because hee had nowe deliuered to them the gouernement and charge of the Church the others as
what corruptions are in men as wel as other Consistories Mans lawes wee leaue to such as are skilled in them we would haue our Presbyteries meddle no further then with rebuking and censuring of vice as Gods Law requireth To admonish those that erre reiect thâ—se that persist and rebuke those that sinne are Pastorall and not Presbyteriall dueties by the wordes of S. Paul And he that is Pastour hath both worde and sacraments committed vnto his care within his owne Church Wherefore without their pastour the Presbyters may not iudicially rebuke nor publikely excommunicate any man within his charge They may preach the word and so generally applie it in the pulpit they may dispence the Sacraments and so not deliuer them where they find men impeniâ—ent but personally to conuent them or openlie to seuer them from the fellowship of the church that belongeth to the Pastour and not to the Presbyters Saint Paul committed that power and care to Timothie and his successours not to the Presbyterie of Ephesus The words are plaine Against an Elder receiue thou no accusation but vnder two or three witnesses those that sinne rebuke thou openly that the rest may feare I charge thee before God and the Lorde Iesus and his elect Angels that thou obserue these thinges without proiudice or partialitie that is without oppressing or fauouring any side She withus much for your Presbyteries and bring them in with full faile Paul made Timothie no Monarch at Ephesus to doe all this without the Presbyterie but appointed him to be chiefe in these actions and the Presbyters to ioyne with him Much lesse did Paul make him a voice-asker to knowe whether it should please the Presbyters to haue these things done or no. The charge is precisely and exactlie Timothies and not the Presbyteries the power therefore must be his and not theirs All this notwithstanding you affirme against the wordes of the Apostle and against the vse of the Primitiue Church that the Presbyters might ouer-rule and censure Timothie if he would not be quiet and in spite of Timothy doe in all these things as they saw cause and this you barely suppose without anie kinde of proofe But either shew what warrant you haue to claime this prerogatiue of Presbyters aboue and ouer their bishops and pastours or giue vs leaue to beleeue the whole Church of Christ expounding and practising those wordes of S. Paul as we doe before your slender and naked supposals The priuate vse of the keyes in appointing offendors vpon the acknowledging of their sinnes for a time to for beare the Lordes Table we denie not to Presbyters but the publike vse of the keies to exclude an impenitent and obstinate person from al fellowship of the faithfull as well sacred as ciuill that the Church of Christ allowed alwaies and only to bishops Origen saith By falling from trueth faith and loue a man geth out of the tents of the church though he be not cast our by the BISHOPS VOICE Cypr. writing to a bishop that was reproched by his Deacon saith Vse against him the power of your honour either TO DEPRIVE HIM or REMOOVE HIM from the communion The affection of a good Bishop saith Ambrose wisheth to heale the sicke to remooue cankred sores to cauterize not to cut off lastly that which can not be healed TO CVT IT OF with sorrow I maruel saith Ierom against Vigilantius the BISHOP in whose charge he is said to be a Presbyter DOTH NOT CRVSH this vnprofitable vessel with the Apostolike rod and deliuer him ouer to Satan for the destructioÌ„ of the flesh that the spirit may be saued There is no greater punishmeÌ„t in the Church saith Austen then that daÌ„nation which THE EPISCOPAL IVDGEMENT pronounceth yet the Pastor must needs seuer the sick sheepe from the whole lest deadly infection reach vnto others If saith Chrysost giuing y â— people admonition of a certaine abuse crept in amongst theÌ„ we be despised we shalbe coÌ„pelled to bring these threats to effect to chastise you by the laws of the church Be angry who list I wil keepe them from the church a long space as Idolaters Beare with mee neither let any man despise the bandes of the church It is not maÌ„ that bindeth but Christ which hath giueÌ„vs this power made men masters of so great honor wee desire not to be brought to that extremity if we be we wil do our duetie If any man breake those bands I haue done my part thou shalt answer to him that COMMANDED ME to bind thee The Council of Nice willed Synodes to be kept twise euery yeere to examine whether any Lay men or Clergy men were excommunicated by the IMBECILITY PERTINACY OR INSOLENCIE OF THE BISHOP and such as were founde to haue OFFENDED THEIR BISHOP to stand excommunicate til the Synode released them The Council of Antioch likewise decreed that if any Lay man Presbyter or Deacon were excoÌ„municated BY HIS OWNE BISHOP no man should receiue him to the coÌ„munion afore he were restored by his own Bishop or by a Synode The Council of Sardica in the same maner If any Deacon Presbyter or Clergy man be excoÌ„municated flie to another Bishop of his acquaintance that knoweth he is depriued of the coÌ„munion BY HIS OVVNE BISHOP the other must not with reproch to a Bishop and his brother receiue that person to the coÌ„munion The Council of Taurine to which Ambrose wrace decreed touching Exuperantius a Presbyter that had reproched Triferius his bishop was therfore by him put from the coÌ„munion vt in eius arbitrio sit restitutio ipsius in cuius potestate eius abiectio hoc est vt quando velideÌ„ Exuper antius satisfecerit vel episcopo Triferio visum fuerit tuÌ„c gratiam communionis accipiat That his restitution should BE IN THE Bishops DISCRETION in whose power the reiecting of him was And therefore when Exuperantius the Presbyter should make satisfaction or Tâ—iferius the bishop be so content then he should be receiued to the communion The Council of Affrica taketh order for such as complaine against the iudgements of their owne bishops that they shalbe heard by the next bishops but if any man flie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE CANONICAL SENTENCE OF HIS OVVNE BISHOP no man should receiue him to the communion By which it appeareth that Gregories words are very true where he saith THE BISHOPS now in the Church holdethe places of the Apostles THEY which haue that degree of regiment HAVE AVTHORITIE to bind and loose And Theophilacts THEY HAVE POVVER to binde and loose which haue the grace of a BISHOPS OFFICE as Peterhad The publike vse therefore of the keies to excommunicate from al Christian company belonged to the bishop as pastor of the place the Presbyters sate with him at first as assessors and consenters before Synodes vndertooke such causes but after when once Councils beganne to haue the
speciall charge of imposition of hands and this their singularitie in succeeding and superioritie in ordaining haue bene obserued from the Apostles times as the peculiar and substantial markes of Episcopal power and calling I knowe some late Writers vehemently spurne at this and hardly endure any difference betwixt Bishops and Presbyters vnlesse it be by custome and consent of men but in no case by any order or institution of the Apostles whose opinions together with the authorities on which they builde I haue according to my small skill examined and find them no way able to rebate the full and sound euidence that is for the contrarie for what more pregnant probation can be required then that the same power and precepts which Paul gaue to Timothie when hee had the charge of Ephesus remained in all the Churches throughout the worlde to certaine speciall and tried persons authorized by the Apostles themselues and from them deriued to their after-commers by a generall and perpetuall succession in euery church and citie without conference to enlarge it or Councill to decree it the continuing where of for three discents the Apostles saw with their eyes confirmed with their handes and Saint Iohn amongst others witnessed with his pen as an order of ruling the Church approoued by the expresse voyce of the Sonne of God When the originall proceeded from the Apostles mouth and was obserued in all the famous places and Churches of Christendome where the Apostles taught and whiles they liued can any man doubt whether that course of gouerning the Church were Apostolike for my part I confesse I am neither so wise as to ouer-reach it with policie nor so wayward as to withstand it with obstinacie Against so maine and cleere proofes as I dare vndertake will content euen a contentious minde when hee readeth them are pretended two poore places the one of Ambrose the other of Ierome the first auouching that in the beginning the Episcopall prerogatiue went by order before it came by way of election vnto desert the other resoluing that Bishops are greater then Presbyters rather by the custome of the Church then by the trueth of the Lords disposition Both these authorities I haue throughly discussed and laide forth the right intent of those Fathers not onely by comparison of other Writers but euen by their owne confession lest any shoulde thinke I drawe them to a forraine sense besides their true meaning for when Ierome and Austen alleage the vse and custome of the Church for the distinction betwixt Bishops and Presbyters if it be vnderstoode of the names and titles of honor which at first were common to both and after diuided by the vse of the Church as Austen expresseth we can absolutely grant the places without any preiudice to the cause if it be applied to their power and function in the church it is most true that Ierome saith Presbyters were subiect in such fort as the Primitiue Church obserued rather by custome then by the trueth of the Lords ordinance For Presbyters in the Primitiue Church as appeareth by Tertullian Ierome Possidonius and others might neither baptize preach nor administer the Lords supper without the Bishops leaue especially in his presence which indeede grewe rather by custome for the preseruation of order then by any rule or commandement of the Lord. By the word of God a Bishop did nothing which a Presbyter might not do saue imposing of hands to ordaine That is the onely distinction in the Scriptures betwixt a Bishop and a Presbyter as Ierome and Chrysostome affirme other differences which the church kept many as to impose hands on the baptized and conuerted to reconcile penitents and such like were rather peculiar to the Bishop for the honour of his calling then for any necessitie of Gods Law If any man vrge further out of Ierome that there was no Bishop at all nor chiefe Ruler ouer the Church and Presbyterie of each place in the Apostles times I answere him with the resolution of one of the greatest patrones of their newe discipline Non ita desipuisse existimandus est vt somniaretneminem illi coetui praefuisse Icrome is not to bee thought to haue beene so vnwise as to dreame the Presbyterie had no chiefe Ruler or President It is a perpetuall and essentiall part of Gods ordinance that in the Presbyterie one chiefe in place and dignitie shoulde gouerne eache action or meeting And againe Tales Episcopos diuinitùs quasi ipsius Christi voce constitutos absit vt vnquam simus inficiati that such Bishops as were Pastours in euerie Citie and chiefe of their Presbyteries were appointed from heauen and as it were by the voyce of Christ himselfe God forbid wee shoulde euer denie This saieth hee on the behalfe of the newe Discipline On the other side I say God forbid I should vrge any other but such as were Pastours ouer their Churches and Gouernours of the Presbyteries vnder them If wee thus farre agree what cause then had those turbulent heades I speake not of them all which to ease their stomackes or to please their maintainers iested and railed rather like Stage-players then Diuines on those whome the wiser sorte amongst them can not denie were ordained by God and appointed by the voyce of Christ himselfe If their reasons bee not the stronger and weightier howsoeuer they flatter themselues in fluaries let them remember who saide hee that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me They will haply saue themselues for that our Bishops differ from the Apostolike Bishops in manie thinges as namelie theirs succeeded in order ours by election the dignitie was in the Apostles times common to euerie Presbyter in his course nowe it is proper to one with them it dured for a season as a weeke or a moneth with vs for life except by iust cause any deserue to bee remooued lastly they had but prioritie of place and authoritie to moderate the meetings and consultings of the rest ours haue a kinde of imperie ouer their fellow-Presbyters These bee precisely the points wherein one of the best learned of that side contendeth the ancient and Apostolike institution of Bishops was changed by processe of time into an other fourme established by custome and confirmed by consent of men these be his own words I haue not altered or inuerted the sense or sentence If any of these differences were true yet are they no causes to discredit the custome of the Primitiue Church in electing her Bishops to hold their places so long as they gouerned well for the same writer pronounceth of these very things setting the last aside neque in istis quicquam est quod reprehendi possit neither in these things is there ought that can be misliked but in deede there is not one of al these diuersities that can bee iustly prooued either by Scripture
them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sent them away and they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being sent abroad by the holie Ghost went to Saleucia Cyprus and other places Imposition of handes to that purpose was not necessarie No more was fasting but by these two ioyned with prayer the Prophets and Pastors witnessed vnto the Church that they were called away by the holy Ghost and departed not vpon their owne heads and that the worke they tooke in hand needed the continuall prayers of the faithful as well for the good successe of their paines as protection of their persons amidst so many troubles and dangers as they were like to sustaine and therefore with a solemne kinde of prayer for them and blessing of them for Imposition of hands as Austen saith is nothing else but prayer ouer a man and to that ende was it heere vsed they commended them to the grace of God This was the purpose and effect of that imposition of hands which Paul Barnabas receiued at Antioch as Saint Luke himselfe reporteth for after they had labored and preached the Gospell in many places they returned to Antioch whence they had beene commended to the grace of God for the worke which now they had perfourmed So that when they departed from Antioch the prayers there made for them and imposition of hands on them were nothing els but A COMMENDING THEM TO THE GRACE OF GOD for the better prospering of the worke which they vndertooke Chrysostome Oecumenius and others affirme that Bishops which differ not from Elders laide handes on Timothie as well as Paul They take the word Presbyterie not for Elders as you doe but for Bishops and adde this reason because Presbyters could not impose hands on a Bishop which directly ouerthroweth your imposition of hands by the Presbyterie Yet others ioyned with Paul in imposing hands which is heere denied The word as Ierome doeth expound it admitteth no such sense And if we follow Chrysostomes interpretation it rather harmeth then helpeth the Presbyterie For no Presbyter by his assertion could impose hands Neither doeth the Text if you consider it say they ioyned with Paul in imposing hands but grace was giuen to Timothie with the imposition of hands That must needes be when Paul also imposed his hands The Presbyterie that is the Prophets might lay hands on him as well as Paul though not at the same time nor to the same ende It is no strange thing in the Church of Christ neither was it then in the Apostles times for a man to receiue imposition of hands oftner thē once On Paul first Ananias layed handes and after wardes the Prophets of Antioch Barnabas wanted not imposition of hands when he stoode in the choice with Matthias without which he was not capable of the Apostleship and yet afterward at Antioch he receiued it the second time In the Primitiue Church they were first Deacons and vpon triall when they had ministred well and were found blamelesse they were admitted to be Elders or Priestes and after that if their giftes and paines so deserued they were called to an higher degree and in euery of these they receiued imposition of handes So that euery one by the ancient discipline of Christes Church before he could come from ministring to gouerning in the Church of God receiued thrise or at the least twise imposition of handes The like if any man list hee may imagine of Timothie that the good reporte which the brethren of Lystra and Iconium gaue of him vnto Paul whereupon hee woulde that Timothie shoulde go foorth with him grew vpon triall of his faithfull and painefull seruice in a former and lower vocation for which hee had unposition of handes and that mooued Paul to take him along with him and when hee sawe his time to impose handes on him for a greater calling For it is not credible that Paul would impose hands on him at the first steppe to place him in one of the highest degrees being so yoong as hee was without good experience of his sober and wise behauiour in some other and formet function Lastly if it should be granted that others ioyned with Paul in laying hands on Timothie we must not conclude it was of necessitie as if Paules handes had not beene sufficient without them to giue the holie Ghost or that he had not power in himselfe to choose who should goe foorth with him and minister vnto him we must shunne both these as sensible absurdities but because Timothie was very yong lest Paul should seeme to be ledde with any light respect in taking him vnto his companie he might happily be content to heare the iudgements of the Prophets then present and guided by the same spirite that he was and suffer their handes as wel as their mouths to concurre with his in prophesying and praying ouer Timothie that all the Church might know the spirite of God had pronounced him worthie the place and not Paules affection aduanced him vnworthie In that respect I say Paul might be willing the Prophets shoulde expresse to the whole assemblie what the holie Ghost spake in them touching Timothie and permit them with prayers and handes as their maner was to confirme the same otherwise Paul alone had power enough both to impose handes on Pastours and Prophets as he did at Ephesus and to make choice of his companie as he did not long before when he vtterly refused Marke and retained Silas to trauaile with him CHAP. VIII The Apostolike power in determining doubts of faith and delivering vnto Satan ANother point in shewe diminishing Apostolike authoritie is that the Elders assembled in the Councel of Ierusalem together with the Apostles to discusse the matter in question betwene Paul and others and the letters deciding the controuersie were written to the Churches abroade as well in their names as in the Apostles This case wil soone be answered by Saint Paul himselfe Paul stoode not in doubt of his preaching neither needed hee the consent of the Apostles or Elders to confirme that doctrine which the spirit of Christ had deliuered vnto him we must remember his earnest protestation If an Angell from heauen preach vnto you otherwise then that you haue receiued of me hold him accursed As we said before so say I againe If any man Apostle or other preach vnto you otherwise then that you haue receiued already let him be accursed And why The reason is yeelded in the next wordes For I certifie you brethren that the Gospell which I preached was not of man neither receiued I it of man neither was I taught it but by the reuelatiō of Iesus Christ. What therfore Saint Paul was right well assured Christ had deliuered vnto him to submit that to the correcting or censuring of men yea of the Apostles themselues had not beene in him moderation or sobrietie but distrust and infidelitie And for that cause when God reuealed his sonne vnto
discipline exercised against wicked and dissolute liuers Cùm eis per quos ecclesia regitur adest salua pace potestas disciplinae aduersus improbos auâ— nefarios exercendae c. When they that rule the Church may without breach of peace that is daunger of schisme exercise discipline vpon lewde and wicked offendours then are wee to bee stirred vp with the sharpenesse of those preceptes that leade to seueritie of repressing euill that directing our steppes in the way of the Lorde wee neither slacke vnder the name of patience nor rage vnder the shewe of diligence But Saint Austen in his hundreth thirtie and seuenth Epistle writeth Clero Senioribus vniuersae plebi ecclesiae Hipponensâ—â— to the Cleargie Elders and whole people of the Church of Hippo where the Elders are reckoned by themselues as no part of the Cleargie If naming Elders by themselues make them no parte of the Cleargie by that consequent they be likewise no parte of the people for they be reckoned asimder from the people But these inferences haue no sufficient ground they must be eyther of the Cleargie or people and yet heere they bee named betwixt them The rules of ciuilitie are not alwayes bound to the rules of Logike They that haue preeminence aboue others may be saluted aparte from others though the generall salutation before or after by force of reason doth include them Wherefore if any man answere that Austen naming the whole Cleargie of his Church in that Epistle thought to make a more speciall remembraunce of the better sorte of them by the title of Elders it can not be refuted the wordes doe well endure it If any dislike that exposition let him take Elders in Gods name for the better sorte of the Laitie I meane for the Rulers and Gouernours of the people as if a man shoulde write to the Cleargie Aldermen and Commons of any good Citie for an Alderman is the right English for Senior in Latine when it doth not import an Ecclesiastical function and it is not vnlikely that Austen then absent and writing to the whole Citie diuided the superiour sorte of the Laitie from the Inferiour by that stile Howsoeuer you bestowe the worde it is euident by the whole course of that Epistle those Elders had no power in the Church more then the rest of the people Yea the hearing of the cause then in question about the accusation of Bonifacius a Priest for a foule crime obiected vnto him by an other of the Cleargie did so little concerne them that Austen heard the matter himselfe alone and tooke order in it as hee thought good and kept it from the knowledge of them all And in this Epistle giuing a reason why he did not remooue Bonifacius from his degree at the first examining of the matter hee saieth Nomen Presbyteri proptereà non sum ausus de numero Collegarum eius vel supprimere vel delere ne diuinae potestati sub cuius examine causa adhuc pendet facere viderer iniuriam si illius iudicium meo vellem iudicio praeuenire The name of his Priest I durst not suppresse or strike out from the number of the Colleagues lest I shoulde seeme to offer wrong to Gods iudgement vnder whose triall the matter yet dependeth if I shoulde preuent his iudgement with my censure Reade the Epistle if he attribute any more to those Elders then hee doeth to the lowest of the people and Cleargie if he did not take the whole cause into his owne hands and set an order in it without their consents or priuities I wil agnise your Lay Elders Happely you thinke Saint Austen did the Lay Elders wrong to keepe this cause from them and to deale in it without them I can not let you from so thinking but all that be well aduised will rather suppose Lay Elders had nothing to doe with such cases in Saint Austens time and that the good Bishop did not close up such horrible offences by wrongfull withholding the cause from the knowledge of the Elders to whome by order of the Church it then appertained but hee kept it from them and the rest with good conscience vsing his owne right ne atrociter inaniter contristando turbaret as himselfe saieth Lest hee shoulde trouble their mindes with a grieuous sorrowe to no purpose Gregories authoritie is quoted out of the Canon Lawe for name of Lay Elders which sure were verie strange that sixe hundreth yeeres after Christ the power of Lay Elders shoulde remaine in the Church and their name all this while not heard of but I thinke we shall finde no more heere then wee did before If saieth Gregorie anie thing come to thine eares of anie Clerke whomsoeuer which may iustly offend thee beleue it not easely sed praesentibus ecclesiae tuae Senioribus but in the prefence of the Elders of thy Church search out the truth diligently and if the qualitie of the matter shall so require let the offendour be punished according to the rigour of the Canons Elders of the Church I heare Lay Elders I heare not and by the Lawes Imperiall long before this established euen in Ambroses time a Clergie mans cause could not be examined and determined but by men of the same right and the same calling And of all others Gregorie is the vnfittest man to prooue that Lay Elders should haue the hearing and deciding of Cleargie mens causes who could not endure that any thing whatsoeuer pertaining to the Cleargie shoulde bee committed to the hands of Lay men Cauendum est à fraternâ—â—ate vestra ne Secularibus viris at que non sub regula nostra degentibus res ecclesiasticae committantur Your brotherhoode must beware that Ecclesiasticall matters bee not committed to Secular men and such as liue not vnder our profession The punishement which by the very wordes must be Canonicall or according to the Canons sheweth that these Elders were the discreetest and wisest of his Clergy For what haue Lay men to do either with the knowledge or execution of the Canons What reason to charge theÌ„ with the Canons to whom the Canons were not written Hee meaneth therefore the Elders of his Church that is such Cleargie men as were of best account and greatest experience in his Church And so the Councell of Turon decreed Quem negligentia eijcit cum omnium Presbyterorum consilio reâ—utetur whom negligence maketh vnworthie of his place let him bee remooued by the aduise of all the Presbyters And Gregorie himselfe saieth Lest there be any dissention amongst brethren lest any discord be nourished inter Praepositos Subiectos betweene the Rulers of the Church and those that be vnder them in vnum conuenirâ— Sacerdotes necesse est It is needful for the Priests to meete in one place together that they may discusse such causes as happen and wholsomly conferre about Ecclesiastic all rules so as things past may bee amended and an order set for thinges to
come Of Lay men the Councell of Hispalis sayeth Indecorum est Laicum vicarium esse Episcopi Seculares in ecclesia iudicare Vndâ— oportet nos diuinis libris sanctorum Patrâ—m obedire praecepâ—is constituentes vt hij qui in administrationibus ecclesiae Pontificibus sociantur discrepare non debe ant nec professione nec habitu It is an vnseemely thing for a laie man to be vice gerent to a Bishop and for Secular men to iudge in the Church Wherefore we must obey the bookes of God and the precepts of our fathers being holy men decreeing that they which are ioyned with the Bishops in the administrations of the Church should not differ from them neither in profession nor habite Iflaie Elders had bene currant in Gregories time and assisted the Bishop in Clergie mens causes as his Coassessors the Councill of Hispalis not long after him did open wrong to the trueth in saying it was against the booke of God and rules of their forefathers that laie men should bee ioyned with Bishops in any causes or matters of the Church but for any thing we yet see they spake the trueth and no more then was long before confirmed as well by the decrees of Councils as publike lawes of the Romane empire Si ecclesiastica causa est nullam communionem habeant Iudices â—iuâ—les circa talem examinationem sed sanctissimus Episcopus secundum sacr as regulas causae finem imponat If it be an ecclesiasticall cause saieth Iustinian the Emperour let not the ciuill or temporall Iudges any way intermeddle with the examination thereof but according to the sacred rules let the most holy Bishop determine the matter Nowe who were to be present with the Bishop when he sate in iudgement and assist him the fourth Councill of Carthage declareth in these wordes Episcopus nullius causam audiat absque praesentia Clericorum suorum alioquin irrita erit sententia Episcopâ— nisi Clericorum praesentia confirmetur Let the Bishop determine no mans cause without the presence of his Clergie otherwise the sentence of the Bishop shall bee voyde that is not confirmed with the presence of the Clergie With the Bishop sate no laie Elders in iudgement but his owne Clergie and those not all but the grauer and elder sort of them The Deacons and the rest of the Clergie beneath their degree might not sit with the Priests much lesse with the Bishop The Council of Nice saieth Sed nec sedere Diaconis licet in medio Presbyterorum The Deacons may not sit in the company or assemblie of Priests So that onely Clergie men and Priests sate with the Bishop in Church and Consistorie and their presence and aduise was required as we see by the Council of Carthage before the Bishop might giue iudgement against any man This course Gregorie willeth the Bishop of Panormus in Sicelie to obserue as neerest to the Canons and freest from all chalenge wheÌ„ he conuented any Clergie man not rashly to pronounce but aduisedly to deliberate with the wisest and eldest of his Clergie and then to proceed accordingly for Priests and Deacons the case is cleare the Bishop alone might not depriue them The Councill of Hispalis saieth Episcopus Sacerdotibus ac Ministriâ— solus honorem dare potest solus auferre non potest The Bishop alone may giue Priests and Deacons their honour but hee can not take it from them alone They may not be condemned by one neither may they loose the priuiledge of their honour by the iudgement of one but being presented to the iudgement of a Synode let them bee ruled and ordered as the Canon prescribeth Ouer the rest the Bishop alone might sit Iudge without the assistance of other Bishops but not without the Elders of his owne Church and Clergie for so the Councill of Carthage decreeth and Gregorie aduiseth If any Priestes or Deacons bee accused let the Bishop of the parties accused discusse their causes taking to him a lawfull number sixe in a Priests three in a Deacons of the Bishops adioyning such as the defendants shall require The causes of the rest of the Clergie the Bishop of the place alone shall heare and determine Laie Elders I trust are excluded by this Canon from deciding or debating the causes of any Priestes Deacons or other Clergie men and so are they by all the Canons that were euer made in any Councill Prouinciall or Generall since the Apostles times Lastlie the Canon lawe itselfe is produced for the name of laie Elders I might take iust exception against the Compiler of those decrees his corruptions and ouersights doe passe the number of his leaues Hieromes name is twise abused by him and twise alleaged by you without any regard whether those authorities bee found in his workes or make to your purpose The first is 16. quaest 1. § ecclesia which place is no where found in Hierome though his booke ad Rusticum bee extant prescribing the maner how a Monke should order his life Some of the wordes were patched out of his Commentaries vpon Esaie and the rest touching Monkes added which are not at all in Hierome The second place distinct 95. ecce ego is a lustie tale not of Hieroms but of some others in his name beginning with a forged inscription and ending with a presumptuous vntrueth and fraighted in the middle with vnsauourie rayling Hierome wrate in deede to Rusticus a French man but as yet no Clergie man that euer he wrate vnto him after he was Bishop of Narbon neither doe we reade it in any of his workes neither is it likely for so much as Leo Bishop of Rome more then thirtie yeeres after Hieromes death wrate Ad Rusticum Narbonensem Episcopum to Rusticus Bishop of Narbon And touching the matter of which this counterfeit Hierome talketh Leo writing vnto the Bishops of France and Germanie conuicteth this prater of manifest falsehood for where this forged Hierome saieth it was vsed in Rome in Africa in the East in Spaine France and Britaine and calleth them proud enuious and most iniurious Prelates that otherwise doe Leo with a Council of Bishops affirmeth it was not vsed but where men were altogether ignorant of the ecclesiastical rules and expresselie forbiddeth it by a Synodall consent as contrarie to the Canons Whosoeuer were the author of that sturdie epistle he turneth your laie Elders cleane out of doores for as hee affirmeth that Presbyters or Elders were at first Iudges of the Churches affaires and present at the Bishops Councils so hee saieth the same Elders must preache in the Church blesse and exhort the people consecrate Christ at the Altar restore the Communion visite the sicke At que omnia Dei Sacramenta complere and finishe all the Sacramentes of God I shall not neede to put you in minde that heere is no roume for Laie Elders the woordes bee so playne that if you but reade them I thinke you will quickely resigne all
vpon vrgent necessitie I haue finished In the like case writing to the Presbyters Deacons and whole people of Carthage he saieth of Caelerinus that openlie professed Christ and valiantlie endured the rage and furie of the heathen persecuters Exult and reioyce with vs at the reading of our letters by which I and my Colleagues which were present signifie vnto you that Caelerinus our brother is receiued into our Clergie not by the voyces of men but by Gods acceptance because it was neither lawful nor seemely that he should be without ecclesiastical honor whom the Lord so honoured with the excellencie of his heauenly glory He and Aurelius were appointed for a time to be Readers but now know you that we haue assigned vnto them the honour of the Presbyterie to haue the same allowance with the Presbyters to sit with vs wheÌ„ they come to ripe perfect yeeres Of Numidicus we spake before why he was taken by Cyprian into the number of the Presbyters of Carthage and that without the consent or knowledge of the people or Clergie I suppose it to be cleare by these examples which are your owne that as Cyprian for his discharge did take the liking and aduise of the Clergie and people for the better examining of their liues and behauiours that were to serue in the Church of Christ so when he found such as in his conscience he knew to bee fit and woorthie hee and other Bishops his Colleagues imposed hands on them without expecting the assent or agreement of the people or Presbyters of Carthage where he was bishop These be the Fathers which your selues picked out to muster before her Maiesties presence as pregnant witnesses for the Laie Presbyterie and these if you suffer them to tell on their tales most clearelie refute your Laie Elders Other places I know are alleaged or rather abused to the same purpose but the mistaking of them is so palpable that children will not be deceiued with them for what if the word Presbyter in Greeke signifie an aged man as well as a Priest hath it any sound or shew of reason where the Councils and Fathers vse the word Presbyteri you should straight enforce they were laie Elders To innouate the discipline receiued and established euer since the Apostles times you should haue better grounds then these you will otherwise hardly discharge your credites before men howsoeuer you will your consciences before God For my part though I compare not with their giftes which first began and now maintaine this deuise yet by perusing their proofes I finde that the preiudice of their owne opinion rather enclineth them to this conceite then the weight either of Scriptures or Fathers For were they not ouer willing to embrace this fansie where there is one place for them to stumble at the ambiguitie of the worde there are an hundred faire and plaine testimonies to recall them and direct them to the ancient and true discipline of Christes Church So that in this question whether there were any Laie Elders to gouerne the Primitiue Church no diligent or indifferent examiner of the Fathers can long erre the case is so cleare that vnlesse we affect rather our wils then the trueth we cannot be led away The summe of all that is sayd touching Laie Elders resteth in three pointes which I wish the learned aduisedlie to consisider and the rest carefully to remember First it cannot bee prooued either by Scriptures or Fathers that in the Apostles times or after any laie Elders were part of the Presbyterie or that any such were authorized or acknowledged to bee Gouernours in the Church of Christ. Secondlie if there were such Censors of maners appointed by the whole Church to remooue the vnrulie and banish them from the fellowship and companie of the faythfull least their offensiue behauiour should be a shame and slaunder to the Gospell yet no Text nor title can be shewed in Scripture Councill or Father that they gouerned the power of the keyes imposition of handes or any other ecclesiasticall duetie which concerned the dispensation of the worde and Sacramentes In those things they were to obey and not to rule their Pastours Thirdlie though the ouersight and restraint of euill disposed and disordered Pastours were then committed to such Elders for want of beleeuing Magistrates to take care thereof yet since by the lawe of God the gouernement of such causes as well as of ciuill affaires belongeth to Christian Princes and they haue straighter charge higher power and better meanes to represse such disorders and refourme such abuses in Pastours and others whatsoeuer pretence may bee made for Laie Elders and Gouernours in time of persecution they must vtterlie cease and giue place where the Magistrate receiueth the fayth and vpholdeth the Church His power not onely includeth but excludeth theirs since they bee Gouernours by consent of priuate men and the Magistrate hath his power and sword deliuered him immediatelie from God to which all men Pastours Laie Elders and whosoeuer must be subiect not onely for feare of vengeance but for regard of Gods ordinance As for the Iewish Synedrion to which some men flie for helpe it cannot bee as I haue touched before eyther Rule or Refuge for the Laie Presbyterie God erected that as the plot-forme of the Iewes common wealth and made their Elders ciuill Magistrates to execute the Iudiciall part of Moses lawe as well without as vnder the king And therefore as they might not alter it so wee must not vrge it in Christian kingdomes it contradicteth the trueth and freedome of the Gospell to tye all Christian common wealthes to the paterne of Moses pollicie yea that position if it bee stiffelie stood too maymeth all Monarchies and reduceth them to popular or at least to Synedricall Regimentes the consequents whereof are so desperate and dangerous to all Christendome that I trust of your selues you will forbeare and if need bee disclayme that assertion It is agreed on both sides there was a Presbyterie in euery Church but those you say were Clergie men Not in euery Church but in euery Citie there were Presbyters assisting and aiding the Bishop and those were Clergie men The Churches in villages and countrey townes had neither Bishop nor Presbyterie but were subiect to the Bishop of that Citie within whose precincts the villages were and had a Presbyter or Priest ordained by the Bishop or sent from the Bishop to teach them and yeeld them diuine Seruice and Sacraments And where the Bishops of the Cities were content to ease their owne trauell and supplie their absence or sickenesse that in certaine countrey Townes bishops should bee appointed whom they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these countrey Bishops were so restrained by the Canons that without speciall leaue of the Bishop of the Citie to which they were subiect they might execute no part of Episcopal power and prehemâ—nence and in short space after were abolished for presumption and intrusion vpon
that dreame so well of themselues but since it is printed I would gladly see how it can be prooued Ambrose you say leadeth you so to thinke for he affirmeth that euery Presbyter was a Bishop when it came to his course and their courses went round by order Ambrose contradicteth it as plainely as hee can speake and saieth that not euery Presbyter was a Bishop but he onely was a Bishop which was primus inter Presbyteros the first or chiefest amongst the Presbyters Nay first in order in whose place when he departed the next succeeded They were capable of the Bishoprike as they stood in order Now that order must goe either as they were eldest in standing or worthiest in gifts Which of these two orders did the Presbyters keepe can you tell Not I. Nor Ambrose neither He supposest that to sit in the Church and in other their assemblies they had an order and so no doubt they had but whether they were placed by the Apostles according to their merites or kept their places by senioritie as they were ordained or cast lots amongst themselues for auoiding of ambition and contention neither Ambrose neither any man liuing could or can tell But the first alwayes was the Bishop and consequently they differed not in degree but in order How now masters will you crosse S. Pauls words so flatlie who saieth that God hath ordained first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly Teachers Are these diuers degrees or no What els And were not all these when they taught in any place of the Presbyterie They were Then did the Presbyters differ not in order onely but in degree also We speake not of Apostles Euangelists and Prophets when wee say the Presbyters differed one from an other onely in order and not in degree but of Pastours that had their charge in that place where they liued The question is not of whom you speake but of whom Ambrose spake we examine his words not yours and he cleerly accounteth them all to be Presbyters For example Timothie that you say was an Euangelist Ambrose reckoneth him for a Presbyter and saieth he was a Bishop though hee were a Presbyter because there was none other before him And had not Ambrose specially named him I hope you will exclude neither Apostles nor Prophets nor Euangelists from the number of Presbyters wheresoeuer they were present Nowe choose you whether you will say all these were no Presbyters Saint Peter expresselie saying the contrarie or els admit that in the order of Presbyters there were diuers degrees of ecclesiasticall functions and so your distinction of ordo and gradus to be nothing neere Saint Ambroses meaning for hee by ordo vnderstandeth the ORDER OF their DESERT or SENIORITIE and either of those orders doeth euidently admit many diuers degrees of ecclesiasticall callings If Ambrose doe not affirme it we doe I can soone admit you to affirme what you list for when you haue done except you prooue it I will not beleeue it but I see no cause why you should ground that distinction on Ambroses wordes In place conuenient you shall haue leaue to say what you can to maintaine your distinction in the meane time I would haue you marke that you take Ambroses meere ghesses which can not bee iustified for your greatest grounds For tell me when euer or where euer were Bishops chosen by order as they were eldest Againe was Timothie chosen Bishop by his standing at Ephesus or did Paul leaue him there for the great affiance hee had in his sincere and vpright dealing When the Apostle first wrate to Timothie how to behaue himselfe in the house of God and on whom to impose handes did Paul will him to take them as they stoode in order or to choose men answerable to those conditions which hee prescribed The first rules that were giuen in the Scriptures for the creation of Bishops and Presbyters were by choice not by order before those how can Ambrose or any man els prooue that Bishops were ordained in order as they stood without choice Now if you could shew any such thing which I am assured you cannot yet this change from order to choice is the manifest commaundement of Gods spirite witnessed by Paul both to Tite and Timothie and therefore your kinde of going in order to make Bishops was and is repugnant to the Apostles generall and Canonicall rule of choosing the fittest men to be Bishops which euer since hath dured in the Church of Christ as a special and expresse part of Gods ordinance confirmed by the Scriptures But doe you your selues admit this imagination of Ambrose which you fortifie against Bishops are not you the first men that checke your owne witnesse and thereby shewe that though you alleage Ambrose you doe not beleeue Ambrose in this verie point which you bring him for A great learned man of your side saieth and in my iudgement saieth truely Aliud est electionis mandatum quod immatum non tantùm in Diaconis sed etiam in sacris functionibus omnibus seruaâ—um oportet aliud electionis modus The commaundement of election which must bee kept vnchanged not onely in Deacons but in all sacred functions is one thing the maner of electing is another thing Then is there a commaundement no doubt of Christ by his Apostle it could not otherwise bee inuiolable that to all sacred functions men should bee taken by election and not by order of standing If Ambrose spake of the time before this commaundement when that was no man knoweth And therefore I haue reason to say it was neuer prescribed in the Scriptures nor vsed in any Church or age that we read but onely surmised by Ambrose because he did not finde who were Bishops in euery Church before Paul wrate to Timothie and Tite to make choice of meete men to be Bishops and Presbyters Least you mislike that I say Ambrose roaueth at some things which can not be prooued and need not be credited tell mee your selues what you say to these reportes of Ambrose in the same place Primùm omnes docebant omnes baptizabant Inter initia omnibus concessum est euangelizare baptizare Scriptur as in ecclesia explanare Nunc neque Diaconi praedicant in populo neque Clerici vel Laici baptizant At the first all men did teache and all men did baptize At the beginning euery man was suffered to preach baptize and expound the Scriptures in the Church Nowe neither Deacons preach to the people neither doe inferiour Clerkes or Laie men baptize Beleeue you that all men or Laie men did preach and baptize at the first spreading of the Gospell I know you doe not your positions are most direct against it Yet Ambrose auoucheth it and the proofe he bringeth for it is as slender as the report Because Peter commaunded Cornelius and those that were with him to bee baptized and there came with Peter none from Ioppe but certaine brethren hee
in the Apostles time did not impose handes on a Bishop Yea saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Presbyters then coulde not impose handes on a Bishop Chrysostome doeth not reason from his owne age vnto the Apostles and conclude because they might not doe it in that world wherein he liued by a custome of the Church ergo they coulde not doe it in Paules time that were a verie senselesse and vnsauerie collection but he vrgeth that in Paules time Presbyters might not ordaine a Bishop and therefore those words must be vnderstoode of Bishops which by the Apostolike rules might impose handes whereas Presbyters might not The verie same point he repeateth and presseth when he giueth a reason why Paul in his Epistle to Timothie went from describing Bishops straight to Deacons omitting cleane the order of Presbyters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The difference betwixt Bishops and Presbyters is not great for they also were admitted to teach and rule the Church and what Paul saide of Bishops that agreeth vnto Presbyters Onely in laying on of hands Bishops go beyond them and haue that Onely thing more then Presbyters Theodoret. The Presbyterie Paul calleth heere such as had receiued Apostolicall or Episcopall grace for by Theodorets opinion Bishops were then called Apostles and Presbyters called by the name of Bishops Oecumenius Lay handes hastily on no man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Paul treateth of imposing hands for he wrate to a Bishop Ambrose rendreth the same reason why Paul mentioning Bishops and Deacons did cleane ouerskip Presbyters and noteth the same difference betwixt Presbyters and Bishops that Chrysostome doth Timothie because hee had none other before him was a Bishop Wherefore Paul sheweth him how he shal ordaine a Bishop Neque enim fas erat aut licebat vt inferior ordinaret maiorem Nemo enim tribuit quod non accepit For it was neither lawfull nor permitted that the inferiour should ordaine the greater No man giueth that which he hath not receiued That Timothie was a bishop is confessed by the rest of the Fathers I alleaged them before Paul calleth him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Copartner in the Gospell and ioyneth Timothie with himselfe in writing to the Corinthians Philippians Colossians and Thessalonians thereby to shew that he had receiued Timothie not only into the fellowship of his Ministerie but giuen him part of his authoritie and made choice of him to abide at Ephesus to establish and confirme the Church when hee thus wrate vnto him Wherefore Timothie had not this prerogatiue by order or senioritie hee was no Presbyter of Ephesus but there left with Episcopall authoritie which hee had by the laying on of Paules handes before he stayed at Ephesus But howsoeuer hee came by it by Paules choice or otherwise Ambrose acknowledgeth hee was a bishop and therefore superiour to Presbyters because hee was inuested with power to ordaine bishops which Presbyters had not His wordes be full Neque fas erat neque licebat vt inferior ordinaret maiorem It was neither lawfull nor agreeable to religion for fas is that which is consonant to the seruice of God as ius expresseth that which is right amongst men for the inferiour to ordaine the superior to wit that a Presbyter should ordaine a bishop We greatly care not who should ordaine Bishops for as we thinke there neede none in the Church of Christ but touching Presbyters that is Ministers of the worde and Sacraments the fourth Councill of Carthage is verie cleere they may be ordained by Presbyters Their wordes are these Presbyter quum ordinatur Episcopo eum benedicente manum super caput eius tenente etiam omnes Presbyteri qui presentes sunt manus suas iuxtamanum Episcopi super caput illius teneant When a Presbyter is ordained the Bishop blessing him and holding his hand on the parties head let all the Presbyters that are present hold their hands neere the Bishops hand on his head that is ordered Presbyters are sufficient to create Presbyters and they may discharge all Ecclesiasticall dueties in the Church for Bishops let them care that like them The Councill of Carthage doeth not tell you that Presbyters might ordaine Presbyters without a bishop looke better to the wordes such Presbyters as were present must holde their handes on the parties head neere the bishops hand but without the bishop they had no power of themselues to impose handes Nowe to what ende they imposed handes whether to ordaine and consecrate as well as the bishop or because the Action was sacred and publike to consent and blesse together with the bishop this is all the doubt If they had power to ordaine as well as the bishop and without the bishop all the Fathers which I before cited were vtterly deceiued For they say no. Yea Ierome that neither coulde forget nor woulde suppresse being one himselfe anie part of their power knewe not so much For hee confesseth that bishops might ordaine by imposing handes Presbyters might not And therefore though they held their handes neere the bishops hand yet did they not ordaine as the bishop did Howe knowe you to what ende they ioyned with the Bishop in imposing handes The action was common to both and no difference is expressed in that Councill betweene their intentes Unlesse you bee disposed to set Councills and Fathers together by the eares you must make their imposition of handes to bee a consent rather then a consecration and so may the authorities of all sides stand vpright otherwise by an action that admittteth diuers endes and purposes you ouerthrowe the maine resolution not onelie of other Councils and Fathers but of the same Synode which you alleadge for that giueth Presbyters no power to ordaine without the bishop but to conioyne their handes with his Many things were interdicted Presbyters by the Canons which were not by the Scriptures but you must shew vs that Presbyters and Bishops differ by the word of God afore we can yeeld them to be diuers degrees If Presbyters by the worde of God may ordaine with imposing handes as well as Bishops howsoeuer by the custome of the Church they bee restrained or subiected vnder Bishops they bee all one in degree with Bishops though not in dignitie for all other things as Ierome auoucheth are common vnto them but if that power be graunted by Gods Lawe to Bishops and denied to Presbyters then struggle whiles you will you shall finde them in the ende to be distinct and diuers degrees That Bishops may ordaine the Apostles words to Timothie and Tite exactly prooue Lay hands hastely on no man for this cause I left thee in Creete that thou shouldest ordaine Presbyters in euery Citie You must now prooue by the sacred Scriptures that Presbyters may ordaine as well as Bishops if not they bee distinct degrees that haue by Gods Lawe distinct powers and actions Our proofes are cleere Neglect not the gift which
was giuen thee with imposition of handes of the Presbyterie and this right for Presbyters to impose handes ioyntly with the Bishop dured no long time in the Church as wee shew by the fourth Councill of Carthage I haue often tolde you that place of Saint Paul concludeth nothing for you it hath so many answeres Ierome giueth you one Chrysostome an other and Saint Paul himselfe a third If you like not with Ierome Ambrose and Primasius to take the Presbyterie for the function which Timothie receiued which Caluin well alloweth nor with Chrysostome Theodoret and the rest of the Grecians to applie it to Bishops for so much as Presbyters by their iudgements could not impose handes on a Bishop yet remember Saint Paul was present and did the deede and therfore without some succeeding and supplying the Apostles roâ—â—e as Timothie and Tite did your Presbyteries haue no warrant to impose hands And so much is euident by that verie Councill which you bring for the Bishop must first blesse the party and impose hands on him and then the Presbyters there present must lay their hands neere the Bishops in signe of consent But without the Bishop no Presbyters did blesse or impose hands to ordaine any that euer we reade either in Scriptures or Stories And because you shall not say I speake without Booke as I see many do in our dayes marke well these examples and tell mee what you thinke of them The Councill of Hispalis vnderstanding that a Bishop in ordaining Presbyters and Deacons because hee was pained with sore eyes onely laide his handes on them and suffered a Presbyter standing by to reade the wordes of their consecration and to blesse them reiected the whole action as vnlawful with these wordes Propter tantam praesumptionis audaciam poterat iudicio praesenti damnari si non fuisset morte preuentus sed ne sibi licentiam talis vltra vsurpatio faciat decreuimus vt qui ab eo non consecrationis titulum sed ignominiae elogium perceperunt à gradis sacerdotalis vel Leuitici ordinis quem peruersè adepti sunt depositi aequo iudicio adijciantur Tales enim merito iudicati sunt remouendi quia prauè inuenti sunt constituti The Presbyter that did it if he were liuing might for so bolde a presumption haue beene condemned in this present iudgement but because he is preuented with death lest the same vsurpation should enterprise to do the like we decree that they which receiued of him no title of consecration but a monument of reproch shall be remooued and abiected by a righteous iudgement from the degree of sacerdotall and Leuiticall order which they haue peruersely gotten for such are woorthely adiudged to bee cast off because they are found to be wrongfully made The Bishop being present and imposing handes and not able to reade for the impediment of his sore eies a Presbyter blessed them that is pronounced the words of their consecration this the Council calleth bold presumption and vsurpation against the Ecclesiasticall rule and remooued the men as peruersly and vnlawfully made What thinke you would they haue saide if they heard of Presbyters that had taken vpon them as men doe in our dayes to impose hands and blesse and giue sacred orders not onely in the absence but in defiance of all Bishops Colluthus was a Presbyter in one of the Churches of Alexandria and falling away from the Bishop there for some mislikes ordained certaine Presbyters himselfe being but a Presbyter For this Colluthus was conuented in the generall Councill before Hosius and the rest of the Bishops and commaunded to carrie himselfe for a Presbyter as hee was before and all those that were ordained by him to returne to their former state It after fell out that one Ischyras pretending himselfe to be a Presbyter of Colluthus making accused Macarius of sacrilegious violence offered vnto him then ministring at the Lords Table as he said and hauing the mysticall cup in his hand an hundred Bishops assembled at a Council in Egypt or neere that number to conuince Ifchyras of alie prooue that Ischyras was no Presbyter and so could not bee assaulted whiles hee was handling the diuine mysteries Their wordes be these Quo pacto igitur Presbyter Ischyras aut quo tandem authore constitutus Numquid scilicet à Collutho idenim restat Atqui Colluthum in gradu Presbyterij mortuum omnâ—mque eius manuum impositionem rescissam omnésque ab eo constitutos in Laicorum ordinem redactos esse sub nomine Laicorum ad Synaxim admissos adeò apud omnes constat vt nemo ea de re dubitandum putet Howe then is Ischyras a Presbyter or by whome was hee made What by Colluthus That is all which can be saide But Colluthus himselfe died in the degree of a Presbyter and all his imposition of handes was reuersed such as were made by him were cast backe into the order of Laymen and admitted to the Communion as Laymen which is so cleere that no man euer doubted of it They conclude that Ischyras if he were made by Coluthus could be no Presbyter for so much as Coluthus was a Presbyter and no Bishop and all his impesition of handes frustrated and all the persons ordained by him neither accounted nor admitted into the Church but vnder the name of Laymen And this reuersing of Coluthus orders and agnising none that hee ordained but for Laymen was so cleere a case and vncontrolled with all men that no man euer made anie scruple of it You shaldo well considerately to reade the place it importeth the vniuersall consent of the Primitiue Church to haue beene this that no Presbyter could ordaine a Presbyter but those that receiued imposition of handes from any such were throughout the Church of Christ esteemed and reputed meere Laymen and not otherwise accepted to the Lords Table Maximus that was very familiar and inward with Gregorie Nazianzen whiles he liued at Constantinople and obtained at his handes to bee taken into the Cleargie and placed with the Presbyters of that Citie finding that Miletius Bishop of Antioch and others had translated Gregorie from Nazianzum to Constantinople without a ful Synode somewhat contrarie to the Canons procured Peter bishop of Alexandria to send some bishops of Egypt that did consecrate him bishop of Constantinople When this came to be debated in the second generall Councill the whole Synode not only reiected Maximus as no bishop but al that tooke any imposition of handes from him in what degree of the Clergie soeuer they were by reason they found him a Presbyter and no Bishop and so without all power to impose handes Concerning Maximus and his disorder at Constantinople we resolue that Maximus neither presently is nor hereafter shall be made á Bishop neither any that receiued imposition of handes from him shall remaine in any degree of the Cleargie all that was doone either to him or by him being wholly frustrate or
at first to the ministers of each parish by the lord of y t Soile were matter enough in the iudgement of Christes Church to establish the right of Patrones that they alone should present Clerkes because they alone prouided for them the Princes interest to conferre Bishoprikes hath far more sound and sufficient reason to warrant it for besides the maintenance which the kings of this land yeelded when they first endowed bishoprikes with lands and possessions to vnburden their people of the support and charges of their Bishops in that respect haue as much right as any Patrones can haue the preheminence of the sworde whereby the Prince ruleth the people the people rule not the Prince is no small enforcement that in elections as well as in other points of gouernment the Prince may iustlie chalenge the soueraigntie aboue and without the people Gods law prescribing no certaine rule for the choise of Bishops the people may not chalenge the like without or against the Prince And lastly though the people in former ages by the sufferance of magistrates had somewhat to doe with the elections of their Bishops yet nowe for the auoiding of such tumults and vprores as the Primitiue Church was afflicted with by the lawes of this Realme and their owne consents the peoples interest and liking is wholie submitted and inclosed in the Princes choise so that whome the Prince nameth the people haue bound themselues to acknowledge and accept for their Pastour no lesse then if hee had bene thosen by their owne suffrages And had they not here unto agreed as by Parliament they haue I see no let by Gods lawe but in Christian kingdomes when any difference groweth euen about the elections of Bishops the Prince as head and Ruler of the people hath better right to name and elect then all the rest of their people If they concurre in iudgement there can bee no variance if they dissent the Prince if there were no expresse lawe for that purpose as with vs there is must beare it from the people the people by Gods lawe must not looke to preuaile agaynst their Prince If we might safelie doe it we could obiect against the Princes giuing of Bishoprikes that Athanasius saieth Where is there any such Canon that a Bishop should be sent out of the pallace And the second Councill of Nice alleageth an ancient Canon against it All elections of Bishops Presbyters or Deacons made by the Magistrate are voyde by the Canon which saieth If any Bishop obtaine a Church by the helpe of the secular Magistrate let him bee depâ—â—â— sed and put from the Lordes table and all that communicate with him The Councill of Paris likewise in earnest manner Let none bee ordeined Bishop agaynst the wils of the Citizens but onely whom the election of the people and Clergie shall seeke with full affection Let him not be intruded by the Princes commaundement nor by any other meanes against the consent of the Metropolitane the Bishops of the same Prouince And if any man by ouermuch rashnesse presume to inuade the heigth of this honour by the Princes ordination let him in no wise bee receiued by the Bishops of the same Prouince Rules of discipline be not like rules of doctrine In Christian faith whatsoeuer is once true is alwayes and euery where true but in matters of ecclesiasticall gouernement that at some times and in some places might be receiued and allowed which after and else where was happilie disliked and prohibited If any Father or Councill affirme that by Gods lawe the people haue right to elect their Bishop the Prince hath not the assertion is so false that no man need regard it No proofe can be made that the people haue by the word of God an essentiall interest in the choice of their Pastours If we speake of mans law whatsome Councils decreed other Councils vpon iust cause might change and what some Princes permitted their successours with as great reason might recall or restraine as the varietie of times and places required Of Councils S. Austen saieth Ipsaplenaria Concilia quis nesciat faepe prior aposterioribus emendari Who can be ignorant that generall Councils are often amended the former by the latter when by the experiment of things that is opened which before was hid and seene which before was not perceiued and that without any smoke of sacrilegious pride obstinate arrogance or enuious contention Of Princes edicts I take the case to be so cleare that no man doubteth whether humane lawes may bee altered or no. All Princes haue the sword with like commission from God and heare their scepters with one and the same freedome that their progenitors did As they may with their owne liking abridge themselues of their libertie so may they with the aduise and consent of their state resume the grants of former Princes and enlarge the priuiledges of their roiall dignitie as farre as Gods lawe permitteth For answere then to your authorities I say First Athanasius and the other two Councils might speake of those times when as yet christian Princes had not reuoked elections of Bishops to their owne power but by their publike lawes commanded their Clergie and people to make choise of their Pastors And in that case he that contrary to the positiue lawes of any kingdome or common wealth made secret meanes or procured to be placed by the priuate letters of Princes against the open lawes of the Realme where hee liued was an ambitious violent intruder and not woorthie to beare the name of a Pastor Bishop in Christes Church Next Athanasius and the rest may speake not of election but of examination ordination which by Gods law is committed to Bishops not to Princes and then their meaning is It is not sufficient for a Bishop to haue the Princes consent decree he must be also examined and ordained by such as the holy Ghost hath appointed to impose hands on him which no man may omit though he be neuer so much allowed elected by y e Princes so both their words proofs seem to import Athanasius misliketh that Constantius sent such as should be bishops out of his pallace and forceably inuaded the Churches by his souldiers and captaines none of the comprouincial bishops approuing or admitting them The second council of Nice doth not impugne that princes should elect but that the decree of the magistrate is not enough to make a bishop And why he must be approued ordained by the bishops of the same Prouince by the Metropolitane as the Nicene Canons witnesse Now the 4. Canon of the Nicene Council which they mention speaketh not a word who shal elect name bishops but who shall examine ordaine theÌ„ as is euident to be seene And so the council of Paris Non principis imperio ingeratur let him not be imposed by the Princes precept against the Metropolitanes good will And therefore if
consist of the Pastors and some graue wise Lay Elders there dwelling to determine matters emergent within a circuite to be appointed vnto them and from them appeales to be made to the Synode of Pastours and Elders residing in some Principall and chiefe Citie within this Realme so that vnlesse the matter were of verie great weight the Pastours at large shoulde not bee troubled to assemble together and when they assembled their abode not to bee long for sauing of time and charge which men of their calling neither shoulde loose nor can spare lest wee busie them rather as Iudges of mens quarrels then Stewardes of Gods mysteries The chiefe ground of your Discipline is your owne deuise as may well appeare in that no part of it is ancient or was euer vsed in the Church of Christ and the ioyntes of it hang together like sicke mens dreames The Pastours and Lay Elders of euerie Church serued at first to fill vp your Presbyteries and now your bessels are so low drawen that you vse them for Synodes And where you could not abide that Bishops shoulde haue Dioceses nowe you be pleased that Presbyteries shal haue circuits and Ecclesiasticall regiment without their Church and Citie Metropolitanes were not long since the height of Antichristes pride and nowe you are forced for repressing of disorders and enormities in euery parish to allowe some chiefe and mother Cities and to yeelde their Presbyteries Metropoliticall iurisdiction ouer whole prouinces And all this your selues being priuate men take vpon you to deuise and establish without precedent to induce or authoritie to warrant your doings and yet you thinke it not lawfull for the Prince and the whole Realme to imitate the example of the Primitiue Church nor to followe the steppes of religious and godly Emperours that appointed Metropolitanes to call and moderate prouinciall Councils and for ease of all sides to examine such matters before hand as were not woorthie to molest and trouble full Synodes Wherein what else do you but shewe your inconstant and inconsiderate humours that woulde haue the Church guided by Presbyteries and Synodes parochiall and prouinciall and admit Presidents and chiefe Gouernours of either and yet cannot abide that Princes shoulde retaine the ancient and accustomed fourme of Ecclesiasticall regiment by Bishops and Metropolitanes settled so long agoe in the Church and euer since continued without interruption But I pray you what places or voices haue Lay Elders in Synodes what example or reason can you pretend for it If they may iudge in Presbyteries why not in Synodes Belike you woulde haue none but Bishops haue decisiue voyces in Councils according to the Romish order of celebrating Synodes If you were as farre from noueltie as I am from Poperie wee shoulde soone agree howbeit euerie thing vsed or beleeued in the Romish Church is not rashlie to be disclaimed You make it a resolute conclusion that Lay Elders were part of the Presbyteries in the Primitiue Church but when wee come to examine your proofes we find theÌ„ as weake as your imagination is strong Nowe though the Pastours of each parish when they are single might happilie neede as you thinke the aduise and assistance of Lay Presbyters yet that Pastours assembled in Synodes where their number is great their gifts of all sorts should stand in like neede of Lay Elders to leade or direct them is neither consequent to reason nor coherent with the rules of the sacred Scriptures for to whome hath the Lord committed the teaching of all Nations to pastors or to Lay Presbyters who by Gods law are appointed watchmeÌ„ in y â— house of Israel Stewards ouer his familie Bishops ouer his Church and Leaders of his flocke Lay Elders or Christes Ministers If in the Church the sheepe must heare and follow their sheepeheardes as well for trueth of doctrine as holinesse of life by what commission bring you Lay Presbyters into Synodes where the Teachers and Pastors of an whole prouince or nation are assembled Shall your Lay Elders by Christs commandement be scholers in the Church and teachers in the Synode Or do the gifts and graces of preachers so change that in pulpit eache one must be beleeued and obeyed in Councill all ioyning together must'be restrained and directed by Lay Elders If you haue reason or authoritie for it let vs heare it if neither you trouble the Church of God with a pang of your wilfull contradiction and take vpon you to ouer-rule Christian princes and churches with greater surlines then euer did Patriarke or Pope In the Apostles Councill were not onely the Presbyters but all the brethren of the Church of Ierusalem and the letters of resolution were written in all their names and now you disdaine that anie Lay men should be present at your Prouinciall Synodes and Councils which you see the Apostles did not refuse To be present at Synodes is one thing to deliberate and determine in Synode is an other thing If you thinke that either Presbyters or Brethren were admitted to the Apostles Council to helpe and aide the Apostles in their debating or deciding the matter there questioned you be much deceiued The Apostles singled were sufficient to decide a greater doubt then that was much more then the whole assembly of the Apostles able to search out the truth thereof without their assistance The reason why al the church was admitted to be present to ioine with one accord in sending those letters I noted before not only the gainsaiers but the whole Church were to be resolued in a case that touched them all Otherwise aswell the people as the teachers of y â— Iewes would sâ—il haue abhorred the GeÌ„tiles though beleuers as prophane persons vntil they had bin circuÌ„cisÄ™d which was the high way to euacuate the crosse of Christ and to frustrate his grace And therefore not for deliberation or for determination but for the satisfaction of contradictors and instruction of the rest was the whole Church assembled and vpon the full hearing and concluding of the question by the Apostles the rest ioyning with them acknowledged by their letters and messengers that it pleased the holie ghost the Gentiles shoulde not be troubled with circumcision nor the obseruation of Moses Law but that the partition wall betwixt them was broken downe by the blood of Christ and they which were Aliens from the common wealth of Israel strangers from the couenants of promise were nowe citizens with the Saints of the houshold of faith without the legall obseruances of Moses Law S. Luke himselfe witnesseth that to discusse the matter the Apostles and Elders assembled together and after great disputation on either side Peter and Iames concluded the cause whereto the rest consented Yet then Elders were admitted to deliberate with the Apostles in that Synode whereas you suffer none but Bishops to haue voices in Councils I make no doubt but Presbyters sate with the Apostles in Synode to consult of
Church Nowe if the execution of Lawes bee Dominion and Imperie in your conceite when as there is a present remedie by appeale to the Princes audience if anie wrong or hard measure be offred what will you call it to iudge by discretion as your Presbyteries doe ' which is the greater kind of Imperie to determine all matters as you list or to be limited in euery point by the Lawes of the Realme what you shall doe and if you transgresse neuer so little to giue account thereof to the supreme Magistrate ' If I vnderstand any thing it were more livertie for Bishops to bee referred to Synodes where they shoulde beare some sway then to be restrained to Lawes from which they may not shrinke The execution of your Presbytericall decrees you giue to the moderatour of your Presbyterie and yet you giue him no dominion nor imperie Why then are you so inconsiderate or so intemperate as to cal the execution of ecclesiastical Lawes by the Diocesane or Metropolitane a tyrannicall power and dominion ouer their brethren ' Would you haue no Lawes at all but euery case as it falleth out so to be censured at the pleasure of the Presbyters ' That were a right tyrannie in deede and not tolerable in any common wealth that hath a Christian Magistrate If you admit euery matter to be ruled by writtten Lawes and leaue appeales in all causes for such as find themselues grieued to the Prince which is obserued in this Realme the execution of Lawes is rather a burden imposed then an honour to be desired and but that some men must needes vndertake that charge it were more easie for Bishops to bee without it then alwayes to trouble and often to endanger themselues with the difficulties and penalties of so many Lawes as we haue and must haue to guide those causes that are committed to their Consistories They haue others to discharge it for them They must haue some to assist them except you wil haue Bishops to bestow more time in learning humane lawes then in meditating y t diuine Scriptures And therefore your inueighing at the Arches and other places of iudgement she weth you litle vnderstand what you say Were your Presbyteries or Synodes at their perils to handle and determine so manie so weightie causes as they are you woulde reuerence them as much as euer you disgraced them and see your own follie in impugning that which cannot be wanted But what stand I on these things which experience wil proue to be requisite in a Christian common wealth better then speech It sufficeth me that Metropolitanes were long before the Nicene Council accepted and vsed in the Church of Christ as necessarie persons to assemble the Synodes of eche Prouince vpon all occasions and to ouersee as well the election as ordination of Bishops within their charge This if you graunt necessitie will force you to yeeld them the rest as it did y t Councils Princes that were long before our times If you like not the wisedome and order of the vniuersal and auncient Church of Christ you must tell vs in your new platforme who shall call and moderate Prouinciall Synodes when occasion requireth or whether your Presbyters shall bee supreme Moderators of all matters without expecting or regarding any Synodall assemblies or Iudgements Synodes we admit some to gather and gouerne those assemblies but to preuent ambition we would haue that priuiledge to goe rounde by course to all the Pastors of euery Prouince You may doe well to change Deacons euerie day Bishops euery weeke Presbyters euery moneth and Metropolitanes euery quarter that the gouernment of the house of God may goe round by course And surely you misse not much of it Deacons and Presbyters dure with you for a yeere Bishops you thinke in the Apostles times were changed euerie weeke what space you wil appoint to Metropolitanes wee yet know not longer then one Synode I presume you wil haue no man to continue But what reason or example haue you for it ' Examples perhaps as you care for none so you seeke for none for if examples might preuaile with you wee haue the setled and approued order of the primitiue Church against you that Metropolitanes neuer went by course Yea the name it selfe doeth inferre as much for if he be Metropolitane that is Bishop of the Metropolis or Mother citie the mother Citie remayning alwaies one and the same the priuiledge of the Metropolitane could neuer change by course To aske you for reason which leane onelie to your willes and regarde no mens iudgements but your owne will seeme straunge yet heare the resolution of one that highly fauoureth your newe founde discipline who positiuely concludeth that this circular regiment by course as it is not able to resist ambition and adulation so it will breede contempts and factions in the Church of God His words be Dicamus ergo primatum illum ordinis per mutuae successionis vices ipsa tandem experieÌ„tia compertum fuisse non satis virium nec aà ambitiosos Pastores nec ad auditores alios quideÌ„ vanos alios verò adulatorio spiritu praeditos compescendos habuisse communicata videlicet singulis Pastoribus per vices huius primatus dignitate Itaqâ—e quod singulorum se cundum successionem commune fuit visum fuit aa vnum eum quidem totius Presbyterij iudicio delectum transferre quod certè reprehendinec potest nec debet quum praesertim vetustus hic mosprimum Presbyterum deligendi in AlexaÌ„drina celeberrima ecclesia iam inde à Marco Euangelista esset obseruatus Alteram causam affert Ambrosius longè maximi momenti nempe quòd primatu sic ad singulos per vices perueniente singulis Pastoribus non semper ad hanc gubernationem suscipiendam sdoneis compertis it a fieret vt indigni inter dum praeessent quaeres tum Presbyterij contemptum secum trahebat tum aditum factionibus aperiebat Let vs then auouch that this Primacie of order going round by course of mutuall succession was at length by very experience found not to haue force inough to represse ambitious Pastors neither vaine and flattering Auditors whiles euery Pastour in his course enioyed this superioritie Therefore that which was common to all by succession it seemed good to transferre to one chosen by the iudgement of the whole Presbyterie the which neither can nor ought to be reprehended especially since this ancient maner to choose the chiefe of the Presbyterie was obserued in the famous Church of Alexandria euen from Marke the Euangelist Another cause of greatest waight without comparison doeth Ambrose alleage that this Primacie so going round to euery one by course some Pastours sometimes were found vnfit to vndertake this gouernment and thereby it came to passe that such as were vnwoorthie oft times ruled the rest which brought with it the contempt of the Presbyterie and opened a gappe vnto factions How farre Ambrose is mistaken I haue shewed before hee saieth
as if the whole Church ought not to be acquainted with sacred elections and to allowe them but for that a meane therein is to be obserued the prerogatiue being yeelded to assembly of Pastours and the second place to the liking of the godly magistrate and lastly the people to be certified openly of the whole matter and leane giuen theÌ„ if they haue any reason of dissenting to propose their causes orderly Which course being hitherto religiously and wisely obserued in this City when one Morellius a fanaticall spirite in fauor of the people presumed to reprehend his writing was worthily condemned both in this church and in many Synodes of France The choise of the seuen in the Acts maketh no perpetual nor essential rule for elections in the Church of God The Council of Laodicea did wel and wisely prohibite the people to haue the choise of such as should be called to the sacred ministery The Pastors elect the magistrates consent open report there of is made to the people and if they haue any iust cause to alleage against the parties chosen they must propose and prooue their exceptions and when Morellius woulde haue challenged more interest then this for the people in the election of their Pastours his opinion was condemned both by the censure of Geneua and by the Synodes of France All this is confessed by Master Bezaes owne testimonie Wee differ you thinke in some pointes from the manner of Geneua wee haue great reason so to doe They liue in a popular state we in a kingdome The people there heare the chiefest rule here the Prince and yet there the people are excluded from electing their Pastors If the multitude haue any cause to dislike their allegation is heard and examined by the Pastours and Magistrates but they haue no free power to frustrate the whole by dissenting much lesse to elect whome they like Nowe that our state hath farre better cause to exclude the multitude from electing their Bishops then theirs hath is soone perceiued The people there maintaine their Pastours our Bishops are not chargeable to the Commons but endowed by the liberalitie of Princes without any cost to the multitude Their Pastours are chosen out of the same Citie and their behauiour knowen to al the Inhabitants our Bishops are taken from other places of gouernement and not so much as by name knowen to the people which they shall guide With vs therefore there is no cause why the people should be parties or priuie to the choosing of their Bishops since they be neither troubled with the maintaining of them nor haue any triall or can giue anie testimonic of their liues and conuersations which were the greatest reasons that inclined the Fathers of the Primitiue Church to yeelde so much vnto the people in the choyce of their Bishops And lastly if Princes were not heades of their people and by Gods and mans law trusted with the direction and moderation of all externall and publike gouernement as well in Religion as in policie afore and aboue al others which are two most sufficient reasons to enforce that they ought to be trusted with elections if they please to vndertake that charge whereof they must yeelde an account to God yet the people of this realine at the making of the Law most apparantly submitted and transferred al their right and interest to the Princes Iudgement and wisedome which lawefully they might and wisely they did rather then to endanger the whole common wealth with such tumulets and vproates as the Primitiue Church tasted of and lay the gappe open againe to the factions and corruptions of the vnsettled and vnbrideled multitude Thinke you all corruptions are cut off by reseruing elections of Bishops to Princes Faceions tumultes I hope you will grant are by that means abolished and vtterly extinguished As for briâ—erie howsoeuer ambitious heads and couetous hands may lincke together vnder colour of commendation to deceiue and abuse Princes â—ares yet reason and duetie bindeth mee and all others to thinke and say that Princes persons are of all others farthest from taking money for any such respects The words of Guntchrannus Chlotharius sonne king of France more then a thousand yeeres agoe make me so to suppose of all Christian and godlie Princes who wheÌ„ Remigius bishop of Bourges was dead and many gifts were offred him by some that sought the place gaue them this answere It is not our princely maner to sel Bishopriks for mony neither is it your part to get them with rewardes lest wee bee infamed for filthie gaine and you compared to Simon Magus In meaner persons more iustly may corruption be feared then in Princes who of all others haue least neede and so least cause to set Churches to sale Their abundance their magnificence their conscience are sureties for the freedome of their choice And therfore I see no reason to distrust their elections as likelier to be more corrupt then the peoples It is farre easier for ambition to preuaile with the people then with the Prince And as for the meetnesse of men in learning and life to supplie such places Princes haue both larger scope to choose and better meanes to knowe who are fit then their people for since Bishops are not and for the most part cannot be chosen out of the fame Church or Citie what course can the people take to be assured of their abilitie or integritie whom they neither liue with nor whose doctrine or maners they are any whit acquainted with This difference betwixt our times and the former ages of the Primitiue Church whiles some marke not they crie importunely for the peoples presence and testimonie in the choice of Pastors neuer remembring the people before there were any Christian Magistrates must needes haue greater interest in the election of their Pastours then afterward they could haue and when godlie Princes beganne to intermeddle with Ecclesiasticall matters the peoples testimonie was still required because the parties chosen conuersed alwaies with them euen in their eies and eares whereby they coulde witnesse the behauiour of the electees to be sincere and blamelesse which in our dayes is cleane otherwise by reason the Uniuersities and other places of the Realme traine vp men meete for Episeopall charge and calling and not the same Churches and Cities where they shall gouerue Requiritur in ordinando Sacerdote etiam popâ—li praeseâ—tia vâ—sciant omnes certisint quod qui praestantior est â—â— omni populo qui doctior qui sanctior qui omni virtute emâ—entioâ— ille eligitur ad sacerdotium hoc attestante populo The peoples presence saith Ierome is required in ordaining a Priest or Bishop that all may knowe and bee sure that out of the whole people the better the holier the learneder the higher in al vertue euen he is chosen to the Priesthoode the people witnessing as much for that is it which the Apostle commandeth in the ordaining of a Priest saying hee must
haue a good testimonie of those that are without If this were the reason why the people were called to the election of their bishops then the cause ceasing why should not the effect likewise cease If they can giue no testimonie as in our case they cannot what neeveth their presence If the authoritie of the people were requisite to place their pastour as when there was no belecuing prince happily it was in that respect also the Magistrate is more sufficient then the multitude to assure the election and assist the elect If consent be expected lest any man should be intruded upon the people against their willes the peoples consent is by the publike agreement of this realme yeelded and referred to the princes liking If iudgement to discerne betweene fit men and vnfit be necessarie I hope the grauitie and prudencie of the Magistrate may woorthely be preferred before the rashnesse and rudenesse of the many that are often ledde rather with affection then with discretion and are carried with manie light respectes and lewd meanes as with faction and flatterie fauour and fansie corruption and briberie and such like baites from which Gouernours are if not altogether free yet farre freer then the intemperate and vnrulie multitude And so take what respect you will either of DISCERNING ASSISTING or MAINTAINING of fitte passours and you shall finde the choice of ishops lieth more safelie in the princes then in the peoples hands The Clergy vsed to discerne and elect the people did like and allow their Pastours and to say the truth men of the same profession if they be not blinded with affections can best iudge of â—ch mans fitnes Indeeee the Canon Law ruleth the case thus Electio clericorum est coÌ„sensus Principis petitio plebis Clergy meÌ„ must elect the Prince may coÌ„sent the people must request the late bishops of Rome neuer left cursing and fighting til they excluded both prince people reduced the election wholy to the Clergie whom they might command at their pleasures but by your leaue it was not so from the beginning The forme of election prescribed by y t Roman laws 1000. yeeres since willed the Clergie the gouernors or chiefe men of the city to come together taking their oths vpon the holie gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to decree that is to elect or name 3. persons of which y e ordainer was to chuse y e best at his discretioÌ„ The fullest wordes that the ancient Greeke Writers vse for all the partes of election 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to propose to name to choose to decree are in the stories ecclesiasticall applied to the people When Eudoxius of Constantinople was dead and the Arrianâ— had chosen Demophilus in his place the Christians there is Socrates writeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chose one Euagrius Sozomene saieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they decreed Euagrius to be their bishop Nazianz. speaking of y e election of Eusebius saith the people were diuided into many sides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some naming one and some an other which word also Socrates vseth of the people in the choice of Ambrose and repineth that in his time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first naming of the bishop was permitted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the headie and vndiscreete multitude At the choice of Paulus to the Bishopricke of Constantinople Socrates saith the people were diuided into two partes and the Omousians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elect Paulus to the Bishopricke The Council of Nice was content that such as were ordained by Miletius shoulde be reâ—rdered and placed in the countes of other bishops that died 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they were found worthie and the people elected them Upon the dâ—â—th of Auxentius at Millan◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the multitude saith Sozomene fell to â—edition not agreeing on the election of any one When Nectarius was dead and Chrysostome chosen in succeâ—â—e him Sozomene saieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the people and Cleargie decreeing it the Emperour consented Socrates saieth he was chosen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the common decree of the Cleargie and people Upon the depriuing of Nestorius many â—amed Philip 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but more chose Proclus and Proclus election had preuailed had not some of the mightiest pretended a Canon against him that being named Bishop of one Citie hee coulde not bee translated to another Which being heard and beleeued 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 forced the people to hold their peace So that in the primitiue church the people did propose name elect and decree as wel as the Clergie and though the Presbyters had more skill to iudge yet the people had as much right to choose their Pastour and if the most part of them did agree they did carrie it from the Clergie so the persons chosen were such as the Canons did allow and the ordainers could not iustly mislike If it seeme hard to any man that the people in this point should be preferred as farre forth as the Clergie let him remember the Apostles in the Actes when they willed the Church at Ierusalem to choose the seuen that vndertooke the care of the widowes did not make any speciall remembrance or distinction of the seuentie Disciples from the rest who were then present and part of that company but committed as well the discerning as electing of fit men in common to the whole number of brethren reseruing approbation and imposition of hands to themselues for calling the multitude of Disciples together they said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consider of seuen men of your selues that are well reported of and full of the holie ghost and of wisedome whome wee may appoint ouer this businesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and they chose Steuen and the other sixe whome they set before the Apostles Since then the Apostles left elections indifferently to the people and Clergie of Ierusalem if you make that choice a president for elections what warrant had the Bishop of Rome to exclude them if their vnrulinesse deserued afterward to haue their libertie diminished or their â—way restrained that belonged not to the Popes but to the Princes power and therefore he was but an vsurper in taking it both from Prince and people without their consents and christian Princes vse but their right when they resume elections out of the Popes hands by conference with such as shal impose hands on them within their â—wn realmes name whom they thinke fit to succeede in the episcopal seate So did the ancient Emperors and Princes that were in the primitiue church as I haue shewed They neuer tooke the whole into their hands but onely gaue their consents before the election could take place It was a most tedious and trouble some worke for one man to name and elect all the Bishops in the Romane empire and therefore the Emperours left the Magistrates of each Citie to performe that
this cause all the scruple is what kinde of Presbyters they were Lay Presbyters I reade of none therfore I can admit none to be of that Council Besides such of the seuēty and such other Prophets as assisted Iames in the regiment of the church of Ierusalem are in all reason expressed by that name for since the whole church there is diuided into Apostles Presbyters and Brethren the helpers coadiutors of the Apostles were they Prophets or Euangelists that either came with Paul Barnabas from Antioch or were commorant with Iames the rest at Ierusalem must rather be contained in the name of Presbyters thē sorted with the general multitude for if they were of the many what men of more worthines were there to be honored with the title of Presbyters I hope the next degree to Apostles are not your Lay Elders S. Paul was then fowly ouershot to set first Apostles secondly Prophets thirdly Teachers and to reiect Gouernours which you take for your Lay Presbyters into the 7. place Howbeit vnles you make some fresher and better proofe for them then yet I see your Lay Elders are no where numbred by S. Paul for church gouernors As for Presbyters y ◠were beneath Apostles vnderstand by that name prophets euangelists pastors teachers or whom you will so no lay Elders we deny thē neither places nor voices in Synods so long as they haue right to teach or speake in the church for we esteeme Synodes to be but the assemblies conferences of those to whom the Churches of any prouince or nation for the word doctrine are committed And therefore to our Synodes are called as your selues know not only bishops but deanes archdeacons other clerks aswel of the principall cathedrall Presbytery where the episcopall seate church is as of the Diocese at large And though some Romish writers do stifly maintaine that none but bishops haue voices in Councils yet you see the ancient institution of our synodall assembly in this realme ouerthroweth their late new assertion Neither lacke we examples of the course which we keepe euen from the beginning The Synode of Rome called by Cornelius against Nouatus about the yeere of Christ 255 consisted of 60. Bishops and many Presbyters and Deacons as Euseb. noteth From the Synode of Antioch that deposed Paulus Samosatenus about the yere of our Lord 270. wrate not only Bishops but Presbyters Deacons as appeareth by their epistle In the Council of Eliberis about the time of the first Nicene Council sate besides the Bishops 36. Presbyters In the second Councill of Arle about the same time subscribed 12. Presbyters besides Deacons other Clergy mē The like may be seene in the Councils of Rome vnder Hilarius vnder Gregory where 34. Presbyters subscribed after 22. Bishops in y ◠first vnder Symmachus where after 72. bishops subscribed 67. Presbyters so in the third fift sixt vnder the same Symmachus Felix also bishop of Rome kept a Councill of 43. bishops 74. Presbyters after the same maner haue diuers other Metropolitanes assembled in their prouincial synods aswel Presbyters is bishops The council of Antisiodorum saith Let al the Presbyters being called come to the Synode in the city The 4. council of Toledo describeth y ◠celebrating of aprouinciall council in this wise Let the bishops assembled go to the church togither sit according to the time of their ordination After all the bishops are entred and set let the Presbyters be called and the Bishops sitting in a compas let the Presbyters sit behind them and the Deacons stand before them The Councill of Tarracon 1100. yeeres agoe prescribed almost the verie same order that we obserue at this day Let letters be sent by the Metropolitane vnto his brethren that they bring with them vnto the Synode not only some of the Presbyters of the Cathedral church but also of eche Dioecese And why should this seeme strange euen to the Romish crew when as in the great Council of Lateran as they call it vnder Innocentius the third there were but 482. Bishops and of Abbats and Priors conuentuall almost double the number euen eight hundred If Presbyters haue right to sit in Prouincial Synodes why are they excluded from generall Councils Many things are lawful which are not expedient I make no doubt but all pastours and teachers may sit and deliberate in Councill yet would it breede a sea of absurdities to call all the pastors and preachers of the world into one place as often as neede should require to haue any matter determined or ordered in the Church As therefore in ciuill policie when a whole realme assembleth not al y e persons there liuing are called together but certaine chiefe ouer the rest or chosen by y e rest to represent the state and to consult for the good of the whole common wealth so in the gouernement of the Church it were not only superfluous and tedious but monstrous to send for all the Pastors and Presbyters of the whole worlde into one Citie and there to stay them from their cures and Churches till all things needeful could be agreed and concluded It is more agreeable to reason and as sufficient in right that some of euerie place excelling others in dignitie or elected by generall consent shoulde be sent to supplie the roumes of the rest that are absent and to conferre in common for the directing and ordering of the whole Church And therefore Christian Princes in wisedome and discretion neuer sent for all the Presbyters of the world to anie generall Council but onely for the chiefest of euery principall church and citie or for some to be sent from euery realme far distant as legates in the names of the rest and by that meanes they had the consent of the whole world to the decrees of their Councils though not the personall appearance of all the Pastours and Presbyters that were in the world So to the Council of Nice the first christian Emperor sent for by his letters not all the Preachers Presbyters of the world but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishops of euery place and there came from all the Churches through Europe Asia and Africa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the best or chiefest of the Ministers of God each countrey sending not all their Bishops for then would they farrc haue exceded the number of 318. but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the most speciall and selected men they had and though there were present an infinite number of Presbyters and Deacons that came with the Bishops yet the Council consisted of 318. Bishops and no more by reason the Emperour sent not for the Presbyters of each place but for the Bishops The like examples are to be seene in the three generall Councils that folowed where onely Bishops determined matters in question and the Presbyters that subscribed in the Councils