both in assigning of these iust causes of S. Pauls refusall and giuing the Testimony of the Churche to Paul who commēded him to y e grace of God of both which cōcerning Barnabas he keepeth silence Then by how much more right may and ought we to striue with such as haue not only left the work of the Lorde but haue beene annointed with the filthy grease of the vncleane priesthoode and haue receiued the balde marke of the beast and haue in continuall ministry blasphemed the most holy that they should not be taken againe into the fellowship of this worke and seruice of the Gospell Lastly when as the Apostle requireth y ◠all Ministers must haue a good Testimony of those who are without least he fal into the reproch and snare of the caueller 1 Tim. 3. 7. howe cā they auoid this reproch who are to be taunted with their back-sliding with the turning of their coates and with high treasons againste their GOD how are not they in danger of the snare who haue opened a way vnto Sathan and the world how they may deal with them already Nowe vnto this deuine voyce of the Prophets we add the reuerend though humane testimony of auncient time Wherein the sentence of the generall Councel of Carthage alleadged before vs by Cyprian is of most reuerend account Cyprian lib. 1. epist 4. And there be other both many and grienous faultes wherewith Basilides and Marshall are inwrapped such do in vaine go about to occupy the place of a Byshop seeing it is manifest that such men may not gouern the Churche of Christ nor offer vp Sacrifices vnto God Especially when of late both with vs and with all the byshops in the worlde euen Cornelius also our fellow in ministry peaceable and iust and whom the Lord vouchsafed the honour of a Martyr decreed that such men might be admitted to repentance but should notwithstanding be kept from the cleargy or ministery By which also it is manifest y ◠this Counsel was not that prouinciall which concluded rebaptization whereunto Cornelius neuer consented And how Cyprian himselfe mainteineth our reasons may appeare by his discourse in the 7. Epist lib. 1. and his wordes following How dare he challenge vnto him the ministery which he hath betrayed as though it were lawfull after hauing beene at the Alter of the diuell to come vnto the Alter of God And againe Seeing therefore the Lorde threatneth such tormentes and punishmentes in the daye of his wrath to such as obey the Deuill and sacrifice to Idolles howe can hee thinke that he may doe the office of the minister of God which hathe obeied and serued the priests of the deuils or howe doth hee thinke that his hand can be translated to the sacrifice praier of the Lord which was captiue to sacriledge such a crime These may suffice for this point that after we haue mainteined the due honour of God his Embassadors we should also maintain the iust lawfull and holy authority committed vnto them of God Of the authoritie of Ministers of the Worde COncerning the authority of Ministers he speaketh thus Page 53. And heereuppon I woulde bee resolued by the Authour or some other whether hee thinke this indowment of euerye Minister with the execution of all dicsipline admitting but not graunting it to be so by law to be a conuenient pollicy for the vnity quiet of the Churche And whether he him selfe had not rather be vnder the forme now in practize in regard of his owne contentment then vnder the infinite dictatorship of his owne minister or else whether shoulde appellations frō the iudgement of the minister in this respect be allowed of and whether to the byshoppe or to whome and whether the Byshop by this interpretation of lawe shall not retain his authority of executing the Discipline of the Church vpon euery particuler minister and in euery seuerall parish as afore time seeing the authour sayth as well as the Byshop in his diocesse And if he shall what if the Byshop vppon good cause and for abusing of the authority shall suspende the Minister from his iurisdiction of executing Discipline is hee not at the same point he was before what if the Byshop him-selfe dwell in the parish who shall then haue the preheminence and what if the ministers discretion serue him vpon some small or surmised cause to excommunicate some great pear or noble counseller of his parish whose indignation may turne the whole Church to greate mischeefe or to proceede against his Patrone who peraduenture hath a bōd of him to resign And a little after page 54. The author seemeth to me to deuide the discipline of the Church which he would intitle euery Minister vnto into admonition denuntiation and excommunication If by denuntiation he meane the publishing of Excommunication done by him selfe then is it a part thereof If as I rather think he mean the second degree of proceeding vpon faults not publike specified in the 18. of S. Mathew then is this common with the minister vnto all other Christians euen as admonition is being the first degree And where the minister is the party offended and hath not preuayled neither by his admonition in priuate nor his denuntiation before two or three to whome shall hee tell it in the third place where he himself hath the authority to excommunicate and a little after in this respect hee calleth the Ministers priuate and inferiour And againe pag. 59. Yes truely as was touched afore they doe and may execute the discipline of declaring by doctrine according to the Worde of God mens sins to be bound or losed and the censure of rebuking and prouing openly those that doe freeze in the dregges of theire sinnes which are not the leaste partes of discipline which is as much as for auoiding intollerable inconueniences which otherwise would insue as is expedient to bee attributed to euery one c. A little after And if no especiall preeminence might be attributed in matter of execution of discipline to one minister aboue another why is it sayde by S. Paul excommunicating the incestuous Corinthian Absens decreui being absent I decreed seeing they had Ministers of their own and willed the denuntiation afterward to be done openly in the Church And at the time of his absolution Paul being absente saith to whom you forgiue any thing I forgiue also likewise speaking of the Anathematisme of Hymenaeus and Alexander I haue giuen them vp vnto Sathan not naming their owne Minister or any segniory Againe fol. 61. But if hee meane the discipline passiuely I thinke hee and his fellowes haue had some wrong at the cheefe prelates hands a great while If actiuely that euery minister without check might haue the execution of all discipline in his owne Parish I do verily beleeue that this man and others who so earnestly call for they knowe not what If they might not be them selues also Elders auncientes or what you will
sauing Priests of the Seigniory would be the the first weary of it For if I knowe their disposition they are as vnpatient as any men to bee at controlment and moste of all by a poore Minister It hath alwaies bene the practise of y e subtile Serpent who that hee might vndermine the authorye of Gods Embassadours and bring the Messengers of the most highest vnto disgrace to lift vppe some who neglectinge the moste essentiall duetyes of a Pastoure and Elder in feeding the flockes and being a Pattern in their whole life and example vnto them are wont to climbe into the ambitious throne of exercising a vsurped ecclesiasticall Dominion and a Lordship ouer their fellow-ministers that whilste by their place and pompe they might amaze the people as beeing men of great learning and wisedome and might also by their authority make the poore Ministers as the aunswearer sayth Priuat Ministers to speake when they wil wryte to what they list and to be their Commissaries cryer y t is their mās man to promulgat his sentence of excommunication at his pleasure hee might also bring to passe that which the Prophet Jeremy complayneth of in both The Prophets prophesie for reward and the Priestes exercise dominion * by their meanes and my people loue it so and what will they doe in the ende Which we see hath not onely won much vnto the cause of Sathan in popery but also it keepeth much power vnto him amongest those who do professe the Gospell For by this meanes it commeth to passe that they will goe 5. mile to heare a Lord preach when they will hardly come to Church to heare their owne Pastour By this meanes they becomme so irreuerent or rather sawcie with their Pastour that they care no more for his admonition and rebuke then for the bleating of a sheepe by this meanes they maye call him before a Commissarye a lay-man as he speaketh they may fetch out Excommunications thicke and three-folde if hee appeare not and so not only not haue him not to exercise dominion ouer them which Peter forbiddeth but also be Lordes ouer their Pastour beeing but priuate personnes which the lawe of reason disaloweth Which pollicy of Sathan although it become odious in the sight almost of all men but especially of true and louing subiects who are greeued that some not onelye exercise Lordship ouer theire fellow-ministers but also pearche so high as they pray vpon the right of princes whilste they forsoothe may not eate flesh in Lent or on a Fryday but by a Byshoypes lycense yet this man who hath giuen his tong leaue to reuile the Ministers with diuers slaunders reproches cannot content himselfe with that but must open his mouth against the due authority of the Ministers of Jesus Christe In which respect wee account our selues bounde by the Canonicall obedience which we owe vnto y e Archbishop of our soules Jesus Christ according to y e Canons which he hath made in his worde first to shew how this man disordereth y e questiō according to his maner voweth consent as it seemeth with the Jesuits in these his assertions proofs and then hauing discussed his allegations to confirm the plain truth by holy authority of scripture and worthy witnes of ancient times In the entrance therfore the Answerer is not content only to fly from y e issue whether according to the word of God the minister shold exercise the censures of the Church according to y ◠word of God which with vs is executed by Commissaries meere lay-men vnto another thing namely what inconueniences the excommunication committed to the pastor might bring but also to set vpon a matter neuer affirmed by vs that a minister should without the rest of the ecclesiastical senate perform this thing His agreement with the Papists may appeare manifestly by their Annotation the 4. ver of 5. cap. 1. Cor. Their wordes are these Though he commanded the Acte shoulde be done in the face of the Church as such sentences and censures bee at this day executed also yet the iudgement and authority of giuing sentence was in himselfe and not in the whol multitude as the Protestants and populer sects affirm Wherfore seeing his cause is that which is betweene the sworne enimies of GOD and his Church we are not to fear but the truth which hath preuayled so often against them shall also carry the Garland from this newe Wrestler His first reasons are drawne from the inconueniences which hee thinketh will come vnto the Church by this means as requiring rather like a Ciuilian not a diuine what is safe then what is according to God his wil Amongst which he demaundeth whether the Authour had not rather be vnder the forme that nowe is then vnder the infinite dictatorship of his owne minister which I aunswere by another Question why should the ministers censures proceeding by the equall authority of an Eldership vpon causes determined by God his worde in a small volume be more infinite then y e Commissaries who cannot but proccede according to the infinite and contradictorye Canons of their Law who can excommunicate vpon non apparaunce for a matter of 12 pence Is it liker that one Minister shal haue many elders more tied to his wil pleasure then one Commissary his own affections Againe may not their appeale from one Eldership to a Conference or assemblie of many Ministers and Elderships be as safe as from the Commissary to another Byshop And if it were granted that the Byshop should haue authoritye in euerye particuler Churche yet with the Ministers consent vnlesse he will iustle one lawe against another why were it not more reasonable safe then as it is nowe in the Byshoppe alone Seeing then the Minister might haue more particuler knowledge of the causes in his Congregation then the Byshop and yet if hee were rash the Byshops wisedome might stay him And if the Byshoppe shoulde suspende the Minister vppon abuse of his authoritye yet hee were not at the same poynt he was before because then they which did not abuse their authoritye mighte exercise it still And if the Byshoppe dwell in the Parish and had preheminence yet hee shoulde not draw the execution of Discipline to himselfe onely but to holde it in common with him But what doe I answering his cauelles agayuste the Lawe seeing I doubt not but the Abstractor will soone aunswere his cauill in this behalf For the fountayns which are in his Booke already are not yet dammed vp by the answerer Wherefore I passe to his incōuenience which he fetcheth from the want of discretion in y ◠Minister which is What if hee vpon want of discretion doe excommunicate some greate peere of his Parish vppon some surmized cause whose indignation may turne the whole church to great mischeefe To this I answere that vnlesse the Byshops seat aboue a Pastors be so sanctified as Hierome sayth by humain constitutions as that it can alwaies proceede with
of Israel be wise and vnderstand kisse the sonne least he be angry seeke the Lorde whilste he may be founde make attonement with him rest yee on God and follow his wayes For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth to shew him selfe strong with them that are of perfect hart toward him And you ye reuerend fathers which take vpon you to rule the sterne of God his ship to your consciences be it appealed whether you thrust not out of your brethren faithful skilful marriners nourishing the idle vnfit wherby it is come to passe that thousands of soules are like to be drowned Let be appeled vnto your cōsciēces whether this your dealing be not the only cause that this church of England hath suffred such disquietnes and whether you ar not folowers of such as haue bin disturbers of the churches in other countries cōpare I pray you your cause with their cause and your proceding with their proceeding as namely let the practises of the diuines of PERGA in Germany for the maintaining of the errour of consubstantiation and vbiquity of Christe his bodie be compared with your striuing against the wholesome disciplin of Christ they were few as namely about six one bare the cheefest svvay you are not so many as that for your willes all the Churches should be troubled in England they helde the foundation and so doe you they had to doe with their godly brethren and so haue you they shrowded themselues vnder the shadovve of moste famons men as of Luther and Melancthon and so do you euen of moste blessed martyrs and very learned fathers they hauing tried diuers wayes to establish their errors at length deuised a subscription to a book called Liber concordiae thereby to drawe a secrete allovvance of that which openly they could not so vvel set one foote You after many molestations and vexations of your brethren euen to the turning avvay of many good schollers godly affected from the study of diuinity haue at the lēgth contrary to allavv of God and man offered violence to the consciences of your brethren by a forced subscription they first won the magistrat and made him their pretence vvhere their subtilty vvas espied and I pray God it be not layd to your charge for your like dealing pretences the Magistrates vvere hardly dravvne to like of their purpose maner of proceding so am I perswaded that yours cannot long bee couered they pretended vnity and intituled their subscription a Booke of Concord and by that meanes made great discord and dissention you cry out for conformity and good order and nothing lesse is the issue of your proceedings you cry the peace of the Churche and vvho knovveth not that if you vvoulde be humble to God and louing to your brethren and discharge your duetye to her Maiesty but that these stumbling blocks and meanes of dissention might long ago haue bene remooued For vve are assured that as the Magistrates vvith them did somevvhat staye their fury so if her Highnesse of her Godly disposition and accustomed clemencye vvith her honourable Counsellers had not bene some Bridle to your vnvvise indeuors there vvould hardly haue bin ere this time any peace for a faithfull minister But how proceeded they vvhat did they obtaine Euen by feare and authority they forced some to subscribe some they woone by faire vvords to some they granted in secreat limitatiō which after they in open denied some hauing subsci bed aftervvarde vvith great sorrovve and anguishe relented some they remooued from their charges and some they continued vvith long and variable molestation and finallye this vvas the good they brought to passe that the people were distracted many churches vntaught great broiles confusion in many places So I wold to God that euery of those that I may not say vvorse vvere not too too true in you onely let it be appealed vnto your conscience that you suspended and depriued them whom by lavv you ought to haue first resolued or endeuored your selues to haue so don and that by articles interrogatory you vvēt about indeed intangled some of your brethrē vvith that pretence of law which othervvise seemed to be vvanting And vvas this either charitable to your brethren or agreeable to iustice to your aduersary meete in a Bishop to those of his charge that one should be punished before his cause be equally heard And that hee may not haue a copye of the thinges layde to his charge but be driuen vpon an oth to ansvvere sodainly being depriued in a chamber to be sent avvay vvithout anye certayne knovvledge of the causes of his depriuation Let all men iudge hovv this may beseme Christian Bishops and graue fathers But hovv haue you made vnity conformity euen as one vvould open a doore to al horrible cōfusion vprore if by the merciful prouidence of God it had not beene staid and preuented It is high time therefore for you to repent and to shewe your selues as true Elders casting downe your crovvnes before the Lambe It is hard for you to kicke against the prick Remember vvhat is written If the euill seruant shall say in his hart my Master doth deferre his comming and begin to smite his fellowes and to eate and drinke with the drunken that seruants master will come in a day vvhen he looketh not for him giue him his portion vvith hypocrites there shal be vveeping and gnashing of teeth And all ye the inhabitantes of this lande turne yee to the Lord before it bee too late humble your selues before the throne of his mercye let euerye one chaunge his heart and amend his ovvne vvaies that the Lorde may haue pittye vppon vs and our enimies preuaile not againste vs. Pray yee for the peace of this Lande they that loue the Lorde cease not crying till he haue mercy vppon vs And let the remembraunce of our blessed soueraigne be in all your supplications that by the continuaunce of her happy prosperous reigne his glorious Gospell may shine more and more as in the dayes of king Iosias in brightnesse beauty among vs. And let this little treatise bee vnto thee gentle and Christian reader as a light and profitable glasse from day to day to looke in that it may be a meanes to teach thee and stirre thee vp to praye for and to seeke by all lawfull quiet and Godlye meanes the refourmation of some things in our Church For it is not the purpose thereof as God knoweth to minister matter of ciuill contention or that any man shoulde reioyce in the strife of brethren but with as much care as could be tendring the peace of the church to make apparant simply and briefly the truth of godlinesse in the thinges mentioned in this book according to the worde of God And here vve desire all men and you the reuerende Fathers of this land all godly brethren to whom this may come to iudge charitably of this
contayne And the same authour DE PRESCRIPT ADVERS HERET We may not giue our selfe the liberty to bring in any thing that other men bring of their will we haue the Apostles for Authours which themselues brought nothing of their owne will but the Discipline which they receiued of Christ they deliuered faythfully to the people Which sentences seeing they can not be vnderstoode of the circumstaunces must be taken of the Substantiall poyntes which wee haue declared So the same Authour speaking of the like matter EPISTOLA LIB 1. EPIST 8. It is adulterouse it is wicked it is sacriligious whatsoeuer is ordayned by humaine fury that the diuine disposition shoulde be violated To the lyke effect LIBERIVS the Romane Bishop requyreth of the Emperour To leaue the trueth as it is in this behalfe or else to make all newe THEODORET in the sixeteene Chapiter of the seconde booke of the Ecclesiastical history which their iudgment shall be moste manyfestly auouched in the particular parts of this discipline of God which followe And thus much for the first and moste generall point which giueth both light and strength vnto the rest Now because him selfe willeth the particuler plat to be layed and prooued in the particulers which hath long ago beene done in many bookes and namely in the booke of Ecclesiasticall Discipline which hath receiued no answere as yet as whatsoeuer on their side of any worthinesse hath seene the light hath beene aunswered it shal be very profitable both to aunswere him and to maintaine the trueth in those particulers wherein hee seeketh to vndermine the same and first of the generall property of the Offices and then of the Offices themselues Of Election with consent of the people COncerning Election the wordes of this answerer be these Pag. 83. I doe thinke verily that in no Church the whole number of the people are permitted to haue a free Election of their Pastor c. Pag. 88. Also her Maiestie being the head member of this church whether she shall be alowed a voice by her highnes proctor among the people of one parish alone or in al parishes in the realm in chosing their minister what voice whether a negatiue coūtermāding al others or no or whether her highnes shal haue no suffrage therein at all Both which if they be not to the derogation of her highnesse prerogatiue royall let indifferent and wise men iudge And a little before in the same page I will only put this great canonist in minde of the 13. chap. of the counsell of Laodicea which doth forbid these elections by the multitude or people which as Origin sayth is pricked forwarde or caried away with clamors fauour or rewarde And to the same effect page 97. Item page 99. he obiecteth thus So that by this reckoning men women and children for all the faithfull bee interested shall haue voyces in election of their Ministers If any dissent all must be dashed if we followe that rule Againe page 100. For his flocke is but an handfull in comparison of hypocrites and many are called but few are chosen neither are al true beleeuers always indowed with such measure of wisedome and discretion as that they are able to sounde the aptnesse of a man in learning for the ministery nor yet haue all so profited in true mortification as that they can weane them-selues from those disordered affections which cleaue fast to euery one of vs either more or lesse so long as we remaine in this world and therefore in such cases the mo that do deal in any actiō the more disorderly troublesome for the most part it falleth out to be To the seconde I say it contayneth a promise of such quietnesse and peaceable issues of this populer election as if you turne ouer ecclesiasticall hystories neuer or seldome hath happened but the clean contrary And a little after Now it had beene very requisite that our Authour for the appointing of these democratical elections the better vnto vs should with proofe out of scripture for euery particuler haue shewed whether Women or children of some reasonable discretion shoulde haue voyces in the election of their Minister whether he should be chosen by all by the greater part or by the better part Whether the wiues voyce shoulde bee accounted seuerall or but one with her husbande or whether shee mght discent from her husband or the father from the sonne Whether the Patron not dwelling in the Parish shall haue a voyce or dwelling there but a single voyce Whether the greater number of voyces shall bee accounted in respect of all the Electors or onely in respect of him which is to bee chosen hauing more voyces then anye other hathe Whether all absent shall bee accounted to discent or to assent Whether sicke men or other necessarily imployde that would come and cannot maye sende the Proctor beeing no Paryshioner or compromit their voyce to a Parishioner Item Page 94. Discoursing largely about the places of Scripture alleadged to this purpose He sayth that course of election mentioned in the Actes was not vndertaken for satisfying anye expresse commaundement by Christ but vpon an especiall occasion of the mutiny of the Greeks against the Hebrewes Againe in that page 94. that of the Actes speaketh of Deacons onely and is not read elsewhere in all poynts to haue been obserued either in chosing of an Apostle Act. 1. of Ministers Acts. 2. or of Bish Titus 1. There also the whole multitude made choise without the Apostles who mēt therby to auoid al suspicion of corrupt dealing Which two circumstaunces no man will I hope require in the chosing eyther of a Bishop or a Minister especially that the Bishop and other of the Cleargie shall bee debarred from any stroke in that action seeing therein there cannot be the lyke cause of suspicion Also the Apostle calleth them togeather and prescribed vnto them what they shoulde doe in that poynt of externall policie and that according to the present occasion offered without any prescript worde but onely by the instinct of Gods spirite Further that the Apostles set out the qualitie of the men to be chosen but tied them to no certayne forme of election to be obserued neither doe we reade what forme of election they then vsed Againe that the Disciples were to looke out and chose such as they thought fitte to be trusted with the Church-stocke but the Apostles reserued to them-selues the appoynting of them to their office if they should be founde to be such as were described Moreouer that the Deacons were appoynted for the further ease of the Apostles in some part of their function Lastly that the disciples presented them to the Apostles censures who by imposition of handes did as it were consecrate and authorize them to the function of Deaconship Now if by this act our authour mind so hard to curbe vp al churches as that he will accuse thē to giue a counterbuff to the holy ghost which in their ordinations
discretion and Wisdome when the Pastors seate sanctified with God and ordained with so many pretious promises shoulde bee subiect to more follye and headinesse then the chayre of the Byshoppe this inconuenience is as likelye to fall into the Byshoppe as the Minister Further whether is more likely that the Byshop hauing by reason of his countenaunce and Ciuill authoritye bothe more heart-burning betweene the Noble Counsailers and himselfe and being in lesse feare as thinking him selfe better able to shoulder amongest them would be more bold in his conceit then a poore Minister as hee calleth him who neuer woulde for feare but vpon moste necessary and sufficient cause vrged in conscience aduenture suche thing neither if hee woulde could many graue Elders without whom he coulde do nothing bee drawne vnto it especially considering that their feare woulde preuayle where greate Conscience of theire duetie shoulde not ouercome it And maye not this man when his opinion as a Canker shall frette so farre turne all this agaynst the euery of publique rebuking as-well as agaynste the Mynisters execution of Disciplyne for maye he not also demaunde whether the Byshoppe shall retayne his authoritye to preache in his Diocesse and if hee bee in that Parishe who shall haue the preeminence If hee suspende the Minister from preachinge whether hee bee not at the same poynte hee was before And what if the Minister vppon some discretion woulde rebuke openlye some Peere of the Realme vpon bare conceyte or some surmise shall then the duetye of the Minister in Preaching for suche vnitye of the Churche cease and bee counted inconuenient If hee saye no this is the commaundemente of GOD and necessarye for Christian institution so wee saye this is the commaundemente of JESUS CHRISTE and necessarye for holye correction In the nexte place hee asketh to whome the Pastour shall tell it when hee doth admonishe him him-selfe I aunswere for the Pastour easely to the whole Eldership as our sauiour willeth But this question in deed cleane dasheth the sole authority of the Bishop out of countenaunce For to whom shall he tell not to the Congregation of Elders as our Sauiour commandeth but to the Church which standeth of him-selfe only as he desireth not ascending by the stayres of Christ from one to two from two to manye Godly Presidents as Chrisostome speaketh but by the stayres of Rome to descend from two to one and to take the matter wherin he is a party into his own hands and proceed in censure Ecclesiasticall as liketh him-selfe best In the next to blear mens eyes with all he graunteth they may rebuke in publike doctrine bynde and loose by preaching which is a great part of Discipline as though any man were so blynd as when the booke maketh three partes of the Ministers Office ministring of doctrine ministering of the Sacraments and ministring of Discipline as not to see what violence he doth Nay what folly he imputeth to the booke as though they shoulde make three of two For if Discipline be nothing but the open rebuking in preaching and binding and loosing by the same that beeing a parte of ministring the Doctrine by preaching is manifestly contained vnder it and so not onelye maketh one two but carrieth one halfe from one end of the sentence to another placing a thirde betweene and for an vmpier belike leaste they shoulde fall out or else being ioyned orderly togeather should to much annoy him But his reasons which the Jesuites haue shaken against the trueth hefore him do follow Unto which I aunswere that it followeth not that if the Apostle mighte by sole authority excommunicate therefore the Byshop may for an Apostle is of far greater authority then a Byshop is Secondly it is false that the Apostle did onely command vnto them to pronounce the sentence as the Byshop doth the minister giuing them no further authority For although as an Apostle whose duety was to deliuer ordiaunces which the Churches were to obserue and keep hee did iustlye decree as the voyce of Christe and so commaunde them what they should do yet he doth not excommunicate or take it vnto him-selfe but willeth that by the authority of Christ they should caste out not pronounce his sentence of eiection they shold Seperate frō amongst them such that they Should iudge those within that is vnder their authority not that they shoulde only pronounce his sentence of seperation and iudgement which is also most manyfest by his other allegation out of the second to the Corinthes where hesheweth that hee alone would not forgiue but whomsoeuer they forgaue he would forgiue he calleth it the rebuke or censure of many not of him-selfe He sheweth now they ought freely to forgiue he did exhort them to ratifie and by authority confirme their loue towards him Let him therfore take this necessary collectiō cleane against him y ◠if y ◠Apostle wold not nor durst not take vnto himself the sole anthority of excommunication absolution but left it vnto the church How shal any one bishop presume to shut out y ◠Ministers and elders carry it wholy vnto himself His next reason is of as great force The Apostle saith he did deliuer vnto sathan mentioneth neither their Ministry nor segniory therfore he did alone Upon which example I reason thus Paule saith that Timothy receiued grace by the laying on of his hands making no mention of y ◠elders therfore it is false that he saith in the 1. Tim. 4. that he receiued it by the laying on of the hands of the Eldership James Act. 15. saith I determine or iudge Therefore it is false which is after set down y ◠this was the decree of the Apostles Elders with the consent of the Churches But what neede I stande to aunswere this argument which was by a reuerent seruaunt of God aunsweared openly at Paules crosse that although the action be giuen to one who moderated yet neither Peter nor James nor anye Apostle aboue Apostles nor Bishop aboue Ministers had any authoritye ouer others and that as the Senatours were equall in authoritye notwithstanding he moderated so is it amongest the Apostles and Bishops And thus much for his reasons Ours follow that it belongeth to the Pastor the Eldership to excommunicate by the consent of the people If our Sauiour Christ Math. 18. when hee sayth tell the Churche meane not one Bishop because one can not be a number nor one alone a Church and he goeth vpwarde from one to 2. from two to moe not contrarywise from twoo to one neither can it be meant of manye Churches for then it muste bee all the whole Church in the phrase of the scripture and it were a confusion and vnpossibility for many Churches or the whol people to heare all such Ecclesiasticall causes but do meane vpon these reasons a particular Congregation then our assertion is most true and certaine The first we haue proued therfore the second is
true 1 That which the Apostle maketh the iudgement of a particular Congregation that must needes appertaine to the Pastor and the rest of the Elders as the gouernours and to the people as consenters 2 But this the Apostle plainelye expresseth 1. Cor. 5. 12. Why iudge you not those who are within Seperate him therefore from amongst you 3 Therfore it is true which we affirm If it be the especiall dutye of the Pastor by the authority of the Eldership to deliuer the holye Sacramentes to the worthy and detayne them from the vnworthy Then vnlesse he should be compelled to gyue them to the vnworthye and with-hold them from the worthy excommunication muste belong to him with his fellow Elders But the first is manifest by these Scriptures Leuit. 10. 11. Zephan 3. 3. They haue polluted the holye thinges And 1. Cor. 11. 26. 27. Wherefore our assertion is true The consequent of the firste part is manyfest because he must deliuer them to all not suspended and excommunicated and to the rest hee must not The consent of the auncient tymes agree vnto this The counsell of Arles 2. Can. 30. authoriseth the suspencion which the Elders and Clearkes decree against the Bishop And they doe it by the authority of auncient decrees Also seeing the councels conclude both generallye that the Bishop shall not proceed in any cause of gouernment Ecclesiasticall without the Elders and that they shall not ordayne without them and that they alone can not so much as gyue leaue to any of the Cleargy to goe vnto the Widowes or Uirgins but with the consent of the Elders it followeth much more that they mighte not excommunicate without them Now the first sort are directly prooued by these Canons following Concil Carthag 4. cap. 23. That the Bishops heare no cause without the presence of his Clearkes otherwise the sentence shall be voyde vnlesse it be confirmed by the presence of the Clearkes And the 22. That the Bishop ordayne not Clearks without the counsell of his clearks so that he seeke the assent and leaue or conniuence testimonie of the citizens Canon 3. An Elder when he is ordayned the Bishop blessing him holding his hand vppon his heade let also all the Elders which are present holde their handes by the handes of the Bishop That the Clearkes or those who containe come not to the Widowes or Virgins but by the commaundement or permission of the Bishops and Elders And Can. 32. That the Elder reconcile not the penitent not hauing asked councell of the Bishop Ierom. ad demetri 1. Epist The Elders in other censures of the Church and the Church hath interest in excommunication Cyprian lib. 3. Epist 19. Speaking of excommunication of which vntill we shall haue vnderstanding what he haue done after which thing when it regardeth the Counsell and sentence of vs all I dare not preiudicate the matter and draw it only to my selfe And lib. 3. epist. 14. epist 15. epist 16. and August speaking of the elders saith because all thinges in tradition of the Lord are done by the holie Ghost therefore when a rule and forme of this Discipline is deliuered vnto them it is sayde vnto them receiue the holy ghost because it doth truly appertaine to ecclesiasticall righte whose sinnes you forgiue c. Of the Doctor or teacher that he is an ordinary and perpetuall officer in the Church of Christ distinct from the Pastor by the Worde of God COncerning which y â— words of y â— answerer are these And I hope that the authour will not heereby gather that by law nowe in force a man is vtterly simplie forbidden to haue an other preach in his cure for then all our new doctours De robe curté who iutrude themselues vppon must bee faine to giue ouer their cloakes and put vp their Pipes fol. 41. If this had bene directed against the particuler persons of some it had beene beyond the rule of charitie and modesty though he should be a Doctor who spake it thus to slaunder any with intrusion and hauing nothing to saye to their doctrine and lyues to gybe at the apparel which they weare in iourney or otherwise vpon occasion being both sober and graue yea when as commonly they vse a gowne with as much grauitie lesse flanting then the most of their Doctors consecrated according to the order of men and not of God But now that it is brought to deface as shall be proued the ordinaunce of God thus without all proofe to flout and to taunt the officers of God beseemeth neither the grauitye of a Cambridge Doctor nor the modesty of a Christian nor the ciuility of an honest man Their intrusion forsooth is this that hauing first according to the order of the Church of England authority to preach they come vpon the earnest desire of the CongregatioÌ„ with the consent of the Pastor vnlesse being no preacher and ignoraunt for enuy he can not beare him to instruct the people with wholsome doctrine out of the true interpretation of the Scriptures their Pipes which he sayth prophanely they may put vp is the Vtteraunce of knowledge a gift of the holy Ghoste which is more sweete to GOD his Children and acceptable to the Lord then al the gilded Organes and Pipes in the Realme For in the spirituall battell their Sound is vncertaine when as these as the Siluer trumpets of Gods sauctuary giue certayne warning to the people to serue the Lorde aright Thus hauing in a worde with as much patience and modesty as the Lord woulde giue me touched not the Salt but vnsauory brine of his floutes hauing no reason of his to deale withall I set downe these following first for profe out of y t scripture then for witnes out of ancient wryters 1 Whatsoeuer the Apostle setting downe the ordinary perpetual members of Christs body in euery particuler Congregation doth make an ordinarie member in the same distintâ—t in his proper workes and action from all the rest the same is a perpetuall ordinary Church-officer 2 But he maketh the Doctor in that reckoning a distinct member hauing a distinct action from all the rest to wit teaching distinguished there from exhortation from gouerning from distributing 3 Wherefore it is plaine that he is a Church-officer ordinary and perpetuall for his giftes and vse are ordinary and perpetuall and also distinguished from the Pastor 1 Whatsoeuer Christe hath giuen to his Church with an ordinary and perpetuall gift for the perpetual work of the ministery gathering and building vp of the Church vnto perfection that is an ordinary Church-officer 2 But so he hath giuen Pastours and Doctors Ephes 4. 11. 3 Therefore both are perpetuall and ordinary officers and by consequent distinct Unto this argument they obiect because the Apostle hauing sayde some Apostles some Prophets some Euangelistes he saith in the last place some Pastors and Teachers which because they are coupled by and they say they