he will contradict all other Writers it being avouched by all that Synods did depose all those Bishops that were guilty of criminal and scandalous Enormities as Privatus Bishop of Lambese was deposed by a Synod of Ninety Bishops for his many and heinous Crimes § 7. But now excepting these three Causes of Apostacy Heresie and Immorality it was Schism in a Parish to leave their Minister or to set up another Bishop against him for tho' they at first chose their Bishop yet their Bishop being on their Choice approved and confirmed by the neighbouring Bishops they could not dethrone him without truly assigning one of those forementioned Causes for this was to gather a Church out of a Church to erect a new Altar and a new Bishop which could not be in one Church for as Cyprian writes God is one Christ is one the Church is one the Rock on which the Church is built is one wherefore to erect a new Altar and constitute a new Bishop besides the one Altar and the one Bishop is impracticable whosoever gathers here scatters so to do is adulterous impious sacrilegious mad and wicked From hence says Cyprian Schisms do arise that the Bishop is not obeyed and it is not considered that there ought to be but one Bishop and one Judge in a Church at a time And this is the Rise and Source of Schismaticks that through their swelling Pride they contemn their Bishop and so they go off from the Church so they erect a profane Altar and so they rebel against the Peace of Christ and the Ordination and Vnity of God And again From thence proceed Schisms that the Bishop who is but one and presides over the Church is contemned by the proud Presumption of Men and he that was thought worthy by God is esteemed unworthy by Men. And again The Church is the People united to their Bishop and the Sheep adhering to their Pastour the Bishop is in the Church and the Church in the Bishop whosoever are not with the Bishop are not in the Church and those do in vain flatter themselves who having not Peace with God's Priests creep about and privately communicate with some as they think when the Catholick Church is not divided but connexed and coupled together by the Vnity of its agreeing Bishops Whosoever therefore should causelesly desert his Bishop and solicit others so to do was a true Schismatick since in so doing he divided a Portion of the Flock with the Bishop separated the Sheep from their Pastour and dissipated the Members of Christ. From these Quotations then it is apparent that the Primitive Schism respected only a particular Church and consisted in a Person 's Separation from Communion with his lawful Bishop without a just and authentick Cause when any one should set up a particular Church in a particular Church in opposition to the lawful Bishop thereof and should draw away the Inhabitants of that Parish from the Communion of their legal Minister setting up distinct Meetings and Conventicles as Cyprian calls them This was true Schism for as Ignatius says whosoever so assembled were not congregated legally according to the Command And whosoever officiated without the Bishop sacrificed to the Devil § 8. This Notion now of Schism gives us a clear Reason why we find in Ignatius so frequent and Pathetick Injunctions of Obedience to and Unity with our respective Pastours of avoiding all Divisions and closely adhering to them because a deserting of them or a separating from them was a Commission of this horrid and detestable Sin of Schism as will appear from these following Exhortations and Instructions of his with which every Leaf almost of his Epistles are fraught and furnished All you of the Church of Smirna obey your Bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father and the Presbytery as the Apostles and honour the 〈◊〉 according to the Command of God Let nothing of Ecclesiastical Services be done without the Bishop let that Communion only be esteemed valid which is performed by the Bishop or by one permitted by him Wherever the Bishop is there let the People be as where Jesus Christ is there the Catholick Church is it is not lawful without the Bishop or one permitted by him to baptize or celebrate the 〈◊〉 this is pleasing unto God that so whatsoever is done may be firm and Legal Have respect unto your Bishop as God hath respect unto you My Soul for theirs that obey their Bishop Presbyters and Deacons and with them let my part in God be Let us not resist our Bishop lest we be found Resisters of God I exhort you to do every thing in the Vnity of God the Bishop presiding in the place of God and the Presbyters in the place of the Council of the Apostles and the Deacons persorming the intrusted Ministry of Jesus Christ let there nothing be in you that may divide you but be united to your Bishop and Presidents As therefore Christ did nothing without the Father being united to him neither by himself nor by his Apostles so do you nothing without the Bishop and Presbyters nor privately withdraw from them but assemble together having one Prayer one Supplication one Mind and one Hope Flee all Division where the Pastour is there as Sheep follow for there are many 〈◊〉 Wolves that seek to carry you away but let them have no place in your Vnity Whoever are God's and Jesus Christ's they are with the Bishop and whosoever repenting shall come to the Vnity of the Church those shall be God's that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Be not deceived my Brethren if any one follows a 〈◊〉 or one that causeth Division and Separation he shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Respect the Bishop Presbyters and Deacons do nothing without the Bishop Keep your Flesh as the Temple of God Love Vnity Avoid Schisms be followers of Jesus Christ as he was of his Father Where Division and Wrath is God dwells not God therefore pardons all Penitents if they penitentially return to the Vnity of God and the Presbytery of the Bishop And some other such like Expressions there are in the 〈◊〉 of this Father which evidently demonstrate Schism to be nothing else than a causeless Separation from our Parish Bishop or Minister and a wandring after or an Adhesion to another false and pretended Pastour § 9. But for the clearer Proof that this was what the Father 's meant by Schism it may not be altogether unnecessary to add unto these Quotations an Example or two for Examples more convincingly 〈◊〉 than bare Testimonies and Citations And here let us first view the Schism of Felicissimus in the hurch of Carthage as it is related in the 38th 40th and 55th Epistles of Cyprian and we shall find it respecting only that particular Church or Parish When Cyprian was elected Bishop of Carthage Felicissimus and others of his Faction opposed him but
gave unto the Bishops the power of Baptizing So that the Bishops did ordinarily baptize all the Persons that were baptized in their Diocesses and if so it is not probable I may say possible that their Diocesses were extended beyond the bulk of single Congregations 4. The Churches Charity was Deposited with the Bishop who as Justin Martyr reports was the common Curator and Overseer of all the Orphans Widows Diseased Strangers Imprisoned and in a word of all those that were needy and indigent To this charitable Office Ignatius adviseth Polycarpus but of that Advice more shall be spoken in another place only let us here observe That that Diocess could not be very large where the Bishop personally relieved and succoured all the Poor and Indigent therein 5. All the People of a Diocess were present at Church Censures as Origen describes an Offender as appearing before the whole Church So Clemens Romanus calls the Censures of the Church the things commanded by the multitude And so the two offending Subdeacons and Acolyth at Carthage were to be tried before the whole 6. No Offenders were restored again to the Churches Peace without the knowledge and consent of the whole Diocess So Cyprian writes that before they were re-admitted to Communion they were to plead their Cause before all the People And it was ordained by an African Synod that except in danger of Death or an instantaneous Persecution none should be received into the Churches Peace without the knowledge and consent of the People 7. When the Bishop of a Church was dead all the People of that Church met together in one Place to chuse a new Bishop So Sabinus was elected Bishop of Emerita by the 〈◊〉 of all the Brotherhood which was also the custom throughout all Africa for the Bishop to be chosen in the Presence of the People And so Fabianus was chosen to be Bishop of Rome by all the Brethren who were met together in one place for that very end 8. At the Ordinations of the Clergy the whole Body of the People were present So an African Synod held Anno 258 determined That the Ordination of Ministers ought to be done with the knowledge and in the Presence of the People that the People being present either the Crimes of the wicked may be detected or the Merits of the good declared and so the Ordination may be Just and Lawful being approved by the Suffrage and Judgment of all And Bishop Cyprian writes from his Exile to all the People of his Diocess that it had been his constant Practice in all Ordinations to consult their Opinions and by their common Counsels to weigh the manners and merits of every one Therein imitating the Example of the Apostles and Apostolick Men who Ordained none but with the Approbation of the whole Church 9. Publick Letters from one Church to another were read before the whole Diocess Thus Cornelius Bishop of Rome whatever Letters he received from Foreign Churches he always read them to his most holy and numerous People And without doubt when Firmilian writ to all the Parish of Antioch they could all assemble together to read his Letter and return an Answer to it since we find that in those days one whole Church writ to another whole Church as the Church of Rome writ to the Church of Corinth And Cyprian and his whole Flock sent gratulatory Letters to Pope Lucius upon his return from Exile Lastly The whole Diocess of the Bishop did meet all together to manage Church-Affairs Thus when the Schism of Felicissimus in the Bishoprick of Carthage was to be debated It was to be done according to the will of the People and by the consent of the Laity And when there were some hot Disputes about the Restitution of the Lapsed the said Cyprian promised his whole Diocess that all those things should be examined before them and be judged by them And so also when they were to send a Messenger to any Foreign Church all the People could meet together to chuse that Messenger as they could in the Church of Philadelphia Now put all these Observations together and duly consider whether they do not prove the Primitive Parishes to be no larger than our modern ones are that is that they had no more Believers or Christians in them than there are now in ours I do not say that the Ancient Bishopricks had no larger Territories or no greater space of Ground than our Parishes have On the contrary it is very probable that many of them had much more since in those early days of Christianity in many places the Faithful might be so few as that for twenty or thirty Miles round they might associate together under one Bishop and make up but one Church and that a small one too But this I fay that how large soever their Local Extent was their Members made but one single Congregation and had no more Christians in it than our Parishes now have for that Diocess cannot possibly be more than one single Congregation where all the People met together at one time Prayed together Received the Sacrament together assisted at Church Censures together and dispatched Church Affairs together and yet the Members of the Primitive Diocesses did all this together as the preceding Observations evidently declare so that I might stop here and add no 〈◊〉 Proofs to that which hath been already so clearly proved § 3. But yet that we may more clearly illustrate this Point we shall demonstrate it by another method viz. By shewing the real Bulk and Size of those Bishopricks concerning whom we have any Notices remaining on ancient Records and manifest that the very largest of them were no greater than our particular Congregations are And for the Proof of this we shall quote the Writings of St. Ignatius in whose genuine Epistles there is such an account of the Bishopricks of Smirna Ephesus Magnesia Philadelphia and Trallium as manifestly evidences them to be but so many single Congregations As for the Diocess of Smirna its extent could not be very large since nothing of Church-Affairs was done there without the Bishop he baptized and administred the Eucharist and none else could do it within his Cure without his permission wherever he was his whole Flock followed him which they might without any Inconveniency do since they frequently assembled together as Ignatius advised Polycarp the Bishop of this Church To convene his Diocess to chuse a faithful honest Man to send a Messenger into Syria So that the Bishop of this Church could know his whole Flock personally by their Names carrying himself respectfully and charitably to all with all meekness and humility towards Serving-men and Serving-maids and charitably taking care of the Widows within his Diocess permitting nothing to be done there without his Privity Insomuch that none were married without his previous advice
not the Bishop without the People nor the People without the Bishop but both conjunctly constituted that Supreme Tribunal which censured Delinquents and Transgressors as will be evident from what follows All the Power that any Church-Court exerted was derived from that Promife and Commission of Christ in Matth. 16. 18 19. Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven whatsoever thou shalt loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Now this Power some of the Ancients mention as given to the Bishops Thus Origen writes That the Bishops applyed to themselves this Promise that was made to Peter teaching That they had received the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven from our Saviour that so whatsoever was bound that is condemned by them on Earth was bound in Heaven and whatsoever was loosed by them was also loosed in Heaven which says he may be Orthodoxly enough applyed to them if they hold Peter's Confession and are such as the Church of Christ may be built upon And so also says Cyprian The Church is founded upon the Bishops by whom every Ecclesiastical Action is governed Others of the Ancients mention this Power as given to the whole Church according to that in Matth. 18. 15 16 17 18. If thy Brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his Fault between thee and him 〈◊〉 if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy 〈◊〉 but if he will not hear thee take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three Witnesses every Word may be established and if he shall neglect them tell it unto the Church but if he neglect to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen and a Publican Verily I say unto you Whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven By the Church here is to be understood the whole Body of a particular Church or Parish unto which some of the Fathers attribute the Power of the Keys as Tertullian If thou fearest Heaven to be shut remember the Lord gave its Keys to Peter and by him to the Church And Firmilian The Power of remitting Sins is given to the Apostles and to the Churches which they constituted and to the Bishops who succeeded them Now from this different attribution of the Power of the Keys we may infer this That it was so lodged both in Bishops and People as that each had some share in it The Bishop had the whole Executive and part of the Legislative Power and the People had a part in the Legislative tho' not in the Executive As for the Executive Power by which I understand the formal Pronunciation of Suspensions and Excommunications the Imposition of Hands in the Absolution of Penitents and such like that could be done by none but by the Bishop or by Persons in Holy Orders Deputed and Commission'd by him as the Sequel will evince But as for the Legislative Decretive or Judicatorial Power that 〈◊〉 both to Clergy and Laity who conjunctly made up that Supreme Consistorial Court which was in every Parish before which all Offenders were tried and if found Guilty sentenced and condemned Now that the Clergy were Members of this Ecclesiastical Court is a thing so evidently known and granted by all as that it would be superfluous to heap up many Quotations to prove it so that I shall but just confirm it after I have proved that which may seem more strange and that is That the Laity were Members thereof and Judges therein being Sharers with the Clergy in the Judicial Power of the Spiritual Court And this will most evidently appear by the consideration of these following Testimonies The first shall be out of that place of Clemens Romanus where he writes Who will say according to the Example of Moses If Seditions Contentions and Schisms are hapned because of me I will depart I will go wheresoever you please and I will do what are enjoyned me by the People so the Church of Christ be in Peace So Origen describes a Criminal as appearing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Before the whole Church And Dyonisius Bishop of Alexandria in his Letter to Fabius Bishop of Antioch speaks of one Serapion that had fallen in the Times of Persecution who had several times appeared before the Church to beg their Pardon but no one did ever take any notice of him But Cyprian is most full in this matter as when two Subdeacons and an Acolyth of his Parish had committed some great Misdemeanors he professes that he himself was not a sufficient Judge of their Crimes but they ought to be tried by all the People And concerning Felicissimus the 〈◊〉 he writes to his People from his Exile that if it pleased God he would come to them after Easter and then that Affair should be adjusted according to their Arbitrement and Common Counsel And in another place he condemns the rash Precipitation of some of his Presbyters in admitting the Lapsed to Communion because of some Pacificatory Libels obtained from the Confessors and charges them to admit no more till Peace was restored to the Church and then they should plead their Cause before the Clergy and before all the People And concerning the same matter he writes in another Letter to the People of his Parish That when it should please God to restore Peace to the Church and reduce him from his Exile that then it should be examined in their Presence and according to their Judgment So that the Consistory Court was composed of the People as well as of the Bishop each of whom had a negative Voice therein On one side the Bishop could do nothing without the People So when several returned from the Schism of Fortunatus and Bishop Cyprian was willing to receive them into the Churches Peace he complains of the unwillingness of his People to admit them and the great difficulties he had to obtain their Consent as he thus describes it in his Letter to Cornelius Bishop of Rome O my dear Brother if you could be present with me when those Men return from their Schism you would wonder at what pains I take to perswade our Brethren to be patient that laying aside their Grief of Mind they would consent to the healing and receiving of those that are sick I can scarce 〈◊〉 yea I extort a Grant from my People that such 〈◊〉 received to Communion And on the other side the People could do dothing without the Bishop as when one of the three Bishops that 〈◊〉 Ordained Novatian came back to the Church and desired admission the People alone could not receive him without the Consent of the Bishop 〈◊〉 for else they would
Diocess as also but one Church where they all usually met do not unavoidably reduce this Bishoprick to the Circumference of a modern Parish I leave every Man to judge § 10. The next Diocess to be considered is Carthage which next to Rome and Alexandria was the greatest City in the World and probably had as many Christians in it as either especially if that is true which Tertullian insinuates that the tenth part thereof was Christian for he remonstrates to Scapula the Persecuting President of that City that if he should destroy the Christians of Carthage he must root out the Tenth part thereof But yet how many soever the Christians of that Bishoprick were even some years after Tertullian's days they were no more in number than there are now in our Parishes as is evident from Scores of Passages in the Writings of Cyprian Bishop of that Church For 1. The Bishop of that Diocess could know every one therein 2. The Bishop of that Diocess was the common Curator of all the Poor therein relieving the Poor and Indigent paying of their Debts and aiding the necessitous Tradesmen with Money to set up their Trades As Cyprian when he was in his exil'd State sent Caldonius Herculanus Rogatianus and Numidicus to his Church at Carthage to pay off the Debts of the indebted Members thereof and to help those poor Mechanicks with a convenient Sum of Mony who were willing to set up their Trades If Cyprian's Diocess had consisted of scores of Parishes how many Thousand Pounds must he have expended to have paid off the Debts of all the insolvent Persons therein and to have 〈◊〉 every poor Trader with a sufficient Stock to carry on his Employment 3. All the Diocess was present when the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administred So saith Cyprian We celebrate the Sacrament the whole Brotherhood being present 4. When Celerinus was ordained Lector or Clerk by Cyprian he Read from the Pulpit so that All the People could see and hear him 5. In all Ordinations all the People were consulted and none were admitted into Holy Orders without their Approbation as is assured by Cyprian Bishop of this Diocess who tells us that it was his constant custom in all Ordinations to consult his People and with their common Counsel to weigh the merits of every Candidate of the Sacred Orders And therefore when for extraordinary Merits he advanced one to the Degree of a Lector or Clerk without first communicating it to his Diocess he writes from his Exil'd State to his whole Flock the Reason of it 6. When that See was vacant all the People met together to chuse a Bishop Whence Pontius says that Cyprian was elected Bishop of this Diocess by the favour of the people And Cyprian himself acknowledges that he was chosen by the Suffrage of all his People 7. All the People of this Diocess could meet together to send Letters to other Churches an instance whereof we have in that gratulatory Letter still extant in Cyprian which they all sent to Lucius Bishop of Rome on his Return from Exile 8. All the People were present at Church-Censures and concurred at the Excommunication of Offenders Thus Cyprian writing from his Exile to the People of this his Diocess about the Irregularities of two of his Subdeacons and one of his Acolyths and about the Schism of Felicissimus assures them that as to the former when ever it should please God to return him in Peace it should be determined by him and his Colleagues and his whole Flock And as to the latter that then likewise that should be transacted according to the Arbitrament of the People and the common Counsel of them all 9. At the Absolution of Penitents all the People were present who examined the Reality of the Offender's Repentance and if well satisfied of it consented that they should be admitted to the Churches Peace Therefore when some Presbyters in a time of Persecution had with too great 〈◊〉 and Precipitancy assoyled some of those that through the Violence of the Persecution had succumbed Cyprian writes them from his Exile an objurgatory Letter commanding them to admit no more till Peace should be restored to the Church when those Offenders should plead their Cause before all the People And touching the same matter he writes in another place to all the People of his Diocess that when it should please God to restore Peace to the Church then all those matters should be examined in their Presence and be judged by them Lastly Nothing was done in this Diocess without the Consent of the People So resolved Bishop Cyprian from the first time I was made Bishop said he I determined to do nothing without the consent of my People And accordingly when he was exil'd from his Flock he writ to the Clergy and Laity thereof that when it should please God to return him unto them all Affairs as their mutual Honour did require should be debated in common by them Now whether all these Observations do not evidently reduce the Diocess of Carthage to the same Bulk with our Parishes I leave to every one to 〈◊〉 For my part I must needs profess that I cannot imagin how all the People thereof could receive the Sacrament together assist at the Excommunication and Absolution of Offenders assemble together to elect their Bishop and do the rest of those forementioned particulars without confining this Bishoprick within the Limits of a particular Congregation § 11. As for the Diocess of Alexandria though the numbers of the Christians therein were not so many but that in the middle of the Fourth Century they could all or at least most of them meet together in one place as I might evince from the Writings of Athanasius were it not beyond my prescribed time yet in the third Century they had divided themselves into several distinct and separate Congregations which were all subjected to one Bishop as is clearly enough asserted by Dyonisius Bishop of this Church who mentions the distinct Congregations in the extremest Suburbs of the City The Reason whereof seems to be this Those Members of this Bishoprick who lived in the remotest parts of it finding it incommodious and troublesom every Lord's Day Saturday Wednesday and Friday on which days they always assembled to go to their one usual Meeting-place which was very far from their own Homes and withal being unwilling to divide themselves from their old Church and Bishop lest they should seem guilty of the detestable Sin of Schism which consisted in a Causeless Separation from their Bishop and Parish Church as shall be hereafter shewn desired their proper Bishop to give them leave for Conveniency sake to Erect near their own Habitations a Chappel of Ease which should be a Daughter-Church to the Bishops under his Jurisdiction and guided by a Presbyter of his Commission and Appointment whereat they would
not have so earnestly press'd him 〈◊〉 his permission as we find they did Thus then we have viewed the Members of the Spiritual Court and have proved that they were all the Members or the whole Body of the Church Clergy as well as Laity and Laity as well as Clergy 〈◊〉 one without the other but both together But now forasmuch as the People were encumbred with earthly business and it was not possible that they could constantly give their attendance and narrowly search into every thing that should be brought before them Therefore we may suppose that the Members of the Presbytery who as was said before under the Head of Ordination were to be free from all Worldly Cares and Employments were appointed as a Committee to prepare matters for the whole Court An instance whereof we meet with in Maximus Vrbanus Sidonius and some others that had joined in the Schism of Novatian who being sensible of their Fault Came into the Presbytery and desir'd the Churches Peace the Presbytery accepted of their Submission and proposed it to the whole Church who readily embraced it So that the Presbytery prepared matters for the whole Court which Court was the Supreme Tribunal within the Limits of that Parish before whom all matters that there occurred were tried and by whom all were judged only when any great and difficult points were decided 't is probable it was the custom to desire the Bishops of the neighbouring Parishes to come over and assist there in presence that so their Censures might be the freer from any imputation of Partiality or Injustice Thus when a nice Affair was to be determined at Rome Cornelius desired five Bishops to assist that so what they did might be firm and indisputable § 4. Having thus found out the Members of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal the next thing to be consider'd is the manner and Form of their Proceedings in the Exercise of their Judicial Power and Authority which by Tertullian is described to be after this manner When at their general Assemblies the other parts of Divine Worship were ended then followed Exhortations Reproofs and a Divine Censure for the Judgment is given with great weight as amongst those that are sure that God beholds what they do and this is one of the highest Preludiums and Forerunners of the Judgment to come when the Delinquent is banished from the Communion of Prayers Assemblies and all Holy Commerce Approved Elders preside there who obtained that Honour by Testimony not by Price So that when the Consistory was sat the Bishop and his assisting Presbyters here called Approved Elders but commonly the Presbytery presided and moderated all things there proposed and debated Then the Offenders if possible were actually brought before them tho' the non-appearance of the Criminals was no impediment to their Proceedings for notwithstanding they condemned them and censured them not only for those Crimes for which they were cited to appear but also for their Contumacy and Stubbornness as Cyprian writes the Proud and Obstinate are killed with the Spiritual Sword whilst they are cast out of the Church and those that are stubborn and fear not God but go off from the Church let no Man accompany But yet I say if possible the Offenders personally appeared that so their Crimes might be objected to them to which they were to plead as Cyprian says that the Lapsed were to plead their Cause before the Clergy and the whole Church Then the Court consider'd the Defendant's Plea as Cyprian writes that all things were debated in common amongst them And if the Bishop and Majority of the Court judged their Defence insufficient they were voted by their common Suffrage to be condemned and censured as Cyprian writes that whoever was excommunicated it was by the Divine Suffrages of the People The Delinquent being thus cast or found Guilty the next thing that succeeded was the formal Declaration of the Sentence of the Court which was pronounced as Tertullian intimates in that fore-quoted Passage by one of the presiding Elders that is either by the Bishop or a Presbyter Commission'd by him the manner of which Pronunciation seems also from that Passage to be thus He that passed the formal Sentence on the Criminal first began with Exhortations that is as we may reasonably suppose he exhorted the Faithful to use all diligent Care and Fear to avoid those Sins and Crimes which had brought the Offenders before them to so lamentable and fatal Condition Then followed Reproofs which were sharp Rebukes and Reprehensions to the Delinquents for their foul Miscarriages and enormous Practices setting forth the Evil Villany and Misery of them That they were provoking to God grievous to the Faithful scandalous to Religion and in fine ruining and pernicious to themselves in that it rendred them obnoxious to that Divine Censure which then immediately as the Conclusion of all he formally pronounced on them Which brings me to the Consideration of the Fourth Query viz. What the Primitive Censures were of which in the following Section § 5. Now in answer hereunto as the Church so her Arms were Spiritual her Thunderbolts 〈◊〉 in Suspensions and Excommunications in ejecting and throwing out of the Church her scandalous and rotten Members not permitting a re-induction of them till by visible signs of Repentance they had satisfied for their Crimes and Villanies Various are the Appellations that are given to the Sentence of Excommunication in the Writings of the Ancients By Dionysius Alexandrinus it is called A driving away from the Church By Tertullian A casting out from the Churches Communion and a driving from Communion By Cyprian A Separation from the Church An Ejection out of the Church A killing with the Spiritual Sword and many other such like Terms occur in the Fathers all tending to describe the Fearfulness and Misery of an Excommunicated State So tremendous was it that whosoever was in that condition was look'd upon as accursed by God and really was so by Men who esteem'd him as a Limb of Satan and a Member of the Devil shunning his Company as they did the Plague or any other infectious Disease Those says Cyprian that are Proud and fear not God but go off from the Church let no Man accompany And therefore Irenaeus speaking concerning the Hereticks who were all Excommunicated says that according to the Command of Paul we must avoid them and John forbids us so much as to wish them God speed since by so doing we communicate with their Evil Works And Tertullian in that forementioned place writes That the Delinquent was banished from the Communion of Prayers Assemblies and all holy Converse being look'd upon as one unworthy of humane Society cast out of the Church of God here and if impenitently dying in that condition as certainly excluded the Kingdom of God hereafter For as Origen writes on Matth. 18. 18. on which Text Excommunication is founded
since it was decreed by an African Synod that every one's Cause should be heard where the Crime was committed because that to every Pastor was committed a particular Portion of Christ's Flock which he was particularly to rule and govern and to render an account thereof unto the Lord. And so another African Synod that decreed the Rebaptization of those that were Baptized by Hereticks thus conclude their Synodical Epistle to Pope Stephen who held the contrary Whereas we know that some Bishops will not relinquish an Opinion which they have embraced but keeping the Bond of Peace and Concord with their Colleagues will retain some proper and peculiar Sentiments which they have formerly received to these we offer no violence or prescribe any Law since every Bishop has in the administration of his Church free liberty to follow his own Will being to render an account of his Actions unto the Lord. After these two Synodical Determinations it might be thought needless to produce the single Testimony of Cyprian but that it shews us not only the practice of the Bishops of his Age but also of their Predecessors Amongst the ancient Bishops of our Province saith he some thought that no Peace was to be given to Adulterers for ever excluding them from the Communion of the Church but yet they did not leave their Fellow-Bishops or for this break the Vnity of the Catholick Church and those that gave Peace to Adulterers did not therefore separate from those that did not but still retaining the Bond of Concord every Bishop disposed and directed his own Acts rendring an account of them unto the Lord. Thus every Church was in this Sense independent that is without the Concurrence and Authority of any other Church it had a sufficient Right and Power in its self to punish and chastise all its delinquent and offending Members § 2. But yet in another Sense it was dependent as considered with other Churches as part of the Church Universal There is but one Church of Christ saith Cyprian divided through the whole World into many Members and one Episcopacy diffused through the numerous Concord of many Bishops A Particular Church was not the whole Church of Christ but only a Part or Member of the Universal one and as one Member of the natural Body hath a regard to all the other Members thereof so a particular Church which was but one Member of the Universal had relation and respect to the other Members thereof Hence tho' the Labours and Inspections of the Bishops were more peculiarly confined to their own Parishes yet as Ministers of the Church Universal they employed a general kind of Inspection over other Churches also observing their Condition and Circumstances and giving unto them an account of their own state and posture as Cyprian inspected that of Arles giving this as his Reason for it that altho' they were many Pastors yet they were but one Flock and they ought to congregate and cherish all the Sheep which Christ redeemed by his Blood and Passion And the Clergy of the Church of Rome thanked Cyprian that he had acquainted them with the state of the Church in Africa for say they We ought all of us to take care of the Body of the whole Church whose Members are distended through various Provinces If the Bishop of one Church had any difficult Point to determine he sent to another Bishop for his Advice and Decision thereof As when Dyonisius Bishop of Alexandria had a critical Cause to determine he sent to Xystus Bishop of Rome to know his Opinion and Counsel therein And so when there was some difference at Carthage about the Pacificatory Libels of the Martyrs Cyprian writ to the Church of Rome for their Advice therein For saith he Dearly beloved Brethren both common Reason and Love require that none of these things that are transacted here should be kept from your Knowledge but that we should have your Counsel about Ecclesiastical Administrations In these and in many other such like Cases which would be needless to enumerate there was a Correspondence between the particular Churches of the Universal one § 3. But that that chiefly deserves our 〈◊〉 was their Intercourse and Government by Synodical Assemblies that is by a Convocation of Bishops Presbyters Deacons and Deputed Lay-men of several particular Churches who frequently met together to maintain Unity Love and Concord to advise about their common Circumstances and Conditions to regulate all Ecclesiastical or Church-Affairs within their respective Limits and to manage other such like things of which I shall more largely treat in the end of this Chapter That which must be spoken of in this Section is the several kinds or sorts of Synods the most august and supreme kind whereof was an Universal or 〈◊〉 Synod which was a Congregation of the Bishops and Deputies of as many Churches as would please to come from all Parts of the World Of this sort I find but one within my limited space of the first three Hundred Years after Christ and that was the Council of Antioch that condemned Paulus Samosatenus Or if this will not pass for a General Council there was no such one before that of Nice which was held Anno 325. and so there was no one of this kind within that time to which I am confined But those Synods which were very frequent within my prescribed time were Provincial Synods that is as many particular Churches as could conveniently and orderly associate themselves together and by their common Consent and Authority dispose and regulate all things that related to their Polity Unity Peace and Order What extent of Ground or how many particular Churches each of such Synods did contain cannot be determined their Precincts were not alike in all places but according as their Circumstances and Conveniencies would permit so they formed themselves into these Synodical Assemblies and were governed in common by those Synods who were called the Synods of such or such a Province As we read in Cyprian of the Province of Arles and the Bishops therein And Cyprian frequently speaks of the Bishops of his Province as the Bishops 2 in our Province and 3 throughout our Province and throughout the Province And tells us that his Province was very large and that it was the custom of his Province and almost all other Provinces that upon the Vacancy of a Parish the neighbouring Bishops of that Province should meet together at that Parish to Ordain them a new Bishop § 4. How often these Provincial Synods were convened is uncertain since that varied according to their Circumstances and their 〈◊〉 Customs Firmilian Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia writes that in his Province they met every Year And whosoever will consider the frequent Synods that are mentioned in Cyprian will find that in his Province they met at least once and sometimes twice or thrice a Year § 5. As for
the whole Earth profess Faith in Christ then we may consider its Unity in this Sense either Negatively wherein it did not consist or Positively wherein it did consist Negatively It consisted not in an Uniformity of Rites and Customs for every particular Church was at liberty to follow its own proper Usages One Church was not obliged to observe the Rites of another but every one followed its own peculiar Customs Thus with respect to their Fast before Easter there was a great Diversity in the Observation of it in some Churches they fasted one Day in others two in some more and in others forty Hours but yet still they retained Peace and Concord the diversity of their Customs commending the Vnity of their Faith So also the Feast of Easter its self was variously celebrated The Asiatick Churches kept it on a distinct Day from the Europeans but yet still they retained Peace and Love and for the diversity of such Customs none were ever cast out of the Communion of the Church So likewise writes Firmilian That in most Provinces their Rites were varied according to the Diversities of Names and Places and that for this no one ever departed from the Peace and Vnity of the Catholick Church So that the Unity of the Church Universal consisted not in an Uniformity of Rites and Usages Neither in the next Place did it consist in an Unanimity of Consent to the Non-essential Points of Christianity but every one was lest to believe in those lesser matters as God should inform him Therefore Justin Martyr speaking of those Jewish Converts who had adhered to the Mosaical Rites says that if they did this only through their Weakness and 〈◊〉 and did not perswade other Christians to the observance of the same Judaical Customs that he would receive them into Church-fellowship and Communion Whosoever imposed on particular Churches the observance of the former of these two things or on particular Persons the belief of the latter they were esteemed not as Preservers and Maintainers but as Violaters and Breakers of the Churches Unity and Concord An Instance of the former we have in that Controversie between the Churches of the East and West touching the time when Easter was to be celebrated For when Victor Bishop of Rome had Excommunicated the 〈◊〉 Churches because they continued to observe that Feast on a different time from the Churches of the West not only the Bishops of the adverse Party but even those of his own side condemned him as rash heady and turbulent and writ several Letters about this Affair wherein as the Historian writes they most sharply censured him As for the Latter we have an instance thereof in the Controversie that was between Stephen Bishop of Rome and Cyprian Bishop of Carthage touching the Validity of Hereticks Baptism For when Stephen Anathematized Cyprian because he held the Baptism of Hereticks to be null and void other Bishops condemned Stephen as a Breaker and Disturber of the Churches Peace And amongst others Firmilian a Cappadocian Bishop vehemently accuses him as such because that he would impose upon others the Belief of such a disputable Point which says he was never wonted to be done but every Church followed their own different ways and never therefore broke the Vnity and Peace of the Catholick Church which now saith he Stephen dares to do and breaks that Peace which the ancient Bishops always preserved in mutual Love and Honour And therefore we find in the Acts of that great Council of Carthage convened to determine this matter that when Cyprian summ'd up the Debates thereof he dehorts his Fellow-Bishops from the imposing Humour and Temper of Stephen It now remains saith he that every one of us declare our Judgments concerning this matter judging no Man or removing any one from our Communion if he think otherwise than we do for let none of us make himself a Bishop of Bishops or by a Tyrannical Terror compel his Colleagues to the necessity of obeying So that the forcing a Belief in these lesser matters was Cruelty and Tyranny in the Imposers thereof who for such unreasonable Practices were look'd upon as Enemies to and Violators of the Churches Concord being the true Schismaticks inasmuch as they were the Cause of Schism and Division unto whom therefore may be applyed that Saying of Irenaeus That at the last Day Christ shall judge those who cause Schisms who are inhumane not having the fear of God but prefering their own advantage before the Unity of the Church for trivial and slight Causes rent and divide the great and glorious Body of Christ and as much as in them lies destroy it who speak Peace but wage War truly straining at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel § 3. But Positively The Unity of the Church Universal consisted in an Harmonious Assent to the Essential Articles of Religion or in an Unanimous Agreement in the Fundamentals of Faith and Doctrine Thus 〈◊〉 having recited a Creed or a short Summary of the Christian Faith not much unlike to the Aposiles Creed immediately adds The Church having received this Faith and Doctrine although dispersed through the whole World diligently preserves it as tho' she inhabited but one House and accordingly she believes these things as 〈◊〉 she had but one Soul and one Heart and consonantly preaches and teaches these things as tho' she had but one Mouth for altho' there are various Languages in the World yet the Doctrine is one and the same so that the Churches in Germany France Asia AEgypt or Lybia have not a different Faith but as the Sun is one and the same to all the Creatures of God in the whole World So the Preaching of the Word is a Light that enlightens every where and illuminates all Men that would come to the knowledge of the Truth Now this Bond of Unity was broken when there was a Recession from or a Corruption of the true Faith and Doctrine as Irenaeus speaks concerning Tatian the Father of the Encratites that as long as his Master Justin Martyr lived he held the found Faith but after his Death falling off from the Church he shaped that new Form of Doctrine This Unity of the Church in Doctrine according to Hegesippus continued till the Days of Simeon Cleopas Bishop of Jerusalem who was Martyred under Trajan but after that false Teachers prevailed such as the 〈◊〉 Marcionists 〈◊〉 and others from whom sprung false Christs false Apostles and false Prophets who by their corrupt Doctrines against God and his Christ divided the Unity of the Church So that the Unity of the Church Universal consisted in an agreement of Doctrine and the Corruption of that Doctrine was a Breach of that Unity and whoever so broke it are said to divide and separate the Unity of the Church or which is all one to be Schismaticks So Irenaeus writes that those that introduced new Doctrines did divide and separate the Unity
of the Church And Cyprian writes that the Devil found out Heresies and Sehisms by which he might subvert the Faith corrupt the Truth and divide the Unity But now for Distinctions sake the Breach of this Unity was commonly called Heresie and the word Schism generally applyed to the Breach of the Churches Unity in another sense of which more in the other Sections § 4. If in the next place we consider the Word Church collectively as denoting a Collection of many particular Churches in which Sense it is once used in Cyprian Then its Unity may have consisted in a Brotherly correspondence with and affection toward each other which they demonstrated by all outward Expressions of Love and Concord as by receiving to Communion the Members of each other as Irenaeus mentions was observ'd between the Churches of Rome and Asia in mutually advising and assisting one another by Letters or otherwise of which there are frequent instances in the Ancients and especially in Cyprian's Epistles and in manifesting all other Marks and Tokens of their Love and Concord Now this Unity was broken when Particular Churches clash'd with each other when from being possess'd with Spirits of Meekness Love and Charity they were inflamed with Hatred Rage and Fury against each other A sad Instance whereof we have in that Controversie betwixt Cyprian and Stephen or rather between the Churches of Europe and Africa touching the Validity of Heretical Baptism wherein those good Men were so far transported with Bitterness and Rancour against each other that they interchangeably gave such 〈◊〉 Language and invidious Epithets as are too odious to name which if the Reader be curious to know he may find too much of it in Cyprian's Epistles Or if several particular Churches had for the promotion of Peace Unity and Order regularly disposed themselves into a Synodical Government and Discipline as was always done when their Circumstances and Conveniencies would permit them then whoever broke or violated their reasonable Canons were censured as turbulent and factious as it hath been evidenced in the former Chapter and needs no farther Proof in this because that the Schism of the Ancients was not a Breach of the Churches Unity in this Sense viz. as denoting or signifying a Church Collective § 5. But Schism principally and originally respected a particular Church or Parish tho' it might consequentially influence others too Now the Unity of a particular Church consisted in the Members Love and Amity toward each other and in their due Subjection or Subordination to their Pastour or Bishop Accordingly the Breach of that Unity consisted in these two things either in a Hatred and Malice of each other or in a Rebellion against their Lawful Pastour or which is all one in a causeless Separation from their Bishop and those that adhered to him As for the first of these there might be Envies and Discords between the Inhabitants of a Parish without a formal Separation from Communion which Jars and Feuds were called Schism an Instance whereof we find in the Church of Corinth unto whom St. Paul objected in 1 Cor. 11. 18. When ye come together in the Church I hear that there be Divisions or as it is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schisms amongst you Here there was no separate Communion for they all came together in the Church and yet there were Schisms amongst them that is Strifes Quarrels and Discords And as far as I can perceive from the Epistle of Clemens Romanus which was writ to appease another Schism in the same Church of Corinth there were then only Turmoils and Differences without any actual Separation But on this I shall not enlarge because it is not what the Ancients ordinarily meant by Schism § 6. But that which they generally and commonly termed Schism was a Rebellion against or an ungrounded and causless Separation from their Lawful Pastour or their parish-Parish-Church Now because I say that a causless Separation from their Bishop was Schism it will be necessary to know how many Causes could justifie the Peoples Desertion of their Pastour and these I think were two or at most three the first was Apostacy from the Faith or when a Bishop renounced the Christian Faith and through fear of Persecution embraced the Heathenish Idolatries as was done in the case of Martialis and Basilides two Spanish Bishops and was justified by an African Synod as is to be seen throughout their whole Synodical Epistle still extant amongst those of Cyprian's The second Cause was Heresie as Irenaeus saith We must fly far off from all Hereticks And Origen allows the People to separate from their Bishop if they could accuse him of false and 〈◊〉 Doctrine A third Cause was a scandalous and wicked Life as is asserted by an African Synod held Anno 258. whose Exhortations and Arguments to this purpose may be seen at large in their Synodical Epistle still extant in Cyprian Epist. 68. p. 200. out of which several Passages pertinent to this occasion have been already cited in the sixth Chapter of this Treatise to which I must refer the Reader Of this mind also was Irenaeus before them who writes That as for those Presbyters who serve their Pleasures and have not the fear of God before their Eyes who contumeliously use others are lifted up with Pride and secretly commit wickedness from 〈◊〉 such Presbyters we ought to separate Origen indeed seems to be of another mind and thinks that the Bishops Immorality in Life could not justifie his Parishes Separation He saith he that hath a care of his Soul will not be scandalized at my Faults who am his Bishop but considering my Doctrine and finding it agreeable to the Churches Faith from me indeed he will be averse but he will receive my Doctrine according to the Precept of the Lord which saith The Scribes and 〈◊〉 sit on Moses his Chair whatever therefore they say unto you hear and do but according unto their Works do not for they say and do not That Scripture is of me who teach what is good and do the contrary and sit upon the Chair of Moses as a Scribe or Pharisee the Precept is to thee O People if thou canst not accuse me of false Doctrine or Heretical Opinions but only beholdest my wicked and sinful Life thou must not square thy Life according to my Life but do those things which I speak Now whether Irenaeus or an African Synod or Origen be to be most credited I leave the Learned to judge tho' I think they may be both nearer reconciled than they seem to be Irenaeus and that Synod affirming that the People of their own Power and Authority might immediately without the concurrent Assent of other Churches upon the Immorality and Scandal of their Bishop leave and desert him Origen restraining the People from present Execution till they had the Authority of a Synod for so doing for thus he must be understood or else
be absolved came into the Church mourning and weeping and expressing all external Indications of his Internal Sorrow As when Natalis a Roman Confessor was absolved for his joyning with the Theodotian Hereticks he came into the Church as it is related by an ancient 〈◊〉 Christian covered with Sackcloth and Ashes throwing himself at the Feet of the Clergy and Laity and with Tears in his Eyes begging their pardon and forgiveness It being looked upon as very proper that they should be admitted into the Church by Tears not by Threats by Prayers and not by Curses Hence at this time for the greater Demonstration of their Sorrow and Humility they were to make a publick Confession of their Sin styled by them Exomologesis which was as Cyprian saith A Confession of their great and heinous Crime and was a necessary Antecedent to Absolution inasmuch as it was the Source and Spring of all true Repentance For as Tertullian observes Out of Confession is born Repentance and by Confession comes Satisfaction And in many places of Cyprian the necessity of Confession is asserted for as Tertullian says Confession as much diminishes the Fault as Dissimulation aggravates it Confession is the Advice of Satisfaction Dissimulation of Contumacy And therefore he condemns those who thro' shame deferred from Day to Day the Publication of their Sin as more mindful of their shamefacedness than of their Salvation Like those who have a Disease in their Secret Parts through shame conceal it from the Chyrurgeons and so with their Modesty die and perish Confession therefore being so necessary the greatest Offenders were not exempted from it as when Philip the Emperor as Eusebius calls him or rather Philip a Prefect of Egypt would have joyned with the Faithful in the Churches Prayer Bishop Babylas denied him admission because of his enormous Crimes nor would he receive him till he had made a Publick Confession of his Faults And accordingly when one of those Bishops that Schismatically Ordained Novatian returned as a Penitent he came into the Church weeping and Confessing his Sin where we may observe that it is said in the singular Number his Sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which intimates that the Penitent's Confession was not only general or for all his Sins in the gross but it was particular for that special Sin for which he was censured consonant whereunto Cyprian as before quoted writes that the Penitent confessed his most great and heinous Sin that is that Sin for which he was so severely punished This Confession of the Penitents was made with all the outward Signs of Sorrow and Grief which usually so affected the Faithful as that they sympathized with them in mourning and weeping Whence Tertullian exhorts the Penitent not through shame to conceal but from a true Godly Disposition to confess his Fault before the whole Church and to weep and mourn for it since they being his Brethren would also weep with and over him And so from the same Consideration Cyprian exhorted the Lapsed to this Penitent Confession with our Tears saith he joyn your Tears with our Groans couple your Groans § 10. As soon as Confession was over then followed the formal Absolution which was thus The Person to be absolved kneeled down before the Bishop and the Clergy who put their Hands upon his Head and bless'd him by which external Ceremony the Penitent was declaratively and formally admitted to the Churches Peace Thus Cyprian writes that they received the Right of Communion by the Imposition of Hands of the Bishop and his Clergy And that no one can be admitted to Communion unless the Bishop and Clergy have imposed Hands on him This being accounted the third and last general Requisite for the reconciling of Offenders the two former being the undergoing a state of Penance and a publick Confession of their Sin all which three are frequently mentioned together as such by Cyprian as where he says Let Offenders do Penance a set space of time and according to the Order of Discipline let them come to Confession and by Imposition of Hands of the Bishop and Clergy let them receive the Right of Communion And in other places he complains of the irregular and unadvised Actions of some of his Presbyters that they admitted some of the Lapsed to Communion before they had undergone a duc Penance made a Publick Confession of their Sin and had Hands imposed on them by the Bishop and Clergy § 11. After the Penitents were absolved by imposition of Hands then they were received into the Communion of the Faithful and made Partakers again of all those Priviledges which by their Crimes they had for a while forfeited Only when an offending Clergy man was absolved he only was restored to Communion as a Lay-man but never re-admitted to his Ecclesiastical Dignity Thus when one of the Schismatical Bishops that Ordained Novatian returned to the Church he was deprived of his Ecclesiastical Office and admitted only to Lay-Communion So likewise Apostate or Lapsed Bishops were never restored again to their Office The Reasons whereof may be seen in the 64th Epistle of Cyprian And therefore Basilides a lapsed Bishop would have been extremely glad if the Church would but have permitted him to communicate as a Layman But yet I suppose that for every Fault Clergymen were not deprived of their Orders but only according to the Greatness of their Crimes and the Aggravation of them since I find that Maximus a Presbyter of the Church of Rome who had been deluded into the Schism of Novatian was upon his Submission restored by Cornelius to his former Office CHAP. VIII § 1. Of the Independency of Churches § 2. Of the Dependency of Churches § 3. Of Synods and the several kinds of them § 4. How often Synods were convened § 5. Who were the Members of Synods § 6. By whose Authority Synods were convened § 7. When convened the manner of their Proceedings a Moderator first chosen what the Moderator's Office was § 8. Then they entred upon Business which had relation either to Foreign Churches or their own with respect to Foreign Churches their Acts were only advising § 9. With respect to their own Churches obliging The End and Power of Synods enquired into § 1. TO that large Discourse of the Primitive Discipline which was the Subject of the preceding Chapter it will be necessary to add this Observation that all those judicial Acts were exerted in and by every single Parish every particular Church having Power to exercise Discipline on her own Members without the Concurrency of other Churches else in those places where there might be but one Church for several Miles round which we may reasonably suppose the Members of that Church must have travelled several if not Scores of Miles to have had the consent of other Churches for the Punishment of their Ofsenders But there is no need to make this Supposition