be concluded the first step of the Beast's Throne But this retorsion being once handl'd shall hurt us no more then what we have already removed for take a Gospel Ministry unconfounded with a papal Hierarchy and then there is not the least colour or pretext for any Man 's ascribing to it the first rise of Popery the parity we plead for among Pastors of Flocks secures a Gospel-Ministry from any force or appearance of reason in any such assault whereas on which I 'm not now to dwell the Topicks establishing Prelacy tend no less to assert a Papacy But again the belief of a Gospel-Ministry as a thing altogether necessary for the Being of a Church is so well and so universally rooted in the hearts of all Christians that they compar'd with the rest have scarce amounted to a handfull who had the holdness to deny it and so there 's little hazard to be fear'd from these few contemptible Objectors and tho' there seem'd to be and the Objection should appear never so pungent yet it could be really of no weight against so necessary and indispensible an Ordinance Whereas on the other hand there 's so little necessity of Prelacy that the far greatest and best part of its Abettors and in these the Author himself as in due time shall appear grants that 't is no different Order from Presbytry has no footing in the Word of God and in a word to the overthrow of his Principles confounds a Prelat with a parochial Pastor Another grand but just prejudice against the Hierarchy is the looseness and prophanity most frequently cleaving thereto how prophane and scandalous they and theirs were during former Prelacy has already appear'd of the latter the matter is no less evident for at such a height growth during their Government yea under their wings did prophanity abusing of God's blessed Name and such gross immoralities arrive that to abstain from such vices and follow piety was a Crime well nigh able to make a Man pass for a Whig and Phanatick and what hazard did enshew these Sir-names none is ignorant All this and much more was not only evident to the body of this Kingdom but was also notic'd abroad and amongst others by their Friend R. Coke Yea his Majesty whom Divine Mercy sent for our Relief well knew 't and accordingly in his Declaration for Scotland has amongst many others this most memorable Sentence Although saith He the Dissenters have just cause of distrust when they call to mind how some hundreds of their Ministers were driven out of their Churches without either Accusation or Citation the filling of many of whose Places with Ignorant and Scandalous Persons hath been one great occasion of all those Miseries which that Country for a long time hath groaned under They may pretend that such Enormities were only accidental to Prelacy which may fall out under any Government but none versant in Church Story is ignorant how much mischief and scandal this Hierarchy hath cast upon Christianity Let them read Socrates and other Records of these more ancient times and they shall find that the Prelats tho' but beginning to appear and by far not so degenerat from the simplicity of the Gospel as afterward by their swelling tympany and aspiring to Domination induc'd the People to commit the most lewd and vile Pranks readily imaginable to the doolfull scandalizing of Jew and Gentile and their utter abominating of Christianity it self as is clear from the miserable Havock Destruction and Slaughter the contrary Factions of Bishops in the Plea for the Episcopal See between Damasus and Vrsinus prompted the People to commit from the most scandalous Pranks of Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria the most unhumane and barbarous concomitants and consequents of the Deposition of Chrysostome with many other such open Impieties all caus'd and occasion'd by the Prelatick pride and insolency which publick and most scandalous Enormities had the Christian World retain'd the truly Primitive and Apostolick Parity we plead for could never have hapned for had the Superiority Riches and Grandour the very aples of these most unchristian Contentions been wanting and had every Pastor been kept at the earnest labour of Teaching Exhorting and Catechising a particular Flock or Congregation with only such a competent Stipend as suffic'd to secure him from the contempt of Poverty not to feed Luxury Grandour and such like Vices there had been no occasion of such lamentable Broyls This was observ'd by Nazianzen who himself was Bishop of Constantinople and therefore he earnestly wish'd that there had been no primacy of Place no Prelacy no Prerogative no Superiour or Inferiour Degrees of Pastors The marrow of Saravia's Answer to this most cogent place of Nazianzen is that he finds no fault with the Order of Degrees themselves but with Men and with the times wherein the ambition of the Arrians troubl'd the Church The common and blunt shift of the Romanists whereby to palliat the unlawfullness of their Papacy and a real and clear contradiction of Nazianzen's plain words And was not afterward the Papal and Prelatical pride and affectation of secular rule the prime source of the unspeakable Evils that reign'd all along before the Reformation and yet continue in the Papacy Is not that Kingdom where Prelacy is of most account fill'd with the most idle naughty and profain Clergy-men that are to be found at least in the Protestant World And how can it be otherwise seeing things or Offices retaining litle or nothing of what did primitively constitute them produce quite contrary effects to these design'd by the Authors thereof But nothing is more plain than that the simplicity of the Gospel-Ministry is alter'd into a secular Grandour more by far resembling the Princes of the Gentiles than the Apostles of our Meek and Lowly Jesus who came not to be ministred to but to Minister Now the best of things once degenerat become most noxious what can therefore be expected from such but that they should suit their Government and Policy change the Spirit of a Gospel-Ministry for that of Pomp and Secularity grow intirely Carnal and so become the source of Prophanity in stead of Holiness Part II. Wherein the Epistles of Ignatius are more particularly consider'd and the Plea of the Hierarchicks therefrom examin'd Section I. Of the Author and his Work IT is evident and clear to the more thinking and ingenuous part of the Christian World how Rome's Advocats while they Agent her Cause from the truly Canonical Writings of the Apostles and Prophets after some few struglings sorry evasions and feeble resistance are compell'd to give back and in reality abandon their Posts but were they permitted to use Apocryphal Writings which they say are Ancient enough and written not long after the Holy Scriptures were not these also pull'd out of their hands by demonstrating the spuriousness thereof they should perhaps make a greater appearance and keep the fields somewhat longer The same also is the fate
of other Hierarchicks pleading the Cause of Episcopacy for while they manage it from Scripture-grounds you may perceive them to make so wide and incoherent Deductions so slender and pitifull Defences so wild and unbottom'd Distinctions as loudly proclaim that except they procure Auxuliaries from some other where they must also defert their Cause and leave the Field to their Adversaries But let them descend somewhat lower to Ecclesiastick Antiquities we shall find their confidence stronger for they then bring a multitude of great Names as so many arm'd Champions marshell'd in Rank and Order Among these there be some wherewith as with so many Elephants they threaten to make vast lanes among their Adversaries but there 's no great cause of terror for if they be but boldly confronted we shall then find them either like these Elephants Ctesias and Diodore fable to have been us'd by their fictitious Semiramis deceitfull Images and hobgoblings to strike a vain fear in their Enemies or like the African Elephants in Polybius which in stead of destroying the adverse Party frequently turn'd back dissipated and overthrew these who brought them to the Battel The greatest of these and whom they with most confidence produce is their Epistolick Ignatius who is to them as one of the Hee-goats and Rams before the Flock of whom they boast as if nothing should stand before him It shall not therefore be amiss if as we promis'd we look more narrowly into this their bold Assertion and examine if their Grounds be equal to their Confidence § 2. Ignatius as Eusebius relates was a Bishop or Pastor of Antioch and being brought to Rome in the time of Trajan the Emperour gloriously laid down his Life for the Cause of Christianity He is said to have written in his Journey to Rome several Epistles viz. To the Smyrneans to Polycarp to the Ephesians to the Magnesians to the Philadelphians to the Trallians and Romans all which are either mention'd or cited by Eusebius There are other Epistles also by Writers of a much later date ascribed to Ignatius but in the first seven only do our Adversaries place the weight of their Cause and therefore with them alone we shall be concerned § 3. Of these Epistles in the former Century first in Latine and then in Greek appeared at the first but two or three only afterward they amounted to fifteen all which they Father'd upon Ignatius these were greedily hugg'd by the Romanists and reason they had so to do most of these Epistles being fraughted with stuff that savour'd of the Romish Innovations and proclaim'd them several Centuries posteriour to Ignatius his Age and accordingly these Editions were scarce born while they were condemn'd and stigmatiz'd by the most learn'd of the Reform'd viz. Calvin the Magdeburgick Centuriators and afterwards by Whittaker Perkins Scultet Rivet and others as the issue of a quite other Parent than him of whom they boasted § 4. Notwithstanding hereof the Advocats for Prelacy such as Whitgift Bilson Dounam Heylyn Taylor and the rest of the Party lean'd on these Epistles as firm propes of their Caufe giving severals of 'em the Epithets of Learned and Pious without the least exception Thus for a long time were these Epistles condemn'd by many yet applauded by a few § 5. But at length the most learn'd and famous Dr. Vshher lighted on two Latine Manuscripts much differing from the former Editions and containing many passages cited by the Ancients that were wanting in the former And soon after Isaacus Vossius produc'd a Greek Coppy out of the Duke of Tuscanie's Library in many things agreeing with Vsher's Manuscripts These Coppies bred a wonderfull confidence in the minds of the Episcopal Party after which every one of them gave his loud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and therewith pleas'd themselves as if the Controversie concerning Prelacy had been already determin'd by a Divine Oracle But in the mean while and by this very Action of imbracing and extolling this new Edition as the only genuine Coppy of Ignatius They publish'd to the World that they had all along while in conjunction with Romanists and in opposition to Protestants they so passionatly propugn'd the former Editions either been lamentably shallow in their knowledge of Ecclesiastick Antiquity notwithstanding their great boast thereof as if all Men beside were Dwerfs herein or which is little better exceedingly partial in favours of their Cause and Interest However maugre all such Impeachments they alter their Judgements as they see fit reject what they had but the other day warmly hugg'd and applaud their new Ignatius § 6. Yet also they were their alone herein for the most learn'd and these of the reform'd Churches who were most able to give Judgement concerning such Controversies as Blondel Salmasius and others continu'd in their former Sentiment believing that these new Copies did as really ly under just suspicion as the Old After divers Re-encounters amongst learn'd Men concerning these Epistles Dallaeus a learn'd French Minister wrote more largely and directly to evince them spurious but was oppos'd by Dr. Beverige and D. Pearson who wrote his Vindiciae Ignatianae a large and laborious Work to prove that these Epistles were the genuine product of Ignatius in which his Party triumphed not a little apprehending that this Matter was decided so as there was no more Dispute or Opposition to be feared But 't was not long till Daill's Defence was undertaken by Monsieur L'arroque another learn'd Pastor of the French Church and being again oppos'd by Pearson and Beverge wrote a second time concerning the same Subject § 7. But such Arts were us'd as suppress'd and stiffl'd the Work of this learn'd Author of which Book L'arroque's Son in his Life prefix'd to his Adversaria Sacra gives us this account He publish'd his Observations on Pearson's vindiciae Ignatianae and Beverige ' s Annotations which came to the light by this occasion John Daille being departed this Life two great Englishmen who had procur'd to themselves a perpetual Fame of whom the one lately deceas'd had the Name of the Bishop of Chester the other was adorn'd with the Title of Dr. but deserv'd a greater Dignity exploded what Daille had written concerning Ignatius his Epistles But L'arroque in favours of his deceas'd Friend undertook the Patrociny of this Hero and except Fame be altogether false has fortunatly defended his Judgement These Observations were again assaulted by the famous Beverige to whom our Author preparing an Answer which we have by us almost perfected thro' the Importunity of some Friends was suddenly turn'd another way This he did the more willingly both because he had done enough in favours of his dead Friend and also that he might make it appear that seeing while he was yet fresh he sounded a retreat he had unwillingly entred the Lists with the English Protestants Thus he and who these Friends were we are inform'd by another Author a Man of the Episcopal Perswasion and therefore may
a particular reference to the Flock or People and seeing finally so many things spoken by Ignatius of these Bishops can agree only to Congregational Pastors I conclude that by these Ignatian Bishops not Diocesan Prelats but Pastors of particular Flocks not only may but of necessity must be understood And it 's further observable that Preaching Visiting of particular Persons and the rest of the Pastoral Work is either injoin'd unto or clearly intimated to belong to the Bishop only but nothing to the Presbyters save sitting in Council with him Now if our Opposites insist on their contrary Argument from the largeness of the Cities and from this that Ignatius still speaks but of one Bishop therein and hence conclude that he must be Diocesan the result of all must be a sharper Conflict between Ignatius and himself and so a fuller proof of the spuriousness of these Epistles it being evident from what is adduc'd that this Bishop was only a Pastor of a single Congregation yea so evident that it hath puzl'd the learn'dest of our Opposites § 4. Of this mind is Joseph Mede For speaking of these Ignatian Epistles It should seem saith he that in these first times before Dioceses were divided into those lesser and subordinate Churches we now call Parishes and Presbyters assigned to them they had not only one Altar in one Church or Dominicum but one Altar to a Church taking Church for the Company or Corporation of the Faithfull united under one Bishop or Pastor and that was in the City and Place where the Bishop had his See and Residence like as the Jews had but one Altar and one Temple for the whole Nation united under one High-Priest And yet as the Jews had their Synagogues so perhaps might they have more Oratories than one tho' their Altar were but one there namely where the Bishop was On Sunday saith Justin Martyr all that live in Towns or in the Country meet together in one Place namely as he there tells us to celebrate and participate the Holy Eucharist Why was this but because they had not many places to celebrate in And unless this were so whence came it else that a schismatical Bishop was said to set up another Altar and that a Bishop and an Altar are made Correlatives See St. Cyprian Ep. 40. 72. 73. Et de unitate Ecclesiae And thus perhaps is Ignatius also to be understood in that forequoted Passage of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Where 't is clear that Mr. Mede well perceived the thing we now plead for in Ignatius viz. that this Bishop was only the Pastor of a single Flock Indeed fear to offend his Friends or something else made him say so little as he could and something that he ought not to have said while he would parallel this Altar with that of the Jews yet he 's express enough that all subject to the Bishop met in one place for Participation of the Sacraments and consequently for hearing of the Word and moreover really acknowledgeth that Dioceses then were only what Parishes are now and if so tho' they had other Oratories 't is nothing to the purpose of our Opposits which yet his perhaps proves him afraid to assert For he knew well enough that seeing as he grants all under his Charge took their Communion with the Bishop at his Church which as every one knows was then Celebrated at least every Lord's day any other Oratories for publick Worship had been altogether unnecessary with which superfluities the Church in these early and tempestuous days was not at all acquainted In vain therefore Dr. Maurice that he may at once abuse both Mede and Ignatius tells us that Altar in the primitive sense signified not only the Communion Table but the whole Place where the Chair of the Bishop and the Seats of the Presbyters were placed and in this sense there was but one Altar in one Diocess as there is now but one Consistory as is clear from Ignatius and Usher And to be in one Altar which is Ignatius his Phrase is only to be in Communion with the Bishop And this Dr. Maurice would have to be Mede's meaning thereof But the falshood of this is not only evident from Ignatius who all along as we have seen reciprocats his Bishop with the Pastor of a particular Flock but also from Mede's express words as we have already observed from them I pass as scarce good sense Dr. Maurice his saying that Altar not only signified the Communion Table but the whole place of the Bishop's Chair c. The Dispute not being what place or thing in a Church Altar signifi'd but if thereby in Ignatius one or more places for publick Worship be meaned yea this my sense of Ignatius Doctor Wake seems to grant while he says speaking of these Ignatian times that none officiated but either the Bishop himself or he who was appointed or allow'd by him and that they had in every such Place of their Assembling one Table or Altar at which they performed this Service We have heard already Mede rightly observing out of Ignatius that the Altar or Communion Table was only at the Bishop's Residence and where he officiated And we see from Dr. Wake that in every place of solemn Worship they had an Altar or Communion Table The Conclusion then is which we also already heard Mede acknowledging that there were then no fewer Bishops than Places of publick Worship which is the Truth and what we conclude from Ignatius And to these add the words of one who is neither unskillfull in these Matters nor yet Partial in favours of Presbytry In the beginning saith he the Bishops whole Charge was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the strain of Ignatius his Epistles especially that to Smyrna it would appear that there was but one Church at least but one Place where there was one Altar and Communion in each of these Parishes for he saith there was one Bishop one Church and one Altar And now judge of the symphony of this Assertion with the Principles of the Author or how he could averr that if these Epistles be Genuine the Cause of Presbytry will be undone But of all things most strange and unaccountable is Dr. Pearson's Conduct in the Dispute who with indefatigable pains and vast learning wrote his Defence of Ignatius to the end as he pretends he might well nigh infallibly establish a Diocesan Bishop and yet has proved so far from hitting the white at which he ultimately levell'd that on supposition of the sufficiency of his Vindiciae he most sufficiently demonstrats the Identity of Bishop and parochial Pastor during the time of Ignatius and thus inavoidably ruines what he most earnestly intended to repair And now behold the vast Fabrick and Engine wherewith they threaten the utter Ruine of Presbytry turning upon and shattering to pieces their Dio cesan Hierarchy Nec enim Lex justior ulla Quam necis Artifices
the Menaces utter'd in the Old Testament against Tyre and her King had for their Object Parmenianus the schismatical Bishop of the Donatists who lived at Carthage that had once been a Tyrian Colony but in the time of Parmenianus was inhabited by Romans who had either quite extirpated or expelled thence the whole Race of the Tyrians With no less lightness but more danger did Justine Martyr long before Optatus endeavour to perswade the Gentiles that all Mankind were Partakers of Christ because they were Partakers of Reason and Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which also signifies Reason Where we see that Justine leans only on a pitifull Equivocation the deceit of which could not be unknown to him who natively spoke Greek Neither were Origenes Methodius and others as Hierome witnesseth more solide in their Writings Yea Hierome himself distinguisheth between Progymnasticks and Dogmaticks alledging that in the former of these a Disputant hath liberty to muster up many Arguments in which he hath no confidence § 4. To these we may add both their Homilies and Expositions wherein it 's not easily determined when they spoke their own minds or when they gave us only Transcripts of others to believe and defend which they held themselves but little obliged Yea Hierome oftner than once tells us that it was the common Practice of the Writers of these times to give the Expositions of others and yet conceal the names of the Authors and so involve the Reader and make him take for their judgement the things they never believ'd § 5. If we search into the causes of so strange dealing we have heard out of Hierome that one of 'em was meer sloath and neglect See much more to this purpose in Dallaeus de usu Patrum Another Cause why they both spoke wrote and practised otherways than they knew could be warranted by Scripture was their unjustifiable Compliance with both Jews and Pagans good perhaps intentionally being out of design the better to Proselyte them but eventually proved as unhappy as its Practice was unwarrantable and destitute of Scripture ground Hence their Deacons were named Levites their Bishops Priests and High-Priests the Lord's Table the Altar and the Lord's Supper a Sacrifice and at length Diocesan Bishops and Arch-Bishops were instituted in imitation of the Pagan Flamines and Protoflamines Another Cause thereof which especially takes place in their Homiles and Expositions was the multitude of Alterations and Corruptions well grown before any of these Homilies and Commentaries we now enjoy were extant these were too deeply rooted to be opposed and therefore they believed themselves under a kind of necessity to accommodat their Comments and Declamations thereto at least so to temper and compose them that they should not thwart therewith Of this sort of Conduct we have a clear instance in Augustine who sometimes commends and praises several unscriptural Ceremonies But elsewhere speaking his Mind more freely disapproves them as both unwrantable and burdensome He indeed there intimats that some things commonly observ'd throw the World tho' they were not written yet might be kept as having come from the Apostles or general Councils such as was the Observation of the Lord's Passion Resurrection and Ascension But even this as is most probable he yeelded out of humane Weakness and Fear to oppose the then prevailing Innovations for the needlesness of such preterscriptural Observations he evidently declares elsewhere saying that all things which belong either to Faith and Manners are plainly contain'd in Scripture From all which is clear that we cannot at all be sure if the Fathers Commenting on the places in hand either knew their true meaning or if they did sincerely gave us what themselves believed § 6. And that in their Explications of these Texts we have not their genuine Sentiments is to me evident First because they gave such Reasons of their Exposition as the greatest Prelatists count stark nought Thus Bellarmine rejects and overturns the Grounds of every one of these Expositors in particular except these of Chrysostome only who yet hath nothing of any moment above the rest for Chrysostome exponing Philip. 1. 1. alledges only in defence of his Exposition that the sole Title and Name of Bishop was common to both Orders but this is refused by Dr. Hammond and others and as we shall hear by Chrysostome himself But the Jesuite intending to retain that Exposition thought himself obliged to embrace some of their Defences whereas in truth they themselves never believ'd them to be solide but only the growing Corruptions being too strong to be opposed and some of 'em having got an Episcopacy which was then creeping in and which they depending on the Churches Authority thought they might retain they believ'd that for the fashion they might so gloss the Scriptures whereby Episcopacy is wounded that the People should not perceive the unwarrantableness thereof Secondly The main ground common to all these Expositions why they expone any of these Texts as if they condemn'd not a Diocesan Bishop is a sufficient evidence that they were far from being in earnest in their Glosses for they still alledge that there behoved to be a Bishop above these Bishops in Philippi whom Paul salutes because there might not be Plurality of Bishops in one City This Practice indeed was for the most part current in this time tho' not universal as we learn from Epiphanius informing us that even in these times there used to be a Plurality of Bishops in one City Yet quite contrary to this Text which they either carelesly or timourously shuffl'd They judged saith Dr. Stillingfleet the Practice of the Apostles by that of their own times as is evident by Theodoret and the rest of the Greek Commentators assigning that as the reason why the Presbyters spoken of in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus were not Bishops in the sense of their Age because their could be but one Bishop in a City And Petavius grants that many true Bishops were sometimes at once in one City And altho' the Episcopal Order be of Divine Right yet at 's not of Divine Right that there should be only one Bishop in one City this was only brought in by the Authority of the Church and Councils and accordingly Hierome and Ambrose are to be understood By what Law saith J. Taylor speaking of Philippi and that not as a Metropolis may there not be more Bishops than one in a proper sense in one Diocess Where 't is not unpleasant to hear so great a Prelatist by one Interrogation overthrowing the whole Episcopal Cause and propugning the main Plea of the Presbyterians viz. that in Philippi alone there were many who had not only the power of dispensing the Word and Sacraments but also of Ordination and Jurisdiction and were every way Bishops in a proper sense Thirdly Some of these Expositors proclaim what we alledge for OEcumenius who like the rest intimats as if
Feet ye onght also to Wash one anothers Feet that every Apostle yea and every Believer is Lord and Master of the rest § 8. And writing to Euagrius I hear saith Hierome there is one so mad as to preferr the Deacons to the Presbyters that is to the Bishops For seeing the Apostle clearly teaches that Bishops and Presbyters are one and the same how can a Server of Tables and Widows proudly preferr himself to these at whose Prayers the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood is consecrated you will require a Proof hear a Testimony Paul and Timothy to all the Saints in Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons would you have another Example in the Acts of of the Apostles Paul thus speaks to the Presbyters of one Church Take heed to your Selves and the whole Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Bishops to Rule the Church c. And that none may contentiously plead that in one City there were many Bishops here also another Testimony wherein it 's most evidently proved that both Presbyter and Bishop were one and the same and then produces the 1 to Titus and 1 to Timothy 4. 8. 14. neglect not with the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytry And 1 Peter 4 and 1. 2 John 1. 3 John 1. And all these to prove that he had undertaken viz that both Bishop and Presbyter were one and the same Now it 's most observable that that he inferrs this Conclusion not only from Scriptures written long after the first Epistle to the Corinthians where it 's said I am of Paul c. but even from the last Epistle of John the longest Liver of all the Apostles And therefore no less notticeable is D. M's extream stubborness and aversion from Truth who would force Hierome to introduce Bishops presently after that Schism mention'd 1 Cor. 1. And accordingly as his bad Cause oblig'd him to do with this and the rest of Hierome's Testimonies wholly smuther'd it And indeed all hitherto who have adventur'd to graple therewith have been conquer'd thereby yea even Bellarmine himself is compell'd to give up the Cause Hierome indeavours saith the Jesuite to conclude the equality of Bishops and Presbyters from the Epistle to Titus to the Philippians and from the Epistles of Peter and John which were written after the first Epistle to the Corinthians Neither can the Jesuite find another way to be even with Hierome but by arraigning him as fraughted with self-repugnancy levity and instability in this Matter and all the Arguments he brings to prove Hierome a Favourer of Episcopacy are only so many fruitless Attempts to make that appear But let us go on with Hierome But saith he the reason why after this viz. the writing of both the Epistles of John one was chosen and set over the rest was that there might be a remedy of Schism least every one drawing the Church of Christ to himself should divide it For in Alexandria from Mark the Evangelist even to Heraclas and Dionysius the Presbyters still gave to one elected from amongst themselves and placed in a higher seat the Name of Bishop as if an Army should creat a General or the Deacons should chuse one of themselves whom they know to be industrious and name him Arch-Deacon On these words D. M. triumphs The Custome was saith he even from the days of St. Mark the Evangelist that a Presbyter was chosen who Governed the whole Society this in the Opinion of St. Hierome cuts off that imaginary Interval wherein the Chruch is said to have been Governed by a Parity of Presbyters Where he forgeth a Gloss no way contain'd in the words of Hierome whose Example of an Army and Deacons are only adduc'd to shew the manner of that Presbyter or nominat'd Bishop's entrance and not at all the measure of his Power over his Collegues And that no Power over the rest can be collected from this place is beyond Scruple clear from Hierome's present Scope who introduces this Ancient Alexandrian Practice to clear and prove the Identity of Bishop and Presbyter which according to him remain'd in the Church for a while after the Writings of John the longest Liver of all the Apostles Had D. M. perused Dr. Stillingfleet he had taught him that both Election and Ordination of this Alexandrian Bishop was only performed by his Fellow Presbyters that the Original of Hierome ' s exsors potestas any Power he mentions in Bishops over Presbyters is by Hierome attributed not to any Episcopal Institution but to the free choice of the Presbyters themselves for what doth a Bishop continues Hierome except Ordination which a Presbyter may not do Here the Jesuites and their Follower D. M. dream they find a fine Distinction made by Hierome between Bishop and Presbyter but first they must make an unseasonable Antiptosis and compell Hierome to speak contrary to the express words of this place which are in the present Tense contrary to the scope and design of this Epistle which is professedly to shew the great Dignity of Presbyters yea even their Identity with Bishops and thereby to reach a sharper reproof to the petulant Deacon And contrary finally to Hierome's most clear and most frequently repeated Doctrine of the Scriptural Identity of both Offices Were it not madness then to dream with the Jesuits that in these words Hierome makes any Distinction between the Scripture Bishop and Presbyter who is here only asserting that in all places Rome excepted where the Presbyters were more depressed and the Deacons more raised than in other Churches even then in his time a Presbyter was allow'd by the Canons and Constitutions of the Churches to do ought that a Bishop might do save Ordination alone This his Design of holding forth the most great dignity of Presbyters yea even their equality with Bishops which Bellarmine acknowledges that he may the better compesce the Insolency of the Deacons Hierome all along this Epistle prosecutes and having again cited the Epistles to Timothy and Titus to prove that a Presbyter is contain'd in i. e. is one and the same with a Bishop otherwayes a Deacon is also in a Bishop and so Hierome had crossed his own Design by the very Argument wherewith he minded to compass it and having added some other Topicks to the same purpose thus concludes his Epistle And that we may know that the Apostolick Traditions are brought from the Old Testament that which Aaron and his Sons and the Levites were in the Temple the Bishops Presbyters and Deacons claim in the Church Nunc animis opus Aenaeae nunc pectore firmo All the Jesuites and their Complices will presently be about our Ears But Solamen nobis Soeios habuisse malorum Their Attaques are no less on Hierome than us wherefore this is one of the chief places brought by Bellarmine to involve Hierome in a maze of self-contradiction and make him propugn Prelacy who is followed by others of the Hierarchicks but
hatefull Hypothesis of some giddy Papaturiants which as we have heard even the more candide of the Episcopalls disclaim and explode I shall shut up all concerning Clement with the Suffrages of two illustrious Names neither whereof I 'm sure did ever favour Presbytry I mean Grotius and Stillingfleet Had Episcopacy saith the Doctor been instituted on the occasion of the Schism at Corinth certainly of all places we should the soonest have heard of a Bishop at Corinth for the remedying of it and yet almost of all places these Heralds that derive the Succession of Bishops from the Apostles times are the most plunged whom to six on at Corinth And they that can find any one single Bishop at Corinth at the time when Clemens writ his Epistle to them about another Schism as great as the former which certainly had not been according to their Opinion if a Bishop had been there before must have better Eyes and Judgement than the deservedly admired Grotius who brings this in his Epistle to Bignonius as an Argument of the undoubted Antiquity of that Epistle quod nusquam meminit exsortis c. that Clement no where mentions that singular Authority of Bishops which by Church custome after the Death of Mark at Alexandria and by its Example in other places began to be introduced but Clemens clearly shews as did the Apostle Paul that then by the common Council of the Presbyters who both by Paul and Clement are called Bishops the Churches were governed § 4. I proceed next to the Vindication of Polycarp Subject your selves saith he to the Presbyters and Deacons as to God and Christ and as Virgins walk with a pure Conscience let the Presbyters be simple or innocent mercifull in all things turning all Men from their Errors visiting all who are weak not neglecting Widows Orphans and those that are Poor but alwayes providing such things as are good in the sight of God and Men. Here we learn that the highest Office then in the Church of Philippi was that of a Presbyter and that there was a Plurality to whom the Philippians were to be subjected without the least mention of a particular Bishop governing those Presbyters And which deserves no overly Consideration we here see that as when Clement gives an account of Church Orders he named two only so we have the same number expressed by Polycarp but they altered their Denomination of the former Order and they whom Clement calls sometimes Bishops sometimes Presbyters Polycarp calls still Presbyters It 's most observable also how both Paul and Polycarp subject the Church of one single City Philippi to a Plurality or Multitude of Pastors whom Paul calls Bishops and Polycarp Presbyters From all which the Identity of Bishop and Presbyter most inevitably results § 5. And indeed this Passage of Polycarp so much gravells the Hierarchicks that Dr. Pearson is driven to his last Leggs and compelled to present us with a shift unworthy of its Author Who can prove saith he that the Bishop of Philippi was then alive who can shew us that the Philippians asked not Counsel at Polycarp for this cause that they then enjoyed not a Bishop for thus Polycarp bespeaks them These things Brethren I write not of my self to you concerning righteousness but you have moved me thereunto Thus Pearson and indeed it 's enough here to return the Question inverted who is able to prove if there had been a Bishop in Philippi that he was not alive For seeing he affirms it he or his Advocats are obliged to instruct what they say That which he pretends to from these words of the Epistle wherein Polycarp saith he was moved thereto by the Philippians themselves affords him not the least support there not being therein one syllable concerning the vacancy of the Bishops Seat or the Church Government during this Defect or how to fill the Chair Of all or any of these nec vol◠nec vestigium but only as is evident from Polycarp they seem to have desir'd of him some Direction concerning the blameless walk of any Christian. And indeed the Bishop within a very few lines fairly yeelds the Cause really acknowledging that he had said nothing to the purpose But seeing saith he these things are uncertain we have no certainty from the Discourse of Polycarp Well then it must follow for ought he knew that Polycarp knew no Diocesan Bishop in Philippi that he had never heard of his Death seeing nothing hereof can be gathered from him And that he had never heard of his Life or Being we may well conclude from this that he devolves the whole Church-Affairs upon a Plurality of Presbyters But once again Is it at all credible but that if Polycarp had written to the Philippians after the death of their Bishop and during the vacancy of the Chair he had comforted them after this so considerable a Loss and giv'n them Directions for chusing of a worthy Successor especially if as Pearson would have they had ask'd his counsell concerning this very Matter Had ever a Pastor like Polycarp neglected so seasonable an Office His profound silence therefore of the Death of any such Bishop in Philippi sufficiently demonstrats that this Dr. Pearson's Invention was only the product of a desperate Cause and that there was left here no doore of Escape And here let me observe that Philippi is no less fatal to the Episcopals than its neighbouring plains were to the Pompeians for they are stung and confounded with the very first words of Paul to that Church and as we have heard amongst their other wild shifts they answer that the Bishop was often absent But there was a good number of years between the writing of Paul and that of Polycarp to the Philippians and yet we see the Bishop is never come home Why taryeth the wheel of his Lordship's Chariot Hath he not sped at Court And having supplanted some of the Nobility made a prey of the Office of Chancellour or Treasourer that after so long absence there is no news of his return Nor are we ever like to hear any more of him for now say they he 's dead I had perhaps believ'd them were 't not impossible for one to die who was never alive But enough of this for such Answers would really tempt one to think that their Authors studi'd nothing more than to ridicule their oun Cause and afford Game to their Reader § 6. And here I cann't but nottice the ill-grounded vapouring of D. M. who from the inscription of the Epistle Polycarp and the Presbyters that are with him concludes that he was vested with Episcopal jurisdiction and eminency amongst these Presbyters And so much he pretends to bring out of Blondel as as his forc'd Confession which is so far from being true that it 's brought in by Blondel as an Objection and silly Conjecture of the Episcopals which he diverse ways overthrows And indeed never was there a more wretch'd deduction fram'd
contrary to the holy Canons And thus he acted suitably to his purpose seeing the enslaving the lesser and Country Churches to the Domination of these of the greater Cities made fair way for subjecting all to Rome which on many Accounts was greater than any of the rest He also hereby gratified and much obliged the Bishops of these great Cities who were desirous of nothing more than of Domination and accordingly they even at these times were giving him their mutual help for raising of the Papal Throne yea before the time of Damasus this same Council of Sardica which thought it too vile and base for a Bishop to Dwell out of a great City Decreed also That if any Bishop thought he was injured in any Cause by his Comprovincials and ordinary Judges it should in this Case be lawfull for him to appeal to the Bishop of Rome Let us honour say they the Memory of St. Peter that either these who examined the Matter or other neighbouring Bishops write to Julius Bishop of Rome and if he think it fit then let the Matter be tried and judged again and let him appoint Judges for the Purpose but if he approve of what 's already done and think not fit to call it into Question then the things already done shall be accounted firm and stable Thus these Fathers many whereof otherwise were excellent Men the first I think that ever gave such Deference and Authority to the Pope 't was not therefore incongruous that both of these Decrees should proceed from one and the same Council Hence it 's to be noted that the Tympany of these times had not only exerted it self in separating the things God had conjoin'd and in an holygarchick Confinement of the Power God had given equally to all Pastors unto a few whom they named Bishops a Name also equally belonging to all Christ's Ministers but also in subjecting of the Presbyters yea and even the Bishops of the Countrey to the very Presbyters of the City but much more the Bishops or Pastors of the Countrey to the Bishops of the Cities and these again to the Bishops of the greater Metropolitan Cities and so on till at length not to name the rest of the higher and lower roundles of this Hierarchick Ladder all centred in Rome Yet in these very times it was notwithstanding firmly rooted in Mens Minds that whosoever dispensed the Word and Sacraments and had a Flock or Congregation was a true Bishop as I have made out to be the mind of Hilary and many others of the fourth and fifth Centuries Moreover Optatus asserts that Preaching or Exponing is the proper Province of a Bishop But to proceed these Chorepiscopi or Countrey Bishops of Parish Pastors were in the third Century called absolutely Bishops at the Countrey Places or Villages so speaks the Council of Antioch He say these Fathers i. e. Paulus Samosatenus suborn'd the Bishops of the neighbouring Countrey Villages and Towns as also Presbyters his Flatterers to praise him in their Homilies Dr. Maurice answers that it appears not hence that these were Parish Bishops for Chorepiscopi had many Congregations As if these who dwelt not only in greater Towns but also in the very Countrey Villages which were near to Antioch and near to one another and that even where the far greater part of the Inhabitants were not of their Flocks yea were not at all Christians could be by any in their Wit judged to be any thing else save Parish Bishops or Pastors But let us hear one of the learn'dest of our Adversaries determining the Controversie That saith he which next occurrs to be considered is in what places Bishopricks were founded and Bishops settled We find in all Cities where the Gospel was planted and Churches constituted that Bishops were also Ordain'd Among the Jews wherever there were an hundred and twenty of them together there did they erect a Synagogue and a lesser Sanhedrin the Court of twenty three Judges Compare to this Acts 1. 15. where the number of those that constituted the first Christian Church is the same So it is like wherever there was a competent number of Christians together that a Church was there settled Yet in some Villages there were Churches and Bishops so there was a Bishop in Bethany and St. Paul tells of the Church of Cenchrea which was the Port of Corinth It is true some think that the Church of Corinth mett there Which Opinion he irrefragably Refutes and then proceeds saying Therefore it 's probable that the Church of Cenchrea was distinct from Corinth and since they had Phebe for their Deaconness it 's not to be doubted but they had Both Bishops and Deacons From the several Cities the Gospel was dilated and propagated to the places round about But in some Countries we find the Bishopricks very thick sett They were pretty throng in Asrick for at a Conference which Augustine and the Bishops of that Province had with the Donatists there were of Bishops two hundred eighty six present and one hundred and twenty absent and sixty Sees were then Vacant which make in all four hundred sixty and six there were also two hundred and seventy nine of the Donatists Bishops Thus he And now not to multiply Testimonies in so confessed and plain a Matter it 's most certain that at least for upwards of the three first Centuries you shall not meet with the meanest Dorp or countrey place where there was a Church or Congregation to hear the Word and receive the Sacraments but it had also its proper Bishop I averr no Example to the contrary either has yet no not by Dr. Maurice or any other been or can be brought from the gennine Monuments of these times Yea even from the spurious Writings of Impostures the greatest Adorers of the Hierarchy good proofs of this Truth may be adduced For the thirty eight of the Canons ascribed to the Apostles gives the care of the Ecclesiastick Goods to the Bishop as Justine Martyr gives to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who as we have seen already was purely a Parish Pastor And the 39 Canon saith Let the Presbyters and Deacons attempt nothing without the Bishop for to him the Lord's People is committed and for their Souls he must give an Account Now I demand of all Men brooking either Conscience or Candor if Souls could be committed to any save him who was their ordinary Feeder and Instructer And the Pseudo-Dionysius clearly intimats that wherever either Baptism or the Lord's Supper was administrat'd a Bishop was there and was the Dispenser thereof The High-Priest saith he that is the Bishop preaches to all Men the true Gospel every one that desires to Partake of these Heavenly Things coming to one of the learned in these Mysteries desires to be led to the High-Priest and he brings him to the High-Priest who receiving him with gladness as a Sheep on his shoulders praises the bountifull prinple by which all are
that it was sufficient only to remove the cause of Absence which is that Bishops do busie themselves in the courts of Princes and in the affairs of the World being Judges Chanchellours Secretaries Counsellours Treasurers and there are but few Offices of state into which some Bishop hath not insinuate himself This is forbidden by St. Paul who thought it necessary that a Souldier of the Church should abstain from secular Employments Let God's command be executed and them forbidden to take any Charge Office or Degree ordinary or extraordinary in the affairs of the World and then their being no cause for them to remain at Court they will go to their residencie of their own accord without Command or Penalty and will not have any occasion to depart from thence In conclusion he desired that the Council could constitute that it should not be lawfull for Bishops or others who have care of souls to exercise any secular Office or Charge But all this was in vain for that Synagogue of Sathan was deaf like the Adder the Bishop of Five Churches who harang'd to the contrary eluded or neglected all his reasons telling the Council withall that if Aiace were follow'd their Church would anon become base contemptible was heard with applause of the the whole Conventicle tho' not without a self-contradiction as the Historian observes so that this ingenuous and Christian Discourse was slighted and contemned Neither can I find much ground to expect any fairer treatment from men of a Tridentine Spirit whose strenth lyes mostly in mean sophistry and unmanly snatching at colours and shaddous disimulation of the unsoundness of their Cause banter and Hectoring noise and ill founded claims to Antiquity From these I may look for unkind handling indeed but withall have some assurance to meet with better dealling from all the Admirers and Students of most true and only unspotted Antiquity the sacred Scripturers whom God hath quicken'd by his Precepts who know that serious and assiduous Meditation in God's Law and keeping his Precepts will make them understand more than even the Ancients and therefore rejoyce in the Way of his Testimonies as much as in all Riches and esteem the Words of his Mouth more than their necessary food to whom these are the Joy and Rejoyceing of their heart These I am somewhat confident will not be much displeased with what I have said My Antagonist if any happen or I 'm exceedingly mistaken will be of quite different Qualities I can sincerely affirm that I have not willingly or wittingly injured the Truth or any man's person and that the Love of sacred Verity moved me to publish these papers Others doubtless of suitable Abilities may soon advance things of far greater worth than what can come from we whose mite is so mean and inconsiderable and who beside the other disadvantages that environ me according to the good Pleasure of him that doth all things well from the very womb have laboured under the want of that noble Sence of SEEING and so am oblig'd to read with the Eyes and write with the Hands of others Yet tho' I be deprived of the sweet Light and pleasure of beholding the Sun it little moves me if so be I may see the infinitely more precious Light of the most glorious and dear SON of Righteousness and be illuminated and enlyven'd with that all healling Vertue which is in his Wings FINIS a Judgement given forth c. Page 12. b Ibid. c The Trial of Peter Boss c. Page 6. d Plea for the Innocent Page 12. e Pag. 11. f More Divisions amongst the Quakers Page 15. g Judgement given forth c. Page 17. and Append. to the History of the Quakers Pag. 16. h Ibid. pag. 12. i ibid. pag. 17. k ibid. pag. 20. l Inter Epist Augustini 25. m Adversus Hermâ—oâ—enem n De Doctrinâ— Christiana Lib. 2. Cap. 9. o Theodoret. Hist. Eccles. Lib. 1. Cap. 7. Hist. Tripâ—rtit Lib. 2. Cap. 5. p Lib. 5. q Epist. ad Pompejum r In Acta Apost Homil. 3. s In primum Haggaei a Iren. lib. 2. Caput 11. b Synop. pap conti 5. Quest. 3. Part 2. c Preface to his Ecclesiastical Policy p. 2. 19. and 20. d P. 131. e In Iren. f Apologiae Cathol lib. 1. p. 118. 119. 120. h Defence of the Apology of the Church of England pag. 121. i page 248. k Stillingfleet Iren. pag. 392. l Iren. pag. 393. m pag. 395. n Episcopacy not prejudicial to regal Power Page 13 14 15. b Canon 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c Detection of the Court and State of England Vol. 1. Page 361. e Vol. 1. Pag. 361. d Pag. 368. f Memoires of the D. of Hamiltoun Pag. 29. 30. h Nalson's Collections Vol. 1. Page 247. i Memoires Page 29. k Hist. Page 447 453. l Memoires Page 47. alibi m Memoires Page 60. n Collections Vol. 1. Page 245. i Memoires Page 235 236. a De pontif Rom lib. 1. cap. 8. Praeterea exercitus non semper unum habet ducem c. a De pontif Rom. Lib. 2. Cap. 10. Nulla enim in Ecclesia Dei graviora excitata sunt Schismata nec Hereses exorta sunt ab ullo tetriores quam ab Episcopis a Iren. Part 2. Chap. 6. a De Repub. Ecclesiasticâ Lib. 2. Cap. 4. Numb 46. Sunt qui Hieronymum in rectam sententiam vel invitum velint trahere neque in hoc aut excusari satis potest aut c. b De diversis gradibus ministrorum Evangelii Cap. 23. Dico privatam fuisse Hieronymi opinionem consentaneam cum Aërio c. c Ibid. 27. d Exam. tract de triplici Episcopatû Page 25. e Ibid. Page 34. f Contra Hereses fol. 103. B. Sed revera fallitur Thomas Waldensis quoniam in toto illo decursu pâ—st verba proximè citata nihil aliud conatur Hieronymus quam ut ostendat ex Divina Institutione non esse differentiam inter Presbyterum Episcopum Et fol. 104. D. Nec etiam mirari quisquam debet quod Beatus Hieronymus Vir alioqui doctrissimus sic deceptus fuerit c. g De Cler. Cap. 15. Michaël Medina affirmat sanstum Hieronymum idem omnino cum Aërianis sensisse neque solum Hieronymum in ea Heresi fuisse sed etiam Ambrofium Augustinum Sedulium Primasium Chrysostomum Theodoretum OEcumenium Theophilactum atque ita inquit Medina isti Viri aliâ—qui Sanctissimi Sacrarum Scripturarum consultissimi quorum tamen sententiam prius in Aërio deinde in Waldensibus postremo in Johanne Vvicklefo damnavit Fcclesia Et infra Ergo in Hieronymo Gracis illis Patribus c. h Catechism tract 2. Quest. 23. i Cath. Orth. Tom. 1. Page 286. k Heresi 55. five 75. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l De repub eccles Lib. 2. Cap. 5. m Epistola ejus dedicatiora translationi suae praefixa n Critic Patrum Page 330. o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉