it as evident that there never can be more than one Church in the World for those Nominal Churches which have not the same Lord the same Faith the same Baptism are no Churches and all that have are but one Which makes it a ridiculous Triumph of the Church of Rome as if we Protestants did not believe one Catholick Church or could not tell where to find it when we profess to believe but One Church and that all true Churches are Members of this One Church For it is plain from this account that though all the Churches in the World were united in one Ecclesiastical Body yet this external visible Union is not the thing which makes them the one Body of Christ They are one Body by being all united to one mystical Head the Lord Jesus Christ not by an external and visible Union to each other this external Union is a Duty which all Christians and Christian Churches are bound to observe as far as possibly they can but all true Christians and Christian Churches are the One Body of Christ whether they be thus visibly united or not But for the better understanding this matter we must consider I. The true Notion of the Catholick Church on Earth II. What the Nature and Unity of a particular Church is and how every particular Church is a part of that Universal Catholick Church which is the Body of Christ. III. What that Unity and Communion is which all distinct particular Churches ought to maintain with each other and whence this Obligation results I. The true Notion of the Catholick Church on Earth Now it is evident from what I have already discoursed that the true Notion of a Church is the caetus Fidelium or the company of the Faithful of those who profess the true Faith of Christ and are united to him by Baptism There can be no other Notion of the Universal Church in Heaven and Earth but the whole company and family of the Faithful who are united to Christ by covenant and are his mystical Body in the sense above explained And if the Universal Church in Heaven and Earth be the whole company of the Faithful the Catholick Church on Earth must be the whole number of the Faithful on Earth for we must still retain the same Notion of a Church where the whole consists of universal parts for there every part has the same nature with the whole I know indeed of late the Clergy have in a great measure monopolized the Name of the Church whereas in propriety of Speech they do not belong to the definition of a Church They are Members of the Church as they are themselves of the number of the Faithful and they are the Governours of the Church as they have received Authority from Christ the Supream Lord and Bishop of the Church but they are no more the Church than the King is his Kingdom or the Shepherd his Flock and therefore St. Paul expresly distinguishes the Church from the Apostles and Ministers of it 1 Cor. 12. 28. God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healing Helps Governments diversities of Tongues These are placed in the Church for the instruction edification and good government of it and therefore are of a distinct consideration from the Church in which they are placed Thus 4 Eph. 11 12. He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ that is the Church of Christ which is therefore distinguished from the Pastors and Teachers of it Thus in directing his Epistles to several Churches he gives us the definition of a Church 1 Cor. 1. 2. Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours that is the whole company of the Faithful 1 Ephes. 1. Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the Saints which are at Ephesus and to the Faithful in Christ Jesus Which is the true definition of a Church 1 Col. 2. To the Saints and faithful Brethren in Christ which are at Coloss. And 1 Phil. 1. he expresly distinguishes the Saints or Church as that signifies the company of the Faithful from the Bishops and Deacons To all the Saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons The Learned Launoy has produced various Texts of Scripture for this definition of the Church that it is the company of the Faithful and has proved by the Testimony of the Fathers in all Ages even down to the Council of Trent it self that this was the received Notion of the Church till it was altered by Canisius and Bellarmine Canisius puts Christ's Vicar into the definition that the Church is the visible collection of all baptized Believers under one Head Christ in Heaven and his Vicar on Earth which makes the Church a Monarchy Bellarmine defines the Church to be a company of men united together by the profession of the same Christian Faith and the Communion of the same Sacraments under the government of lawful Pastors but chiefly of the Bishop of Rome as the one Vicar of Christ on Erath which makes the Church a kind of mixed and tempered Monarchy the government of Bishops and the Pope as Supream Vicar whereas before these men neither Pastors nor Bishops much less the Pope of Rome were ever put into the general definition of a Church for as for St. Cyprian's definition I shall account for it hereafter And indeed it stands to reason that they should not for Pastors and Bishops are set over the Church are Overseers of the Flock to instruct and govern it and therefore must be distinguished from the Church which they govern The Church is the mystical Body of Christ which is in subjection to Christ the Head but the Bishops and Pastors of the Church considered as such represent the Head and not the Body for they receive their Power and Authority from Christ and act in his place and stead as he tells them after his Resurrection As my Father hath sent me so send I you 20 John 21. And He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me 10 Matth. 40. and 13. John 20. And therefore as Christ the Head is distinguish'd from his Body so are those also who act under the Head and represent and exercise his Authority in the Church as private Believers they are the Members of the Church as Church-Governours they are the Vicars of Christ. Now from hence I shall observe some few things the use of which we shall afterwards better understand As 1. That Bishops and Pastors are not the Church but the Governours of the Church and therefore the Promises
learned men especially by the Learned Dr. Isaac Barrow in his Treatise of the Popes Supremacy which is a sufficient confutation of such a Claim yet it will be of great use to shew from the Nature of the Catholick Church and the essential Unity of it that it cannot be so and there are several considerations which will make this very evident 1. That there is no other Head for the whole Catholick Church on Earth to be united to but only Christ for the Catholick Church is the whole company of Christians and to whom can the whole company of Christians be united but only to Christ For the whole Clergy as well as Laiety are included in the Notion of the Catholick Church in the whole company of Christians and therefore unless you can find out a Bishop who is not of the number of Christians and such an one would be a very monstrous Head for the Christian Church he cannot be the Head because he is a Member of the Catholick Church and must himself with the rest of Christians be united to the Head Which I think is a demonstration that no Bishop can be the Head of the Catholick Church because it is a contradiction to be the Head and a Member of the same Body A Bishop is the Pastor and Governour of a particular Church and a Member of the Universal Church but to be the Head of the Universal Church of which he himself is a Member is a contradiction 2. Nor can the essential Unity of the Church consist in our Union to any other Head but Christ because it is our Union to Christ alone which makes the Church and that which makes the Church must make it one for what does not belong to the essence of a thing cannot be the principle of an essential Unity It is the Church of Christ because it is united to him and to him only by Faith and the Christian Sacraments and therefore it is the One Church of Christ because the whole Church is united to him and to him only as it must be if no other Union can make a Church and where there is but one Head of Union there can be but One Body No other Union can make a Church and therefore no other Union can be essential to the Unity of the Church 3. And therefore though our Saviour had appointed an Universal Pastor as the Bishop of Rome pretends to be yet he could not have been the Head of Unity to the Catholick Church he had in that case been the Supream Governour whom all Christians had been bound to obey nay more than that he had been the Center of church-Church-Communion to all Christians which is the external and visible Unity of the Church when all Christians live in the same Communion like one Houshold and Family But there is a vast difference between the essential Unity of the Church and the external Exercise of it in a visible Communion among Christians between being one and living in Unity Union to Christ alone makes the Church one but the exercise of this Unity in a visible Communion is a Duty which results from our Unity and must be expressed in such ways as Christ has prescribed of which more anone and had Christ appointed an Universal Pastor communion with and subjection to this Universal Pastor had been necessary to the external Unity of Church-communion but yet had not been that which makes the Church One which is one before and without it the not distinguishing of which has occasioned great mistakes in this matter as will appear in the process of this Discourse 4. I observe farther that there is a wide difference between being a Supream Pastor and a Vicarious Head of the Church a Title which is given to the Bishop of Rome not without great injury to Christ our Head. Christ had he pleased might have appointed a Supream Pastor for the Government of his Church but as he is Head of the Church he cannot have a Vicar or Vicarious Head for though a Head signifies a Supream Governour too in Scripture phrase yet Christ is not meerly a Head of Government but of Union and though a governing Head may have a Vicar or Lieutenant yet a Head of Union cannot no more than a natural Head can for the Union between Christ and his Church is as immediate as between the Head and the Members between the Husband and the Wife which will admit of no intermediate Vicars The Church is called the Body and Spouse of Christ as I have already observed for mystical reasons because it is formed out of his broken and crucified Body as Eve was out of the Body of Adam upon which account we are said to be Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone that is the Church is redeemed and purchased by the Bloud of Christ and thus he is the Head of that Body which he himself has bought at the price of his Bloud We are united to Christ by Faith in him by being baptized in his Name by feeding on the Sacrament of his Body and Bloud the effect of this Union is that we receive from him the pardon of our sins and the influences of his Grace and Spirit Thus Christ is our Head and thus none but Christ can be the Head not so much as the Vicarious Head of the Church as I think I need not prove We are redeemed by no other but Christ and therefore the Church is his mystical Body only we are united to no other by Faith and Sacraments our Union to no other person can entitle us to the pardon of sin and the grace of the holy Spirit and therefore Christ alone is the Head of Union to his Church it is a Church and it is one Church not by its Union to the Supream Pastor on Earth if there were such an one but by its Union to Christ for the Unity of the Church consist in its Union to its Head and it is evident that the Church can have no other Head but Christ and therefore can have no other principle or center of Unity Now from hence it plainly follows that no Christian can separate from the Catholick Church in this sense of it as it signifies the whole company and family of Christians which is the true Notion of the Catholick Church while he continues a Christian for that is a contradiction to be a Christian and not to belong to the whole number of Christians that is to be a Christian and to be no Christian for if he be a Christian he belongs to the number of Christians and then he is a Member of the Catholick Church and consequently not a Separatist from it Nothing can separate us from the Catholick Church but what forfeits our Christianity either a final Apostacy or such Heresies as are equivalent to Apostacy Which shews how vainly the Church of Rome charges us with Schism and Separation from the Catholick Church because we disown the Authority of the Pope their pretended Head of
and made One Body in him and considered as the Catholick Church are not the One Body of Christ nor can be under any other notion So that had the Catholick Church any Authority it could be exercised only by the whole multitude of Christians for nothing else is the Catholick Church and this is as impossible as it is for the whole multitude of Christians to meet together in one place But cannot the Catholick Church meet and act by its Representatives as Kingdoms and Common-wealths do I answer I have already proved that all the Bishops of the Church much less any one Bishop cannot represent the Catholick Church for as Bishops they are not the Church but the Governours of it under Christ and no man ever yet thought of any other Representatives for the Church and it is evident de facto that there are no other Representatives for the whole multitude of Christians never did make choice of any such Representatives and no man can be represented but by his own consent and if there could be any such Representatives made by the unanimous Vote of all the Christians in the World which I think is morally impossible yet then the highest and most soveraign Authority in the Church would be derived from the People which I suppose the Church of Rome will not very well like Nay indeed it is absolutely impossible that the Catholick Church should be represented for the Catholick Church is the whole multitude of Christians considered as the whole company or multitude now a multitude as a multitude can never be represented by any thing but itself there can be no formal nor virtual multitude but the whole entire number The Catholick Church signifies all Christians and if you leave out any of the number it is not all and therefore is not the Catholick Church Now if the Catholick Church have any Authority it must have it as it is the Catholick Church that is as it is the whole company of Christians for particular Christians have no such Authority as all men grant and therefore that which destroys the Catholick Church must destroy its Authority too and any thing less than all makes it cease to be Catholick and therefore the Catholick Church cannot be represented by a few of the whole number because a few are not all and therefore not the Catholick Church It is a different case indeed when every particular man has an original right and share in the Power and the whole power is not formally seated in the whole Body for then it may by common consent be contracted into one or more hands by particular mens giving up their share in the Government as some fancy that civil Societies were first formed but where the power is formally seated in the whole and not in particular Members as the Authority of the Catholick Church must be if it be the Authority of the Church considered as Catholick there it is evident the Authority must continue in the whole and can by no consent be put into a few hands and then it is impossible that the Catholick Church can have any Representatives nor consequently any visible Tribunal And yet that Dispute between the Church of Rome and some Protestant Divines which is managed with so much warmth and zeal about the perpetual visibility of the Church issues in this controversie about a visible Tribunal of the Catholick Church for nothing else will do the Protestant Cause any hurt or the Popish Cause any good We do say and we may safely say that there always has been and ever will be a Visible Church for while there are any men who visibly profess Christianity there will be a visible Church And what then what then Why then you must hear the Church then you must submit to the Authority of the Church then you must believe as the Church believes and receive your Faith from the Decrees and Definitions of the Church But pray why so Has every visible Church this Authority No but the Catholick Church has Suppose that but how shall I speak with the Catholick Church which is dispersed over all the World and is nothing else but the whole number of Christians all the World over Now it seems impossible for me to speak with all the Christians in the World and to know what their Belief is in all matters of controversie and though the Catholick Church is visible and part of it is to be seen in England and part in Holland and part in France c. yet no man can see it all together nor speak with all the Christians in the World together and therefore tho' the Catholick Church be visible it cannot determine any one controversie unless there be some visible Catholick Tribunal from which we must receive the Faith of the whole Church This the Papists assert and make the Church of Rome to be that visible Catholick Church or visible Tribunal of the Catholick Church to which all Christians are bound to submit Now besides what I have already proved that the Catholick Church neither has nor can have any such visible Tribunal suppose such a thing might be yet this Dispute about the visibility of the Church is nothing to the purpose for though the Church be visible it does not hence follow that the Catholick Church has such a visible Tribunal to which all Christians must submit and if the visibility of the Church does not prove one Supream Catholick Tribunal what do the Papists get by the Churches visibility or what do the Protestants lose by it The Church of Rome is a visible Church and so is the Church of England and if meer visibility give this Authority to a Church the Church of England has as good Authority as the Church of Rome because it is as visible a Church 4. In the next place I observe that the essential Unity of the Catholick Church is not an external and visible Union of an organized Body because the Catholick Church it self is not an organized Body There is and can be but one Catholick Church because the whole company of Christians is this Catholick Church but then the essential Unity of the Catholick Church does not consist in an external and visible Union of all Christians which is the Unity of civil Societies of Kingdoms and Common-wealths and other inferiour Corporations which are united under one visible Government which knits and tyes them together as Nerves and Sinews do the Members of the natural Body but though there be an external and visible Union in and between particular Churches of which more presently yet the Unity of the Catholick Church consists only in the Union of all Christians to Christ which makes them his one mystical Body This is a very material point in opposition to the Pretensions of the Bishop of Rome who will needs be the Supream and Oecumenical Pastor and Head of Unity to the Catholick Church and though the Christian World never owned him so as has been abundantly proved by
the Church and reject a corrupt Communion though we are Christians still and we hope of a much purer Communion than they are Schism and Separation is a breach of the external and visible Communion of the Church not of the essential Unity of it the Church is one Church still whatever Breaches and Schisms there are in its external Communion for the Unity of the Catholick Church consists in the Union of the whole to Christ which makes them one Body in him not in the external Communion of the several parts of it to each other And therefore it is not a Separation from one another but only a Separation from Christ which is a Separation from the Catholick Church But what the true Notion of Schism is I shall discourse more at large hereafter 5. I observe further that the Indefectibility of the Catholick Church does not depend upon the Indefectibility of any organized Churches for the Catholick Church does not consist of organized Churches as organized but is made up of particular Christians and therefore while the whole Race of Christians does not fail in the World the Catholick Church cannot fail There is no Promise that I know of to any particular Church that it shall not fail and all organized Churches are particular Several of them have totally failed others have been very greatly corrupted both in Faith and Manners and Worship but had these Failures and Corruptions been much greater and more general than ever they have been yet while there are a number of good Christians preserved in the World though not united in one visible Body the Catholick Church does not fail for since the Catholick Church is not an organized Church nor made up of organized Churches as such though all the particular organized Churches in the World were so corrupt as not to deserve the Name of True Churches if there be a number of good Christians preserved among them though unknown and concealed as it was in the time of Elias the Catholick Church is safe amidst all the corruptions of particular Churches I am abundantly satisfied that there always has been since the first planting of Christianity in the World and I believe always will be to the end of the World a true visible Church but yet I do not think the Indefectibility of the Church necessarily requires a perpetual Visibility that the Church must needs be owned to fail if there should be no visible organized Church with whom we could hold communion This indeed would mightily eclipse but not extinguish the Church for it is certain the Catholick Church subsists in single and individual Christians who may lie concealed from publick not notice and therefore it is not sufficient to prove that the Church has failed though there were no visible Society of Christians but what were corrupted with damnable Practices and Errors It is very true were there no visible Society of Christians no Administration of Baptism by which Men are made Members of the Christian Church and this State should continue so long till the whole Race of baptized Christians were lost in the World there would be too much reason then to say that the Church had failed too for I cannot see how the Church can subsist without a number of baptized Christians but this never was the state of the Church and I believe never will be for Antichrist himself sits in the Temple of God which supposes that even in his reign there is a visible Society of Christians Now how corrupt and degenerate soever the External state of the visible Church may be while there is a Society of baptized Christians though so corrupt in their External Policy and Government Faith and Worship that it may admit or a dispute whether they are a true Christian Church or not yet tho' the visible state of the Church may be Antichristian there may be an invisible number of Christians among them who may preserve themselves from the Corruptions Superstitions Heresies and Idolatries of the visible Church and in these men the Catholick Church is preserved from a to al failure Indeed this is the only difference between Protestant Divines in this Matter they all agree that the Catholick Church shall not fail because Christ has promised it shall not fail that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it but some doubt whether there shall be always a true visible organized Church in the World. They agree that there shall be always a visible Society of Christians in the World who shall profess the whole Christian Faith and administer the true Christian Sacraments but they differ whether such a Church may be called a true Christian Church if together with the true Christian Faith and Sacraments they set up an Antichristian Hierarchy and impose an Antichristian Faith and Worship Those who affirm that such a Church is a true Christian Church do consequently teach that the true Church shall be always visible tho it may be corrupt even to the degree of Antichristianism those who affirm that such a corrupt Church is not a true Church do also consequently affirm that the true Church may be sometimes invisible and consist only of such private Christians as preserve themselves from those corruptions which unchurch the visible Church I may have occasion to consider this more hereafter all that I observe at present is that this does not alter the case as to the indefectibility of the Church for while there is a visible Society professing the Christian Faith and administring the Christian Sacraments the Catholick Church may subsist in an invisible and unorganized number of Christians who profess the true Faith without such corrupt and Antichristian Mixtures Were the Catholick Church an organical Body then indeed it must be always visible and the Church would fail if ever it became invisible but if the Catholick Church be an unorganized Body of Christians who are united only in Christ it is possible that it may be unknown and invisible as great numbers of private Christians may be and yet the Church not fail Now this shews the weakness and fallacy of several Arguments used by the Church of Rome As 1. That the perpetual visibility of the Roman Church proves it to be that indefectible Church of which our Saviour promised that the Gates of Hell should not prevail against it A Promise which all men grant our Saviour made to the Catholick Church not to any particular Church that is to the whole company of Christians that there should never want a succession of true Believers in the World not to any particular organized Church or Body of Christians such as the Church of Rome is And therefore the indefectibility of the Church cannot prove that it shall be always visible and then the uninterrupted visibility of any Church cannot prove that it is indefectible for if the indefectible Church may be sometimes invisible then that visible Church may not be always indefectible when the indefectible Church is invisible to be