Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n
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A50383
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Unity restor'd to the Church of England by John Mayer.
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Mayer, John, 1583-1664.
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1661
(1661)
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Wing M1426; ESTC R28824
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26,506
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53
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any other way and so Gods blessing cannot go with a Bishop so chosen Did not the Lord himself at the first ordain twelve whom he called Apostles and are not Bishops set up to govern in the Church generally held to be the Apostles Successors to whom singularly the Keyes were committed to bind and loose and why then should not the chusing of them from time to time be referred to the Lord No free People as all Christians are be willing to be governed by any but a Prince of their own electing whom they know well and well approve of to be preferred to this dignity and how then can it be expected that it should go well with that Church which hath no hand in the choice of their Bishop It was most anciently the Custome of Christians for the Clergy and People of the Diocess to chuse their own Bishop and then were they reverend as Fathers neither did this custom cease till Anno Dom. 1120. Poly. in Angl. c. 11. de inven l. 4. c. 10. when Princes began to take to themselves the right of appointing Bishops in every place but before this an 775. in a Synod held at Rome consisting of 133 Bishops to the Emperor Charls the Great was granted the Electing both of Pope Archbishops and Bishops Sidebert distinct 63. Adrianus sub poena Anathematis in the time of Pope Adrian wherefore it was a corruption that crept into the Church in time for Kings to appoint Bishops and not permit to the Clergy and People a free Election the Lord being earnestly sought unto in this so weighty a matter and in fine the Election referred to his Divine Majesty who only knoweth the hearts of all men which if it might be done at this day the King reserving to himself the power of Confirming a Bishop thus chosen His Majesty should free himself from being cause of any corruption in the election through the Covetousness of his Courtiers the Church of God within his Dominions should most probably be supplied with none but worthy Bishops and great unity would every where follow and all cause of Divisions in these Churches be cut off but that it may be orderly proceeded to such election the King is to be sought unto to give leave without whose leave the Peoples assembling of themselves cannot but be unlawfull as his Writs must first issue out to chuse Knights of the Shire in every County and that such leave hath anciently been given the granting of Congedeleers in times of vacancy to this day do declare although the man now to be chosen be nominated by the King and it is in effect no leave to chuse but to receive hin for Bishop whom the King chuseth Secondly for the Bishops power above the Presbyters his brethren it is as Jerom saith only in ordination of Presbyters and Deacons which cannot be done without the Bishop for to him singularly the Apostles committed this power as appeareth by St. Tit. 1. Act. 14.23 1 Tim. 4.23 Pauls writing to Timothy and Titus as he himself and Barnabas had by the imposition of hands ordained many whereas the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery is sometime spoken of nothing else can here be gathered but that when the Bishop ordaineth he ought to do it with the assistance of some of his Presbyters laying their hands on together with him and joyning in Prayer the Bishop having first examined him that is to be ordained and accepted of him but forasmuch as the Apostles had the power of binding and loosing also singularly committed unto them and not the Seventy two sent out to preach and Bishops elected to govern the Church are their Successors it is manifest that the power of Excommunicating and Absolving is peculiar to the Bishop also and to such Presbyters to whom he sends out his Processe to publish it in their particular Churches as Saint Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth to deliver to Satan the Incestuous man declaring the cause as it is necessary every Bishop should do to the Rector of every Church Again forasmuch as to Timothy Bishop of Ephesus St. Paul writeth not to receive an Accusation against any under two or three witnesses whereby is implied that he by vertue of his Apostleship and power to judge the causes of his Brethren the Presbyters about Ephesus it must needs be granted that the same power belongeth to every Bishop in his Diocess Lastly because Timothy and Titus also had power given them to order things in the Churches committed to their Government for praying and preaching and stopping the mouths of ignorant and corrupt Teachers and wicked livers whose sins break out after Ordination it must needs be granted that Bishops chosen to rule have the like power Yet when one is called to the weighty Office of Ruling in the Church of God the duty of Preaching diligently still lieth upon him and rather more than before for Timothy must not onely be instant in preaching in season and out of season but also be an example in Doctrine and Conversation Thirdly touching those whom the Bishop is to use as Assistants in exercising his power I cannot finde any Chancellor Arch-Deacon or Official once named in any ancient Writer but only of Presbyters and Deacons by whose help they did both ordain and censure and being assembled in Counsel together make Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiasticall for which last we have a President Acts 15. in the first Councel assembling which consisted of Apostles Elders or Presbyters and Brethren and for the first in Pauls laying on of his hands upon Timothy and the Presbyters in ordaining him and for the Presbyters assistance in excommunicating see 1 Cor. 5. For although the Church only be there written to yet it is not to be conceived but that the Church consisted of Presbyters and common Christians amongst whom what was done cannot be thought to have been done but by Presbyters as the mouth and there were some Prophets 1 Cor. 14. but without Presbyters it could not be Fourthly touching punishment inflicting upon any The Bishop ought to have no power but spirituall For the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal saith the Apostle but spiritual 2 Cor. 4. it is onely such power as Christ committed to his Apostles and that was only the power of binding and loosing by excommunicating and absolving which is indeed a power beyond the power of the greatest Monarchs in the world and more to be feared for if an earthly Judge hath power to send the body of an Offender to Prison to be kept there by a Goaler and there to be used most hardly and after that to condemn him to a bodily death or to pardon him and set him at liberty again the power given by Christ to his Apostles and their Successors is to adjudge to the Prison of Hell the spirit and soul to be kept by Satan and by him vexed and terrified with terrors intollerable and after that to be carried to
that Dungeon where there is utter darkness there to remain in wailing and gnashing of teeth for evermore and upon serious and hearty repenrance to release the sinner again from this grievous judgement if he be humbled and professeth his penitency without delay and if we believe our Lord Jesus that which is done herein by the Bishop according to his direction is done by God For what ye bind saith he upon earth Math. 18. shall be bound in heaven and what ye loose shall be loosed in heaven most certainly As for any punishment corporall or pecuniary inflicting it is proper to him that bears the Sword Rom. 13. and a Sword-man an Apostle or Bishop must not be as our Saviour shewed when he gave Peter a check for drawing his Sword and smiting For he that smiteth with the sword shall perish by the sword that is he who is sent out to preach peace Fifthly touching the cause of excommunicating although this power hath been heretofore used for not appearing at the Bishops Court when he hath been summoned without any regard to the Calling or Righteousness of the man or for money or to bring in money which was an abuse intollerable yet there is no warrant by the Word of God to deliver over to Satan for any cause but scandalous living or blasphemous Heresie but for either of these causes there is as appeareth 1 Cor. 5. by the Apostles writing to have the incestuous person delivered over to Satan till he repented and to have all scandalous brethren Adulterers Railers Drunkards c. put from amongst them although Erastus denieth this to be a ground for excommunicating or putting the scandalous liver from the holy Communion for although but a Physitian he would seem to have so much skill in Divinity as to assert that none although most wicked who hold the true faith may lawfully be put from it because none such were kept from the Passeover but only such as were legally unclean 〈…〉 which uncleanness is now ceased therefore saith he none are now to be accounted unclean who are believers as though if legal uncleanness which was much lesser makes one unclean 〈…〉 but the uncleanness which is by sin doth not much more whenas that uncleanness which was only outward of this extending to the very conscience witness the Apostles saying to the unclean all things are unclean yea the very conscience is defiled and this is not clensed but by the bloud of Christ that by the bloud of buls goats For not keeping from the Passover the notoriously wicked by express Precept there may be this Reason yielded the keeping of the Passover was but a legal Ceremony and was to be eaten by all that were circumcised although not circumcised yet in heart and therefore neither Children nor Fools were debarred therefrom nor wicked livers it sufficed that they who did eat hereof were not legally unclean but the Lords Supper is so holy and separate from prophane use that whoso eateth and drinketh of it unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself and this he doth whosoever doth not first examine himself and finding what a grievous sinner he hath been sorrows not therefore with Godly sorrow and confesseth it not neither is converted therefrom And if it be so how can they that rule in the Church but be accessary to their sin whom they know to be unworthy but put them not from participating of this holy Ordinance till that by repentance and promise of Reformation they be sanctified that so holy a thing may not be given but to the holy at the least so far forth as may be gathered from their own mouths although we cannot but admit of some unworthy whose wickedness is conceal'd but for the commonly known to be prophane or notoriously wicked even the Heathen abhorred from having them come to their sacrifices for one was at such times set to cry thus Procul procul este prophani for excommunicating blasphemous Hereticks we have S. Paul for our example who saith 1 Tim. 1.2 he delivered Hymeneus and Alexander to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme that is for a chastisement of the blasphemous Heresies which they held that they might be made to recant as is the excommunicating of notorious Offenders that being by Satan terrified who is now let loose upon them they may be made to repent and although they suffer in their bodies this have their souls saved at the last day for some then being excommunicated were grievously handled in their bodies by Satan whereby they were made to know how cruelly they should be tormented in the life to come if they were not made thereby to repent as we may gather that the incestuous person at Corinth was for that he was so terrified after his excommunication 2 Cor. 2. that he was ready to be swallowed up of despair 6. Touching more or fewer Bishops making in this Kingdome It is not so convenient that their Diocesses should be so large as they have been because that although in former Ages it might be necessary when the land was not so populous to enlarge the limits of Bishopricks laying many more Towns together and sometime two Counties to make one Bishoprick and able Shepherds of whom Bishops might be made were more rare yet now thanks be to God Christian people having far more encreased in Cities Townes and Villages and Pastors of great ability both to preach and govern it were much more convenient that there should be more Bishops made in this Land not onely one to a City and the Villages circumjacent but to each City-like Town most Diocesses in England as now they are constituted being too great a burthen to their Bishops to bear as Moses sometime complained of the burthen of so numerous a Nation laid upon him alone and therefore desired the help of more Rulers and had by the Lord added unto him 72 whereby he and the people were more eased and the better enabled to do the work for which they were raised up As Diocesses now are some belonging to their Charge are so far off that they cannot know or ever hear their Bishop preach although he continueth amongst them many yeares neither can he know all the Clergy or their worthiness or unworthiness to encourage or reprove them according to their deserts and what a trouble and weariness is it to the people to be forced to travel some of them 30 or 40 miles to have their Causes heard and to be at the charge to retain Proctors to plead for them yea and sometimes Rectores Ecclesiae also but if more Diocesses should be made whence should means be raised to maintain so many Bishops Even out of the Bishopricks that now are and Deanaries and Prebendaries of which what use is there in the Church of Christ and of which Antiquity was utterly ignorant If it would please God to move the hearts of the Kings Majesty and the right Honorable and worthy Members