Selected quad for the lemma: christian_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	bishop_n	church_n	presbyter_n	1,708	5	10.0860	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51155	An enquiry into the new opinions, chiefly propagated by the Presbyterians of Scotland together with some animadversions on a late book, entitled, A defence of The vindication of the kirk : in a letter to a friend at Edinburgh / by A.M., D.D.	Monro, Alexander, d. 1715?	1696 (1696)	Wing M2439; ESTC R7	25,403	65

triumphantly Atheism and Impiety lift up their Banners every where Let us endeavour as much as is possible to preserve some Remains of Religion amongst the People Let us assert the ancient Order and Piety that made the Christian Church so beautiful in former Ages The Apostle informs us that the time would come when men could not endure sound Doctrine but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves Teachers having itching Ears and they shall turn away their Ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables The great Founder of our Religion sent his Apostles by found Doctrine to enlighten the World and they convey'd this Spiritual Authority unto others who should transmit it by an orderly Succession and as their Mission was Heavenly in its Original so their Doctrine was pure and holy in all its Tendencies They considered themselves as the Ambas adors of Jesus Christ and Delivered their Commission without any Mixture or Hypocrisy They treated the People with all Humility and Tenderness but in the mean time took great care to mortifie their Lusts and their Passions but when they grew wanton and headstrong and thought themselves too wise to be led by their Spiritual Guides and Rulers then they would have teachers of their own Men chosen by themselves such as were taught to calculate their Doctrines to popular Fancies and Humours such as would prostitute the Gospel to promote Error and Delusion and make the Kingdom of Light subservient to that of Darkness and instead of serving our blessed Saviour they became Slaves to the People by whom they were originally employed and because they were so unhappily successful as to gratifie their Lusts they were therefore voted the most edifying teachers The Primitive Ministers of Religion had their immediate Commission from Heaven accordingly they endeavoured by all means to restore the Image of God in the Souls of Men to raise their Thoughts and Designs to that Happiness and Treasure which the World cannot give which God truth promised and made sure by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead The other had their authority from Men and therefore they must needs please the People who sent them They must reconcile the Rules and Morals of the Gospel to the Wicked Practices and designs of the World they must change the strictest Maxims of the Evangel into looser Theorems and the severe Discipline of the Ancient Church unto all Licence and Luxury the true faith that works by love unto airy Notions and Mistakes Thus the People were pleas'd and the Gospel was defeated the Church is ruin'd and God dishonour'd Every Man in his own station is obliged to contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints When the Foundations of Ecclesiastical Unity are shaken loose and the Antient Constitutions trampled upon with great Insolence and Impiety then the hedge of t●●e Religion is not only Invaded but Demolished and without those Sacred Vehicles it must Evaporate into Giddiness and Enthusiasm the Extravagance of these last days is boundless as it Sceptical and Christianity it self is more dangerously wounded by the Delusions of some that are Baptiz'd than by the open Blasphemies of Infidels The last may be assaulted by Reason at least in their more Lucid Intervals but the first are altogether inaccessible we must not presume to instruct them who pretend to extraordinary Illuminations their Errors are made strong by their vanity they plead a Divine Right to every New Opipinion and if we approach them in the ancient Paths of Modesty and Humility they look down upon us with Scorn and Indignation Nay they are inflexible to the plainest and most convincing arguments I have frequently with Grief and Sorrow considered the Decays of Religion and the Difficulties of our Employment We must pull down strong Holds and lofty Imaginations and grapple with the rudest Oppositions the Avenues of Mens Souls are blockaded by passion and prejudices and they are fortified in their Error not only by the Corruption of their Nature but by the artifice of Seducers their itching Ears are pleased their Lusts are gratified their Passions are made more unruly their Envy Hatred and Malice are indulg'd and they are allow'd to distinguish themselves from all others by special Titles of Division and Singularity by which alone they think to make their Calling and Election sure Yet notwithstanding that we are thus resisted by the Multitude of their Follies and Delusions we must not give over by Faintness and Despondency We must plead with them who have left the Unity of the Church by the words of Truth and Soberness and exhort others to continue in that Doctrine that was reveal'd by our Saviour taught by his Apostles and received by all Churches in the first and best Ages that the present Generation may not rise in Judgment against us for our Silence nor Posterity censure our Cowardice We must not be ashamed of the truth even when it is contradicted with all possible Violence and Fury I address this short Treatise to you with a design rather to assert the Truth than to reply to what hath been lately published by the Vindicator of the Kirk of Scotland against a certain Book Entituled Apology for the Clergy c. though I think it necessary to make some of his Mistakes a little more apparent There are certain Practices and Rituals received by the Christian Church in all Ages which are not determin'd expresly in the Holy Scriptures in so many Letters and Syllables yet by the plainest and most undeniable Consequences are agreeable to its general Rules and the Uniform belief of all Christians and they that deny those Usages or the Lawfulness of those Rituals venture upon untrodden Paths and do foolishly condemn the Wisdom of all former Ages The special Providence of God hath so watch'd over the Church that since the first Plantations of Christianity we have preserved to us some Records and Monuments of its Doctrine and Practices The Books of such as have been learn'd in every age do plainly demonstrate that the first Christians were agreed amongst themselves in the great Articles of Religion and in the general Rules of Ecclesiastical Discipline and Order and by this Uniformity of Doctrine and Rituals they strengthened themselves against Infidels and Hereticks There is nothing more opposite to the spirit of true Religion than Stubborness and Petulance and when we despise those Constitutions that have been universally received amongst Christians we overthrow the Foundations of Peace and Charity and consequently we exclude our selves from the visible fellowship of Christ's Houshold and Family When we consider the Schisms and Tumults of particular Churches the confusions of so many Revolutions the shakings of so many Nations the boldness and activity of Hereticks we have reason to adore the Goodness of God that so many Monuments of Ecclesiastical Antiquity are preserv'd and whatever is uniformly determin'd by the Wisest and the best of Christians their learn'dst Bishops and Presbyters

must be received as the Infallible truth of God else we have no certain Standard to distinguish the Catholic Church in former Ages from the combinations of Hereticks these are new in their several Errors and Delusions and upon that very account of their Novelty were expos'd and refuted by the Ancients they neither agreed amongst themselves nor with the Orthodox But the Uniform Voice of Christendom in the first and purest Ages is the best Key to the Doctrine and Practice of the Apostles and their Successors If it appear then that the Opinions which we oppose and are propagated by the Presbyterian Societies are such as were never entertain'd in the Christian Church for fourteen hundred Years after our Saviour's Incarnation then I leave it to every sober Christian to consider whether he may safely continue in the communion of that Party that despises the whole Catholic Church both Ancient and Modern CHAP. I. The Novelty and Insufficiency of those Pleas and Arguments managed by the Presbyterians in defence of their New Doctrine of Parity THE first Opinion that I charge with Error and Novelty amongst our Country-men is this That they affirm upon all Occasions that our Saviour hath appointed his Church under the New Testament whether Provincial National or Oecomenic to be govern'd by the several classes of Presbyters acting in perfect Parity and owning no Subordination to any higher Officer in the Ecclesiastical Senate above a Presbyter in the modern and current Notion of the word Such a Doctrine must be of dangerous consequence because it is altogether new and never propagated in any part of the Christian Church until these last days of Separation and Singularity In this Opinion they differ not only from the Uniform testimony of Antiquity but also from the first Presbyterians amongst ourselves who declare in their Confession of Faith that all Church-Polity is variable so far they were at that time from asserting that indispensible divine and unalterable right of Parity All that the first Presbyterians pleaded was that their new form was allowable and not repugnant to the Oeconomy of the New Testament and Primitive Institution and that it came very near to the Original Model of Churches but they never thought to advance such a bold and rash Assertion as to affirm That the Christain Church by the Original Authority of our Saviour and his Apostles ought to be govern'd in all Ages by a Parity of Presbyters or that there was no other Officer in the Church could pretend to any share of Ecclesiastical Government above a Presbyter When a Society of Men set up for Divine Absolute and Infallible Right they ought to bring plain Proofs for what they say else they must needs be look'd upon as Impostors or at least self-conceited and designing Men. To propagate a Doctrine under the notion of a probable Opinion though it should happen to be an Error is consistent with Modesty and the practice of Learned Men in all Ages But to affirm a new Notion to be established by Divine Right and to require Obedience to that Scheme as a thing that is due to Supreme and Infallible Authority is much worse than Speculative Enthusiasm If a man only entertains himself with his Visions and Fancies he alone suffers by it but if I meet with a company of head-strong Fellows who must needs persuade me that they see so many Armies in the Air fighting and with the exactest Discipline of War nay their Banners the shape and colour of their Horses their several Squadrons and the whole order of their Encampment and will certainly knock me in the head unless I take my Oath upon it that I see all this who never saw any such thing in my Life I think I have reason to complain that my Circumstances are very unlucky I had certainly rather fall into the hands of High-way-men than amongst those Spiritual Robbers who divest me of my Senses and the exercise of my Reason If you inform our Country men that their New Doctrine is thus represented they will tell you that none but wicked men oppose their Government that it is Establish'd upon the express Institution of our Saviour that it hath been asserted and prov'd by several Learned Men of their Party beyond contradiction But if you ask by what particular argument you may be convinc'd of the Truth of their New Doctrine then they begin to lead you into a Labyrinth of dark and intricate Consequences obscure and perplext Probabilities several Texts of Scripture they will alledge but sadly wrested and distorted from their genuine Meaning and Design and the uniform Suffrages of all the Ancients And if you are not satisfied with such proofs as they advance you must be contented to submit to their Censure and the New Discipline must be Obey'd where-ever their Power is equal to their Pretences I can give you but a short History of their Arguments by which they endeavour to Establish their Divine Right of Parity When you read their Books I think all their pleas of whatever kind or force may be reduc'd to these three heads First either they pretend that this Parity of Presbyters is expresly commanded by our Saviour or secondly They endeavour to support it by consequences from several Texts of Scripture or thirdly from the Testimonies of the ancient Writers of the Church First I say they pretend that this Parity of Presbyters exclusive of the Superiority or Jurisdiction of a Bishop is expresly commanded by our Saviour This indeed promises veryfair For if our Saviour hath plainly and positively Commanded that Ecclesiastical Affairs shall be managed in all Churches and Ages communi Presbytero'um consilio and by such a College of Presbyters as excludes the Authority and Jurisdiction of a Bishop then without all Controversie all Christians are oblig'd to submit to it The Consequence is plain and undeniable and because our Country-men do insist upon this more frequently than any of the foreign Presbyterians we ought to hear them calmly and deliberately and when they plead the Authority of our Blessed Saviour we must view those Texts with reverence and attention and see if any thing can be inferred from them that may probably support the now Scheme of Presbytery The Parallel Texts of Scripture are Matth. 20. 25. But Jesus called them unto him and said ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise authority upon them v. 26. But it shall not be so great among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your Minister V. 27. And whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant v. 28 Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministred unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many See also Mark 10. v. 42 43 44 45. and Luke 22. 25. From these parallel Places they plead that the Officers of Chirist's House were by his own express Command establish'd in a perfect

prevail'd there was a Praeses to whom the Protocathedria or Locus in Cosessu Primarius was constantly due and that during life And there are such mainfest and palpable Evidences of this peculiar Honour and Jurisdiction due to the one of the Ecclesiastical Senate in the Apostolical Age that the Learned'st Sticklers for Parity cannot deny it The Apocalyptic Angels amongst whom we justly reckon S. Polycarp Bishop of Smyrna the Epistles to Timothy and Titus and the Catalogues of Bishops suceeding the Apostles in several Sees gathered at least towards the middle of the Second Century make it Evident beyond all Contradiction It is impossible to let us see from any Ancient Record either Genuine or Suppositious that there was ever any thing of Moment Canonically determin'd in the Ecclesiastical Meetings without their Bishop his particular Advice and Authority And since Clemens Romanus Origen and S. Cyprian do compare the Evangelical Priesthood and Ministrations with the Aaronical how is it that we can pretend to Conclude an Equality amongst the Presbyters of the New Testament from the Dichotomies us'd in Christian Writings no more than we can Dream of a Parity among the Jewish Priests because they are frequently Dichotomiz'd especially since the Ancient who sometimes divide the Clergy only into two Orders do again upon other occasions Subdivide the Highest Order and distinguish the Bishop from all Subordinate Presbyters It is true that Clemens Romanus a Writer of the Apostolical Age Divides the Clergy into two Orders but so he Divides also the Jewish Ministers of the Sanctuary into Priests and Levites which no Man will allow as a Proof of the Equality of Priests under the Old Testament but I shall have Opportunity hereafter to consider the Testimony alledg'd by Blondel from S. Clemens's Epistle to the Corinthians more particularly in its proper Place I have formerly said that the most Ancient Writers who Dichotomize the Clergy when they speak of them with regard to the Laity do yet distinguish them by a Tripartite Division when the Hierarchy is consider'd in it self and with regard to that Prostasia and Jurisdiction which distinguishes one Priest from another Tertullian in his Book de Baptismo hath these Words Jus quidem dandi baptismum habet summus Sacerdos qui est Episcopus dehinc Presbyteri Diaconi non tamen sine Episcopi Authoritate quâ salvâ salva pax est Yet Monsieur Blondel runs away with another Testimony cited from his Apologeticks as if he had found there a perfect Equality of Presbyters because the Seniores are said to be in the Government than which there cannot be a more absurd Consequence for he neither affirm'd that those Seniores were all Equal among themselves nor is it certain whether by the Seniores he understood all Presbyters in General or those only who were advanc'd to the Episcopal Dignity for it was no part of his Business in an Apology Address'd to the Heathens to insist on the Subordinations of one Priest unto another for he only pleaded that there was nothing in the Christian Meetings contrary to the strictest Rules of Morality and Decency and that they were Men of Approv'd and Exemplary Lives who were advanc'd to any share of the Ecclesiastical Government Clemens Alexandrinus is brought as a Witness to serve the same Design but then unluckily he reckons up the three Orders of the Clergy and calls them Imitations of the Angelical Glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Upon this Occasion it is needless to name S. Cyprian who Asserts the Jurisdiction and Prerogative of the Episcopal Power upon all Occasions with great Courage and Assurance and S. Polycarp the Famous Doctor of the Asiatic Church Bishop of Smyrna and Disciple of Saint John who flourish'd long before S. Cyprian though he Divides the Clergy into two Orders in his Epistle to the Philippians yet he honourably mentions and recommends the Epistles of S. Ignatius in which the Apostolical Hierarchy of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon is so often and so expresly mention'd and S. Polycarp in the Epigraphe of that Epistle distinguishes himself from his Subordinate Presbyters according to the Modest and Usual S●ile of those days Pelycarp and the Presbyters that are with him who if he had stood on a Level with those Presbyters would never have distinguish'd himself from the Community of his Brethren by his proper Name plac'd at such a distance yet with Visible but very Modest Marks of Distiction and Precedence according to the humble Practice of those Glorious Martyrs From what hath been said it is very evident that there can be nothing more Foolish and Extravagant than to conclude a Parity among Priests because some Ancient Christians us'd the Jewish Phraseology for even these upon other Occasions frequently Assert the Jurisdiction of one Bishop over many Presbyters and Hermas who was Contemporary with Clemens Romanus reproves the Ambition of some in his own time who strove for the first Dignity and Preferment And if there was no such Precedence then in the Church there was no ground for his Reprehension The sum of these Reasonings amounts to this that when the Hellenist Jews would distinguish the High-Priest from the Levites they thought the common Name of a priest was sufficient as is evident from several places in Phylo the Jew And as it was unreasonable to conclued from thence that he had not a singular Authority and Jurisdiction over subordinate Priests so now-a-Days an Argument founded upon the same Topic is equally Impertinent and Sophistical When the priests were compar'd among themselves one with another then their Dignities and Subordinations might be seasonably mentioned If we compare the priests of the New Testament with the Deacons we need say no more than Priests and Deacons but when we compare the Priests among themselves we must acknowledge their several Subordinations The Priests under the Old Testament were only allowed to offer the Sacrifices and by their Offering of Sacrifices were distinguish'd from the Levites So under the New Testament the Priests both of the highest and subordinate Order offer the Eucharistical Sacrifice and by so doing are sufficiently distinguish'd from Deacons yet this is no Argument against the Subordination of one Priest unto another Thus we see there was the same Reason for those Dichotomies of the Clergy both under the Old and New Testament From what hath been said we may easily see that the Jews us'd such Dichotomies of their Clergy both under the Mosaic Oeconomy and in the Apostolical Age when the superiority of the High-Priest was past all Contradiction And there can be a very good account given of this Phraseology and way of speaking from the different Considerations that engag'd both Jewish and Christian Writers to use the Bipartite or Tripartite Division of the Clergy for the very same Christian Writers who only mentioned two Orders do in other places reckon up the Hierarchy of Bishop Presbyter and Deacon as plainly as is possible From