And in these we do most clearly own and profess our selves Christians and visibly unite in the Body And from hence it will follow that all Christians under the penalty of excluding themselves from this Body are bound to joyn in all the publick Offices of the Church and to bear their part in all Acts and Duties of Christian Communion and therefore Attendance to Ordinances is not only the benefit but the necessary duty of every Christian And as Members of the Society they must do their parts joyning in the publick Prayers Praises Thanksgivings Confessions and the like And especially ought to be careful to be duely partakers of the Lords Supper as being that Act whereby of all others we are most strongly firmly and closely united both to â—hrist oâ—r Head and to each other Hence it is by way of Eminence sometimes called The Communion And hence it is That amongst the primitive Christians though a Man had openly professed the Christian Faith had been admitted by Baptism was not only an Auditor but does Communicate in the Prayers of the Church yet they did not Account him compIeatly a Christian till he did partake of the Lords Table And there is the same Reason for this still and perhaps greater Reason now then ever to urge it when the most weighty Duties are most neglected and People are so apt to set up their Rest far short of what our blessed Saviour hath made their Duties XI That this Communion is maintained by Communicating with that particular Christian Church being neither Heretical nor Schismatical where every Christian lives seems to me out of â—oubt For if he do not Communicate there it is not possible he should actually Communicate any where else and therefore whatsoever Preparations of Mind may be pretended the wilful or careless neglect of this seems to Amount to no less then a Renunciation or Under valuing of all Communion which strikes at the very Heart of the Christian Religion But yet for all this our Communion in that particular Church is Communion with the whole whereof that is a part by which we are United to the whole in which we express our Communion with the whole and by which we draw Supplies from the whole For our Communion in particular Churches Arises from the Necessity of our Natures and the Condition of Humane Beings which are not capable of Communicating with the whole altogether but only by parts And though particular Churches in respect of particular Christians and the Offices and Authority therein Exercised are truly called Churches yet in respect of the Catholick Church they are but Members whereby we are United to the whole and Communicate with the whole Both the Name and Benefit of Christianity comes to us from joyning in Communion with that Church which is Christs Body And that is the Catholick Church and it is to that we desire to be United and in that to Communicate by joyning with some true part of it which is all our Natures allow us to do and in Act can Compass But if any Man Unite himself to or joyn in Communion with any particular Church either in opposition to all others or without any relation or obligation to any other Church As to Catholick Communion he must suppose that particular Church to be that Body whereof Christ is the Head and Saviour or else he cannot Hope for Salvation in it and then unless he have the Impudence to affirm that there is no other true Church of God he must make Christ have more Bodies then one and in the immediate consequence overthrow an Article of our Creed which acknowledgeth but One Catholick Church Our Communion therefore though in a particular yet by means thereof is both in and with the Catholick Church And hence it is that the Members of particular Churches have an equal Right all the World over to Communion in all other Christian Churches And when they come to other Churches are then actually bound to Communicate with them Upon this Ground it was that the primitive Christians proceeded for though they did debarr Strangers from Communion till they did produce their Communicatory Letters or Credentials whereby it might appear that they lived in some particular Church of Catholick Communion that they might not be imposed upon by Hereticks and Schismaticks yet when the Church they came to was satisfied in that particular they were not only acknowledged to have the same right with their own Members but also to lie under the same Obligations And if very satisfactory Reasons were not given of their forbearance if they did not then actually Communicate they were Treated as Schismaticks so that that Schismatical Distinction of such an Occasional Communion as leaves Men at liberty where and when to Communicate and that even in separate and opposite Communions was altogether unknown to the primitive Church or if it had been started would never have heen endured XII From what hath been said it may Appear That in the Practical Notion Unity Uniformity and Communion are words much of the same Importance The two latter only more clearly Explaining the Nature and Manner of the former And if it be true that our Unity consists in our Communion in the Solemn Acts of Worship and publick Offices and Duties the Christian Church it will then unavoidably follow that we must be United and firmly adhere to the True and Lawful Pastors of the Church without whom those Offices cannot be Lawfully discharged and for want of whose Support and Ministry the Solemn Worship and daily Sacrifice would fail And the greater Reason have all Christians to take Heed to this good Order of Men both because our Saviour hath Invested them with his own Authority so far forth as is necessary for the Officiating in and Governing of his Church and also because he hath made them a special Promise of his Assistance in the discharge of their Offices in Relation to the first he thus Commissionates his Disciples As my Father hath sent Me even so send I You John 20. 21. In Respect to the latter he hath said I am with you alway even unto the End of the World Matt 28. 20. So that if not under the Law much less under the Gospel may any Man take this Honour to himself but he that is Caâ—â—ed of God And he that intrudes into this Office without a derivation of just Authority comes not in by the Door but climbs up another way And for that Reason ought to be Esteemed a Thief and a Robber This Authority of theirs is indeed of a spiritual Nature They have no power of Coercion they cannot by force lay a Restraint upon any Mans Person but yet their Authority is real and in some sense higher then theirs who by Gods Commission carry the Temporal Sword for the terrour of evil Doers and Defence of those who do well For the same God who gave Authority to the Pastors of his Church hath Commanded the people to obey them Heb. 13. 17.
all the Honour and all the profit And now being grown too great for a Monck he makes a Journey to Arles and by the Arch-bishop of that place at the Motion of Pope Gregory is Ordained no less then Archiepiscopus Genti Anglorum Bed Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 27. a pretty Fetch before New Converts understood themselves to secure the whole Authority of the Nation to a Roman Missionary and consequently to the Pope whoever should be afterwards at the pains to convert them However after his Return he seems to have Laboured in the business and after the Death of Pope Gregory which Beda Eccl. Hist lib. 2. cap 1. Refers to the Year 605 he obtains a Conference with the Brittish Bishops with a design to get their Assistance in converting the Saxons and withal to Advance Himself by drawing tâ—em under his Jurisdiction But whether in Hatred to the Saxons their Mortal and indeed unjust Enemies or through offence at Augustines Pride and taking too much upon him or in love to their old Customes which Augustine unseasonably would not allow the main Business miscarried and then first Arose the Paschal Controversie in Britain so that at first dash here Ariseth a Prescription of about 600 Yeares for the British Usage XI The Grounds whereon the Britons proceeded seem to be Chiefely these That they would not give up their Ancient Liberties and Customes nor depart from the Canons of the Church And here Beda shews himself little favourable to their Affaires as at other times he appears very ignorant in them for though he studiously Conceals Augustines Ambition yet the Britons Answers plainly discover it For their first Answer is this Non se posse absque suorum consensn ac Licentiâ Priscis abdicare Moribus And in the second Meeting or Synod their Answer is plainly this That they will not Receive Him for their Arch-bishop Bed Ecc. Hist lib. 2. cap. 2. But the Answer of the Abbot of Bangor shews the Reason why they neither could nor ought to do it and is so pat to the purpose that I shall set it down as Sir Henry Spelman hath Translated it from the Brittish Co. pag. 108. Be it known and without doubt unto you That we all are and every one of us Obedsent and Subjects to the Church of God and to the Pope of Rome and to every godly Christian and to love every One in his degree in perfect Charity and to keep every One of them by word and dâ—ed to be the Children of God And other Obedience than this I do not know due â—te Him whom you Name to be Pope nor to be the Father of Fathers to be Claimed and to be Demanded And this Obedience we are ready to give and to pay to him and to every Christian continually Besides we are under the Government of the Bishop of Kaerleon upon Uske who is to Oversee under God over us to Cause us to keep the Way Spiritual This Answer throughout savours the temper of the most early Primitive times and shews That the Afflictions of the Britons had kept their Churches from that Corruption and secular Pride which had then too much invaded Others And from it I will only observe three things First That with a tender Care to express their Communion with the Catholick Church and their duty to all Christians they own no other Obedience to the Bishop of Rome then as Christians they owe to any other Foreign Bishops and their Churches And so the Bishop of Rome owed as much to Them as they to Him Secondly That the Authority which Augustine demanded and the Power of any Foreign Bishop to place him over them was a thing utterly unknown and unheard of to them so little were they Acquainted with the Patriarchate which is now so Confidently Asserted Thirdly that they were so subject to the Arch-bishop of Caerleon That they did not think him subject to the Jurisdiction of any other particular Bishop whatsoever but that he was over them next under God And accordingly we never hear of any Appeals from him to any Superiour See But if any thing concerned them in Common or was too weighty for him it was Transacted Synodically And it is Observeable That though the Brittish Bishops and Clergy Flockt to this Synod with their main strength yet the Arch-bishop of Caerleon absented himself in all likelihood either in indignation at Augustines Claim or lest his Appearance should seem any ways in the least to Countenance that Superiority which he Challenged over him The Effects of this Synod were very unhappy for the Britons went away so Enraged at Augustines Pride and Pretences that they would not Afford the least Assistance towards the Conversion of the Saxons Nay when thâ—y were Converted it is Apparent That they looked on them as Schismaticks or worse and would have no Communion with them And in this untoward Humour they persisted even when the Saxon Kings had brought the Brittisb Kings under some kind of Subjection This is evident from Beda Ecc. Hist lib. 2. cap. 20. who telling us how Carduella King of the Britâ—ns Rebelled against Edwin then principal King of the Saxons and by the Help of Peâ—da King of the Mercians slew both Him and his only Son and utterly Routed his whole Army after he had bestowed some ill words on them both for their pains he has this Remarkable Passage concerning Carduella and the Britons Sed nec Religioni Christianae quae apud eos exorta erat aliquid impendâ—bat Honoris quippe cùm usque hodie Moris sit Britonum Fidem Reâ—igionémque Anglorum pro nihilo habere neque in aliquo â—is magis Communicare quà m Paganis So that hence it is plain That they continuâ—d the same not only after Augustines time but even to Beda's But to Return again to Augustine he being every way defeated of his purpose meditates Revenge and incenseth Ethelbert so highly That he stirs up Edilfrid King of the Northumbrians and they together made that lamentable Slaughter of the Moncks of Bangor which Beda and after him the Romanists as one Man Account as a Signal Jâ—dgement of God upon their Obstinacy But Others say it was a Contrivance and that God more Signally Vindicated their Innocence For three British Princes with their Mirmidons met them both whilest they were Reeking hot with the Blood of these Innocents and killed above ten Thousand of their Men sore Wounded Edilfrid and warmly pursued Ethelbert by which means their sinking Spirits were Recruited their Wrongs in some Measure Revenged and their Borders enlarged as far as the Humber Spel. Co. pag. 111. seq XII Hitherto the Britons preserved their Ecclesiastical Liberties entire though they had lost the best part of their Countâ—ey And neither Augustine's Reasons nor Ethelbert's Armies could prevail with them to give up those just Rights which they had been so long possessed of But when Augustine died Laurentius succeeds him a Man both pious and prudent and of a much sweeter temper
capacitate us to become Christians then denominate us so it will follow That to have the benefit of our Belief we must take care to be Admitted into that Body which it qualifies us to be Members of Now in all manner of Societies of what Nature soever Members are Admitted by some Signal Ceremony and known Form of Proceedings that thereby they may be known to Others to be Members of that Society and may undisturbedly do the Exercises and enjoy the Priviledges of that Society Now this Formal Way of Admission into the Christian Body or Society is by the Sacrament of Baptism And that even by our Saviours own Command and Institution for when they are so well Instructed as to believe he will have them Received by being Baptized Go ye saith he Mat. 28. 19. Teach all Nations Baptizing them in the Name c. And though Unbelief alone be sufficient to put a Man into a state of Condemnation yet Belief alone without Baptism doth not ordinarily put a Man into the state of Salvation This is our Saviours own Doctrine Mark 16. 16. He that Believeth and is Baptized shall be saved And he that believeth not shall be damned And the Reason is plain for though Unbelief as rejecting the Covenant of Grace and its Author is alone able to exclude us from all benefit of it yet Belief though it lay hold on the Covenant is not able alone to secure to us the benefits of it if considered abstractedly and separately from the other necessary Conditions of it for he that expects the benefit of a part must observe not one but all the necessary termes and conditions of it from hence it may appear how necessary it is that we be all Partakers of that one Baptism And this Consideration ought to Alarm those Persons to examine well the Grounds whereon they proceed who separate from all other Christians making it the singular part of their Religion to deny Baptism even to the Children of Christian Parents for though God is not bound up to withhold his Mercy where the default is not in the Persons themselves yet we have no certain Rule to assure us that he will afford such Mercy out of the way that he hath prescribed but it is purely in his good pleasure And if Baptism be ordinarily the Way of Admission and Entrance into that Body whereof Christ is the Saviour then such Persons by denying them Baptism do what in them lies to damn them which doubtless is a very unchristian part And though it be true in relation to Persons out of the Covenant that they must first be qualified not only with an actual but a professed Faith without which they are not capable of Admission yet in reference to Persons in Covenant the Case is quite otherwise for the Covenant is not to them alone but to their Seed And the Children being sanctified in their Parents do follow their condition and are born to Priviledges in the Church which those without cannot claim And thâ—refore ought not particularly to be denied this without which they are not by the ordinary Laws of the Covenant Entitled to the Rest But I will prosecute this no further my business being rather with Adult Persons then Children For though their Salvation is by being of the Body yet they have small Influence on Christian Communion and until they lose that Name are scarce able to disturb or break the Unity of the Church which is the thing I am to Explain VIII The Parts of our Christian Unity are so close Knit together that they seem to Lead Us by the Hand from the one to the other so that it may seem somewhat a wonder how Persons should for the Generality be so wofully mistaken about them For having thus laid the Foundation of Faith and being Actually Admitted by the Sacrament of Baptism it will I suppose be easily Agreed on all Hands That Persons are not only Admitted to the Priviledges and Benefits of the Society but come under an Obligation to observe the Laws and do the Duties of the Society for no Society whatsoever whether Sacred or Civil ever admitted any to their Priviledges without Tying them up to their Rules 'T is true that in some Societies there are certain Honorary or Titular Members but it is indeed only a Title For where they are excepted from duty they are excluded from benefit But this is peculiar to the Christ an Religion that it admits none such but whoever doth become a Member professing it must fall under an Obligation to perform the Duties it requires And by this we may perceive what further Progress our Christian Unity must make for we must be United in the Consent Profession and Practice of all those things which according to our several stations in that Society the Laws of Christianity do require from us Now these may have relation either to particular Christians or to them as embodied in particular Societies or to them considered under the Notion of Subjects and Governours Or lastly to the Duty and Behaviour of Governours towards each other IX Every particular Christian is bound to the Sincere and constant Profession and Exercise of all those Christian Duties which the Gospel requires of every one in their single Capacities as Humility Sobriety Temperance Patience and the like And their Concurrence in and due Observance of these things is not only very profitable and Comfortable to Themselves but very Honourable to their Society But above all we are Commanded to Put on Charity Col. 3. 14. and that not only for this Reason that it Virtually conteins and in its own Nature directs and provokes to the Practice of all other Christian Duties on which Account the Apostle in the following words stiles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but also because our Saviour himself hath made it the Character and Badge of his Followers For saith he John 13. 35. By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have Love one to another X. But here it is to be Considered that these Vertues of particular Christians have been and may be so fairly Copied out and handsomely Exercised by Heathâ—ns and Unbelievers that to outward Appearance the one cannot be distinguished from the other And though the Vertues of Christians are really distinguishable from the like in Heathens from their Principles and Ends yet these Principles and Ends are things in themselves not seen And therefore that those Vertues may appear to proceed from such Christian Principles and Ends they must be practised in Conjunction with such other Duties as do apparently Testifie what Principles we own And that Charity it self may be a Mark of Christs Disciples it must carry them on to those Exercises which he hath Commanded his Worshippers to joyn in Now this cannot be done only by separate well living but by joyning in that Worship and Christian Communion which the Laws of Christ and the Nature of that Church or Society he hath Instituted doth Require