THE DUE WAY OF COMPOSING The differences on FOOT Preserving the CHURCH According to the opinion of HERBERT THORNDIKE LONDON Printed by A. Warren for John Martin James Allestry and Thomas Dicas at the Bell in St. Paul's Church-yard MDCLX I Have found my self obliged by that horrible confusion in Religion which the late Warre had introduced to declare the utmost of mine opinion concerning the whole point of Religion upon which the Western Church stands divided into so many parties And now finding no cause to repent me of doing it can find no cause why I should not declare the consequence of it in setling of that which remains of our differences For middle waies to so good an end are now acceptable meerly as middle waies and tending to drive a bargain without pretending that they ought to be admitted How much more an expedient pretending necessity from reasons extant in publick and not contradicted The chief ground that I suppose here because I have proved it at large is the meaning of that Article of our Creed which professeth one Catholick Church For either it signifies nothing or it signifies that God hath founded one Visible Church That is that he hath obliged all Churches and all Christians of whom all Churches consist to hold visible communion with the whole Church in the visible offices of Gods publick service and therefore I am satisfied that the differences upon which we are divided cannot be justly setled upon any terms which any part of the whole Church shall have just cause to refuse as inconsistent with the unity of the whole Church For in that case we must needs become Schismaticks by setling our selves upon such Laws under which any Church may refuse to communicate with us because it is bound to communicate with the whole Church True it is that the foundation of the Church upon these terms will presuppose the intire profession of Christianity whether concerning Faith or manners For otherwise how should those offices in which all the Church is to communicate be counted the service of God according to Christianity And this profession is the condition upon the undergoing whereof all men by being baptized and made Christians are also admitted to communion with the Church as members of it But nothing can make it visible to the common reason of all men what communion they are to resort unto for their Salvation but the visible Communion of all parts of the Church which having been maintained for divers ages of the Church is now visibly interrupted by the Reformation and before by the breach between the Greek and Latin Church and therefore though it be visible to reason rightly informed what communion a man is to imbrace for his Salvation yet it is not now visible to the common reason of all men that seek it If this be true then no power of the Church can extend to farre as to make any thing a part of the common Christianity which was not so from the beginning but it must needs extend so farre as to limit and determine all matters in difference so as the preservation of Unity may require And therefore the Unity of all parts supposing the profession of Christianity whole and intire we shall justly be chargeable with the crime of Heresie if we admit them to our communion who openly disclaim the Faith of the whole Church or any part of it For those men have been and are justly counted Hereticks as to the Church that communicate with those who profess Heresie though no Hereticks as to God as not believing it themselves But the unity of all parts being subordinate and and of inferiour consideration to the Unity of the whole we shall justly be chargeable with the crime of Schisme if we seek unity within our selves by abrogating the Laws of the whole as not obliged to hold communion with it I confess I am convicted that as things stand we are not to expect any reason from the Church of Rome and those who hold communion with it in restoring the unity of the Church upon such Laws as shall render the means of Salvation visible to all that use them as they ought And this and only this I hold to be the due ground upon which we are inabled to provide an establishment of Unity in Religion among our selves as heretofore a Reformation in Religion for our selves without concurrence of the whole But if we should think our selves at large to conclude our selves without respect to the Faith and Laws of the whole Church we may easily bring upon our selves a just imputation of Hereticks for communicating with Hereticks but a juster of Schismaticks if we abrogate the Laws of the whole Church to obtain Unity among our selves as declaring thereby that we are not content to hold unity with the whole unless a part may give Law to the whole So farre am I from that madness which hath had a hand in all our miseries of thinking the right measure of Reformation to stand in going as far as it is possible from the Church of Rome For were it evidenced as it neither is nor ever will be evidenced that the Pope is Antichrist and all Papists by their profession Idolaters yet must we either rase the Article of one Catholick Church out of our Creed or confess that the Pope can neither be Antichrist nor the Papists Idolaters for or by any thing vvhich is common to them vvith the vvhole Church I knovv some vvill think it strange that the Pope should excommunicate us on Maundy-Thursdays that vve should svvear in the Oath of Supremacy that no forreign Prelate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction or Authority Ecclesiastical in this Kingdom and yet vve be subject to do such Acts for vvhich the Church of Rome may justly renounce communion vvith us But the vvord ought in that Oath is Indicative and not Potential not deberet but debet For it vvere a contradiction for the Church of England to pray for the Catholick Church and the unity thereof and yet renounce the Jurisdiction of the whole Church and the General Councile thereof over it self King James of excellent memory acknowledgeth the Pope to be Patriarch of the west that is Head of the general Council of the Western Churches And the right R. Father in God Thomas L. B. of Winchester under Q. Elizabeth in his answer to the Seminaries Apology being demanded why we own him not so in effect answereth bluntly but truely because he is not content with the right of a Patriarch For should he disclaim the pretence of dissolving the bond of Allegiance should he retire to the Priviledge of a Patriarch in seeing the Canons executed the schisme would lye at our door if we should refuse it Now if they curse us while we pray for the unity of the whole Church is it not the case of the Catholicks with the Donatists For these rebaptized them whom those had baptized whited over the inside of their Churches when they
not supposing that he undertakes and performs the profession of a Christian renounces the Article of his Creed concerning one baptisme to remission of sins But the being of Gods visible Church consisteth in that Unity which ariseth upon the agreement of all Christians to hold communion in the visible Offices of Gods service And therefore though it be an Article of our Creed to believe one Catholick Church yet can it not concern the Salvation of every particular Christian to understand the nature of that Society or Corporation which the bond of this Unity createth Nay even they who are best seen in that Government by which this Unity is preserved may well fail in comprehending the reason thereof by reflecting their discourse upon it In the mean time it is necessary for all that believe their Creed to think themselves tied by this Article to maintain the Unity of the Church according to their estate That is for every ones part not to be accessory to any Schism that dissolveth it And therefore to deny the crime of Schism is to deny this Article The consequence of this observation will be the difference which the Church hath reason to use in reconciling parties at distance from it to the unity thereof according to the difference of those pretenses upon which they are at distance For those who have only disputed against the being of the Church upon misunderstanding the right of secular Power which they think the being of the Church inconsistent with shall be sufficiently reunited to the Church by conforming to the Law by which the Church is and was and may be established For that there ought to be provision against such disputes for the future it concernes not me to give warning Only where willfullness hath proceeded so farre in maintaining a false position as to make no bones of denying Christianity and teaching Atheism by obliging to renounce Christ if the Soveraign command it it concerneth the Christianity of the Nation to see reparation made But where the Hereticall positions mentioned afore have notoriously been maintained especially where Congregations have been framed and used for the exercise of Religion upon pretense of them there will it be absolutely necessary that they be expressly renounced and disclaimed either by persons in particular or in Body by Congregations To this head I reduce all Anabaptists and Congregations of Anabaptists Those of the fift Monarchy and Congregations of the fifth Monarchy Quakers and Congregations of Quakers Nay all Independent Congregations in my opinion ought to be reduced under this measure Not only because their profession is grounded upon the denial of one visible Church But because they suppose themselves Children of God and indowed with his Spirit before they be members of Gods Church That is setting aside their Baptism and the Covenant which is solemnly inacted by it between God and each soul And though I do referre my self to the wisdom of Superiors in what form this reconciliation be solemnized yet I must express my opinion thus far that there can be none so fit as that which the wisdom of the Catholick Church from the beginning hath allwayes frequented By granting them the blessing of the Church with Imposition of hands renouncing for their part their severall Sects and errors That is by the prayers of the Church for the spirit of God to rest upon them who have barred their baptism to give it by opposing the peace of the Church which now they retire unto For how shall the unity of the Church be secured but by declaring them who violate the same accursed of God Nor let it be thought that our Sectaries of their own accord retiring themselves unto the Communion of this Church it will be requisite for the Church to admit them without taking notice of any thing that hath passed For neither is it to be presumed that they who have made their own wills their Law for so many yeares will so much as profess conformity to the Rule of the Church And if they did profess it there is no reason to think that they should stand to it having a dispensation dormant of the Spirit to stand to their profession as the interest of their faction shall require So their coming to Church would be only an advantage for them to infect others And how should that Communion be counted a Church which intertains Hereticks as Hereticks and Schismaticks as Schismaticks that is without renouncing positions destructive to the Faith without obliging themselves for the future to hold Unity with the Church Certainly there is no just answer for this if the Church of Rome should object it for the reason why they refuse to hold communion with us Certainly S. Augustine when he was charged by the Donatists that the Church received their Apostates without rebaptizing them and in their respective Orders could have had no answer if he had not had this That the Church received them not as Donatists but as converted from being Donatists they not refusing to profess so much Certainly it may be and perhaps is justifiable for the Secular power to grant them the exercise of their Religion in private places of their own providing under such moderate penalties as the disobeying of the Laws of a mans Countrey might require For persecution to death for that cause the whole Reformation condemneth in the Church of Rome And I conceive there is no reason for that which will not condemn persecution to banishment But this would require the like moderation to be extended to Recusants of the Church of Rome True it is in mine opinion those Papists that think themselves tied by the Bull of Pius V. against Queen Elizabeth or that they may be tied by the like Acts of his Successors against hers are justly lyable to the utmost of penalties as professed enemies to their Countrey But besides that it is manifest that all Papists are not of that opinion which the said Bull presupposeth The State may easier he secured of Papists against all such power in the Pope than of our Sectaries against that dispensation to their Allegiance which the pretense of Gods Spirit may import when they please And whereas it is manifest that many Papists hold against those equivocations and reservations which destroy all considence of the Soveraign in his Subjects allegiance How shall a State be secured against that infamous falsehood of the late Usurper in any man that pretends Gods Spirit upon his terms which I mentioned afore Besides the Recusants being for the most part of the good Families of the Nation will take it for a part of their Nobility freely to professe themselves in their Religion if they understand themselves whereas the Sectaries being people of mean quality for the most part cannot be presumed to stand upon their reputation so much So if they cannot be tolerated in the exercise of their Religion it must be provided upon what terms they may be received by the Church And by that which
became possessed of them scraped over their Altars being Tables of wood in detestation of them as Apostates persecutors while the Catholicks called them brethren and acknowledg'd them rightly baptized and received them that were converted from that Schism in their respective Orders The unity of the Church is of such consequence to the salvation of all Cristians that no excess on one side can cause the other to increase the distance but they shall be answerable for the souls that perish by the means of it And therefore not departing from the opinion which I have declared concerning the termes upon which all parties ought to reconcile themselves untill I shall have reason showed me why I should do it I shall now go no further then the matters that are actually questioned among us not extending my discourse to points that may perhaps more justly become questionable then some of those which have come into dispute Professing in the beginning that I believe they may and ought to be setled by a Law of the Kingdom obliging all parties beside Recusants But that the matter of that Law ought to be limited by the consent and Authority of the Church respective to this Kingdom And withall that I think it ought to be held and shall for mine own part hold it an act meerly ambulatory provisionall for the time For though there is no hope of reconcilement with the Church of Rome as thinges are yet is there infinite reason for all sides to abate of their particular pretensions for the recovering of so incomparable a benefit as the unity of the whole If ever it shall please God to make the parties appear disposed to it Now the errors which we are to shut out if â—e will recover the unity of a visible Church that is of Gods whole Church are two in my judgment First though some things have been disputed in other parts from whence the same consequence may be inferred yet England is the place and ours the times which first openly and downright have maintained that there is no such thing as a Church in the nature of one visible Communion founded by God But it is maintained by severall parties among us upon severall grounds For some do not or will not understand that there can be any Ecclesiasticall Power founded by that act of God which foundeth Christianity where there is Secular Power founded also by those acts of God whereby he authorizeth and inforceth all just Soveraignties Though all times all parts all Nations of Christendom since Constantine profess to maintain the Church in that Power in which they found it acknowledged by Christians when he first undertook to maintain that Christianity which he professed all this must be taken either for meer hypocrisy or meer nonsense Others there are that do not think themselves obliged to the unity of Gods Church upon farre different Principles There are of our Enthusiasts such as are themselves every one a Church to themselves and by themselves as being above Ordinances and the Communion of the Church provided only for proficients But all Independent Congregations make the same profession and are manifestly grounded upon the same For how can they imagine themselves members of one visible Church who profess that they cannot be obliged to hold communion with any Congregation but their own And yet with favour the same consequence insuing upon so different pretenses there must be some supposition common to both upon which both do ground themselves And it is easily visible what that is Both opinions must suppose that a man may be heir to Christs Kingdom and indowed with Gods Spirit without being or before he be a member of Gods Church And the Independents indeed do manifestly profess that knowing themselves and others to be Gods Children and indowed with his Spirit they are in a capacity to joyn in Ecclesiasticall Communion with those whom they know to be such So they become members of a Church being Gods Children before without considering how they shall be members of the Whole Church The others are satisfied that by being members of a State which professeth Christianity they are also members of that one Holy Catholick and Apostolick Church which by our Creed we profess to believe A ground which holdeth accidentally so long as that State constituteth a visible member of the Whole or the Catholick Church But not imaginable to serve the turn when States differ in point of Christianity and may every day appeal to force whither is the true Church and whither the false For is it not manifest that the professions of the Lutheranes the Calvinists the Greekes the Abyssines are protected by Soveraign Powers as well as the profession of the Church of Rome or the Church of England Is it not manifest that the Powers that profess them maintain them respectively to be Gods truth Why then do we dispute any longer which is the true Religion and which is the false if it be enough for Christians to resolve all the doubt they can have concerning Religion into the command of their Soveraigns only professing Christianity Is it not manifest that Soveraigns do use to punish their Subjects that conform not to their Lawes concerning Religion but follow that Religion which is in force under other Soveraignties Is it possible to imagine that Subjects can be obliged by one and the same will of God to follow contrary Lawes under severall Soveraigns Or that Soveraigns can be inabled by one and the same Law of God to punish their Subjects for serving God according to contrary professions True it is Subjects that suffer in a good cause shall be gainers thereby gaining Heaven by their losses of this world But what shall become of the Soveraigns that persecute them being in a good cause Or how shall not some of them bepersecuted in a good cause who are persecuted in contrary causes I know not whither this peremtory difficulty was the cause But I am sure recourse hath been had to a more desperate answer that every Subject is bound to profess the Religion of his Soveraign yea though it injoin him to renounce Christ with his mouth remaining bound all the while to believe in him with his heart and that by this belief he shall be saved as a Christian Neither is this position tenable but upon this answer nor doth this answer import any less than the utter renouncing of Christianity I know that in the records of the ancient Church those who only professed to believe Christianity who were called Catechumeni or Scholars to the Church are sometimes called by the name of Christians But I know withall that they were never counted in the state of Salvation till they had taken upon them the profession of Christianity by being admitted to the Sacrament of Baptisme I know also that this Baptisme though it was not counted void when it was Ministred in due form yet it was never counted effectuall to Salvation but when a man is baptised