grand cases of Blasphemy and Heresy but in those lesser occasions of Errour and Schism he is entrusted with Power to quench the least spark as well as the devouring flame Arius in Alexandria was but a little spark in the beginning but because the Christian Emperour did not timely interpose his Authority for the quenching it Totum orbem ejus flamma depopulata est it became a flame which consumed almost the whole Christian World The Prince's Authority may and ought to be exercised in restraining dangerous Disputations concerning Religion Sozomen l. 7. c. 12. tells us that Constantine enacted a Law against Disputes of the Trinity Nemo Clericorum de summa Trinitate disputet And Marcianus prohibited all Disputes De fide Christiana of the Christian Religion Andronicus the Emperour when his Bishops were disputing curiously and subtilely of those words of Christ Pater major me est My Father is greater then I threatned to cast them into the River Ni tam periculosis sermonibus abstinerent unless they did forbear such dangerous Discourses That of Sisinius to Theodosius being most true Disputando de sacris accendi tantum contentiones that Contentions only are fostered by Disputations Secondly To the second Question How far the Coercive Power of the Prince extends It is acknowledged that his Authority may extend to Imprisonment Confiscation of Goods and Banishment of persons sinning against his Commands but whether it may extend to Life is not so manifest because the Apostle saith onely Haereticum hominem devita Titus 3.10 The Gloss upon Gratian turns the Verb into a Substantive de vita and adds supple Tolle There is not as a learned Gentleman of our Church in His Historical Vindication hath observed any example in History of prosecuting an Heretick further then to avoid him till after God having given peace to his people under Christian Emperours they finding that if the Church were in trouble the State was seldom otherwise provided by Laws to punish Hereticks The Councel of Nice therefore having in the year 325 censured the opinion of Arius for Heretical the Emperour who had formerly granted certain considerable Priviledges to Christians declared in the year following Haereticos atque Schismaticos hâ— privilegiis alienos that no Heretick or Schâ—â—smatick should have any part in those Privileges but they rarely proceeded to blood unless perhaps against some seditious Preacher And the Holy men of those times used earnest perswasions to deterr men inclining to that severity from it as not esteeming it to agree with that entire Charity that should be in Christians St. August professeth he had rather be himself slain by them then by detecting the Donatists be any cause they should undergo the punishment of death Ep. 127 This was the Temper of the Christians at least 800. years after Christ But about the year 1000 the Christian World began to punish Miscreants as branches not bearing fruit in Christ by casting them into the fire But the Devout men of those Times did not approve of this rigour St. Bernard explaining those words of Solomon Take us the Foxes the little Foxes that spoil the Vines Cant. 2.15 If saith he according to the Allegory by the Vines we understand the Churches and by the Foxes Heresies or rather Hereticks the meaning is plain that Hereticks be rather taken then driven away Capientur dico non armis sed agrumentis taken I say not by Arms but Arguments whereby their Errours may be refuted and they themselves reconciled if possible to the Catholick Church And that the Holy Ghost intends this is evident saith he because he doth not say simply Take the Foxes sed capite nobis take us the Foxes sibi ergo sponsae suae id est Catholicae jubet acquiri has vulpes cum ait capite eas nobis In Cantic Serm. 64. He commands therefore that they be taken for himself and his Spouse that is the Catholick Church when he saith Take us the Foxes Thus the holy men in that Age in which they first stopped mens mouths not with Arguments but Arms judged of it And indeed we have not many Examples of persons suffering meerly for Conscience till after the year 1216. in which Pope Innocent the Third laid the foundation of that new Court called since the Inquisition who appointed such as should be convicted of Heresie ut vivi in conspectu hominum comburentur to be committed alive to the flames of fire And though such proceedings are not at any good agreement with those rules and examples which Christ hath left us in holy Scripture yet the practise hath been long since taken up in this Kingdom and is in force at this day by the Laws Anno 1166. about thirty Dutch came hither who detested Baptism the Eucharist and other parts of Religion and being by Scripture convicted in an Episcopal Councel called by the King at Oxford they were condemned to be Whipped and burnt in the face and a command given that none should either receive or releive them so that they miserably Perished By the Common-Law that is the Custom of the Realm of England Hereticks are to be Punished by Consuming them with Fire and accordingly there is a Writ De Haeretico comburendo An Apostate Deacon in a Councel held at Oxford by Stephen Langton was first degraded and then by Lay-hands committed to the Fire Bracto l. 3. de Corona c. 9 In Edward the Third's daies about the Year 1347. two Franciscans were Burnt quod de Religione male sentirent because they thought amiss of Religion Pol. Virg. Hist Ang. l. 19. And in the year 1583. Copin and Thacker were hanged at Saint Edmonds-Bury for publishing Brown's Book Cambd. which saith Stow p. 1174 was written against the Common-Prayer Book A Fair warning And thus you see if men will not be Subject to the Higher Powers in matters of Religion for Conscience sake they must be subject because of wrath for the Prince is entrusted with a Coercive Power and bears not the Sword in vain But because it is a thing Morally impossible for one man as the King to Govern the whole Church in his Kingdom Personally by himself He may substitute or delegate others under him to manage all his Power which is communicable in the Government of the Church I say communicable because there are some things inseparable from the Supreme Power as to Correct Alter Ratifie Repeal or Make Null Canons and Constitutions made by any persons under him to reverse or mitigate a Sentence injustly or unduly passed the right of Appeals of nominating Bishops to their respective Sees of translating or deposing them where he seeth cause These and such like are incommunicable unto any inseparable from his Crown But in all other things that are not of this nature he may give Power to others to Govern the Church to whom all persons ow their obedience by virtue of his Delegation as much as to the King himself because it is the King that requires or
forbids any thing by them Thus St. Peter requires Christians to pay their obedience unto Governours sent by him as well as to the King the Supreme Power Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2.13 14. The Governours sent by the King in Ecclesiastical Affairs are the Reverend Bishops I take the word Bishop not in the Common and General notion as every Pastour or Presbyter is a Bishop as he doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oversee the particular Flock committed to his charge Thus the Municipal Aediles among the Romans were stiled Bishops and Cicero Campanae orae Episcopum se dicit constitutum was Bishop of the Campanian Territory But in a more proper and peculiar sence for persons who have not onely the over-sight of the Flock but even of the Pastours themselves a distinct Function and Dignity from Presbyters as the Fathers and Councels generally understand the word Bishop Now concerning these I affirm First Episcopacy that is the Prelacy or Preheminence of one Pastour among the rest is not repugnant to the Scriptures If I evince this that saying of Christ He that is not against us is on our part Mark 9.40 will contribute not a little to the confirmation of this Order And if any man shall say that this Order is repugnant to the Scripture that is if he presume to condemn the whole Christian Church for more then 1000 years after Christ of impiety or folly he must necessarily take upon him the heavy that I say not intolerable burthen of making it good There is not that I am conscious of one Text of Scripture that affords any countenance to that opinion unless that in St. Matthew Jesus called them the ten Apostles 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 But it shall not be so among you Mat. 20.25 26. And somewhat more to their purpose in the tenth of St. Mark 44. Whosoever of you will be chiefest shall be the servant of all To these Texts I Answer 1. The Anabaptists of old and other Fanatick spirits supposing the Antithesis here to be between the Gentiles and the Christian State have extended the Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among you to the whole gospel-Gospel-Church and all Christians in it And from thence they conclude that It is unlawfull for Christians to exercise any Rule or Authority over their Brethren So that the same Text by which some would cast Episcopacy out of the Church is made use of by others to as good purpose to thrust Magistracy out of the Christian World 2. Some Learned Interpreters weighing the expression used by Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in eas dominari they Lord it over them Id est cum quadam acerbitate Beza with bitterness and rigour understand Christ's prohibition of an unjust and Tyrannical Power onely such as the Princes of the Gentiles generally used over those that were subject to them And so Christ doth not dehort his Apostles from exercising Power and Authority over their Brethren but onely from the Tyrannical abuse of Power 3. The Presbyterians themselves in foreign Parts do generally acknowledg that this Text in St. Matt. doth not take away the Ecclesiastical Authority of Teaching Binding and Loosing according to the Gospel vel gradus Ecclesiasticorum a Christo institutes datos Ecclesiae no nor those degrees of Ecclesiastical Persons that were instituted and appointed his Church by Christ Apostles Prophets Teachers c. Paraeus he intends not by that Prohibition in St. Matt. to bring a Parity or Equality into the Church Nam sic tolleretur omnis ordo inveheretur confusio as He for so all Order would be abolished and Confusion introduced in the room of it 4. The design and intent of Christ in the forementioned Text is not to take away all Preheminence or Primacy among the Apostles or Pastours of the Church but to admonish the Apostles and ensuing Pastours of the Church that their High and Honourable Calling hath the Ministry or Service of the Church annexed to it Now this is so far from being inconsistent with Preheminence and Authority that even Kings themselves serve the Church and Kingdom in their High Calling So King Antigonus to his Son An ignoras fili mi nostrum regnum nobilem esse servitutem Art thou ignorant O my Son that our Empire is nothing else but a more noble servitude Though therefore the Apostles and their Successours are required to be Ministers and Servants to all this doth not take away their Preheminence any more then a Shepheard's serving his Flock or a Tutour's serving his Pupil or the King 's serving his Subjects takes away the Respective Authority or Preheminence of the Shepheard Tutour or King over those whom they serve 5. This Text is so far from abolishing Prelacy and Preheminence among the Apostles and Pastours that it confirms and establisheth it For when St. Matthew and St. Mark say He that will be greatest among you St. Luke saith he that is greatest and he that is chief Luk. 22.26 and you may observe that our Lord Christ propounds his own example as a pattern to them Whosoever will be Chief among you let him be your Servant even as the Son of Man came not to be Ministred unto but to Minister Mat. 20.27 28. The Duty therefore of Ministring to or serving others doth not hinder but that he who Ministers or serves may be Greater then those to whom he Ministers unless by urging this Text for a Parity among Pastours they intend to level the great Apostle Christ himself to be no more then equal to the other Apostles And one would wonder did not Prejudice and Interest draw a Film over the eye of mens Reason how any man could entertain a thought that ever Christ intended a Parity among Ecclesiastical Persons when by his own finger from Heaven he hath so evidently pointed out a disparity among them He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastours and Teachers Ephes 4.11 which are not onely distinct Functions in the Church but distinct Degrees as is evident by the Apostle in the first to the Corinthians 12.28 And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healings c. The Evangelists themselves are as Hienom ad Fabiol Secundi ordinis minoris gradus but of a second Order and inferiour degree Dignitate minores Apostolis as Calvin inferiour to the Apostles in Dignity The first Assertion then namely That Episcopacy that is the Prelacy or Preheminence of one Pastour among the rest is not repugnant to the Scriptures is undeniably true Secondly The Church Catholick that is the
the invisible Church but all that professe the name of Christ may and ought to be reputed members of the visible Church This Saint Paul hath put wholy out of controversy by telling us that in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor 2 Tim. 2.20 And for the elect in Saint Peters Text the great Patrons of absolute and irrespective election understand them either of general election to Christianity electis i. e. defaece hominum segregatis ad meliorem quandam sortem Aret. elect that is separated from the dregs and vap of mankind to a better lot and portion in Christianity Or at most elect in the judgment of charity so Calvin Gods election being a secret laid up in his own bosom which cannot be known but by the singuler and especial revelation of the holy ghost quaeri potest unde hoc compertum habuerit It may be demanded how the Apostle knew that these Persons were elect and his answer is we may not anxiously enquire concerning the election of our Brethren but make our judgment of it from their vocation ut pro electis habeantur quicunque per fidem in ecclesiam sunt coaptati that they should be deem'd elect who are joyned unto the Church by faith est enim hoc charitatis non fidei judicium the utmost judgment that we can make in this case being of charity only and not assurance and he sums up his resolution in these words quatenus ergo prae se ferebant se Dei spiritu regenitos in electis Dei ipsos numerat For as much therefore as they profes'd themselves regenerate by the holy ghost he reckons them among the elect This second title then elect doth not even in the judgment of these men oppose or gainsay our interpretation of ye by Christians all that professe the faith of Christ And thus you see in general who are the materials of this house ye Christians 2 More particulerly lively or living stones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christians are here called living stones waving some other respects by way of antithesis or opposition especially to those inanimate or dead stones that were the materials of the Jewish Temple Living stones i. e. such as have a principle of life and motion in themselves And they are therfore said in the preceding verse to come unto the foundation to whom coming The stones in the material Temple were not active they did not offer themselves or come unto the foundation but meerly passive they were brought and layed upon it but heer the stones are active and come and accordingly the Apostle bespeaks them as living stones 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not only aedificati as Beza whom our translation follows built but aedifice mini as Tremel and the Margin in our Bibles be ye bvilt which cleerly implies not a little activity in Christians in building up themselves No doctrine hath ever shed a more malignant influence upon religion or cast the Professors of it into so deep a sleep as that which with an open face and directly or by consequence and with a glance of its eye ascribes the whole work of our salvation so to God as to deny man any activity in the conduct or promoting of it For they who are excited with the greatest earnestnesse to build up themselves are yet too prone to lye still in the dust but when men perswade themselves or are taught by others to beleeve that they cannot contribute any thing towards the building up of themselves they must unavoidably remain riveted to or rooted in the earth without any endeavour of coming to the foundation making any application of themselves to Christ As Suetonius observes of Tiberius religionum negligentiorem fuisse guippe persuasionis plenum cuncta fato agi he was the more carelesse in the things of religion because he was full of this perswasion that all things are guided by fate to prevent this the Apostle tels Christians that they are living stones in which expression as the priviledges of Christians are couch'd so their duty is implyed for as living stones you have a principle of reason and understanding to judge of the foundation whether it be a rock or sand as living stones you are endued with wils to make choice of the rock or sands as your foundation to come or not to come to to build or not to build upon the living stone Christ And thus you have an account of the 1. particuler the materials of this house ye and ye as living stones the next thing to be considered is The aedifice a spiritual house An House Thus the Church is frequently stiled in Scripture that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thy selfe in the house of God which is the Church of the living God 1 Tim. 3.15 Heb. 3.5 6. and Mases verily was faithfull in all his house as a Servant but Christ as a Son over his own house whose house are we c. the Church is caled an house either metonymically as the house is put for the family that inhabit it as Gen. 7.1 and the Lord said unto Noah come thou and all thy house into the Ark. And now said Jacob Gen 30.30 when shall I provide for mine own house also or an house by way of allusion principally to the Temple or unto any other house 2. A spirituall house That is metaphorically and allusively to all intents and purposes in spiritual things that which an house is in temporal The estate of Christians as they are in Society is set forth to us in Scripture in divers and sundry terms sometimes of a flock ye are his flock frequently in the Psalms sometimes of husbandry ye are Gods husbandry 1 Cor. 3.9 sometimes of a building ye are Gods building 1 Cor. 3.9 and so in the Text a spiritual house In this spiritual house without offering violence to the allegory there are as in every wel built material house 3. things especially requisit symetry decor and distribution 1 Symetry This in a material building is the convenience or proportion that runneth between the parts and the whole and this reconciles those seemingly opposite things uniformity and variety Vniformity is so necessary if not to the beeing yet to the well or comely beeing of any house that without this it is but a confused heap yet it is not to be imagined that the most uniform building should not admit of variety for Art must be acknowledged in its highest pefection when it may be reduc'd to some natural principle the most judicious Artists being but the mimiques of nature Now the natural fabrick of Mans body is according to the saying of Protagoras 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the prototype of all exact symetry no structure can be possibly more uniform then our bodies in the whole figuration of them each side agreeing with the other both in the number the quality and in