to St. Peter St. James St. Mark are plainly spurious there are to be found the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were not extant in the first Centuries There mention is made of Temples Altars Monasteries such things as the Primitive Church knew not Apol. 2. prope finem Tert. Ap. cap. 30. In Justin Martyr's time the Minister prayed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to his ability In Tertullian's he prayed Sine monitore quia de pectore without any Prompter but their own heart Epist 34. de Celer In St. Cyprian's time the Ecclesiastical Lector was to read praecepta Evangelium Domini not a Liturgy Euseb de Vit. Constant l. 4. c. 20. In Constantin's time had there been a Liturgy he had not needed to have composed a Prayer for his Army Soc. Eccles Hist l. 5. c. 21. In the time of Socrates among all Forms of Religion there were not two that consented together in precandi more Set-forms of Prayer were not introduced into the Church till the Arian and Pelagian Heresies invaded it and then to prevent the diffusion of Heretical Poyson Set-forms came in In the Council of Laodicea holden about the Year 368. Can. 18. it was ordained that there should be caedem preces But this was a Form of the Minister's own composing as appears by the 23d Canon of the Third Council of Carthage holden about the Year 399. which appointed that none should use a Form unless he did first conferre cum fratribus instructioribus After which in the Milevitan Concil holden about the Year 416. Can. 12. it was ordained that the Form used should be approved of in a Synod Still this was a Form of the Minister's own making It was many years after this before a Liturgy was absolutely imposed on Ministers that they might not pray by their own Gifts only but by the prescribed Forms of others About the Year 800. Charles the Great being Emperor Pope Adrian moved him to establish a Liturgy by a Civil Edict and obtained it And this is said to be Gregory's Liturgy Thus the Church was much longer without a Liturgy than it can be imagined to have been without Unity Therefore Unity doth not consist in it 3dly It doth not stand as I take it in a Diocesan Episcopacy There are Bishops in Scripture but no Diocesan ones There are Presbyters ordained in every City but no Bishops ordained to be over them In Thessalonica there were not one but many 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Thess 5.12 The Presidency there was in many not in one The Bishops at Philippi Phil. 1.1 being more than one in one city were no other than Presbyters The Presbyters at Ephesus are in express terms called Bishops Acts 20.17 28. St. Peter exhorts the Presbyters to feed the Flock of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acting as Bishops among them 1 Pet. 5.2 St. Paul would have Titus ordain Presbyters in every City for a Bishop must be so and so Tit. 1.5 7. If the Bishop and Presbyter were not here the same the reason which must not be imagined would be inconsequential There are the qualifying Characters of a Bishop set down in 1 Tim. 3. and in Titus 1.7 but there is not one of them but is requisite in a Presbyter not one of them peculiar to a Diocesan Bishop The Scripture Evidence is very clear that a Bishop and a Presbyter are all one When Aerius brought some of these Scriptures to prove it Epiphanius who calls him Heretick gives only this poor Answer That in many Churches there were no Presbyters but who can believe that at that time there were more Bishops than Presbyters that when there were more Bishops in one City there should be no Presbyters at all there It is a thing altogether incredible Clemens Salm. in App. ad Primat fol. 50 54. in his Epistle to the Corinthians makes Bishops and Presbyters all one Polycarp in his Epistle to the Philippians mentions only Presbyters and Deacons In the Epistle ascribed to Ignatius ad Magnesios a Bishop above a Presbyter is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salm. in App. fol. 57. Com. in 1 Tim. 3. a novel Institution St. Ambrose saith Episcopi Presbyteri una ordinatio est there is but one ordination of a Bishop and a Presbyter St. Jerome saith Epist ad Ocean ad Evagr. Apud veteres iidem Episcopi Presbyteri fuerunt Anciently Bishops and Presbyters were the same Again Com. in Epist Tit. That the Bishop was greater than the Presbyter consuetudine magis quam Dominicae dispositionis veritate rather by custom than by any true dispensation from the Lord And again that before Communi Presbyterorum Consilio Ecclesiae gubernabantur The Churches were ruled by the Common Council of Presbyters St. Austin saith that Episcopacy is greater than Presbytery Secundum honorum vocabula Epist 19. quae jam Ecclesiae usus obtinuit according to the Titles of Honour which are now used in the Church Thus it appears that a Diocesan Episcopacy is but Humane and by consequence Church-unity doth not stand in it The Reformed Churches which are without Episcopacy are not without Unity I conclude this with the Judgment of the Learned Dr. Ward Determ 109. who speaking of the difference in Ecclesiastical Government which is between our Church and those beyond Sea saith that it may and ought to be tolerated absque fraternae unitatis laesione without any breach of Brotherly unity 4thly It doth not stand in the Civil Laws of Princes When Magistrates were Pagans there was yet a Church and an Unity in it When they became Christians the Unity was the same the Joints and the Bands were as before sacred not civil from Christ the Head not from the Magistrate It 's true the Church hath an external help and guard from good Laws but its Unity doth not consist in them Neque quia regna dividuntur De Unitate Eccles c. 12. ideo Christiana unitas dividitur cum in utraque parte inveniatur Catholica Ecclesia saith St. Austin Kingdoms may be divided but Christian Vnity is not in both parts the Catholick Church is found Should the Unity of the Church consist in the Laws of Magistrates then the Laws being dissolved there would be no Unity the Laws being altered the Unity must vary and turn about to every point as the Laws do That which now is Unity under a contrary Law must be Schism that which now is a Schism under a contrary Law may be Unity Under the Emperor Valentinian the Orthodox may be the Church under Valens the Arrians may be it Nay as the Magistrate may be you shall not know by him where the Church or the Truth is In that great Schism when the Bishops of the East and West fell out about the Council of Chalcedon some would not part with a syllable of it some utterly rejected it The Emperor Anastasius
can enter into rational minds that God should break off the Yoke of his own Ceremonies as unsuitable to the Evangelical Liberty and yet that a Yoke of Human Ceremonies should be put on as congruous to it If Human Ceremonies may succeed in the room of Divine then the Yoke is not removed but changed and that as much for the worse as Human Ceremonies weigh heavier than Divine Were it put to the option of any intelligent man whether he would have a Ritual Burthen of God's binding laid upon him or one of Man's He would certainly chuse to have it done rather by the God of Wisdom and Mercy than by any Creature We see clearly that God hath no where in the New Testament laid any such burthens or set any such conditional bars to Ordinances and how or why should man do it Or if he do it how or which way is the Christian Franchise preserved The Church's Power is but subordinate and subalternate to Christ and how can it put bars or conditions to that Priviledge which he hath granted to Christians When a Church useth its Power according to the line and level of Scripture then all is well but when it overflows and exceeds its Commission then Christian Liberty goes to wreck Again They seem to be against Christian Charity as being stumbling-blocks to doubting Souls occasioning their fall into sin Our Dear Lord Jesus left us the Sacraments pure Divine altogether free from any scruple But now the mystical Ceremonies are so interwoven and coupled in use with them that Scrupulous Christians in partaking of that which Christ institutes run into that which Conscience scruples and in following that which is lifted up in the Example of Pious and Learned Church-men fall and wound their Souls The law of Charity puts a restraint upon indifferent things in the case of Scandal It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine nor to do any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or is made weak saith the Apostle Rom. 14.21 Indifferent things are in charity to be abstained from in case of scandal The Apostle presseth this by very weighty Arguments The kingdom of God is not meat and drink v. 17. Religion doth not stand in such things We must not in such things grieve or destroy our brother v. 15. We must not for them destroy the work of God v. 20. that is our Brother's Soul which is his work by way of eminency We must not destroy him for whom Christ died v. 15. Scandal in indifferent things is not a wounding only but a killing of our Brother a kind of Soul-murther Now if indifferent things in case of scandal are not to be admitted in common use much less are those things which have speciem mali an appearance of evil in such case to be admitted into holy Sacraments thither we come by Christ's appointment not to grieve and wound but comfort and heal our Souls Charity should not suffer any Stumbling-block or Scandal to be seen there every thing there should minister comfort and edification I know many Answers are given to this but scarce any satisfactory ones 'T is said that in case of scandal we must abstain from indifferent things whilst they remain indifferent but not after they are determined by Authority But to me it sounds exceeding harsh to say that in case the Magistrate commands it we may wound or destroy our Brother A Scandal in its nature is spiritual Murther which no Command of Man can make tolerable Avoiding of Scandal is a main duty of Charity which no Command of Man can dispence with 'T is said that in conforming to the Ceremonies there can be only a scandal to a brother but in nonconforming there is scandal to the Magistrate and this indeed if it be a Scandal of the same kind is greater than the other But as Learned Mr. Jeans doth distinguish Schol. Pract Divin par 2. fol. 127. There is a two-fold acception of Scandal primary and secundary primary scandal is the occasioning the fall of another into sin Secondary is the angring and displeasing of another Conformity to the Ceremonies occasions our Brother to fall into sin Nonconformity only occasions the displeasure of the Magistrate Now to displease the Magistrate is surely more tolerable than to occasion the poorest man to fall into sin This is clear because it is more dangerous to displease God than Man 'T is said further Debts of Justice are to be paid before debts of Charity Obedience to Superiors is a debt of Justice a matter of right but the not giving of offence is a debt of Charity a matter of courtesy But as Mr. Jeans hath fully answered The Rule must be understood caeteris paribus when the terms of comparison are equal and equal they are not when the Minims of Justice are put into the Ballance with the weightiest duties of Charity and so 't is in the present comparison Of what importance is the practise of a Ceremony in comparison of not scandalizing our Brother Who can imagine that the command of a Ceremony can bear proportion with the command of not destroying a Brother The Commands of God touching the externals of Worship are to give way to Mercy I will have mercy and not sacrifice saith God Hos 6.6 much more must the Commands of Men do so Besides the care of not giving offence tho to my Brother it be but a debt of Charity yet in regard of God it is a debt of Justice and woe to him through whom the offence cometh Moreover it is said that the offence by the Ceremonies is only Scandalum acceptum non datum a Scanal taken not given But the Ceremonies being not merely things indifferent but having at least an appearance of evil the Scandal is not taken only but given It is certainly our duty to abstain from all appearance of evil The Nazarite was to abstain from the very Husk of the Grape The Young man was not to come nigh the door of the strange Woman Secundus will not deliver a little useless stuff to save his life lest he should seem to be a Traditor Valentinian would not endure a little drop of Paganish Holy water We must not dwell in the confines or neighbourhood of Sin We should put away every shadow of Will-worship every semblance of an addition to the holy Ordinances every thing that looks like a conformity to the Romish Church this were the way to be pure from giving offence to our Brethren Moreover they seem to be against Christian Vnity The first step to that first sin which brought in enmity into the World was an addition to God's Word Ye shall not touch it Gen. 3.3 This was that that divided God's Anâ—ient People the Jews the Karai adheâ—ed to the pure Scripture but the Talâ—udici brought in their Human Traditions and cried them up as Lux illa â—agna the great Light The Pharisees would have above the Law their own Ceremonies and Traditions
Books Published by Edward Polhill of Burwash in Sussex Esq And Sold by Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs over-against the Stocks-Market PRecious Faith considered in its Nature Working and Growth In 8vo. Speculum Theologiae in Chricto Or a view of some Divine Truths which are either Practically exemplified in Jesus Christ set forth in the Gospel or may be reasonably deduced from thence In 4to. Christus in Corde Or the Mystical Union between Christ and Believers consider'd in its Resemblances Bonds Seals Privileges and Marks In 8vo. A Discourse of Schism A DISCOURSE OF SCHISM By that Learned Gentleman EDWARD POLHILL Esq Late of Burwash in Sussex LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs over-against the Stocks-Market MDCXCIV TO THE READER 'T IS not the design of this Preface to commend the Author of the ensuing Treatise his own Works do that sufficiently He was a very Learned Gentleman and a Justice of the Peace of very great esteem among all men in his own Countrey where he lived in full and constant Communion with the Church of England And therefore being no Clergy-man either of one sort or t'other he is the more likely to write impartially about Schism and being no Frequenter of any of the Dissenters Meetings he cannot reasonably be supposed to be byass'd in their favour But yet on the other hand he was far enough from entertaining any of those Prejudices against their Persons or Assemblies which it hath been the great endeavour of some to infuse into the minds of all men but especially of the Magistracy and Gentry He was zealously concerned for Truth and Serious Religion not for a Party On all occasions he shew'd himself to be one of a truly Christian that is of a Catholick Temper and was a sincere lover of all good men of what Persuasion soever He was fully convinced and so wilt thou too if thou diligently perusest and readest the following Discourse that Bigotry is the dangerous Schism the guilt whereof a man is not necessarily involved in or secured from by the bare being of this or that Party among us CHAP. I. The Church-Catholick two-fold The very mystical Body of Christ or The totum integrale made up of all the Particular Churches The Vnity of the Church a Divine thing Doth not consist in Human Rites in a Liturgy Diocesan Episcopacy or the Civil Laws of Magistrates It s true Vnity in its internal Essence and external Communion A particular Church CHristians as high motives as they have to Unity are yet divided not only by the existence of Schism but about the notion of it The Papist charges it on the Protestant one Protestant charges it on another and the Reason is because they differ in their measures of Church-Vnity Some require more to it than others the Papist will have the Unity of a Visible Head some Protestants will have an Unity of Human Rites and Modes Hence there comes a Schism about Schism The very notion divides us In this case it is worth the while to enquire into the true nature of Schism in the doing of which two things must be premised Something must be spoken of the Church and something of the Vnity of it First Something must be spoken of the Church In the Old Testament we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a word derived from Congregating in the New we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a word derived from Evocating or calling out The Jewish Church being shut up in one Nation could meet all together in one place the Christian Church being spread over the World cannot indeed meet all together in one place but they are coetus evocatus a company called out of the World to the Worship of God The Church may be considered as Catholick or Particular The Catholick Church may be taken either as the very mystical Body of Christ or as a totum integrale to all the particular Churches on Earth As the mystical Body of Christ it is invisible made up only of real Saints all of them are internally united to Christ the Head all are animated by the Holy Spirit all have the Joints and Bands of Grace all have the effectual working in their hearts This is the Church-Catholick in the Creed this is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Assembly of the first-born Hebr. 12.23 This is in Clemens Alexandrinus called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Congregation of the Elect. Here are no damnata membra as St. Austin speaks As Christ's natural Body did consist all of pure Members so this mystical Body doth consist of true Believers As in every Member of the natural Body there is an Human Spirit so in every Member of the mystical Body there is the Spirit of Christ Such is the Catholick Church as it is the mystical Body of Christ But as it is a totum integrale made up of all the particular Churches on Earth so it is as its parts are visible and made up of good and bad Some are living Members Partakers of the Spirit of Christ some are dead ones Some are in internal conjunction with Christ some are in external only Some are in the Church really and before God some are in it only apparently and before men Thus the Church is a Field which hath Wheat and Tares a Net which hath good Fish and Bad a Floor which hath Corn and Chaff In Isaac's Family there was an Esau in the Colledge of Apostles a Judas in the visible Church there are foolish Virgins as well as wise some have only the Lamps of Profession whilst others have the Oyl of Grace This may serve for the Church-Catholick Now particular Churches are but partes similares Ecclesiae Catholicae similar parts of the Catholick Church visible The Catholick Church is as the whole Tree Particular Churches are but Branches That is the main Ocean these are but Arms and Creeks of it To that as Mr. Hudson observes the Promises and Privileges primarily belong to these they belong in a secondary way That is the first receptacle of Ordinances these derive them from that In every particular Church there is as St. Cyprian speaks Plebs Pastori adunata a People joined to a Pastor for the performance of Divine Worship Here the Word is preached the Sacraments are administred 2dly Something must be spoken of the Vnity of the Church The Unity of the Church is that whereby the Church is one There are many Members but one Body many Sheep but one Fold many Stones but one Building The Apostle reckons up many Unities appertaining to the Church There is one body and one spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your calling one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all Here is unit as principii one God that calls the Church Vnitas termini one Heaven that is hoped for by it Vnitas mediorum one Faith one Baptism to join men to Christ and the Church Vnitas Capitis one Lord Jesus who
and so they came to separate and divide themselves from others calling the common people populum terrae the people of the earth and saying to Sinners ne attingas me touch me not The Jewish Ceremonies troubled the Galatians Gal. 1.7 Circumcision ceasing to be Divine any longer became Concision renting the Church and the Doctors that mixed it with the Gospel were as Dogs tearing asunder the unity of it When Victor urged a necessity of conformity in the observation of Easter-day Irenaeus reproves him for this tanquam pacis perturbatorem as 〈◊〉 troubler of the Churches peace and indeed there was a horrible breach between the Eastern and Western Churches about it When Images a mere Human Invention were brought into the Church what fierce Contentions were there about it The Green Emperors Leo Isaurus Constantinu◠and others opposing them in the East And on the other side the Bishops of Rome Gregory the Second Gregory the Third and others stish upholding them in the West In the Council at Constantinople they were solemnly condemned Spond Ann Anno Dom. 754. Crab. Conc. Tom. 2. and the people cried out hodie salus mundo In the Council of Nice they were advanced again even to veneration and Eusebius for speaking against them is said to be delivered over to a reprobate mind and his Books are anathematized What an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a vehement Contention was there between the Greek and Latin Churches about levened and unlevened bread in the Eucharist the Greeks calling the Latins Azymitae and the Latins the Greeks Fermentarii Ceremonies and Human Inventions in Worship however they may be intended for Unity are the occasions of Contention Hence Melancton tho he conformed to the Rites and Ceremonies in the Interim yet wished with tears that they were removed because as long as they remained there would be contention in the Church and the reason of this is evident The minds of men are not all alike or of an equal temper Some Pious and Learned Men allow of Ceremonies other Pious and Learned Men cannot receive them In such a case as this Anselm ad querelas Vaeler auni fol. 149. the urging of Uniformity is the loss of Unity Anselm enquiring whence the various Customs in the Church arose gives this Answer Nihil aliud intelligo quam humanorum sensuum diversitates I know nothing but this that men have different sentiments of things that which one man thinks very apt in the Worship of God that another thinks is not so When such a necessary thing as Unity is placed in unnecessaries it is lost but when it is placed in things like it self I mean in necessary things then it is preserved The Apostles who as well understood and as much desired Unity in the Church as any would lay no other burthen on Christians than necessary things Act. 15.28 St. Paul lays down a great many Unities One body one spirit one hope one Lord one faith one baptism one God and father of all Eph. 4.4 5 6. but there is not a word of one Ceremony Those Bishops took the right course for Unity who being met together in Council made a Canon which they called Adiaphoron Socrat. Hist lib. 5. c. 20. because they left the observation of Easter-day indifferent as men would themselves Were indifferent things left in their indifferency the Unity of the Church would be much greater than it is Thus much may suffice touching the Ceremonies only because there are two Pleas for their innocency I must consider them The one is this The Ceremonies are only for decency and order and so within that Apostolical Precept Let all things be done decently and in order 1 Cor. 14.40 I answer Were the Ceremonies within that Precept I should beg my pardon and pronounce them innocent but I take it they are not within it and to clear this I offer these things The Evangelical Sacraments which are God's own Ceremonies are in themselves and without any Human dress worthy of all reverence Nostra Sacramenta tam praeclara sunt ut etiamsi nuda nullis Sacramentalibus suffulta proponerentur omni essent veneratione digna Medina in Aquin. 1 2. Q. 108. Art 2. the Institution hath put a glory upon them Human Ceremonies which are as much below them as a Cloud is below the Sun are more apt to darken than illustrate them When Sacraments are in their pure simplicity then the splendour of the Holy Signs shines forth but when they are muffled up in Human Rites then the Divine Beauty is obscured And if Divine Ceremonies need Human to put a decorum upon them much more do Human Ceremonies need an addition of further Ceremonies for that end and so there may be Ceremonies upon Ceremonies in infinitum Our Lord Christ who knew better than all men what Decency is never instituted any such Ceremonies The Apostles who gave the Rule of Decency never used them They did administer Ordinances decently but without them Hence it appears that their Precept never extended to them for had it done so they would not have omitted them but had practised that Precept which they had given The Worship of the Apostles which was without Ceremonies was either decent or undecent for Decency and Undecency are privatively opposite and between privative opposites there is no medium of abnegation in subjecto capaci If the Apostles Worship void of all Ceremonies be decent then Decency doth not consist in Ceremonies if undecent they did not which cannot be imagined observe their own Rule of Decency and act as they taught Order and Decency in the Worship of God are things necessary not merely by a positive Law but by a natural Not only the Apostolical Precept but the very dictate of Nature is that the Service of God should be performed in an orderly and decent manner The Heathen Oracle could say That in the Worship of God men should follow morem optimum the best manner Nat. Quaest l. 7. c. 30. Seneca out of Aristotle tells us That when men have to do with the Gods they should be verecundiores compositi modest and composed in their demeanour The Light of Nature teacheth us that we should serve God in a way suitable and congruous to his Divine Majesty Thus Order and Decency are necessary but so are not Ceremonies Hence it appears that the difference between them is as great as between necessary and unnecessary Order is nothing but a right disposition of things Decency is nothing but the seemliness of Order Order and Decency require not Vide Ames Medul l. 2. c. 13. that some Holy things should be newly ordained but that those which are ordained by God should be used in a way congruous to their dignity The Ceremonies which are new Appointments appertain not to Order and Decency The institution of somewhat new is one thing and the right and seemly disposition of that which is instituted is another The other Plea is this The