Judgment of many who were Assembled by Mutual Agreement for the Administration of Discipline than that the great Benefit of Synods should be lost But when 〈◊〉 began to make himself a Bishop of Bishops When he took it upon him to be their Judge and to exercise a Jurisdiction over them this gave a new Turn to the Affairs of the Church and alter'd them much for the worse It made a mighty Breach upon the Antient Discipliâ—â— and was the Foundation of the Papul 〈◊〉 I have suppos'd all along that however a Bishop is by his Office a Pastor of the Catholick Church yet it is but some part of it that is allotted to his special care as it was most expedient for the benefit of the Whole But the further Consideration of this Matter being of great use it may be requâ—â—â—â—e to trace it to the beginning and to observe that the Apostles who of all the Officers of Christ were most at liberty being sent to Disciple all Nations might all have gone to one Nation and leâ—t others destitute of help But to prevent this they distributed their Work in such a manner as might be most for the Publick Good and best answer the Ends of their Commission I need not inquire what Countries or Cities fell to the Charge of this or that Apostle And indeed our Knowledge of that is very imperfect But this you find in Scripture that St. Paul with whom the other Apostles doubtless agreed would not build upon anothers Foundation He would not stretch himself beyond his Measure nor boast in another Man's Line of things made ready to his Hand As the Apostles employ'd themselves with great Prudence to carry on the Work of Conversion so they dispos'd and settled things in an excellent order and some Light it may give into them that when there is mention in Scripture of a Province or Country where the Gospel was received we read of the Churches of it Thus we read of the Churches of Jâ—dea of the Churches of Macedonia of the Churches of Galatia and of the Churches of Asia These several Churches then were distinct Societies under their proper Governours who yet were United in such a manner as I have describ'd and the nearer they liv'd to one another the better opportunity they had of meeting together for mutual Advice and Assistance and for the Decision of Ecclesiastical Matters But when the Discourse is of the Christians of a City which is to be understood as taking in its Territory then the Style is alter'd and we read of the Church in Jerusalem in Antioch in Corinth of the Church in Pergamus in Thyatira in Sardis in Philadelphia of the Ephesine Church of the Church of â—â—â—â—â—naeans of the Laodiceans and of the Thessalonians If you will but be at the pains to consult the places to which I have refer'd you you will certainly find the Matter as I have related it And from hence the Presbyterians strongly argue That how great soever the Number of Christians was in any City and notwithstanding they made up many Congregations as they needs must in some of the Cities yet they were constantly call'd a Church as being under the same particular Government I differ from them in this That I believe the Government was Episcopal For as there is mention of Seven Churches of Asia so there were just so many Angels or Supream Pastors of those Churches and the like may be said of others But this I have more fully handled in another Treatise to which I have refer'd you before for satisfaction 'T is true the extent of Diocesses is not always the same nor is there any certain Rule for it in the Holy Scripture but since it appears necessary from the Scripture and the Nature of the thing that some limits be fixed and since the Diocesan and Parochial Divisions in this Kingdom are confirm'd by all the Authority that the Church and 〈◊〉 could give them Private Persons â—â—ght to submit to it For however there may be some inequality in such Distributions that being hardly avoidable no Disturbances ought to be rais'd about them it being certain that such Inconveniences can never be mended by Confusion II. The Faithful People under their Lawful Pastors make up One Body This may be gather'd from what went 〈◊〉 but I shall farther make it evident 1. From their Duty 2. From their Rights From both it will be manifest that they are Fellow-Citizens or Visible Members of the same Community I. To begin with their Duty 1. They are obliged as you have seen to Honour 〈◊〉 Obey their Spiritual Rulers to adhere to those that are over them in the Lord and hereby they maintain an Union with all other Pastors of the Church that are One in Government For if they are One with any of those that are One amongst themselves they must needs be all One 〈◊〉 2. It is their Duty to joyn together in Publick Acts of Worship with that Company of Christians which they find Established under a Lawful Pastor where they reside which may happen to be in England or America or at different times in the most distant places as they remove from one to another And from hence it appears that all those Companies make but One Society or Catholick Church and are Members of it For otherwise by passing from one Country to another and consequently from the Congregation to another a Person would lose his former Title and Benefit of being a Visible Member of Christ and his Church and gain others in their stead and this might happen as often as he changed Climates But this is too absurd to need a Consutation II. That the Faithful make up One Body appears from their Rights which are the same every where In one sense they aâ—â— every where Strangers on Earth but in another they are at Home in all Places The Priviledges which belong to them as Christians are the same in every Country and they may as justly challenge them as the Natives of it Some Cities who were associated together did so value themselves for it and receiv'd such mutual Benefits and Honours from their Concord and from their being of One Community that they express'd these things upon their Coins and other Monuments of Antiquity which are yet remaining But the Vnity of the Christian Church is of greater extent and takes in the Faithful of all Nations This Vnity is founded on a Divine Institution and the Baptismal Covenant in which they are all alike engaged and not on a Formal Positive League amongst themselves Nor does it so much resemble the Union of the Confederate Cities as that of a City in its self which may consist of many Corporations For all the Members of it are Fellow-Citizens and as such they have the same Prerogatives in all the parts of the World But more particularly 1. According to Scripture and the Sence of the Primitive
he revolted from his Superiors and he was divided says the Chaldee Paraphrast or he divided himself that is he became a Separatist that he might make himself the Head of a Party and drew such vast Numbers after him that Josephus speaking of their Conspiracy thus represents it We have not known says he such a Sedition either among Greeks or Barbarians Korah pretended to have a great concern for the Liberties of the People and that he might gain the Priesthood to himself suggested that it was a Grievance to the Nation But God that knew his Hypocrisie and the Schismatical and Seditious Temper both of him and his Confederates made both of them Monuments of his Indignation By an early and dreadful Judgment on these Offenders he confirm'd his own Institution and he commanded that broad Plates for the covering of the Ark should be made of their Censers that in succeeding Times others might remember what these Men suffer'd and be mindful that no Stranger who was not of the Seed of Aaron might come near to offer Incense before the Lord lest they should be as Korah and his Company It is plain that not only the Leaders of the Faction but their Followers also were involv'd in the same Ruine And this being written for our instruction it may teach us to avoid such Practices as brought upon them so terrible a Judgment lest as some have done even in the Times of the Gospel we also Perish in the gain-saying of Korah 'T is true an end is put to the Aaronical Priesthood but Christ who is the Head of the Church hath his Representatives on Earth for the Government of it and to despise them is to despise him To usurp their Authority is to invade his Prerogative And if we are not Principals in such Actions against him but yet support and assist those that are so we partake with them in grievous Sins You your selves must needs see if you will judge impartially what intolerable Presumption it is not only to expel the Stewards of his Houshold but to substitute others in their places and new-model his Family Not only to affront and reject his Ambassadors but to assign him others whom he hath not sent Not only to lay aside his Officers as unfit to Govern but to appoint him such as have no Commission from him Such Proceedings manifestly tend to the Destruction of his Visible Kingdom and the Persons guilty of them do in effect declare That they will not have him to Reign over them Aristotle argues That when the Form of the Government of a City is changed the City it self ceases to be the same that it was before And whatever Exceptions this may be liable to as being affirm'd of a Secular Community it may be truly said of Ecclesiastical Societies That when they have Excluded their Lawful Pastors and advanced others into their places who have no Right to the Ministry they cannot remain the same under such Alterations They are no longer the Churches of Christ nor are their Teachers the Ministers of Christ They may deceive Men indeed by acting under a False Character but God will not be mocked He will not be impos'd on by the Boldness and Juggles of his feigned Stewards or by the Pageantry of his pretended Ambassadors It was for such and their Confederates that he created a New thing causing the Earth to open her Mouth and swallow them up And however such Instances of his Anger are not repeated yet this that I have mention'd ought to be a lasting Terrour to those that without a Lawful Call take to themselves the Honour of Priesthood or are Associates in such Profanations SECT III. I AM now come to your Case and give me leave to tell you that it very nearly concerns you to enquire I. Whether you have not contracted the Guilt of Schism in your Separation from the Church of England II. Whether you have not increased this Guilt by setting up Opposite Churches and Officers or joyning with them III. Whether your Pastors have any just Title to the Ministry I. It concerns you to enquire whether you have not contracted the Guilt of Schism by your Separation from the Church of England Was your Communion with it lately Lawful and have any New Terms been added to make it cease to be so Or was Conformity then a Duty and is it now become a Sin It is not long since we took sweet Counsel together and walked to the House of God as Friends With many of you we did partake of the Lord's Supper and thereby solemnly testified That we were all as One Bread all Members of the same Body And hath any just cause been given you of breaking off your selves from it Are you not Self-condemn'd by such contrary Practices Or can the Divisions which you have made proceed from that One Spirit whose Unity is to be kept in the Bond of Peace Deal but impartially with your selves in considering what I have offer'd to your Thoughts and I doubt not but you will be convinced that you have broken that Bond and that your present Separation is a Schism if ever there was any such thing in the World II. You may enquire whether you have not added to your Sin by setting up Opposite Churches and Officers or joyning with them and whether this hath not more alienated your Minds from those whom you had unjustly forsaken This I suppose is generally your Case and from hence it is that in abundance of Towns in this Kingdom we hear of an Old Church and a New Church the latter labouring to establish it self on the Ruines of the former But do you find any such Language or any such thing in Scripture Have not the Presbyterians inform'd you right That however there were such great Numbers of Christians in one City as made up many Congregations yet they were all One Church and are constantly call'd a Church because they were all under One Government What Right can you then have to establish Independent Congregations or to set up one Congregation against another in the same City Is not this a plain Breach of the Apostolical Rule And must it not be pernicious to Christ's Visible Kingdom If some part of the Christians in a City may shake off the Authority of their Lawful Pastors and form themselves into an Independent Body under their proper Officers may not a third Body in like manner be form'd out of that and out of the third fourth and so on And would there be any end of Confusions at this rate Would such a Practice be tolerable any where Or would it not be destructive of any Society whatsoever Deal 〈◊〉 now with your Consciences and reflect I pray you on what has been said with the same freedom of thought as if you had not been at all concern'd in the Controversie and I am persuaded you will be convinced that it is not unjustly that you have been charged with a high degree
Establishment of Separate Churches under their proper Pastors in the same City Yet do I not reject this Opinion merely because it hath no good Foundation I shall produce such Arguments against it as being duly consider'd may help to determine this Controversie 1. My first Argument is taken from the Design of Christ for that was to Unite both Jews and Gentiles in one Body and to make of the Two one New Man And accordingly he made of Both One People prescrib'd to them the same Law and confer'd on them Equal Priviledges It is not therefore to be imagin'd that the Jewish Converts were to be drawn out from amongst the Believers of the Gentiles and gather'd into Churches apart by themselves Churches that excluded all Christians from their Communion who submitted not to the Law of Moses For this had been to Divide those whom our Lord had made One and to revive the Enmity which he had slain It had been to treat those as Forreigners whom he would have to be Fellow-Citizens and to expel them as Aliens who are his Domesticks and of the Houshold of Faith It had been to cast those out as Ismaelites whom he had call'd to be Heirs of Promise and to rebuild the Wall of Partition which he had broken down 2. According to the Mind of Christ St. Paul labour'd to restore Peace and Conformity between the Judaizers and other Christians that they might live together as Members one of another And to this purpose when some believed that they might eat all things and others being Weak did eat Herbs he shews that this difference should be no cause of a Breach of Communion amongst them For says he to the Strong who were apt to despise others Him that is weak in Faith receive to you Rom. 14. 1. That is notwithstanding the Scruples of such a Person about Meats and Drinks and other things of that nature admit him into the Congregation as a Brother He is not fit indeed to hear doubtful Disputations or to be engaged in them but he ought to joyn with you in the Publick Worship The Apostle himself leads us to this Interpretation in the following Chapter where having put up his Request for those that Dissented about the Mosaical Rites that they might with one Mind and one Mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ he presently addresses his Discourse to them and says Wherefore receive ye one another For what end was it that they must receive one another He himself has given a sufficient intimation of it It was that they might glorifie God with one Mind and with one Mouth The thing then requir'd of them was that both the Weak and Strong both the Jewish and Gentile Converts should meet together in the same Assemblies and unanimously joyn in the same Prayers and Praises as if they had been Animated by one Soul 3. However the Apostle us'd great Tenderness towards the Dissenting Parties whether they understood their Christian Liberty and did eat things forbidden by the Mosaical Law or whether they did not Yet when the Judaizers withdrew themselves from the Communion of those that would not come up to their Rigours and labour'd to seduce as many as they could into the way of Separation he then treated them in another Style He represented them as Persons that corrupted the Gospel and pronounced an Anathema against them Speaking of them to the Philippians he says Beware of those Dogs beware of Evil-workers beware of the Concision that is of those that cut the Church in pieces And to the Romans he says I beseech you Brethren mark them which cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learn'd and avoid them So far was this Apostle from approving or allowing of their Separate Congregations 4. We may gain farther Light into this Matter and what I have said of it may be confirm'd from a Remarkable Transaction which the same Apostle relates in these words When Peter says he was come to Antioch I withstood him to the Face because he was to be blam'd For before certain came from James he did eaâ— with the Gentiles but when they were come he withdrew and Separated himself fearing them which were of the Circumcision And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their Dissimulation But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel I said unto Peter before them all If thou being a Jew livest after the manner of the Gentiles and not as do the Jews why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews From hence it is plain 1. That Peter liv'd at Antioch after the manner of the Believing Gentiles using the same Christian Liberty as they did and not withdrawing himself from them before the Judaizers came thither from Jerusalem 2. When he struck in with the Judaizers it is not to be imagin'd that they had alter'd his Judgment or that he had received any new Illumination to direct him but the Change he shew'd proceeded from his Fear a Fear as we may well suppose that if he yielded not to those Obstinate Men they would renounce the Christian Faith 3. The Jewish Converts at Antioch were not of a distinct Church by themselves separate from the Gentiles Certainly they were not so before the coming of the Zealots with whom they comply'd not out of Conscience but Dissimulation 4. With their Dissimulation Barnabas was carried away and this intimates that his Concurrence with the Dividers was a new thing to him or a departure from his former practice Upon the whole he and the rest whom he follow'd in this Action may seem to have had a good intention which was not to provoke those of the Circumcision but to do what they were able to preserve them from Apostacy Yet in their Conduct there was more of the Policy of the World than of true Christian Wisdom and Sincerity Wherefore St. Paul seeing that they walked not uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel withstood Peter to the Face because he was to be blam'd and reprov'd him before all that they might see their Error who had been drawn into it by his Example And if Paul was so much against Separation when St. Peter himself was at the Head of it and when Barnabas an Apostle also together with the Multitude was engaged in it if he oppos'd it when it came with so strong a Torrent doubtless he resisted it with like Courage wherever he met it in any part of the World 5. The Jewish and Gentile Christians together at Antioch are stiled a Church and so are they that resided at Rome But to call them so if in the same City they had been divided into several Independent Congregations is not agreeable to the Language of that Age. Nor could they with any propriety of Speech be mention'd as one Society or Body if they were
A DISCOURSE OF Schism Address'd to Those DISSENTERS WHO Conform'd before the Toleration and have since withdrawn themselves from the Communion of the Church of England By ROBERT BVRSCOVGH M. A. LONDON Printed for Tho. Bennet at the Half-moon in St. Paul's Church-yard And Charles Yeo Bookseller in Exeter 1699. A DISCOURSE OF Schism Address'd to those Dissenters who Conform'd before the Toleration and have since withdrawn Themselves from the Communion of the Church of ENGLAND The INTRODVCTION HAVING Compos'd this Discourse with a Design to do you what good I am able I may reasonably desire that you would afford it an Impartial and Candid Perusal and read it with a Resolution not to condemn any thing in it without a due Examination This indeed is more than I can expect from those amongst You who are byass'd with Prejudice or mov'd with a false Zeal or a Worldly Interest But there are many of You whom I consider under another Character and who I believe may be ready to abandon their Mistakes upon better Information You may remember who it was that said That which I see not teach thou me if I have done iniquity I will do no more And if you think it no Reproach to follow so laudable an Example but are willing to receive Instruction I assure my self that what I shall here offer to You may contribute something to your Satisfaction You are like to find nothing here that may give you any just cause of Offence Nothing but what proceeds from a Spirit of Charity And if this instead of convincing You should only raise Your Indignation I shall be sorry for Your sakes and yet have no cause to repent that I have endeavour'd with Meekness to bring you into the Right Way And I hope that GOD who knows the Sincerity of my Intentions and measures them not by the Event will graciously accept of them Upon what Terms the Rigid Separatists receiv'd You again as Members of their Congregations I know not But since they have been wont to accuse our way of Worship in the Churches of Popery and Antichristianism of Idolatry and Superstition they must needs look on You that once Conform'd as Partakers then in the same Crimes And if You resolve to do the like again upon the like or other Occasions they cannot but esteem You as Persons that would reconcile Christ and Belial or that make it an Indifferent thing either to come out of Babylon or to remain in it And according to their own Principles they may fitly speak to You in these Words of Elijah How long halt ye between two Opinions If the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him If You will vindicate Your own Proceedings You are as much concern'd as the Conformists themselves to refute the Charge and Answer the Objections of those Men against our Liturgy and Ceremonies But that Work is well done already by Dr. Falkner and Others to whom I refer the Inquisitive Reader My Business at present is chiefly with You who think you may lawfully Conform with us and yet have deserted our Communion A thing indeed that is very agreeable to Flesh and Blood and which may make several Turns of Affairs more easy to You But Wise and Good Men would suspect an Opinion and Practice which are so much on the side of the World and not like the Truth the worse because of the Disadvantages that sometimes may attend it It is to lead you to the Truth from which You seem to be at a great Distance that I publish this TREATISE of SCHISM In which I consider Your Case and bring it to a fair Tryal But to prepare my way for this I thought it requisite to say something of Church-union of which Schism is a Breach For these two things being compar'd together may give some light to one another SECT I. THAT all Christians ought to be United together is very plain from the Holy Scriptures and it is a Matter of such Importance that we find our Blessed Saviour repeating the same Petition four several times within the compass of three Verses that his Followers might be One It is also observable that He pray'd That they might be made Perfect in One that they might be One as the Father and Himself are One. And nothing less can be understood by these Words than that He was desirous they should be One in the highest and strictest manner of which they were capable or that was possible for a Society of Men. St. Paul describes the Christian Church as a Building fitly fram'd together growing into a holy Temple in the Lord And as a Body fitly joyn'd together and compacted by that which every Joynt supplieth He saith also to the Ephesians and in them to all the Professors of Christianity I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness with long suffering forbearing one another in love endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace 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 who is above all and through all and in you all The same Apostle writes thus to the Philippians If there be any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfil ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of One accord of One mind How pathetick how moving is his Language here How admirably does it set forth the great care and concern of his Soul for those things which are the matter of his Exhortation I must transcribe a great part of his Epistles should I produce all that they afford pertinent to my present Purpose But you grant I suppose in general that the Unity of the Church ought to be preserv'd and all the Question being wherein it does consist or in what things it ought to be maintain'd To this I answer That all Christians ought to be United I. in Faith II. in Love III. in Outward Worship and Communion I shall but just touch on the two former of these but more largely insist on the last in which the Controversy between us is chiefly concern'd I. All Christians ought to be United in the same Faith For there is but One Faith and we are obliged to contend earnestly for the Faith which was Once deliver'd to the Saints The Christian Doctrine is not calculated only for some particular Times and Places nor is it to be vary'd by them but ought to be kept entire and free from impure mixtures And when it is so it must needs be the same in all Places and upon all Occasions the same in all the Climates under Heaven and under Persecuting Tyrants the same as under Nursing Fathers and Mothers the same in the Heart and the same in
They are Baptized into Christ and at the same time they are Baptized into One Body The same thing makes them Members of Christ and of his Body and entitles them to all the Benefits of the Covenant of Grace 2. They that are admitted into the Church are continued in it in a Visible manner In the several places where they reside they are oblig'd to meet together for the Celebration of Divine Worship And accordingly we read of some of the first Believers whose Example others ought to follow that they continued stedfastly in the Apostles Doctrine and Fellowship and in Breaking Bread and Prayers The Christians in the Apostles Days as well as afterwards made use of several Outward Rites by which they testify'd their mutual Agreement Such were their Feasts of Charity at which the Rich and Poor did eat together as Brethren and the Holy Kiss or the Kiss of Peace as Tertullian calls it with which they saluted one another This indeed may seem a thing of little moment yet was it the subject of an Apostolical Precept and in the Primitive Times it was not esteemed a small matter to neglect a Ceremony which was then in use amongst the Faithful as a sign of their Union This Union is much more eminently set forth in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper which is to be continued till his coming to Judgment and so must remain a visible mark and constant pledge of Christian Concord We being many says St. Paul are one Bread that is we are as that one Loaf which we see at the Lords Table and which is made up of many grains of Flower He adds that we are one Body and he proves it from hence that we are all Partakers of that one Bread It is plain then that our partaking of the same Bread is a manifest Sign of our being one Body But as St. Austin says very well Whosoever receives the Sacrament of Unity and does not keep the Bond of Peace he receives not the Sacrament for himself or his own advantage but that which is a Testimony against himself It is here to be consider'd that as by one visible Rite which is Baptism we were admitted into the Church and made Members of Christ So by another which is the Eucharist we do not only communicate with our Brethren but also with Christ himself For as they that did partake of the Table of Devils had Fellowship with Devils so on the contrary they that partake of the Table of Christ have Fellowship with Christ The things says St. Paul which the Gentiles Sacrifice they Sacrifice to Devils and not to God and I would not that ye should have Fellowship with Devils Ye cannot drink the Cup of the Lord and the Cup of Devils Ye cannot be Partakers of the Lords Table and the Table of Devils And says the same Apostle The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ Certainly it is as the words import nor is this to be doubted by any Christian 2. Offenders were expell'd from the Church in as visible a manner as other Criminals are disfranchis'd or depriv'd of the freedom of a City The Church dismissing them mourn'd for them as dead And the Persons ejected as well as others were sensible of this that they were no longer Members nor intitled to the Priviledges of the Society from which they were expell'd If they repented of their Enormities they were far from believing that their condition was the same that it was before the fall They esteem'd the Sentence pass'd upon them as indeed it was a sad anticipation of the future Judgment They spent the day in Lamentation and the night in Watching and Sorrow They put on the habit of Mourners and with Tears and grievous Cries they bewail'd their own folly They humbled themselves in Sackcloth and Ashes and mortified their Bodies with rigorous Fastings They threw themselves at the feet of those that went into the Christian Assemblies begging them with great importunity to intercede for them that they might be restor'd to the Peace of the Church without which they did not think themselves safe notwithstanding they knew the sincerity of their own Repentance 4. The Penitents were restor'd to the Peace of the Church in as visible a manner as they have been expell'd from it When St. Paul had given order to the Corinthians to put away the Incestuous person from amongst them he afterwards directed them to forgive him and exhorted them to confirm their love to him that is to ratifie it publickly by their reception of him upon his Repentance into their Society In the succeeding Ages the lapsed or such as fell into grievous Sins were obliged to pass through several degrees of a severe Discipline in order to their recovery But being approv'd after a long Tryal the Bishop and his Clergy laid their Hands on them and solemnly admitted them again to the Communion of the Faithful You have seen that the Church is a Visible Society and the profess'd Enemies of it sometimes saw this but too well For when Associations or â—raternities were forbidden by the Roman Edicts the Heathens thereupon persecuted the Christians as coming under that Prohibition And the Apolo-gifts for the Sufferers deny'd not that they were a Corporation but allowing this pleaded their Innocence We are a Body says Tertullian by the Consent of Religion the Vnity of Discipline and the Covenant of Hope He confesses that if their Meeting together were like those Seditious Conventions which were punish'd by Law it would justly come under the same Condemnation But says he We are the same being assembled as when we are dispers'd We are the same altogether as when we are taken singly and apart hurting no Man grieving no Man And when Vertuous and good Men meet when the Holy and Chast are assembled it is not to be call'd a Faction but a Court. II. The Church is a Regular Society It is not a confused or scattered Multitude but a Body fitly joyn'd together A Body consisting of many Members of which all have not the same Office Some are call'd to Preside and Govern and others to be under their Inspection and Authority and for the good of the whole both ought to be exercis'd in the proper Duties of their Places and Vocations Clemens Romanus endavouring to cure the Corinthians of their Schiâ—â— put them in mind that the High-Priests and the Priests the Levites and the People had each their peculiar Work allotted to them And lest Christians should think themselves unconcerned in that Instance he presently adds Let every one of you my Brethren within his own Station be thankful to God not transgressing the Canon or Rule which limits his Service After this he
The Government of the Universal Church is One. According to St. Cyprian who understood this matter perfectly there is but One Episâ—â—â—acy And this is possess'd by the Bishops in such a manner that they are all legally One and every one of them is vertually all But both these Propositions may require some Explication 1. All the Bishops of the Universal Church are Legally One That is as a College in Law is One Person so they being a College in the Sense of the Ancients are One also They 〈◊〉 the Person of Christ and if Christ be not divided neither are they They are not divided I mean so far as they act according to his Will and the Rules of their Order But I meddle not with the particular Faults of any nor am I accountable for their irregularities 2. Every Bishop is vertually all or hath vertually the power of the whole Episcopal Order And so United he is with the other Bishops in the Administration of the Government that what he does in several Cases which I shall mention is as Obligatory to all the rest and of as much force as if it had been done by their actual Consent and Approbation For Example 1. A Bishop Ordaining Presbyters does it as effectually as if all other Bishops had assisted at it and his Act is as Obligatory to them all For the Persons so Ordain'd do not part with their Office when they change Climates but ought to be receiv'd in all Churches as bearing the same Character and be employ'd accordinly if there be occasion in the Work of their Ministry without a new Imposition of Hands This I know is contrary to the Opinion of some of your Brethren who are persuaded that a Minister is only so to his own Congregation and that if he Preaches to another he doth it not as a Pastor but as a Gifted Man And consequently if he takes a new Charge upon him he must have a new Ordination and this I consess is agreeable enough to their own System For their Minister being a Creature of their own and claiming his 〈◊〉 to the Ministry from their Election of him and upon such Terms as they prescrib'd to him all the supposed vertue of that Choice must cease when he is gone from them and cannot bind another Congregation that hath no dependence on them But how ever this is suitable to thâ—â—â— own Principles it hath no Ground in Scripture or the Practice of Antiquity Amongst the Hereticks indeed in Tertullian's time there was something like it for with them a Person was the Day a Priest and the next a Laymâ—â— But in the Church the standing Officers were so for Life 〈◊〉 in all places kept their Station unless they were Depos'd for their Crimes or advanced to a higher Dignity The Words of a Judiâ—ious Nonconfor mist which I shall here cite are very pertinent to my purpose If a Minister says he be only so to his own Congregation and not in other Churches Then are not the Churches of God One nor the Ministry One nor the Flock which they feed One nor the Communion One which they had each with others And I add That if a Minister as such be related to the Catholick Church if he may be remov'd from one part of it and take on him the peculiar charge of another without a new Ordination as the Presbyterians generally asseâ—â— Then are the Churches One the Ministry One the Flock which they feed One and the Communion is One as that of a Visible and Political Society 2. If a Bishop or other Minister appointed by him confers Baptism on Persons fit to receive it it is as effectual every where as if all the Spiritual Pasters upon Earth had concurr'd in that Act. It is that One Baptism which never ought to be repeated nor is there any need that it should for the â—ame being every where of the same vertue it both qualifies us alike in all places for Christian Communion and gives us a Right to demand it in any part of the World But of this more hereafter 3. When a Bishop Excommunicates Oftenders they are thereby cut off from the Communion of the whole Church We have been told by a Dissenter That whosoever will erect a Stated National Governing Church in England 〈◊〉 find us an Officer cloathed with Authority to Excommunicate from Michael ' s â—Mount in Cornwall to Carlile and Berwick But there is no need of such a Discovery to prove more than he demands To prove the Vnity of the Catholick Church it is enough that when a Bishop Excommunicates any Criminals of his own Diocese the Effect of his Sentence reaches every where and at the greatest distance it is Obligatory to his Collegues who being duly inform'd of it are â—o regulate their Practice by it and not admit those to Communion whom he hath Expell'd from it unless it be by his Câ—â—â—ent either expresly given or vertually contain'd in 〈…〉 of the Church And anciently it was a great part of the Business oâ— Episcopal Letters to declare what Offenders were Excommunicate that they might every where be avoided or treated as Persons that were Ejected out of the Christian Society This way of proceeding with them is a plain Argument that in the sense of these times Ecclesiastical Government was One however the Administration of it was in many Hands And it is also agreeable to the Holy Scripture which will not suffer us to believe that they who are cut off from the Body of Christ in one Country are Members of it in another They can gain no such Advantage by shifting Places Nor can it be thought that they are kept bound and loos'd on Earthâ— unless they may be Absolv'd and Condemn'd in Heaven at the same time 4. It follows that when a Bishop Absolves the Offenders of his Diocese from the Ecclesiastical Censures under which he had put them he thereby restâ—â—es them to the Peace of the Universal Church Thus it was generally thought 〈◊〉 the Primitive times and the Persons to Absolv'd having obtain'd from their Bishop his Communicatory Letters were then as much qualified for full Communion in Worship with other Christians in all parts of the World as if they had 〈◊〉 been Condemn'd All other Bishops to whom they apply'd themselves were obliged to râ—â—â—â—ve them into the Number of the Faithful and to act by the Sentence of 〈◊〉 Collegue as if it had been their own And this they did sometimes and thought it expedient when they were not well satisfied with his Proceedings 'T is true the Sentence of a Bishop either for Condemnation or Absolution might be revers'd or declared void by a Synod and it was fit that it should if it was Unjust or sometimes if it was only Irregular If it was otherwise he might withdraw it or he concluded by the Votes of the Synod and it was â—â—ch better in such Cases that One should submit to the
he is a Stranger as well as if he were a Native of it From hence it follows that both Strangers and Natives are alike of the same Political Body And this reasoning must be good if Aristotle had the true Notion of a City who is generally allow'd to write of such things with great exactness What hath been said sufficiently shews how the Catholick Church however dispers'd is One But it will appear with the greater force If you please to compare it with the Case of Independent and Separate Societies in which you find nothing like it You may bear Office in one of these Societies but have no Title to it nor have any of your Acts esteem'd valid in another You may be Members of one and justly excluded from another You may enjoy the Priviledges of one and want those of another You may be banish'd from one and made Denizons of another Acts of State bind only the Subjects of the State and oblige not Forreigners that are under another Dominion But this demonstrates the Vnity of the Catholick Church that what is done by one Governour or Bishop is valid amongst all the rest and taht a private Christian who hath an Obligation on him and a Right to an actual and full Communion with a particular Church hath the like with all other Churches where he happens to reside Having prov'd that the Vniversal Church is One Body I shall only add what gives us great encouragement to preserve the Unity of it and affords us a most delightful Contemplation that it is now the same Body that it was from the Beginning For as a City may remain the same for a Thousand Years or even to the End of the World and is therefore said by some Ancient Writers to be Immortal So is the Church the same that it was from the first Foundation of it And from hence it is that if we Communicate with those who derive their Ministry by Succession from the Apostles and with such Professors of Christianity as adhere to that Ministry we do it vertually or by Interpretation with the Apostles themselves and with the Saints Confessors and Martyrs that rest from their Labours and are now in Happiness waiting for a Glorious Resurrection To this effect Tertullian says That from the Apostolical Churches all other Churches borrowed the Branch of Faith and Seeds of Doctrine and from them it is daily that Churches become such and so are esteem'd Apostolical as being the Off-spring of the Apostolical Churches Every thing must be reckon'd with its Original and therefore so many Great Churches are as the One First Church constituted by the Apostles and from which all are descended So all are First and Apostolical whilst they alike approve the Vnity Whilst there is amongst them the Communication of Peace the Title of Brotherhood the Covenant of Hospitality the Rights of which nothing preserves but the Tradition of the same Sacrament or Mystery But this is not all For being in Communion with the Apostles we are so with the Father and the Son That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you says St. John that you also may have Fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ The Father will take care of us as his Peculiar People and the Son will Influence and Govern us as our Head a Head that hath such a Tenderness for his Church that he is represented in Scripture as making up One Person with it For says the Apostle as the Body is One and hath many Members and all the Members of that One Body being many are One Body So also is Christ And being of his Church we are assur'd that he will nourish and cherish us as Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones SECT II. VVE have seen that all Christians ought to be United in Faith Love and in Outward Worship and Communion And if you grant this you must also acknowledge that a Breach of Union in any of these things where-ever the fault is must needs be sinful For it is plain I. That if there be but One Faith delivered to the Saints for which they must earnestly contend they grievously offend who add New Articles to it or take away from it such as are already reveald or otherwise deprave it by a mixture of Falshood And so far as they do so we ought to depart from them and not betray or deny the Truth in compliance with them II. If all the Faithful must be firmly link'd together in Love this must condemn all Discord and Malice all Envying and Strife amongst them as being directly against the Spirit of Charity And indeed where these things are there is Confusion and every Evil Work III. If all the Faithful are obliged to live in Outward Communion as Visible Members of the same Body then such a Division in the Body as is a Breach of that Communion must be Criminal a thing I know that many of you are unwilling to hear of But Mr. Baxter has suggested a reason of it which I hope does not reach you all Whence is it says he but for want of Self-denial that Men that know that Whoredom and Drunkenness and These are Sins can be ignorant in the midst of Light that Discord and Church-Divisions are Sins And that they hear him with Heart-rising Enmity or Suspicion that doth declaim against them As if Vniting were become the Work of Satan and Dividing were become the Work of Christ These Words I would recommend to your serious Thoughts and being now come to that which is the chief Subject of our Debate I desire you sincerely to consider that not only Modern Writers but the Fathers who were no Parties in our present Controversies speak of Schism as a most horrid Crime St. Optatus mentions it as a mighty Wickedness and argues that it is worse than Murder and Idolatry And St. Chrysostom affirms That nothing equally provokes God as the Division of his Church He makes it equal to the Crucifying of Christ Which he says was for the good of the World however not intended but this continues he affords no Benefit but the greatest Mischief To mention no more at this time St. Irenaeus says That God will judge the Schismaticks who having not the Love of God but being intent on their own Profit rather than the Peace of the Church for small Matters or for any divide the Great and Glorious Body of Christ and do what in them lies to kill it speaking Peace but making War straining indeed at a Gnat and swallowing a Camel You need not think it strange that these Excellent Men who had seen the sad Effects of Church-Divisions express'd such an Abhorrence of them St. Paul himself reckons Seditions and Heresies with Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Withchcraft and other Works of the Flesh of which he says That they that practise such
if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us But had they been of the Opinion of your Advocates they might have reply'd Our Desertion can never make it manifest that we were not of you Indeed we went out from you and did forsake your Assemblies but notwithstanding this we may be all one with you But we do not find that they had the confidence to make such an Apology II. It has been said that in the Apostles Days there were Independent and Separate Churches planted in the same City And for this the Testimony of a very Learned Conformist has been cited by some who at other times express little regard for it And it is true he tells us that as St. Peter was the Apostle of the Circumcision and St. Paul of the Gentiles so whensoever these two great Apostles came to the same City the one constantly applied himself to the Jews received Disciples of such form'd them into a Church left them when he departed that Region to be govern'd by some Bishop of his own Assignation and the other in like manner did the same to the Gentiles To prove this he urges from Ancient Writers That the Church of Antioch was founded and instructed by St. Peter and St. Paul and consequently that the Jewish part of it was Converted and Rul'd by one and the Gentile by the other That the Decrees of the Council at Jerusalem were peculiarly sent and inscrib'd To the Brethren at Antioch c. Those of the Gentiles that is separately from the Jewish Church in that City c. That it appears from the Apostolical Constitutions that Euodius and Ignatius at the same time sate Bishops of Antioch the one succeeding St. Peter the other St. Paul one in the Jewish the other in the Gentile Congregation That the Separation continued till both Parties were joyn'd and united together under Ignatius That from hence it is that by Origen and Eusebius he is called the Second and by St. Jerome the Third Bishop of Antioch and yet he is as truly said by Athanasius to be constituted Bishop after the Apostles That at Rome the two Apostles met again and each of them there erected and managed a Church St. Peter of the Jews and St. Paul of the Gentiles That as Linus and Clemens were Deacons the one of St. Paul and the other of St. Peter so both afterwards succeeded them in the Episcopal Chair Linus being constituted Bishop of the Gentiles Clemens the Jewish Christians there And that from hence unquestionably grows that variety and difference observ'd amongst Writers some making St. Peter others St. Paul the Founder of that Church but others both of them Some making Clemens others Linus the first Bishop after the Apostles both Affirmers speaking the truth with this Scholion to interpret them Linus was the first Bishop of the Gentile Christians after St. Paul Clemens the first of the Jewish after St. Peter This is the Sum of the most material things that he has said on this Subject but it seems all too infirm to support his Opinion which yet out of the respect that is due to the Authority of so great a Man I shall not reject without giving the Reasons of my Dissent from him And they are these that follow I. However the Work of the Apostles was so distributed by consent that the care of the Jews was especially committed to St. Peter and that of the Gentiles to St. Paul yet they were not limited to either For 1. St. Peter being sent for by Cornelius a Gentile instructed him and those that were come together at his House in the Christian Faith and when they had received it he commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord And after this he declar'd in the Council of Jerusalem That God had chosen him for this purpose that the Gentiles by his Mouth should hear the Gospel and believe 2. St. Paul Preach'd in the Synagogues of the Jews at Salamis and Antioch And at Corinth he reason'd in the Synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks At Rome also he expounded and testified to the Jews the Kingdom of God persuading them out of the Law of Moses and out of the Prophets from Morning till Nighs and some believed the things that were spoken tho' some believed not Now as it cannot be thought that when he had converted Jews and Gentiles together he divided them into Separate Congregations so neither is it probable that when St. Peter and he were in the same City Matters were so nicely managed between them that the One pickt out the Jews as belonging to his Province and gather'd them into a Church by themselves and that the Other did the like for the Gentiles No such thing I am sure can be gather'd from the Scripture II. Both these Apostles might be Founders of the Church of Antioch as also of that of Rome and yet neither of these Churches be divided into separate Societies Rome it self had two Founders and yet it was but one City And manifest it is by many other Examples that different Persons acting as one may constitute a Corporation either Ecclesiastical or Civil which is United in all its parts III. The Inscription of the Epistle to the Brethren of the Gentiles that were at Antioch c. does only suppose them to have been chiefly concern'd in the Contents of it and not that they were of a Church distinct from the Jewish Christians It may rather seem if they had been so that the Zealots who came from Judea would not have press'd them to be Circumcis'd after the manner of Moses but left them to enjoy their own way as a Separate Body But the Council having decided the Matter in Debate between them remov'd from both sides all pretences of Division IV. The Writer of the Apostolick Constitutions no where affirms that Euodius and Ignatins sate at the same time Bishops of Antioch He only introduces Peter saying that one of them was Ordain'd by him and the other by Paul which might be afterwards at a great distance of time Malata informs us that after the Death of Euodius Peter being then at Antioch Ignatius receiv'd the Episcopal Dignity and if this be so it may help to put an end to the Dispute about the Order in which he was advanced to that Office V. That Linus and Clemens were at the same time Bishops of Rome hath no better ground than the Testimony of Ruffinus which signifies but little when oppos'd as it is in this case by the whole Stream of Antiquity There are indeed Differences amongst the Fathers concerning the Line of Succession in that See but they are accounted for by an Excellent Hand And if they were not nor would admit of any Reconciliation they would be too weak a Foundation for the
separate and had no Communion with one another 6. In the time when this Division is suppos'd to have been between the Jewish and Gentile Converts single Persons successively govern'd the Church of Antioch and the like may be said of that of Rome as the Fathers inform us who liv'd near that Age. And it is well known that Cyprian Cornelim and Others did much insist upon this that of One Church or Diâ—â—ese there could be but One Bishop and we need not doubt but the Novatians against whom they argued would have reply'd That according to Apostolical Institution the Christians living in One City might have several Bishops over them had this been then believ'd But what was the sense of this Matter on both sides may be gathered from the Roman Confessors who had been for both but repenting of the Schism profess'd that they could not charge themselves with the Ignorance of this That as there is One God One Christ One Holy Spirit so there ought to be but One Bishop of a Catholick Church III. It hath been said That Jesus Christ hath declar'd That When two or three are gathered together in his Name he is in the midst of them and that you Assemble in this manner and are therefore assur'd of his favourable Presence But to this I need return no other Answer but what was given by St. Cyprian to the Novatians who objected the same thing These Corrupters of the Gospel and false Interpreters says Cyprian only lay held on the end of a Discourse and omit what went before Part they remember and part they craftily conceal As they are cut off from the Church so they would cut in pieces a passage of Scripture They forget that when our Lord would persuade his own Disciples to Vnanimity and Peace He said to them If two of you shall agree on Earth as touching any thing that they shall ask it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven And this he spake concerning his Church and to those that are in the Church he says That if they are of one Heart if according to his Command and Admonition but two or three of them are gathered together and pray unanimously they may obtain what they ask of the Divine Majesty Where two or three says he are gathered together in my Name I am with theme That is with the Sincere and Peaceable with those that fear God and keep his Precepts So that he that founded and made the Church doth not divide Men from it but upbraiding the Perfidâ—â—us with their Discord and commending Peace to the Faithful he shews that he is rather with two or three that pray in concerd than with the many that are at strife But what Peace do they promise themselves who are Enemies of the Brethren What Sacrifices do they believe they offer when they contend with the Priests Can they imagine that Christ is with them when they are Assembled out of his Church No tho' such Men were slain confessing his Name the blemish of Schism would not be wash'd off with their Blood IV. It hath been said That Paul rejoyced that Christ was Preach'd even by those Men who did it out of Envy and Strife and if the case of your Teachers were as bad as this as long as they preach Christ you have no reason to be solicitous about their Call nor we to be offended at their Work But to this I reply 1. That it does not appear that they who preach'd Christ out of Envy and Strife did take on them the Work of the Ministry without a Call to that Office And if they were lawfully admitted into it it only proves that Ill Men may be so and yet be useful to others but not that any may usurp the Sacred Function and how far this concerns your Teachers and their Followers I have shew'd before 2. Neither doth it appear that they Preach'd Christ to any other than the Infidels and this can never justifie your Pastors for gathering Disciples out of sound Churches or your selves for breaking the Bond of Peace in compliance with them It is one thing to add Members to a Church taken out of the Unbelieving World and for Members to withdraw themselves from it and joyn together in an Opposite Society 3. What the Apostle rejoyced at was the good that his Envyers did beside their intention The Benefit that did spring from the Evil they design'd and not the Evil that set them on Work So that notwithstanding this Example Envy and Strife are as hateful as ever and so are Church-Divisions and all things else condemn'd in the Gospel 4. What they acted out of Envy and Strife did no hurt to any but themselves 'T is true they were guilty of great Inhumanity and Cruelty towards St. Paul yet their Malice had no ill effect on him but rested on their own Heads How it was that they suppos'd that they should add Affliction to his Bonds is not so clear but that it hath given occasion to several Conjectures But to me it seems most probable that they emulated the Glory which he had acquir'd by many Conversions and judging of him by themselves they imagin'd it would be a grievous thing to him to hear that they shar'd with him in that Honour the Faith being propâ—â—gated by their Diligence Whereas iâ— was great satisfaction to him that when he was under Confinement they carried on the Work in which he himself should have been employ'd had he been at liberty Indeed their manner of doing it did exercise his Patience and Self denial yet even that was for his Advantage and he was assur'd that their Preaching would turn to his Salvation And as it was beneficial to him so it was also to the Church as being a means of gaining Proselytes and both to Jews and Gentiles as an Instrument of their Conversion But on the contrary Church-Divisions are prejudicial to all sorts of Persons to the Pastors of the Church and to the Flock To those that are within the Church and to those that are without This I might fully prove but I refer it to a more proper place and shall only here set down the Words of the Lord Chancellor Bacon who says in his Essays That Heresies and Schisms are of all others the greatest Scandals yea more than Corruption of Manners For as in the Natural Body Wound or Solution of Continuity is 〈◊〉 than a corrupt Humour so in the Spiritual So that nothing doth so much keep Meâ—â— out of the Church and drive Men out of the Church as breach of Vnity V. It hath been said That you are only return'd to those whom you had forsaken before and that you might do this since you had the Indulgence or the Liberty granted to you by the Law But if your Separation was sinful before you Conform'd your Return to it must be so too For the Law hath not alter'd the Case nor done
Secular Princes but I am sure I do them no wrong in asserting That they cannot make Schism to be Ecclesiastical Vnion or Vnion to be Schism or either of them to be a thing indifferent They cannot make Falshood to be Truth or Truth Falshood but each of these must remain the same that it was be their Edicts for it or against it They may not call evil good and good evil They may not put darkness for light and light for darkness VI. It hath been said That the use which you make of the Liberty which is now granted is not only lawful but your Duty 〈◊〉 And that having your freedom you ought to make choice of the way of the Dissenters because you conceive it to be better than that of the Church and to be prefer'd before it But the Foundation of this is already remov'd for I have prov'd that the Law hath granted you no such Immunities as you imagine and notwithstanding you are now possess'd of them yet is your Separation sinful as it was before It ought not therefore to be matter of your choice upon the prospect of any Advantages whatsoever We ought indeed to desire and seek after the most excellent things but we must do it in a suitable way What we are infinitely to value above other things is the Favour of God But we may not speak wickedly for God nor talk deceitfully for him We may not do evil that good may come Nor may any real good be expected from evil which can bring forth no such Fruit. In such cases the End cannot sanctifie the Means but the Means would pollute the whole Action and not only frustrate our hopes but bring on us a just Condemnation I come now to the Reasons mention'd before which some have given for preferring the way of the Separation before that of the Church They tell us I. That you enjoy it in purer Ordinances II. That is affords you Communion with a better People III. That it most conduces to your Edification All which Pretences are cut off by the sinfulness of the Separation it self to which those Priviledges are ascrib'd and therefore I might dismiss them without farther consideration But so much is built upon them that I thought fit to bring them under a distinct Examination I. It hath been said That in the way of Separation you enjoy purer Ordinances Ordinances that are freer from Ceremony and the addition of things not commanded that set you at a greater distance from Popery and are therefore the more to be esteem'd But the weakness of this way of arguing will appear if you reflect on the Absurdities which they fall into who would exclude from Religion all things not commanded and make the greatest distance from the Church of Rome the Standard of the best Reformation These Men tell us That the Churches built before the Reformation ought to be level'd with the Ground as Monuments of Idolatry That they can never be purged till they are laid in heaps as their younger Sisters the Abbacies were That they are Idol-Temples nay Idols themselves Execrable things to be demolish'd or avoided Unclean things not to be touch'd The Mark of the Beast not to be receiv'd That the Bells are to be broken as Popish Reliques and to be detested as Abominable Idols which the Law of God devotes to Destruction That Catechisms were to be rejected as Apocryphal things and that Psalms in Meter were to be rank'd with pleasant Ballads and that being song out of a Book either in Verse or Prose they are Idolatry That Books and Writings are of the Nature of Pictures and Images and that therefore the Holy Scriptures are not to be retain'd before the Eyes in the time of Spiritual Worship That Book-Prayer in that Worship is Man's Invention and a breach of the Second Commandment and that Prayer-books and stinted Prayers are indeed Idols Thâ—â— to look on the Book in the time of Singing and Preaching is Idolatrous and that if our Littaâ—â— were the best that ever was devis'd by Mortal Man yet being brought into the Church yea even into a private House and read out of a Book it would be as an Abominable Sacrifice in the Sight of God and even as a dead Dog That they that use the Lord's Prayer at the close of their own are gross Idolaters and that they that Uncover their Heads at the Lord's Supper are Idolaters also and joyn their own Posts and Thresholds with the Lord's And lastly that Idolaters are to be put to Death according to the Judicial 〈◊〉 of Moses which they say still binds all the Nations of the World So that the greatest Potentates on Earth cannot dispense with it but ought to execute the Will of God according to his Word These are some of the Assertions of the more Rigid Separatists which I have not produc'd with an intent to reproach you who I believe abhot them but only to let you see that as those Sectaries were deluded by this False Principle that whatsoever in the Worship of God is not commanded by himself especially if it has been abus'd by the Pipists is sinful and execrable so you are in danger of being led into grievous Mistakes if you entertain a Perswasion that that is the purest Church or Society which hath the lowest Ceremonies not enjoyn'd in Scripture This may easily be gather'd from the Influences already mention'd but I leave them to your own Application 'T is true and it is generally acknowledg'd by the Conformists that nothing is to be receiv'd as an Article of Faith that is not reveal'd in Scripture Nor is any thing to be admitted as an Essential part of Divine Worship that is not the Subject of a Divine Precept But external Rites and Circumstances of Worship are of another Nature and being not forbidden of God expresly or by consequence are not sinful For where there is no Law there is no Transgression But about this I suppose we are agreed And if you thought our Ceremonies which are innocent in themselves so great a burthen for their number that to ease your seves of it you must desert our Communion as soon as you had opportunity I intreat you to consider how very few were required of you as Private Men and how impossible it would be to preserve Peace and Order in the Church if for such things it may be divided and all be put into confusion In the Primitive Church as many Ceremonies were used as now are required by the Church of England and if they are now sufficient to excuse your Desertion they would have justified a Separation from the best Christians in the Purest Ages Even in the Apostles Days several things were appointed and practis'd and for some time were not to be neglected or omitted which yet were only Temporary Institutions and not design'd to be of Perpetual Obligation Such were the Feasts of Charity and the Kiss of Peace as also the Womans Veil by which
were guilty of great Immoralities for it would be easie for them to recriminate and the truth is there have been and are on both sides great Numbers of Men notoriously Vicious but we must leave them to bear their own burthen Offences will come and such there were in the Apostles Days in the Churches at Corinth and Philippi in the Churches of the Galatians and in all the Seven Churches of Asia Yet on that occasion no allowance was given to any of the Faithful to withdraw themselves from the Publick Assemblies It is therefore to be suppos'd that you can prove some very hainous thing not only against particular Persons who profess themselves Conformists but against the Conforming Churches as such some great thing for which they ought to be forsaken or you are very injurious to them in your desertion of them For by this you do what in you lies to dishonour them and to fix a publick Disgrace or Infamy upon them in the Eye of the World It is now your Business to exalt the Societies with which you are at present in Communion as well as to depress those which you have deserted a thing very usual in such cases But that you may state the Account aright when you are comparing the Old Churches with the New as they are call'd you ought carefully to examine whether the last be Churches in reality or in Name only Whether any of your Pastors have Right to exercise their Office in the Separate Way and whether the far greater part of them are not meer Usurpers that have no just Title to the Ministry and the Administration of the Sacraments All these are things of great weight and what I said before may help you in your Enquiries into them and convince you if you please to consider it attentively that you have been mistaken about them and that where you thought your selves safe you are in great danger You have seen some of the sad effects of your Separation upon a Pretence of joyning with a better People Yet I have the Charity to believe that you expected much good Fruit from it But had you consulted Mr. Baxter he would have instructed you better for he says That to Reform the Church by dividing it is no wiser than to cut out the Liver or Spleen or Gall to cleanse them from the Filth that doth obstruct them and hinder them in their Office You may indeed thus cleanse them but it will be a Mortal Cure As he that should divide the Kingdom into two Kingdoms dissolveth the old Kingdom or part of it at least to erect two new ones So he that would divide the Catholick Church into two must thereby destroy it if he could succeed or destroy that part which divideth it self from the rest Can a Member live that is cut off from the Body or a Branch that is separated from the Tree And to these Questions I shall leave you to reply III. It hath been said That the Way of the Separatists conduces more to your Edification and that if you would provide what is best for your Bodies you ought more especially to do so for your Souls That you are more Edified by the Dissenting Ministers than by the Conforming Clergy and think it requisite to be Hearers of those by whom you profit most And this I confess is Popular and affords a very ready Answer such as it is to the strongest Arguments that can be produced against you But that you may not be too confident of it the Assembly of Divines tell you that the gathering of Churches out of Churches hath no footsteps in Scripture is contrary to Apostolical Practice is the scattering of Churches the Daughter of Schism the Mother of Confusion but the Step-Mother to Edification Mr. Baxter also says That Divisions among Christians do greatly hinder the Edification of the Members of the Church While they are possess'd of Envyings and Distast of one another they lose all the benefit of each others Gifts and of that Holy Communion which they should have with one another And they are possess'd with that Zeal and Wisdom which James calleth Earthly Sensual and Devilish which corrupteth all their Affections and turneth their Food to the Nourishment of their Disease and maheth their very Worshipping of God to become the increase of their Sin Where Divisions and Contentions are the Members that should grow up in Humility Meekness Self-denial Holiness and Love do grow in Pride and perverse Disputings and passionate Strivings and envious Wranglings The Spirit of God departeth from them and an Evil Spirit of Malice and Vexation taketh place though in their Passion they know not what Spirit they are of Whereas if they be of one Mind and live in Peace the God of Love and Peace will be with them To speak more distinctly to this Matter I shall enquire I. What is the True Notion of Edification II. What you understand by it and whether you rightly judge how it is best promoted III. Whether according to your sense of it it be a good Rule that you may or ought to follow those Teachers by whom you can most be Edified IV. Whether this may justifie your present Separation I. I am first to enquire What is the True Notion of Edification And to clear this it is to be consider'd that the word which is Literally render'd Building is often in the Holy Scripture applied to Spiritual Matters and being taken in a good Sense as commonly it is it signifies the Advancement of Persons in some Spiritual Good And to Edifie them is to do that Work of Charity whereby we become beneficial to their Souls Knowledge puffeth saith the Apostle but Charity Edifieth 1 Cor. 8. 1. Comfort your selves together and Edifie one another 1 Thes 5. 11. Let no corrupt Communication proceed out of your Mouth but that which is good to the use of Edifying that it may minister Grace to the Hearers Ephes 4. 29. Let us follow after things which make for Peace and things wherewith one may Edifie another Rom. 14. 19. Let every one please his Neighbour for his good to Edification Rom. 15. 2. In which places it is the Edifying of our Neighbours that is required of us and that of our selves is never enjoyn'd under this Expression nor can it well be sought but in conjunction with the Publick good 'T is true St. Paul tells us That he that speaketh in an unknown Tongue Edifieth himself 1 Cor. 14. 4. But this is mention'd but as a mean use of his Gift and one that Prophefied and instructed others was for this reason prefer'd before him For says the Apostle Greater is he that Prophesieth than he that speaketh with Tongues except he Interpret that the Church may receive Edifying 1 Cor. 14. 5. It is certain that the Business of Edification duly managed hath a principal regard to the Church And by how much more any thing is beneficial to that by so much more it ought to be
and Sects did but vent their Malice against the best Christians under those Names But since then I have seen what Love-killing Principles have done I have long stood by while Churches have been divided and sub-divided One Congregation of the Division labouring to make the other Contemptible and Odious and this call'd the Preaching of the Truth and the purer Worshipping of God Charity being expell'd it is succeeded by Envy and Strife by Confusion and every Evil Work A false Zeal usurps the place of true Piety and often pushes Men on to the greatest Enormities and Acts of Cruelty This effect it hath often had amongst Christians and in the Days of the Emperour Julian when they were much divided it transported many of them into such Rage against one another that the Apostate was in hopes the Church would perish by their Mutual Animosities and Contentions 5. Schism weakens the Ecclesiastical Discipline which was design'd for the Punishment of Offences and which put a powerful Restraint on Wickedness when it remain'd in its full Vigour But when it is broken it is rendred impracticable or ceases to be a Terrour to Evil-doers For as the Jews who would not be prevailed with to live according to the Law of Moses deserted Jerusalem and resorted to the Temple which Sanballet had built at Garizin so when a Church is divided into opposite Communities Offenders that would not be endur'd in one fly to another for Refuge And then they are like to have no great regard for an Excommunication when it dismisses them from one to another Society which will hardly fail to call it self the purer of the two or to pretend to better means of Edification It may be thought that a Party being Separated from the Church upon a pretence of greater Purity would not receive into their Communion other Deserters who are Notorious for their Immorality But this has been contradicted by frequent Experience and particularly it was so in the case of Novatianus and his Followers For however they profess'd a very rigorous strictness yet they receiv'd into their Society Novatus a Man of contrary Principles and loose Morals But that was no Matter as long as he serv'd their Designs They could connive at his former Crimes when he was engaged with them in Schism and Communication of Guilt had made them One 6. Schism hinders and sometimes frustrates the Endeavours of the Pastors of the Church for the Suppression of Vice and the Advancement of Piety and renders their Condition like that of the Jews when they were Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem and held a Weapon in one Hand whilst they Wrought in the Work with the other They cannot lay out their whole Strength against the Immoralities of the Times and for the promoting of Holiness when they are diverted from it by a necessary Defence of their own Constitution In this Defence they must expect to suffer many Reproaches from the Seditious who when they have least to say for their cause are usually most forward to cast Aspersions on the Pastors and People which they have deserted that it may not be thought it was for nothing that they made a Separation But the Pastors of the Church commonly bear the greatest share of this as well as other Persecutions And then if the Calumny with which they are loaded is believed it does infinite Mischief It renders their Persons despicable and their Ministry useless It makes their Reproofs of Sin appear ridiculous and be they innocent as they will the imputation of Wickedness which is fastned on them gives encouragement to those that are under the Guilt of real Crimes and becomes an Inlet to all Debauchery The CONCLVSION I Have now gone over the Things which I design'd to treat of And if you have well consider'd what has been said perhaps you may see cause to say to one another in the Words of Mr. Baxter Alas dear Brother that we should not yet know that our own Vncharitable Divisions Alienations and Separations are a Crying Sin Yea the Crying Sin as well as the Vncharitableness and Hurtfulness of others Alas will God leave us also even to the Obdurateness of Pharaoh Is there not Crying Sin with us What have we done to Christ's Kingdom to this Kingdom to our own Friends Dead and Alive to our selves and alas to our Enemies by our Divisions And do we not feel it Do we not know it Is it to us even to us a Crime intolerable to call us to Repentance Woe to us Into what Hardheartedness have we sinned our selves Yea that we should continue in the Sin and passionately defend it But to Sum up all Would you bring the Kingdom of Christ to Desolation or are you willing to see the Ruine of his House Would you hinder the Unbelieving World from receiving the Gospel or would you harden them in their Insidelity Would you blast the Honour of our English Reformation and give Prosâ—lytes to the Church of Rome Would you occasion the spreading of many false and damnable Doctrines which cast Reproach on the Christian Name and are pernicious to the Souls of Men Would you keep open a free passage for all Iniquity and encourage Vice to appear abroad in great Pomp without Shame or Fear Schism is the direct way to all this and the Means which you have chosen answer the Ends which you have in view But would you rather see the Kingdom of Christ in a flourishing Condition and the House increase Strength and Splendour which he hath built with so much care and cost Would you be instrumental to the Conversion of Unbelievers or would you have them brought from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan unto God Would you defeat the Designs of the Factors for the Church of Rome who have been so busie in inflaming our Differences and so ready to make their Advantage of them Would you hinder the progress of Error or do what is proper to stop the Mouths of its Advocates Would you help to stem the Torrent of Profaneness and drive it backwards And would you see the open Enemies of Religion forced into their lurking holes or flying into their Retreats of Darkness Would you do what is highly beneficial to others as well as Glorious and Happy for your selves Your way is to return to the Vnity of the Church which you have forsaken And if that be so as I really think it is my Endeavours to bring you into it will need no Apology FINIS ERRATA PAge 10. in the Margent for 1 Cor. 10. 1. read 1. 10. for Galat. 5. 3. r. 5. 13. and for Revel 12. 17. r. 2. 17. P. 13. Marg. l. 6. r. Octavio P. 19. l. 9. for 2. r. 3. and l. 22. r. their fall P. 20. l. 16. r. had been P. 21. Marg. l. 1. r. Coteler P. 31. Marg. l. 1. r. Revel 21. 1 10. P. 32. l. 8. dele and. P. 48. Marg. l. 4. r. Reines P. 52. Marg. l. 4. r. Act.