him (z) 1 Sam. xiv 45. Which makes it not unlikely that before the Malefactor was put to death some Curse was solemnly denounced on him by which he was cut off from the Priviledges of God's People If it be objected to this That we Christians have Civil Magistrates who do thus punish Malefactors with Death and so we need not Ecclesiastical Censures now any more than the Jews did I shall reply with the most Judicious and Learned Grotius whose words are This Argument taken from the Jews is of no force For their Law for Penalties was wholly accommodated to a Carnal People and all were equally obliged by it so that the Commonwealth and Church there was all one But the Laws of Christ do require more than either is or can be required of the Subjects of any worldly Empire The most men mind evil things and the Civil Laws do their Office if they restrain great Crimes and such as most hurt the Publick State But things done against the Laws of Charity Meekness and Patience which are not within the Civil Laws are within the Rules of the Gospel by which his Church chosen out of the World ought to judge Wherefore Constantine and the following Emperors did rightly leave the Church its proper Judicatory and confirmed it by their Laws (a) Grot. in Luc. vi 22. Which apposite place I could not but transcribe at large to shew the weakness of those who not considering the different circumstances of the Jews do impose their Methods upon the Christian Church And this may shew how necessary it is that there should always be in the Church some way and means to exclude scandalous Offenders and if there be divers Methods under different Dispensations that doth not take off from the usefulness or from the necessity of the present way of proceeding which is as agreeable to the ends and designs of the Gospel as the other was to those of the Law yea this variety shews it must always be done in some way or other and makes it manifest that the Church cannot subsist without it I have been the larger in these Reasons because the Learned Selden and many of his far loss Learned Followers triumph extreamly in this difference between the proceeding of the Ancient Jews and the Modern Christians and use this variety as an Artifice to perswade the World that our Censures are not of Divine Institution and to wrest all Authority out of the Churches hands that their Schism and some other Crimes which no other Judicatory with us doth take cognizance of may go wholly unpunished But as their evil design makes their Argument suspicious so I hope this fair account will shew it to be Fallacious and that even while the Jewish Polity stood there were Evidences enough to convince any unprejudiced Man that it was always God's will scandalous Offenders should be punished by those who had the ordering of Religion But thirdly After the Jewish Commonwealth was subverted and their Government altered by the Babylonian Captivity and afterwards when they were in subjection to the Romans and had lost the power of the Temporal Sword then they were obliged to make a frequenter use of Excommunication and came nearer to the Form of the Christian Church as we shall now shew There was saith Grotius a greater necessity of this Rite after the People became Captive and with their Liberty lost the Power of Civil Judicatures for Natural Reason compelled them to have recourse unto those Methods of Coercion which they could use without usurping on the Supream Powers (b) Idem in Luc. vi 22. So that though it be not true which Mr. Selden affirms that there were no Instances of this Rite for we have shewed in Miriam Uzziah and Benjamin there were some Examples yet there were indeed far more Instances afterwards For Ezra the Priest on the Return from the Captivity doth denounce an Excommunication against all that should not appear within three days to put away the strange Wives they had taken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Penalty agreed upon between him and the Princes was That he who did not come up to Jerusalem all his Goods should be forfeited which seems to be the Civil Sanction and himself should be separated from the Congregation of the Captivity which was the Ecclesiastical Censure Ezra 10.8 where we see the Commonwealth and the Church agreed in this matter And the Interpreter of Josephus in this Story hath kept the very word he shall be Excommunicated (c) Ut excommunicetur bonaque ejus sacro aerario addicantur Joseph Ant. l. xi c. 5. ex interp Gelen pag. 29. which is the sense of the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he shall be made a Stranger that is cut off from the Communion of the Church and be treated as an Heathen according to our Saviour's description of the Excommunicate under the Gospel whom we are to account as Heathens or Publicans if they fall under the Censures of the Church for their Contumacy Nehemiah also who was the chief Ruler of the returning Jews in a General Assembly wherein there were many of the Priests did make the Congregation enter into a Curse and an Oath to walk in the Law of God that is saith Mr. Selden They denounced an Excommunication against the breakers thereof Nehem. x. 29. Aben Ezra also understands that Curse pronounced against those who had married strange Wives Chap. xiii 25. and the Expulsion of the High-Priests Grand-child ver 28. to have been the two sorts of Excommunication Cherem and Niddui executed by Nehemiah according to the Decree made by Ezra Chap. x. 8. which is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Targum And Rabbi Benjamin Ben Moses affirms That if any fall into great Crimes for which in the time of the Captivity no judgment could be executed on them they ought to repent and undertake to live better but if the fear of God will not ingage them to do this we put them under an Anathema and separate them from our Company according to that of Ezra x. 8. (d) Rab. Benjamin ap Seld. de Synedr lib. 1. c. 7. And Josephus mentions such a kind of Excommunication against the Jews of Delos (e) Joseph Antiq lib. 14. cap. 17. pag. 250. in the time of Julius Caesar But we shall not need collect these Examples since it is more to our purpose to consider how the Matter stood in the time of our Saviour Christ while the Romans had Supream power over them We read that the Rulers had decreed That whosoever should confess Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John ix 22. he should be excommunicated The fear of which punishment kept the Parents of the blind Man from owning their Faith in Jesus And the same fear restrained divers of the Sanhedrin it self from Confessing our Lord lest they should be cast out of the Synagogue John xii 42. where Vatablus hath in the Margin Ne excommunicarentur and our
Synagogue at the hours of Prayer (m) Idem ibid. cap. 6. And again Let every man go Morning and Evening to the Synagogue and if any Man who hath a Synagogue in his City prays not in it with the Congregation he is an evil Neighbour (n) Maim Tephil cap. 8. Et Baeb Berac fol. 8. And about our Saviour's time we are told there were 480 in Jerusalem yea unto this day the Jews have Synagogues for Prayer and Religious Worship in all Cities where they are tolerated for of these Buxtorf saith They have Synagogues or Schools so they call their Churches (o) Synagogas aut Scholas ita nimirum vocant Templa ipsorum habent Buxt Synag c. 5. where they always meet saith he at the appointed hours of Prayer and there they perform their Prayers according to the directions of their Books (p) Idem ibid. Which constant use of the Jews in calling the Places for their Religious Assemblies Synagogues gave occasion to Christians also to call their Churches by the very same name so S. James speaks of one coming into the Christian Synagogue (q) James ii 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. adv Nat. lib. 2. and some of the Ancients say the Holy Churches are called Synagogues All which sufficiently proves that the main end of Synagogues was for Prayer and other Religious Meetings yet we confess that when once the Nation was brought under the Romans so that the Jews had no Prince of their own nor no great Coercive Power Then and not before it appears they had a Session of three eminent Men in every Synagogue to hear and determine such Causes as were left to them and were not sit to be complained of to the Roman Governour and because for more privacy they sometimes executed the Sentence as far as Scourging the Malefactor in their Synagogues Matth. x. 17. Therefore some Learned Men have fancied the Synagogues to be places for administring Civil Justice And hence Mr. Selden would infer the Civil Magistrates Power in Excommunication and that this holy Interdict it self was chiefly yea only a Civil Punishment and a denying to keep them Company in the Affairs of common Life but all unprejudiced Men must grant That Excommunication or Turning out of the Synagogue necessarily implied a Separation from all Acts done in the Synagogue that is First and chiefly from Prayers and Sermons and Secondly from the benefit of these private Tribunals and Lastly from their Civil Conversation also Nor can it be improbable that they must both go together for if a Man be so wicked as to be judged unworthy to talk or eat with his Brethren he is much more unworthy to pray with them and he who might not come into the Synagogue when a Court was kept there ought much more to be excluded when Religious Offices were performing And that Offenders were then excluded from Religious Assemblies may be sufficiently proved from the best Authors Josephus affirms That if any of the Priests did offend he was interdicted from coming to the Altar and from medling with any Holy Office In Ap. lib. 1. pag. 632. and he saith The Essenes did not Sacrifice in the Temple because they had some Rites of their own which they counted more holy for which Cause being excluded from the Publick Temple they sacrificed in private by themselves (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Antiq. l 18. c. 2. Yea the Custom of these Essenes among those of their own Sect shews that the Excommunication then in use among them was an Exclusion from both Religious and Civil Commerce For if any of them were taken in any great Fault they cast him out of their Society (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jos Bell. Jud. lib. 2. cap. 7. and none of them would ever come near him after this Censure under which he commonly dyed miserably Athanasius also relates how the chief Priests and Elders at Berytus did excommunicate that Jew and cast him out of their Synagogue with whom an Image of our Saviour was found (u) Athanas Tom. 2. p. 628. And not to search for more Examples the usage of the Modern Jews derived from their Fathers doth abundantly prove that Excommunication was a deprivation of Communion in Sacred Offices For when any is disobedient They curse him and declare him openly to be excommunicated and in this Case it is not lawful for any to speak to him or to come within four yards of him neither may he come into the Synagogue or School but he is to sit upon the Ground with his shoes off as if he mourned for some of his dead Kindred and this he must do till he be absolved by the Rabbins and shall have received their Benediction And if it be the solemn and grand Excommunication then do all the People repair to the School lighting black Torches and sounding Horns they Curse him that shall do or hath done such a thing and all the Children and the People answer Amen Leo Moden History of the present Jews Chap. 3. pag. 70. Which last Passage minds me of the second degree of Excommunication called Cherem which was not only a separating the Person from Religious and Civil Commerce but declaring him Accursed yea they did actually Curse him and wish dreadful Evils might befall him Which kind of Anathema the Jews in their Synagogues uttered against Christ and all Christians as Justin Martyr at large relates in divers places (w) Just Mart. Dial. cum Tryph. p. 323 335 363. yea Epiphanius saith that the Jews in their Synagogue twice a Day at Noon and at Evening did Curse and Anathematize the Christians saying O God Curse these Nazarites (x) Epiphan Panar Sect. 29. p. 55. S. Hierom saith they did it thrice a day Com. in Isai v. 18. And the like Anathema's they pronounced against all those who read their Law in the Greek Tongue till Justinian did forbid this by a particular Constitution yet extant in the Books of the Civil Law (y) Justin Auth. Collat. ix Tit. 29. Nov. 146 pag. 202. To this may be added a third sort of Excommunication sometimes used among the Jews called Schammatha which was a solemn delivering a desperate and incurable Criminal to the Divine Vengeance which sometimes did terribly seize on the accursed Person and of this the name it self gives us intimation which some expound Ibi Mors There is Death Others The Name cometh that is God cometh Jehovah whose Name is not to be pronounced especially in a Form of Cursing cometh to take vengeance which S. Paul gives us in the Syriac form Maran-atha 1 Cor. xvi 22. For Maran signifies a Lord in that Language and thence they call our Saviour Marani from which Appellation the Syrian Christians are yet called Maronites And some think S. Paul alludes to this where he speaks of wilful Apostates and saith nothing remains for them but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment Hebr. x. 27. Yea some Learned
they might retain his Sins that is declare him unsit for and unworthy of pardon and consequently of the Churches Communion wherein forgiveness is to be obtained and while the Offender remains impenitent Christ declares his Guilt remains on him and his Sin shall not be pardoned But if the party submit and repent so that the Governours of the Church judge him sincere and take off this Sentence by declaring him penitent then his Sin shall be forgiven in Heaven as well as his Censure is reversed on Earth Which promise no doubt our Saviour makes good as often as these his Stewards do judge by the Rules and Measures he hath given them And since Christ gave his Apostles and their Successors no Temporal Power nor any other way to punish Offenders but this they who would rob them of this Power do what they can to strip them of all Authority and bring the Church by Anarchy into Confusion 'T is true these words are repeated to every Priest in his Ordination and the Power is committed to him so far as may enable him to serve the necessities of single Persons whose faults are made known to him by private complaint or voluntary confession But for orders sake where the Offence is publick and the Scandal evident there the Bishop only exercises this Power of remitting and retaining and it is this latter Power which only concerns Excommunication and which was given originally to the Apostles as Governours of the Church And while there are Offences and Offenders in the Church as there will be to the Worlds end this Power must remain in the Church Governours for the preservation of this holy Society which as Jesus did found so he hath we see taken care to endue those he set over it with such kind of Coercive Power as is necessary for the good ordering thereof CHAP. II. Of the Practice of Excommunication § I. SInce our blessed Saviour had thus in as clear words as could be spoken given his Apostles this Power of Excluding Offenders out of that Christian Church which they were to plant and rule it is plain they had Authority to exercise this Discipline by Divine Right and therefore it must be a gross Error in the Learned Mr. Selden to affirm their Right was derived partly from the Jews and partly from the Roman Emperours Edicts which allowed the Jews liberty to observe their own Rites (n) Selden Syned c. 8. p. 120. For though we grant that the Christians did for some few years after our Lord's Resurrection observe some of the Jewish Ceremonies and were by the Gentile Writers grosly mistaken for a Sect of the same Religion many years after yet they had a distinct Name within Ten years after Christ's Resurrection (o) Baron Annal Eccles An. 43. and were long before that Excommunicated and persecuted by the Jews Acts viii 1. Chap. ix 2. and the Synod at Jerusalem had declared that the Gentile Converts need not observe the Ceremonial Law So that the Christians were a distinct Society and had Officers of their own and Assemblies proper to themselves and these Officers did exercise a Jurisdiction over them and openly declared they derived their Power not from the Jews but from Christ 2 Cor. x. 8. 1 Cor. v. 4. So that it is ridiculous to assert That the right of Apostolical Excommunication was from the Jews there is a vast difference between their imitating some of the Jewish Forms or Customs in the exercise of these Censures and their deriving a right from them even as the Church of England doth imitate some of the Forms of the Roman Church in her Excommunications but it doth not follow therefore that she derives her Right to excommunicate from the Pope or the Church of Rome And for the Edicts of the Emperours which were made in favour of the Jews there is no proof that ever the Christians claimed any benefit by them yet if they did these Edicts gave them no right to Govern a Society set up on purpose to abrogate the whole Worship and Ceremonies peculiar to the Jews and though they might give them a liberty from Secular Compulsion in the exercise of that right which Christ had given them yet they did not convey that right to them So that these are meer Subterfuges contrived to escape the force and strong evidence of a Divine Right which is so clear not only from our Saviour's Institution but the Apostolick practice grounded thereon to which we shall now proceed The Apostles principal work was to bring Converts into the Church and yet when need required they also exercised that other Power of Casting notorious Offenders out of it S. Peter to whom Christ directed his first promise of this Authority was the first who exercised it and the first Sin which he retained was the Sacriledge of Ananias and Saphira which was joyned with a hope to deceive the Holy Ghost which dwelt in the blessed Apostle and that our Lord might make his Officers Rebukes more dreadful an immediate Judgment followed the Censure for Ananias and his Wife were struck with sudden death and the effect of this was That great fear came upon all the Church Acts v. 11. And though Christ had given no Secular Power to his Apostles this great Example did make the Christians reverence the Persons and fear the just Reproofs of those he had set over them The next Instance was that of Simon Magus who had pretended to believe and was baptized Acts viii 13. but it seems he had dissembled with God and Men and only designed to make a gain of the Power of Miracles which he vilely offered Money for as if it had been only an Art which might be bought and sold whereupon S. Peter declares him accursed ver 20. saying His Money and he should perish together By which Phrase he intimates he was as the Jews speak under Cherem and that he might separate him from the Church he declares ver 21. Thou hast neither part nor lot with us in this matter which are the very words of the Tribes beyond Jordan who express their fear of their Posterity's being rejected from Communion with the other Tribes because of their distance by this very Phrase They will say unto them Ye have no part in the Lord (p) Josh xxii 5. Cal. Par. Non estis inter quos est verbi divini Communitas LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in the like form of Speech the Bond of Society in Civil Matters was declared void 2 Sam. xix 1. 1 Kings xii 16. Yea our Lord thus threatens to reject S. Peter if he would not admit his washing saying If I wash thee not thou hast no part in me John xiii 8. And further as a Reason of this destruction denounced and this Separation inflicted on Simon Magus the Apostle shews he is still 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 under the Bond of his Sin which by this Declaration was retained according to the Power given by Christ yet
he doth not cut off this Sinner but to shew he did this for his Amendment he still exhorts him to Repentance ver 22. 23. Upon which the Offender immediately submits and fearing some Judgment would follow this Apostolical Excommunication desires the Apostles as the Primitive Penitents did the Faithful afterwards to pray for him ver 24. which is a plain description of this Rite * Vide Apostol Can. 29. And Mr. Selden mentions some ancient Arabick Manuscripts which in the Form of Excommunication say Let him be accursed and excommunicated as Peter excommunicated Simon Magus (q) Seld Synedr l. 1. c. 8. p. 119. The next Example is that of the Incestuous Corinthian 1 Corinth v. 1 2. who had scandalously married his Fathers Wife yet the Church of Corinth connived at this notorious Crime and had high thoughts of themselves though this gross Scandal had been done among them whereas they ought rather to have lamented the deplorable condition of the Sinner and cast him out of their Church by Excommunication for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here and ver 13. doth not signifie to take him away by death but to drive or take him away from assembling with them Only because this was a kind of Spiritual death therefore the Ancient Church use to inflict this Censure with weeping and lamenting over the Offender as if he had been really dead (r) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. constit lib. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. in Cels lib. 3. p. 142. which was not unlike the Custom of the Pythagoreans who set a Coffin in the place of him that had forsaken their School And if the Corinthians had been thus truly sensible of the sad estate of this vile Wretch they would no doubt have cut him off from their Body as a common Annoyance as (s) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophilact Theophilact speaks or as a gangren'd Limb. But since the Schism there had loosened the Discipline our Apostle though absent in Body yet as present by his Authority decrees he shall be Excommunicated ver 3. and directs them how to proceed ver 4. When they were assembled for Publick Worship in Christ's Name for these Censures as we noted before were inflicted in Publick to produce the greater shame and terror in the Offender then according to the Sentence which S. Paul had pronounced by the Spirit and by virtue of that Power which our Lord Jesus had committed to him and which he now delegates to the Rulers of the Corinthian Church he chargeth them ver 5. to deliver this incestuous Man over to Satan that he might inflict some bodily pains and diseases on him to bring him to a sense of his Sin that so his Soul might be saved at the last and dreadful day of Judgment As to which Phrase of delivering to Satan it is certainly meant of Excommunication both here and 1 Timoth. i. 20. for as by Baptism Men were delivered from the power of Satan Acts xxvi 18. whence those Primitive Exorcisms and solemn Renunciations of the Devil So when Apostates and Evil men broke this Covenant and were cast out of the Church again they were as it were delivered back to Satan they became as Heathens Matth. xviii 17. and were under the Dominion of the Prince of Darkness Yet to shew this Discipline was not to destruction but to edification the Apostle declares this delivering to Satan was not for the damnation of their Souls but that Satan by God's permission and as God's Executioner might torment their Bodies by some grievous Disease whereby they might be humbled and brought to Repentance in order to their final Salvation It is well known that the Jews generally did believe Satan was the Inflicter of all Diseases Joh. ii 4 5 6 7. Luke xiii 16. Mark ix 17. And in the Infancy of the Church God was pleased to give greater credit to his Apostles and instead of Temporal Power to second their Censures with Diseases and so to confirm their Sentence in that Age of Miracles and though now the Gospel is sufficiently attested these miraculous Attestations as needless are withdrawn yet still those who are cast out of the Church are really exposed to Satan's malice until they submit and by repentance be received in again But the Apostle proceeds ver 6. that they must not glory of their Purity while such contagious and spreading Vices remained uncensured but ver 7. must clear themselves from these vicious Persons that they might be fit to communicate with Christ their Passoever He also adds That in a former Epistle now not extant he had enjoyned them to avoid the company and conversation of Fornicators that is that the Church should Censure them and the People have no Conversation with them but he now explains himself that he means not this should be extended to the Jews or Pagans who were no professed Christians and so not liable to its Discipline and by whose Faults no Scandal could fall on the Church but he now tells them who are to be Excommunicated and avoided viz. those who pretend they are Christians and yet are Fornicators Covetous Idolaters Railers Drunkards and Extortioners (t) Habes hic praecipuas excommunicationiz causas Grot. in locum with these though through the Schisms at Corinth the Bishop could not so well Excommunicate them the faithful People must not so much as eat a common Meal and sure much more not admit them to their Religious Worship and eat with them at the Lords Table ver 11. Now if any say S. Paul is partial in being more severe against Christians than Strangers for the same Crimes he answereth ver 12. That his Commission extended not to them that were without they were to be left to God's Judgment but he and they by Authority delegated from him had power to judge and sentence those who were Members of their own Society and so he concludes ver 13. That leaving the Unconverted to God's Judicature they must proceed to Excommunicate and take away by Excommunication this and other evil Persons and so by the severity of these Divine Censures they might in time obtain that end of punishment in all Societies even the taking away of Evil from among them so often mentioned in Moses's Law and by the LXX often rendred in the Masculine Gender (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX Deut. xvii 17. xxi 21. xxiv 7. Haec itaque est vera lectio hujus loci non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod D. Seldeno placet yet sometimes in the Neuter (w) Deut. xix 19. xxii 21. To conclude This Chapter contains full and clear directions for this holy Discipline and an Example which admits of no evasion For if this were to be executed by S. Paul's Order and by the Power of Christ on all notorious and scandalous Offenders and if the Church were to cast out such from their Society and the People to refrain from conversing with them if
some Power to punish all those who do disturb the good Order thereof by a false Faith or corrupt Worship or by dissolute Manners and if our Lord had not intrusted the Church with such a Power Reason and Necessity would have compelled the Rulers of the Church to have assumed it because the Church cannot subsist without it No man can so much as govern one Family in the Capacity of a Father or Master unless he be invested with power to let in and turn out of his Family such as he sees fit and to dispense or withhold the Benefits belonging to his Family as he sees Occasion much less can a larger Society be maintained in Peace and Safety without the exercise of such a Power And as the Father or Master may and doth exercise this Authority within his own Family though it be a part of the Commonwealth without damage to the Prince's Power So in this Society of the Church since the ends of it are different from that of the Civil Government the Ecclesiastical Governours may exercise their Power and Authority without incroachment upon the Prince's Sovereignty The ends of Temporal Princes being to preserve their People in outward Peace and Plenty in the enjoyment of their Temporal Rights and Priviledges while they live upon Earth But the ends of the Spiritual Governours are to make Christians holy here and happy hereafter and their Rules and Punishments are both suted to this end The Rules are Precepts of Piety and Charity and the Penalties are proportionable viz. not Corporal (a) Nullum ibi discrimen sanguinis sub incruentâ disciplinâ timebatur Aug. ad Maced ep 54. but Spiritual that is the depriving them of all the comfort and benefit of Church-communion at present and the declaring them to be worthy of Divine vengeance unless they repent So that the Rulers of the World need have no jealousie for their Authority on the account of this Spiritual Jurisdiction from his Servants who declares His Kingdom is not of this World (b) Joh. xviii 36. Audite Judaei Genteâ— non impediam dominationem vestram in hoc mundo Aug. in loc They are to watch for mens Souls to make them inwardly good to reform their Manners and fit them for a blessed Eternity And they govern as Fathers by Arguments and Perswasion by Spiritual Promises and Threatnings by the Rod of Church Censures not by the Sword as the Civil Magistrate doth Yet as the Prince takes care of the Lives and worldly concerns of his Subjects and punisheth those who injure them in either of these so doth the Spiritual Governour in his proper way punish those who act contrary to the welfare of their own or others Souls whether by teaching false Doctrine or setting a bad Example And as there are three ends of outward and civil Punishments First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Instruction to the Offender to repent and amend Secondly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Warning to others not to follow so bad an Example and Thirdly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vindication of the Society from the Scandal which might be cast upon it for suffering evil Acts to be done (c) Vidend Aul. Gellius noct Attie lib. 6. c. 14. Clem. Alexandr Strom. 4. So also the Spiritual Penalties aim at the same ends viz. To reform the Offender To warn others not to follow the ill Example And to clear the Church from that Scandal which the acts of evil Men professing themselves Christians may bring on it if they be not punished All which ends are obtained by this Spiritual Penalty of Excommunication duly inflicted by the Church and humbly submitted to by the Offender which doth clearly shew that it is necessary to the being and the well-being of this Spiritual Society the Church even upon Principles of Natural Reason that its Governours should have this Power And that none may doubt whether Natural Reason doth teach this we will shew that the very Gentiles who had no other Guide but the Light of Natural Reason did frequently use this kind of excluding all those from their Society especially from joyning in their Sacrifices who were unfit and unworthy And though there were no Law to turn such Persons out by violence yet their Order was obeyed by all to the shame of those pretended Christians who despise the Commands and deride the Authority of our Lords Ministers in the like Case § II. Among the Grecians Draco was one of their most ancient Lawgivers and he decreed That Murtherers should be excluded from the Drink-Offerings and Festivals from the Temples and Publick Assemblies (d) Demosth Orat. in Leptin And the Scholiast on Aristophanes speaks of this as of an old Custom That no Manslayer should partake of their Sacrifices (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schol. Aristoph And agreeable to this is that Edict of Oedipus in Sophocles concerning a Parricide That none of his Subjects should receive him into their House nor speak to him nor communicate with him in Prayers or Sacrifices to the Gods nor wash their hands with him (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sophoc in Oedip. Whence it appears That both Civil and Sacred Commerce was forbid to these Criminals and though those who had slain their Mother in Euripides mention only their being excluded at Argis from all Mens houses and conversations (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eurip. Oreste Yet we may infer they were much more uncapable of coming to the Sacrifices Plato also ordains that such as strike their Parents should be expelled from their Cities and their Temples and that whoever had any conversation with them should be excluded from the Assemblies and Sacrifices till they were purged (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato de leg 9. fol. 881. And if it be enquired whose office it was to do this we may learn that from Julius Pollux who tells us there was one at Athens called the King of the Sacrifices whose office was To proclaim that the contumacious or rather the unholy who were of contrary disposition to the holy Rites should abstain from the Mysteries and other established Rites (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Poll. Onomastic lib. 8. cap. 9. pag. 397. And Alcibiades for having revealed the Mysteries of Ceres which ought to have been kept secret was devoted to Divine Vengeance by the Priests in all their several ways of Religion (k) Se Dâ—is per omnium Sacerdetum religiones devotum cognovit Justin Hist lib. 5. Where note that this sort of Excommunication was attended with solemn Curses which was a delivering them to the Divine Justice and we may further observe that this penalty was not inflicted only for Murther but for any great offence either against Religion as here or against good manners As in that remark concerning the Cercetae now called the Circassians who used to forbid all that did any injustice to come into their Temples (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stobae Serm. 165. And that Example
old English Version uses the word Excommunicated in both places Which Decree was actually put in execution and the Penalty inflicted upon the poor blind Man whom our Saviour had restored to sight John ix 34. They cast him out that is they excommunicated him and when Jesus heard of it ver 35. He receives him into the number of those that believed in him declaring to him that he was the Son of God And a little before our Saviour's Passion he foretels his Disciples that the Jews would Cast them out of their Synagogues John xvi 2. where Vatablus again in the Margin hath Excommunicabunt vos they will excommunicate you of which he had also warned them before and armed them against the fear of this Censure by assuring them They should be blessed by God when they were thus ill treated by Men saying Blessed are you when Men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their Company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Mans sake Luke vi 22. Which is a plain description of Excommunication For this Separation is plainly Niddui (f) Niddui est remotio ab aliorum congressu tam Sacro quam politico domestico ad quatuor passus Instit ep Hebr. pag. 55. the lesser sort of Excommunication by which they excluded the Offenders from any near converse with them either in Civil or Sacred Actions the Person thus separated being not to come within four Paces of any other Jew either in any Religious or Common place as Buxtorfius doth inform us So that these were not quite excluded from the Temple but only made to come in at a Gate peculiar to themselves and to worship at a distance and separated from the rest of the Jews which Gate was called the Gate of Mourners said to be built by Solomon and this I suppose was the reason why the Publican who may well be thought to be under this Sentence of Separation is said to worship standing afar off Luke xviii 13. But the whole Rite is fully described by R. Juda in the Book of Musar When Solomon built the House of the Sanctuary he built two Gates one for the Rejoycers and the other for the Mourners and the Excommunicate If any came in by this Gate with his upper lip vailed they knew he was a Mourner and said to him He that dwelleth in this House chear and comfort thee If his upper lip were not covered they knew him to be under Niddui and said unto him He that dwells in this House put it into thy heart to hear the words of thy Brethren that they may receive thee (g) R. Juda lib. Musar fol. 95. col 1. Which Custom may well be thought very ancient if we observe how early the Primitive Christians placed their Penitents in this manner at the Church door and how they there begged the Prayers of the Faithful who went near and worshipped But to return to the place of S. Luke Dr. Hammond thinks that reproaching them and casting out their name as evil is a description of Cherem the higher kind of Excommunication wherein they did proclaim the Person Accursed and devoted him to suffer the highest and heaviest Judgment as a most vile and desperately wicked Man Which severe sort of proceeding Grotius thinks was not used towards the Christians till some time after our Saviour's Resurrection So that the Learned Selden need not wonder why Christ and his Apostles did appear in the Jewish Temple and Synagogues since he supposes them excommunicated For first we have no Evidence that they were actually under this Censure while mention is made of their coming to the Temple nor is it likely they would have lost the opportunity of doing good to so many as met in those places for any such unjust Sentence if it had been executed on them by malicious Men since they had an express Commission from Heaven to Convert the Jews and in order to that it was necessary they should meet in the Publick Assemblies yea though the Jewish Rulers threatned them never so severely it is plain they omitted not their Duty And lastly if it were only Niddui or the Separation which was inflicted on them it seems they might come to the Religious Assemblies notwithstanding that Sentence though Drusius thinks that Niddui only excluded from the Synagogue and not from the Temple and its Service (h) Drusij Praeâ—erit lib. 4. in Johan ix 22. But in this Case of our Saviour and his Apostles I rather think that the Jewish Rulers were not content with so gentle a Penalty as this Separation for the Leaders of this new Society and rather fought to suppress them by Imprisonment Scourging and Death it self For it seems evident to me that there was such a Punishment then in use as Excluding Men from Sacred as well as Civil Commerce signified by that word Casting them out of their Synagogue Which though Mr. Selden labours to expound only of Exclusion from Civil Commerce meerly designing to make this a Penalty belonging to the Civil Magistrate yet there are many Evidences that it must be expounded of interdicting Men from Religious Assemblies also For the prime notion of a Synagogue is a place set apart principally for Acts of Religion and because there was but One Temple in all Judaea for the most Solemn Worship to which all the Nation did resort at some set times in the year as well within the Borders of Canaan as without it was very necessary for those in the remoter parts of Canaan and especially for those of the dispersion to have some places appropriate to Religion for their ordinary Duties at less Solemn Times Such were those Schools of the Prophets in the Old Testament 1 Sam. x. 5. and Chap. xix 23. And those called Synagogues in the New which in our Saviour's time were undoubtedly Schools for Learning the Law and Houses of Prayer or Proseucha's Hence that of our Saviour who notes that the Pharisees loved to stand praying in the Synagogues Matth. vi 5. and there also the Law was expounded as is clear from many places of the New Testament Matth. iv 23. Luke iv 16. Acts xiii 15. especially every Sabbath Day Acts xv 21. Wherefore Philo calls these Synagogues The Houses of Prayer in every City (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo legat ad Cajum and saith They were Schools of Wisdom and Fortitude of Modesty and Righteousness of Piety of Holiness and of all Vertue Nor is any thing more frequent in the Talmud and those that expound it than to mention Prayers made in the Synagogues (k) Glos in Baeb Beracoth fol. 2. col 1. So Maimonides tells us Whereever there are Ten of Israel live together there they must huild a House of Prayer to meet in at the hours for Prayer and this House is called a Synagogue (l) Maimon Tephil cap. ii And he saith it is forbidden for Men to pass by a
not to Peter only but to all the Apostles yea to all the Clergy and the whole Church (d) Haec autem ligandi solvendi potestas quamvis soli Petro data videatur à Domino tamen caeteris Apostolis datur necnon etiam in Episcopis Presbyteris toti Ecclesiae Raban Maurus And our Saviour himself to anticipate this unjust Claim doth afterwards twice grant the same Power to all the Apostles which here he seems only to give to S. Peter Matth. xviii 18. John xx 21 22. Yet this false Gloss of the Romanists with the wild and extravagant Inferences deduced from thence hath put some Learned Protestants into the other extream that is into denying there is any Power granted to the Apostles here more than the Power of a Doctor or Teacher and they will have the Key to be only the Key of Knowledge Luke xi 52. and out of the Talmud they go about to prove that binding and loosing signify nothing else but determining what things are lawful and these are said to be loosed and what things are unlawful which are said to be bound (e) Gamero in loc item Lightfoot horae Hebr in Matth. But we must not let the Sense of the Fathers and the Power of the Keys to be at once wrested out of our hands by this Novel fancy For first the place cannot bear this Sense since it is ridiculous to affirm that Christ gave his Apostles such a Power That whatever they declared or taught to be unlawful on Earth should be unlawful in Heaven and whatever they taught was lawful God would make that lawful this were to give them a power which God himself never did assume viz. to change the eternal and unalterable Rules of Good and Evil And besides in the parallel place where these words are repeated by Christ Matth. xviii 18. they are applyed to Offenders refusing to Repent upon the Churches admonition which obstinate sinners are to be avoided as Heathens and Publicans by private Christians and if they value not this as being an Act only of their Equals Christ supposes his Apostles will then bind them by Excommunication and to shew the weight of that Censure he saith Whatsoever they bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven ver 18. which being spoken of the validity of the Punishment inflicted on evil Men can never be drawn to signifie only Teaching yea after our Lords Resurrection he who is the best expounder of his own meaning declares that binding and loosing signifies remitting or retaining of sins John xx 21. and turns the Whatsoever ye shall bind c. into Whosesoever sins ye remit c. Again since the Misna which is the oldest part of the Talmud was written 150 years after the destruction of Jerusalem which is later than any Canonical part of the New Testament (e) Sixt. Senens Biblioth lib. 2. pag. 148. those Learned Men above mentioned ought not to expound the more ancient Phrases of the Gospel by these Talmudical expressions yet even in the Talmud Binding and Loosing is often used for Excommunicating and Absolving (f) R. Samuel status cornu ligat et flatus cornu solvit Talm. Bab. Moed Katon c. 3. fol. 16. Os quod solvit est os quod ligat Tract Demai cap. 6. §. 11. which is the more obvious and natural Sense of the Words and because the doing things forbidden by the Rabbins caused Men to be Excommunicated or bound by this Censure Therefore by a Trope the things themselves were said to be bound So that we may conclude That our Saviour doth actually here give Authority to his Apostles and to their lawful Successors to shut Men who are scandalously wicked out of his Church and to let them in again upon their Repentance declaring their Sentence shall be ratified in Heaven And thus the Ancients generally expound this place and from thence they frequently speak of the Power of the Keys given by Christ to the Church in order to the Excommunicating and Absolving of Sinners Of which because there are innumerable Instances one or two shall suffice (g) Ecclesia quae fundatur in Christo claves ab eo regni coelorum accepit in Petro i. e. potestatem ligandi solvendique peccata Aug. Tract 124 in Johan Cum excommunicat Ecclesia ligatur in Coelo excommunicatus Aug. in Psal 108. Vid. Ambros de poenit l. 1. c. 6. that so Reason and Authority both may shew our Exposition of this Place is true and certain which will be further confirmed by considering the second place where this Power is mentioned viz. Matth. xviii 18. Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven the very same words with those spoken to Peter Chap. xvi 19. But if we look back to the occasion of them here it will appear they can be meant of nothing but of Ecclesiastical Discipline For in this xviiith Chapter Our Lord first labours to prevent the doing Injuries and Offences to the meanest of his Disciples ver 1. to ver 14. But secondly in case Injuries be done or any Scandal or Offence given Christ teaches the offended Person what method to take viz. First privately to admonish the Offender ver 15. If that prevail not the grieved party must rebuke him before witness ver 16. And if this also prove unsuccessful and the Offender remain obstinate then he must complain to the Church which is supposed to rebuke and if need be to Censure the stubborn Criminal and if he do not hear the Church that is submit to its Sentence and make reparation then Private Christians are to renounce all Communion and Commerce with that Man and carry themselves toward him as the Jews did to a Heathen or Publican with whom they would not discourse nor eat Matth. ix 11. Galat. ii 12. nor yet suffer them to come into that Court of the Temple where they were wont to pray Acts xxi 28. for on the Gate was written Let no Stranger go into the Holy Place (h) Joseph Bell. Jud. lib. 6. cap. 14. That is they must no longer count this Man a Member of the Christian Church nor call him a Brother but esteem him as a Pagan and one who never yet was admitted or a Publican who for living in open Sins was cast out and with such a Man the rest of the sound Christians were not to have any Commerce in Civil or Religious Matters But if all this will neither shame nor terrifie the wicked Wretch so as to bring him to Repentance because he may think this Sentence inflicted by the Church is but an Human Act and pronounced only by Mortal Men Our Lord declares That this Sentence is of Divine Authority and though it be pronounced only by Men yet it shall be confirmed in Heaven For saith he Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind c. ver 18. And
Jerusalem Secondly That it was after two Admonitions as Christ advised Matth. xviii Thirdly That hereby he was thrust back into that same estate he was in before his Baptism About thirty years after Cerdon the Heretick came to Rome in the time of Hyginus An. 153. and at first confessed his Error in the Church and lived orderly but being found out to have taught it in secret often and often to have recanted it again he was at last admonished and turned out of the Assembly of the Faithful (w) Iren. lib. 3. cap. 4. ex eo Euseb l. 4. c. 11. Soon after came Marcion to Rome also whose Father being Bishop of Sinope in Pontus had Excommunicated this Son of his for the Crime of Fornication and refused to receive him in again Nor would the Presbyters of the Roman Church who had conversed with the Apostles receive him into Communion though he had offered 200 Sesterces to their Church (x) Epiph. Panar l. 3. Tom. I. haeres 42. p. 135. Tertul. de praescript haeret c. 30. p. 212. semel atque iterum ejecti novissime in perpetuum dissidium relegati Tertul. ibid. but rejected him and his Offering also which was in the time when Hyginus their Bishop was dead An. 155. And Tertullian adds That Valentinus and Marcion having been once and again cast out at lest they were for ever Excommunicated by that Church which he saith was in the time of Eleutherius whos 's next Successor Victor about the year 192. excommunicated Theodotus the Heretick then living at Rome for denying the Divinity of our Saviour (y) Euseb Hist l. 5. c. 27. p. 145. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Eusebius relates And had he exercised this Power only upon those of his own Church he had not met with so much opposition but he about the year 198. Excommunicated the Bishops of Asia for not agreeing with him in the time of keeping the Feast of Easter (z) Euseb ibid. l. 5. c. 23. p. 142. which rash act of his displeased many even of the Western Bishops and Irenaeus particularly who sharply rebukes him for it shewing that none of his Predecessors had ever done such a thing to Excommunicate Foreign Churches for a difference only in a Matter of Ceremony yet still this shews the practice of Excommunication was frequent in these early times And the manner of inflicting these Censures is soon after An. 200. described by Tertullian who speaking of the Religious Assemblies of the Christians saith There are Exhortations Rebukes and the Divine Censure for they judge with great Authority as being assured of God's Presence among them so that if any so offend as to be excluded from communicating in Prayers from the Assemblies and from all Sacred Commerce it is a strong presumption of their Condemnation in the last Judgment The Presidents of these Assemblies are divers ancient and approved Persons (a) Tertul. Apol c. 39. p. 31. In which eminent Testimony we see there were Admonitions first and then sharper Rebukes preceding the Censure according to our Saviour's Method And for the Authority of these Censures it is expresly said to be Divine and upon Christ's Promise to be with those who met together on this occasion in his Name Matth. xviii 20. Tertullian affirms they are certain of God's Presence with them in this Act yea since our Lord had said What they bound on Earth should be bound in Heaven he reckons that the last dreadful Judgment will go according to this Ecclesiastical Sentence And as to the Effect of this Excommunication on Earth the Party under it is neither to come into the Church nor to pray or have any commerce with the Faithful Finally The Bishop and his Clergy are the Dispensers of this Discipline and the Governours of Christian Assemblies and if any doubt of this last particular the same Tertullian speaking of what was in the Apostles days and his own too in the Bishops Power expresly saith It was in his power to Excommunicate (b) Ut extra Ecclesiam quis detur erat in Praesidentis officio Tert. de pudicit c. 14. p. 556. which are so clear Confutations of all our Innovators in this Matter that these places alone might silence them Yet there are more passages in this Father to this purpose As where he saith Whoredom and Murder are interdicted and the Gladiators are driven out of the Church (c) Tertul. de Idololat c. 11. p. 91. And where he affirms That Christians marrying with Heathens are counted guilty of Whoredom and are to be excluded from all Communion with the Faithful according to the Orders of the Apostle who saith With such no not to eat (d) Arcendos ab omni communicatione fraternitatis Tert. ad uxor l. 2. c. 3. And for other unlawful Lusts he saith They did not only exclude them from the Church Porch but allowed them not to come near that holy place being not barely Vices but monstrous Crimes (e) Non modò limine verùm omni Ecclesiae tecto submoveâ—nus Tert. de pudicit c. 4. p. 557. And Albáspinaeus hath observed That in the first Ages of the Church Murtherers Adulterers Apostates and such like notorious Offenders were irreversibly Excommunicated and if they were admitted to remain among the Penitents yet they would not Absolve them nor restore them to the Communion of the Church so long as they lived till by degrees the Discipline of the Church slackened (f) Albaspin observ l. 2. c. 8. c. and then certain years of Penance were enjoyned those Offenders and if they gave signs of great Sorrow and hearty Repentance after that time they were by certain steps restored to the Communion of the Church And now we have mentioned that Learned Author it may not be amiss to hear his description of the state of Excommunicate Persons in these times of which we now speak They were not only driven from Religious Assemblies but all despised abhorred and fled from them as putrid Members fit to be cut off It was counted a sin to treat or make bargains with them none would salute them or call them Brethren none would look on them speak to them or invite them to a Meal yea so strict were they that none would joyn with them in Prayers to God (g) Albaspin l. 1. obs 1. p. 2. Which Character is the more to be esteemed because he there proves all this by the Canons of very ancient Councils which Excommunicate those who pray with these Persons (h) Apost Can. 10. Laodic Can. 33. Antioch 1. Can. 2. Carthag 4. Can. 73. and those who have any Conversation with them or be in the same House or Feast with them or speak to them (i) Antioch 1. Can. 2. Arelat 2. Can. 30. Antissiod Can. 39. as may be seen more at large in that Author All which abundantly proves That the Christians of that Time did look upon the Excommunicate to be in a damnable Condition
speaking of his Apostles determining in the Schools or solving Cases of Conscience but of the power they should have to punish contumacious Offenders and injurious Persons And though Mr. Selden objects it is not Whosoever ye shall bind but Whatsoever yet he answers himself saying That it is true Persons may be signified by the Neuter Gender pag. 159. Finally For his Fancy that the force of Excommunication depended on private Pacts among the Christians it is not to be imagined that Murderers and Adulterers perjured Persons and Apostates would have scrupled breaking these parts or have been so terrified and dejected by an Excommunication if it had only relied on their own promise to obey it I grant indeed the Christians did vow in Baptism and the Eucharist to observe Christs Commands and submit to his Injunctions among which doubtless they reckoned this so much reverenced Discipline to which they were subject for that they believed it to be exercised in Christs Name and by vertue of his Authority We conclude therefore That Mr. Selden hath gained nothing by this prolix Excursion but only to convince us that he wished Excommunication were not of Divine Right though he be not able to prove it And no question we are much safer in believing with those Holy Primitive Bishops who might know the mind of Christ and the practice of the Apostles much better than our Modern Criticks and who are more likely to tell us the Truth than those who espouse a Party and serve Ends of Revenge for Censures not undeservedly laid upon them § III. Our next Enquiry as to practice is Whether this Rite of Excommunication was used and believed of Divine Right after the Empire became Christian And this we must do the more largely to confute the Error of Erastus espoused also by Mr. Selden who attempts to prove That in a Christian State there is no need of any such thing as a power of Excommunication in the Church-men because the Magistrate now may punish all Crimes and that it was only for Want of this blessing of Christian Magistrates which forced the Primitive Bishops to use Excommunication To which Mr. Selden adds That after the Empire became Christian the Bishops derived their Power to Excommunicate from the Princes Grant There is no better way to find out the truth herein than to consult the Records of those Ages and to enquire into the Opinion of the most eminent Fathers after Constantines time and into the practice of those Ages which retained the Primitive purity And though we cannot bring in all things of this kind between the years 300. and 500. for that would be to write a Church History not a Discourse upon one single point Yet we will remark that which is sufficient to baffle this modern and ill grounded Conceit And first Whereas it is most certain that the Bishops did Excommunicate in Constantine's time yet no Writer of that Age doth affirm they did it by any Power from the Emperor and Mr. Selden out of his vast stock of reading at this dead lift could not bring one single Memorial of the Emperors giving the Bishops a Power to Excommunicate in all this Period of time 'T is true these first Christian Emperors and Constantine particularly did Ordain That if any Litigants desired to have their causes tried before the Bishops they might leave the Secular Tribunal and that the Bishops Sentences should be firm and of more Authority than those of other Judges yea as valid as if they were delivered by the Emperor himself As also that the Magistrates and their Officers should execute their Sentences and that the Decrees of their Councils should be Valid (r) Sozomen hist Eccles lib. 1. cap. 9. p. 206. Circa An. 314. Vide Cod. Theodos l. 16. Tit. 2. in fine Which Law doth indeed give them a New Power not granted by Christ but never mentions Excommunication Yea it ordains that these Sentences should be executed by another method even by the Civil Magistrate and his Officers Mr. Selden indeed produces another Law as if it were a Repeal of this in the time of Valens Gratian and Valentinian Ann. 376. above 60. years after But that Law seems to except only Criminal Actions from the Bishops Cognizance (s) Vid. Seld. Synedr l. 1. cap. 10. p. 187. And if we consider the complaints of the good Bishops in that Age who were burthened with divers Civil Causes or look upon those Laws of Arcadius and Honorius (t) Cod. Justin lib. 1. Tit. 4. de Epist Aud. L. 7. An. 398. L. 8. An. 408. and of Honorius and Theodosius which allow Men to chuse Bishops for deciding their Civil Causes and declare their Sentence to be firm and Valid We shall easily perceive that Constantines Law was never repealed nor this practice difused But this doth not at all belong to Excommunication which Power the Bishops exercised by the virtue of Christs Commission in cases of Heresy and Scandal and that not by consent of the Parties as they did this Power of decision of Civil Causes So that Mr. Selden ought not to make Excommunication depend on these grants For the Emperors Authority did not precede but follow the Bishops Act in Excommunication so that if the person Censured proved obstinate or troublesome he was Banished or Imprisoned by the Imperial Power As we see in the Case of the Arians who were Excommunicated by the first General Council of Nice and the Emperor Constantine did Ordain That those who submitted not to the Decree of the Council should be banished (u) Sozom Eccles hist lib. 1. cap. 19. p. 221. And that the Bishops did exercise this Power in their own right as derived from Christ is manifest from the whole History of that Age Arius himself and all his Associates were Excommunicated at Alexandria first by Peter and then by Alexander the Bishops of that City (w) Idem ibid. Cap. 14. p. 215. before any application was made to the Emperors and before the Nicene Council was Called And that most famous Council in almost every Canon supposes the Bishop to be the Judge of such as are to be kept out and such as are to be let into the Church And those Holy Fathers do decree concerning Penitents and lapsed Persons according to the ancient usage of Ecclesiastical Discipline under Heathen Emperors without any alteration made upon the account of Constantine's being a Christian Making the Bishop the sole Judge of the time of Excluding these Offenders from Communion in Sacred Offices To this we may add that Accurate Scheme of the admirable Discipline of these Primitive Ages which is described in the Canonical Epistles of Gregory Thaumaturgus S. Basil and others of the Primitive Bishops By which we see that such as were first Excommunicated by the Bishops for Fornication Adultery Murder Perjury Apostasie and other Crimes (x) Vid. Leonem Allatium de Narthece Vet. Eccl. §. 19. p. 94. Et Bevereg Not. ad Can. xi
it Yet that none may think this Instance favours the bold Fact of later Popes in Excommunicating Soveraign Princes and then Absolving their Subjects from their Allegiance to them We must observe that S. Ambrose did then offer to suffer quietly if the Emperor would oppose his Sentence nor did he pretend either to use force against him or allow any to do so But went in a way of perswasion and advised him to submit to this which was only a Spiritual Penalty for his Souls health And he was only under the least kind of Excommunication and barely suspended from receiving the Sacrament So also Pope Innocent dealt with Arcadius and Eudoxia for the injuries they had done to S. Chrysostom Interdicting them in this Gentle Form I the meanest of all and a Sinful Man to whom the Throne of S. Peter is now given do separate and reject you and your Empress from partaking of the Immaculate Mysteries of our Lord Christ (h) Michael Glycas Annal. par 3. An. 407. This was all And this is far from giving countenance to that impious usage of the later Popes who have Anathematized Soveraign Princes and stirred up Foreign Force against them as well as incited their own Subjects to Perjury and Rebellion yea to Murder them and take their Kingdoms from them Which is to turn the Spiritual into a Carnal Sword and prostitute a Divine Institution to serve the ends of Avarice Injustice and Ambition Yea to use it to quite contrary purposes than Christ intended it for viz. to make it to serve for Destruction and not for Edification But though this accursed practice receive no advantage from these Instances yet they do abundantly prove That Bishops in this Age did not as Mr. Selden would perswade us derive their Power to Excommunicate from the Emperors being Pontifices maximi and so from their Grants To proceed S. Chrysostom flourished about this time An. 390. and we are to enquire into his Opinion the rather because some have pretended he was against the use of Excommunication 'T is true he hath an Oration with this Title Concerning the unfitness of Anathematizing the living or the dead (i) Chrysost Tom. 6. hom 37. pag. 439. In which he severely inveighs against the rash use of this dreadful Curse which he thinks the Apostles used not against Persons but Opinions And indeed in the best Ages of the Church the accursing particular Persons was very rare and this highest sort of Excommunitating by Anathema's so much used by the Roman Church against particular Men is seldom to be met with and accordingly it is totally disused by the Church of England as not well agreeing with the Spirit of Christianity Luk. ix 55. nor with the Primitive Practice It sufficeth us as it did generally satisfie the Ancient Christians to exclude notorious Offenders from Sacred Offices and Assemblies till they repent And against this sort of Excommunication S. Chrysostom had no Objection for he himself practised it in divers Cases as the History of his Life shews and particularly in the Case of Eudoxia the Empress to whom he denyed access to the Church because being admonished to restore a Widows Vineyard unjustly taken away she refused it (k) Baron Annal An. 401. §. 9. And for his Opinion Mr. Selden says That S. Chrysostom as well as the other Fathers of this Age doth often own and admit the use of Excommunication (l) Seld. de Synedr lib. 1. cap. 10. pag. 212. Yea he reckons it of Divine Right for he saith concerning Binding and loosing Matth. xviii What greater honour can be given to the Church than this when Heaven it self takes the beginning of its Judgment from Earth The Judge sits on Earth the Master follows the Servant and what he judges below his Lord ratifies above (m) Chrysost hom 5. in Jesaiam Tom. V. pag. 152. Again he explains the Leaven which S. Paul orders the Church of Corinth to purge out to be an Advice to Bishops who suffer much of the old Leaven to remain within when they do not cast out of their Borders that is out of the Church the Covetous and Extortioners and such as shall be excluded out of the Kingdom of God (n) Idem Tom. III. hom 15. in 1 Cor. pag. 337. Which by the way gives the reason of his strict proceeding against Eudoxia And elsewhere speaking of the Discipline and Worship used in his time he saith They expelled those out of the holy Place who could not partake of the Lords Table (o) Chrysostom Tom. III. hom 18. in 2 Cor. pag. 647. Again he threatens those who gave scandal to Infidels by their excessive mourning for the dead making them think the Christians did not believe the Resurrection that he would proceed against them by Ecclesiastical Censures if they did not amend upon his Admonitions citing that method of proceeding which Christ prescribes Matth. xviii 15 16 17. for his Commission bidding them remember the power of binding and loosing which Christ had granted to him ver 18. and not dare to despise the Bonds of Church Censures For saith he it is not a Man which binds but Christ which gave us this power and entrusted Men with this Priviledge even as saith he a little after when a Prince orders his Officer to bind a Criminal it is not the Officer but the Prince which truly binds the Offender (p) Idem hom 4. in Epist ad Hebr. Tom. IV. pag. 455. This is so direct and full to our purpose that we need not seek any further to assure us That S. Chrysostom did believe the power of Excommunication was from Christ and that it was granted only to the Bishops and was of great use in the Church Many more passages in him do confirm these Truths but omitting them we go on to his Contemporary S. Hierom who fully agrees with him in this Opinion For speaking of the Clergy as they are distinct from the Laity he saith God forbid I should speak evil of these who succeed the Apostles and consecrate the Body of Christ with their Mouths who make us Christians and having received the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven do in a sort judge before the day of Judgment And soon after he saith They have power to deliver a man to Sathan for the destruction of the Flesh that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (q) Hieron ad Heliodor ep 1. Tom. l. pag. 5. Where we may note That though some fancy the delivering to Sathan proper to the Apostles time yet even when the miraculous Penalty on the Offenders Body was ceased the Fathers still called Excommunication by this Name as S. Hierom doth here And so Origen before him saith A man is delivered into the power of the Devil when his fault is manifest and the Bishop drives him out of the Church that being observed by all he may be ashamed and converted so that at length his Soul may be
Divine Right to Excommunicate was despised and the Imperial Authority so oft made use of as a Shield against it doth manifestly shew that God himself had put this power into the Bishops hands and that no External Force could wrest it from them or hinder its due effects To proceed the Canons of divers Councils do declare That those who were Excommunicate were not worthy of the Priviledges which other Christians enjoyed and therefore as Jews and Pagans Testimonies were not to be received against the Bishops and Clergy so the second General Council at Constantinople forbid those who were cast out of the Church or Excommunicated to be admitted to accuse a Bishop (t) An. 381. Concil 2. Constantinop Can. 6. Where we may note the distinction between the greater and the lesser Excommunication Those who are cast out being such as were for ever cut off from the Church and the Excommunicate such as are separated for a time (u) Zonaras in loc ap Bever Tom. I. p. 95. de signif verb. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Zonaras expounds the Phrases But neither of these were admitted to bear witness against a Bishop as being supposed unworthy of credit and inclinable to be revenged on their Censurers Which Law was revived in divers other succeeding Councils (w) Cod. Can. Eccl. African Can. 128. Capit Tom. I. l. 7. cap. 181. p. 1063. And as they did take away their External Priviledges so they also deprived them of all the comfort and benefit of Religious Offices which is not only signified by the Phrases before mentioned but expresly decreed For first the Council of Antioch declares That it is not lawful to Communicate with those who are Excommunicate and if these Persons after their exclusion from the Churches Prayers went into any House or other Church to pray whoever prays with them especially if he be of the Clergy shall be Excommunicated (x) An. 341. Concil Antiochen Can. 2. which Canon is renewed in the fourth Council of Carthage (y) An. 398. Concil 4. Carthag Can. 73. And as it was grounded on former Canons and a constant usage of the Church from the Apostles time so it is repeated in almost every succeeding Council so that the particulars need not to be cited Now can any have so hard an opinion of these Holy Fathers who lived so near the Apostles to imagine they arbitrarily assumed this power of excluding Criminals from holy Offices and retained it even after the Emperors were Christians and had made secular Laws to punish them or that they pretended Christ the Author of it if he left them no such power The first Council of Toledo Ordains That if any Lay-Man be Excommunicated none of the Clergy or Religious shall converse with him or come at his House and a Clerk deprived shall be avoided by the Clergy and if any be found to discourse or to Eat with them they shall be also Excommunicated if they know them to be under the Censure (z) An. 400. Conc. 1. Tolet. Can. 15. The same Council Decrees That a professed Virgin offending shall not be received into the Church till she have done ten years Penance and none may pray or eat with her till she be admitted into the Church (a) Ibid. Can. 16. Not long after this we meet with the accustomed Form of Excommunication used in that Age which shews both the Original and Effects of this Sentence and the words are these Following the Canonical Sanctions and the Examples of our holy Fathers We Excommunicate ...... by the Authority of God and the Judgment of the Holy Spirit from the Bosom of our Holy Mother the Church and from the Conversation of all Christians until they repent and make satisfaction to the Church of God (b) An. 441. Concil 1. Araus apud Gratian. Which Form shews That they believed their Authority was from God and their direction from the Spirit in laying on this Censure and that the persons so censured were cut off from all Civil and Religious Commerce with other Christians And that this Opinion prevailed even in these remoter parts of the Christian World may be seen by those Ancient Synods held in these Islands under S. Patrick where it was declared That none who was Excommunicated should come into the Church till he had received his Penance (c) An. 456. Synod Patric Can. 18. Spelm. Tom. I. p. 53. And if a Clergy-man were Excommunicate he must Pray alone and neither presume to offer or Consecrate (d) Ibid. Can. 28. And again Hear the Lord saying If he hear thee not let him be to thee as a Heathen and a Publican do not Curse the Excommunicate but repel him from the Communion from the Table from the Prayers and from the Blessing (e) Alter Syn. ejus Can. 4. item ap Spelm. Where grounding the Censure upon our Saviours words they Charitably Condemn all dreadful Anathematizing and allow only the Separation which is more Primitive and more agreeing to the Gospel Spirit For in this Age they considered the dreadful Effects of Excommunication even of the mildest sort and were not forward to proceed that way in light Causes For it was about this time that Pope Leo I. in one of his Decretal Epistles saith Let not the Communion lightly be denied to any Christian neither let that Sentence be uttered by any Priest in Anger which ought to be laid on unwillingly and with grief as a punishment for the greatest Crimes For we know some who for little Offences or slight words have been deprived of the Comfort of the Communion So that the Soul for which Christs Blood was shed by the inflicting of this dreadful punishment is exposed naked disabled and without any defence to the Devils Assaults so that he may take it at his pleasure (f) An. 450. Leon. Decret Epist 89. ad omnes Episc Provenc pag. 469. Where we see he supposes the Excommunicate to be delivered into Sathans power and in extream danger of Eternal Damnation And upon this account it was that those holy Bishops were so loth to inflict this dreadful Sentence till nothing else would do About the beginning of this Age lived the Author of the Apostolical Constitutions as they confess who dispute against that pretended Antiquity which the Romanists attribute to this Work and all do grant it contains a true Scheme of the Church Discipline about the end of the fourth Century And in this Book we find divers passages to confirm this Opinion As where it is ordered that the Bishop shall sit down when he Preaches as having power to judge Sinners for to you O Bishops it is said Whatever ye bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever ye loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven (g) An. 400. Const Apostol lib. 2. cap. 11. Again the Bishop is commanded when he knows any one to have Sinned to order him to be turned out of the Church with Indignation
unlawful Marriage Warning all not to come into his House till he did repent But the King would not forbear visiting this Earl whereupon the Bishop foretold the King that if he persisted to converse with this Excommunicate Person he would be slain in that very house which accordingly came to pass for that very Earl and his Complices slew Sigebert there (b) An. 638. vel An. 660. Bedae histor lib. 3. cap. 22. Which remarkable Judgment no doubt made the Sentence of our Venerable Bishops to be much dreaded in those days And for that reason our old Canons decreed That a Bishop should not rashly Excommunicate any Man no not though there were never so just a Cause (c) An. 750. Egber Excerpta Can. 48. Spelm. pag. 263. because of the dreadful consequences then believed to follow upon this Censure But to return to Foreign Countries In this Age were made those Ancient Laws of the Almains wherein besides the Temporal Penalties for Sacriledge it is declared the person so offending shall incurre the Judgment of God and the Excommunication of holy Church (d) An. 630. Leges Alem. Cap. 1. Capital Tom. I. pag. 57. So that they did not think Secular Penalties made this useless in a Christian Commonwealth but on the contrary the Temporal Laws now began to decree severe punishments to be inflicted by the Civil Magistrate upon those who despised the Authority of Church Censures A memorable proof of which we have in the Constitutions made by King Pepin Father to Charles the Great with the advice of his Bishops and Barons Wherein they Ordain That whoever wittingly Communicates with an Excommunicate person he shall be Excommunicated also And that all may know the Nature of this Excommunication they declare He who is thus under Censure must not come into the Church nor eat or drink with any Christian none may receive any gift from him or give him a kiss or joyn in prayer with him nor salute him till he be reconciled to his own Bishop And if any think that he is Excommunicated unjustly he may complain to the Metropolitan and have his Cause tried by the Canons but in the mean time he must lye under his Sentence And if any despise all this so that the Bishop cannot amend him then he shall be Condemned to Banishment by the King's Judgment (e) An. 753. Pipin cap. 9. Capitul Tom. I. pag. 172. Which Law is repeated again by some of the Successors of this Pious Prince (f) Capitul lib. 5. cap. 62. pag. 836. And indeed in those Capitulars of the Ancient Kings and Emperors of France there are many excellent Canons of Old Councils revived and established by the Royal Authority which Canons the Bishops first made and Decreed in their Synods and then to make the People more strictly obey them the King with his Bishops and Barons confirmed them and put them among their Laws Which was not any Exercise of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction nor done with any intent to take the Government of the Church and the power of Censures out of the Bishops hands as Mr. Selden pretends but rather to strengthen their Divine Right by a Civil Sanction For these very Capitulars do still own That the Bishops have Authority from God to Excommunicate Which one instance out of very many there to be found shall suffice to prove The Laity must know that the power of Binding and Loosing is by the Lord conferred on the Priest and therefore they ought to obey their Admonitions and humbly to submit to their Excommunications (g) Addit 3. Lud. cap. 23. Capit. Tom. I. pag. 1161. I cite this the rather because Mr. Selden hath the confidence to quote this very place in his Margin as a proof that the French Princes did take upon them to Order the Matters of Excommunications and Penances (h) Seld. de Synedrijs Lib. 1. cap. 10. p. 192. whereas this as well as his other proofs do only shew that those Princes believed the Bishops had a Divine Right to Excommunicate and therefore that it was their duty to compel the Refractory to submit to their Censures Nor did those Princes ever take this power out of the Bishops hands but rather fix it there where God had placed it Whence it was that they made these Laws If any Lay-Man of higher or lower Degree hath Sinned and being called by his Bishops Authority refuseth to submit to Penitence and Amendment he shall be so long Banished from the Church and separated from the company of all good Christians as he forbeareth to amend (i) Capitul lib. 6. cap. 88. Tom. I. p. 936. And again He that is Excommunicated shall be excluded not only from Eating and Discoursing with the Clergy but also from Eating or Talking with any of the People (k) Capitul l. 6. cap. 142. pag. 946. Also it is Ordained That the Christians shall not lightly esteem the Excommunications of their Clergy for even this Contempt is a just Cause of Excommunication (l) Ibid. cap. 248. pag. 964. And in another place That no Excommunicate Person shall be a Godfather for those who by Gods Law and the Authority of the Canons are turned out of the Church and out of the Camp lest they bring a Curse on the People these are much more to be kept off from these Sacred Duties (m) Capitul Additam II. cap. 1. p. 1135. Where besides the express and plain affirmation That Excommunicate Persons are by Gods Law to be excluded the Church we see That from the History of Achan's bringing a Curse on the Army of Israel they would not suffer the Excommunicate to bear Arms in their Camp Which is also intimated in those Laws which cite that place of Joshuah There is an Anathema in the midst of thee therefore thou canst not stand before thy Enemies (u) An. 869. Car. Calv cap. 20. Tom. II. pag. 213. And it is most clear by these Capitulars that the Kings Authority did follow the Bishops Act and the Temporal Justice did punish him that was stubborn and refractory and would not obey the Bishops Sentence nor be brought to Repentance by his Spiritual Censures Thus Lhotharius ordains That an obstinate Person who is Excommunicated shall be Imprisoned by the High-Sheriff or the Count (o) An. 824. Capit Lhothar cap. 15. Tom. II. pag. 323. And he that infringes the Liberties of a Church is to be Excommunicated by the Bishop and notice to be given of it to other Bishops and the High-Sheriff is to make him pay his Fine and if he despise all this being judged by Law he is to be Beheaded and his Goods Confiscated (p) An. 367. Capit. Lud. 2. cap. 8. ibid. pag. 363. Yea those who were Excommunicate for Fornication and did not submit were to be Banished the Kingdom and such as retained them were thought to offend against God and the sacred Authority yea and against the Common Interest of Christianity
Thes iii. 6. we are to forbear all sorts of Conversation with the Excommunicate which was religiously observed in former Ages and is strictly required not only by the Old Canons but which weighs more with some by our own Ancient Laws for Bracton saith None may pray or talk with the Excommunicate openly or privately none may eat with them except some persons (r) Bracton lib. 5. de except cap. 23. §. 1. that is those of their own Family and such as go to excite them to repent Now it is very strange that neither the Laws of God the Practice nor Canons of the Primitive Church nor the Laws of our own Country can restrain us in this most Licentious Age from freely conversing with such Offenders By which we do not only obstruct one of those ends for which Christ instituted this Holy Rite but harden the Sinners in their Impenitence and expose our selves to the danger of being corrupted by the Conversation of these Impious and abandoned Wretches For as those who have the Plague are said to be desirous to infect others so Evil Men by their Discourse and Example propagate their Errors and their Vices and labour to make others as wicked as themselves (s) Malus bonum vult esse malum ut sit sui similis Plaut Trinum II. 2. But our Spiritual Pastors by their Censures do all they can to separate the infected from the sound and by observing this Order and flying their Company we shall be safe If they should suffer notorious Sinners to pass without a Mark set on them we might have some excuse but when they are condemned our ruine is wilful if we associate with them However it is just and necessary the Church should sentence open and Notorious Sinners lest their impunity should embolden others to commit the like Crimes till the number of Offenders made them insolent and incorrigible He that punishes one saith the Italian Proverb threatens an hundred And some examples of exemplary justice done upon some of the most noted and publick Offenders will be a means to check these growing Evils and be a warning to others not to fall into those Sins for which Christ and his Church hath appointed so severe and dreadful a penalty Finally since Excommunication was so certainly instituted by Christ for these excellent ends Let all Christians in their places labour that it may obtain them Let the Magistrates according as the Law requires compel the obstinate to submit to this Medicine for their Souls Let the Bishops to whom this Discipline is committed use it only on great and just occasions and with such deliberation and solemnity that it may make a due impression upon such as fall under it Let such as suffer it be angry at nothing but the Sin which brought it on them and submit to a little shame here to rescue them from Eternal shame hereafter let them with Tears Fasting and Prayers seek the Peace of God and his Church looking on themselves to be as really they are in a damnable condition till they be absolved And let all others fly those Sins which will bring this Curse on them and while they avoid the company of the Excommunicate let them pity and pray for them and encourage them to a speedy Repentance And let none dare to vilifie or despise this Divine Institution for this is to despise Christ himself and to harden Sinners to their Eternal Damnation yea it is to hinder the effect of one of the most powerful means to convert Sinners and to curb those Wickednesses which are the shame of our Religion and the ruin of many Souls The poor Greeks believe from very many credible Examples that such as dye Excommunicate are accursed by God and that their Bodies grow black in the Grave and swelled like a Drum so that they cannot rot till they be absolved (t) Leo Allat Epist de quorund Graec. opin §. 14. Eucholog Jac. Goar pag. 689. And it is not improbable God may by Miracle keep up the reputation of that poor oppressed Religion but whether the matter of Fact be true or no the Opinion hath an excellent effect upon those Christians making them Venerate their Clergy and fly notorious Sins for fear of Excommunication and this Curse which follows it From whence we may learn how evil Instruments they are who by false arguings and manifest mistakes do go about to teach Men to despise this sacred Discipline And since the restoring it to its Primitive esteem is so excellent a means to convert Sinners and extirpate all notorious Vices to repair the honour of God and Religion and to wipe off the Scandals which this Church hath suffered by the Wickedness of its Members and the Malice of its Enemies I hope this will be thought a useful and seasonable discourse for I have therein proved this great Truth That Excommunication is undoubtedly grounded upon the Institution of Christ and express Precepts of Holy Scripture FINIS