a Collection of many particular Churches who mentions in the Singular Number the Church of God in Africa and Numidia Else I do not remember that ever I met with it in this Sense in any Writings either of this or the rest of the Fathers but whenever they would speak of the Christians in any Kingdom or Province they always said in the Plural The Churches never in the Singular The Church of such a Kingdom or Province Thus Dyonisius Alexandrinus doth not say the Church but the Churches of Cilicia And so Irenaeus mentions The Churches that were in Germany Spain France the East Egypt and Lybia So also Tertullian speaks of the Churches of Asia and Phrygia and the Churches of Greece And so of every Country they always express the Churches thereof in the Plural Number V. The Word Church frequently occurs for that which we commonly call the Invisible Church that is for those who by a Sound Repentance and a Lively Faith are actually interested in the Lord Jesus Christ According to this signification of the Word must we understand Tertullian when he says that Christ had espoused the Church and that there was a Spiritual Marriage between Christ and the Church And that of Irenaeus That the Church was fitted according to the form of the Son of God And in this Sense is the Word oftentimes used in others of the Fathers as I might easily shew if any one did doubt it VI. The Word Church is frequently to be interpreted of the Faith and Doctrine of the Church In this Sense Irenaeus prays That the Hereticks might be reclaimed from their Heresies and be converted to the Church of God and exhorts all sincere Christians not to follow Hereticks but to fly to the Church Upon which account Hereticks are said to have left the Church as Tertullian told Marcion that when he became an Heretick he departed from the Church of Christ and their Heresies are said to be dissonant from the Church as Origen writes that the Opinion of the Transmigration of Souls was alien from the Church There are yet several other Significations of this Word though not so usual as some of the forementioned ones nor so pertinent to my Design so that I might justly pass them over without so much as mentioning them But lest any should be desirous to know them I will just name them and then proceed to what is more material Besides then those former Significations the Word according to its Original Import is also used for any Congregation in general sometimes it is applyed to any particular Sect of Hereticks as Tertullian calls the Marcionites the Church of Marcion At other times it is attributed to the Orthodox in opposition to the Hereticks as by the same Tertullian Sometimes it is appropriated to the Heathen Assemblies as by Origen at other times in Opposition to the Jews it is ascribed to the believing Gentiles as by Irenaeus In some places it is taken for the Deputies of a Particular Church as in Ignatius In other places it signifies the Assembly of the Spirits of just Men made perfect in Heaven which we commonly call the Church Triumphant as in Clemens Alexandriaeus Once I find it denoting the Laity only in opposition to the Clergy And once signifying only Christ as the Head of the Faithful § 2. But the usual and common Acceptation of the Word and of which we must chiefly treat is that of a Particular Church that is a Society of Christians meeting together in one place under their proper Pastours for the Performance of Religious Worship and the exercising of Christian Discipline Now the first thing that naturally presents its self to our Consideration is to enquire into the Constituent Parts of a Particular Church or who made up and composed such a Church In the general they were called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Elect the Called and Sanctified by the Will of God And in innumerable places they are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Brethren because of their Brotherly Love and Affection and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Faithful in opposition to the Pagan World who had no Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ nor in the Promises of the Gospel But more particularly we may divide them into two Parts into the People that composed the Body of the Church and those Persons who were set apart for Religious and Ecclesiastical Employments Or to conform to our ordinary Dialect into the Clergy and Laity which is an early distinction being mentioned by Clemens Romanus and after him by Origen and several others § 3. Each of these had their particular Offices and both together had their joynt Employments to all which I shall distinctly speak in the ensuing Tract as they naturally resolve themselves into these Three Particulars I. The Peculiar Acts of the Clergy II. The Peculiar Acts of the Laity III. The Joint Acts of them both By the Resolution of which three Questions some Discovery will be made of the Constitution and Discipline of the Primitive Church and of their Practice with respect to many Points unhappily controverted amongst us § 4. I begin with the first of these What were the Peculiar Acts of the Clergy Now here must be consider'd the Functions of every particular Order and Degree of the Clergy which we may say to be three viz. Bishops Priests and Deacons whose Employments we shall severally handle as also several other Points which under those Heads shall offer themselves unto us I shall begin first with the Bishop but for the better understanding both of him and the rest it will be necessary first of all to consider the condition of the whole World as it was before the Preaching of the Gospel in a state of Paganism and Darkness having their Understandings clouded with Ignorance and Error alienated from God and the true Worship of him applauding their own bruitish Inventions and adoring as God whatever their corrupted Reason and silly Fancies proposed to them as Objects of Adoration and Homage Into this miserable state all Mankind except the Jews had wilfully cast themselves and had not Christ the Son of Righteousness enlightned them they would have continued in that lost and blind condition to this very day But our Saviour having on his Cross Triumph'd over Principalities and Powers and perfectly conquered the Devil who before had rul'd effectually in the Heathen World and being ascended into Heaven and sat down at the Right Hand of the Father on the day of Pentecost he sent down the Holy Ghost on his Apostles and Disciples who were then assembled at Jerusalem enduing them thereby with the Gift of Tongues and working Miracles and both commissionating and fitting them for the Propagation of his Church and Kingdom who having received this Power and Authority from on high went forth Preaching the Gospel First to the Jews and then
there to read of the Bishops of the Parish of Alexandria of the Parish of Ephesus of the Parish of Corinth of the Parish of Athens of the Parish of Carthage and so of the Bishops of the Parishes of several other Churches by that Term denoting the very same that we now call a Parish viz. a competent number of Christians dwelling near together having one Bishop Pastor or Minister set over them with whom they all met at one time to worship and serve God This may be evinc'd from the intent of the Word it self which signifies a Dwelling one by another as Neighbours do or an Habitation in one and the same place as the Church of Smirna writ to the Church that Parished in Philomelium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Epistle of Clemens Romanus is to the Church of God Parishing at Corinth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is dwelling or living in Philomilium and Corinth so that a Parish is the same with a Particular Church or a single Congregation which is yet more evident from a Passage in the Differtations of Apollonius against Alexander a Cataphrygian Heretick wherein it is said That because that Heretick had been a Robber therefore that Parish to which he belonged would not receive him that is that particular Church or Congregation to which he appertained excluded him from Communion because of his Depredations and Robberies so that a Parish and a Particular Church are Synonimous Terms signifying one and the same thing and consequently a Bishop having but one Parish under his Jurisdiction could extend his Government no farther than one single Congregation because a single Congregation and a Parish were all one of the same Bulk and Magnitude § 2. But that the Bishops Diocess exceeded not the Bounds of a modern Parish and was the same as in Name so also in Thing will appear from these following Observations as 1. All the People of a Diocess did every Sunday meet all together in one place to celebrate Divine Service Thus saith Justin Martyr On Sunday all Assemble together in one Place where the Bishop preaches and prays for as Ignatius writes Where the Bishop is there the People must be and there is a necessity that we do nothing without the Bishop since it is unlawful to do any thing without him for where the Pastour is there the 〈◊〉 ought to follow wherefore as Christ did nothing without the Father so do you nothing without the Bishop and Presbyters but assemble into the same place that you may have one Prayer one Supplication one Mind and one Hope for if the Prayer of one or two have so great a force how much more prevalent must that be which is made by the Bishop and the whole Church He then that doth not assemble together is proud and hath condemned himself For it is written God resisteth the proud Let us not therefore resist the Bishop that we may be subject to God So that these Passages clearly prove That all the Members of the Bishops Church assembled together in one place to send up their common Prayers to the Throne of Grace and to discharge those other Religious Duties which were incumbent on them which convincingly evidences the Bishops Church to be no bigger than our Parishes for if it had been bigger it would have been impossible that the Members thereof should have constantly assembled together in one place as we see here they did 2. The Bishop had but one Altar or Communion Table in his whole Diocess at which his whole Flock received the Sacrament from him There is but one Altar says Ignatius as there is but one Bishop At this Altar the Bishop administred the Sacrament to his whole Flock at one time So writes Cyprian We celebrate the Sacrament the whole Brotherhood being present And thus it was in Justin Martyr's Days The Bishop's whole Diocess met together on Sunday when the Bishop gave them the Eucharist and if any were absent he sent it to them by the Deacons Certainly that Diocess could not be large where all usually communicated at one time and the Deacons carried about the Consecrated Eucharist to those that were absent which would have been an endless and painful Task for the Deacons had their Bishoprick contained more Christians in it than one Congregation would have held Tertullian writes that in his Time and Country the Christians received the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper from the hands of the Bishop alone Now in those days and places they communicated at least three times a week viz. Wednesdays Fridays and Lord's Days which had been impossible to have been done if the Bishop had had Inspection over more than one Congregation as is obvious to every ones Reason for the Bishop being Finite and Corporeal as well as others could not be present in many places at once but must be confined to one determinated fixed place in which alone he could administer and dispense the Eucharist And for this Reason it is that Ignatius exhorts the Philadelphians to use the one 〈◊〉 that is not to leave the Bishop and communicate elsewhere but to partake of that single Eucharist which was administred by him For as he proceeds to say in the same place There is but one Body of our Lord Jesus Christ one Cup one Altar and one Bishop As there was but one Bishop in a Church so there was but one Altar a Bishop and an Altar being Correlates So that to set up another Altar was a Periphrasis of a Schismatick or of one that causelesly separated from his lawful Bishop and sat up another which was that they called Schism as we shall shew in its proper place Thus Cyprian describes a Schismatick as one that contemns his Bishop leaves the Ministers of God and dares to set up another Altar And particularly he brands Novatian as such an one because he erected a profane Altar that is an Altar in opposition to the Altar of Cornelius his lawful Bishop For as he saith in another place No man can regularly constitute a new Bishop or erect a new Altar besides the one Bishop and the one Altar For which Reason he calls the Altar that is erected by Schismaticks against the One Altar of their lawful Bishops A profane Altar Which agrees with that of Ignatius that He that is within the Altar is pure but he that does any thing without the Bishops Priests and Deacons is impure and as he says in another place Whosoever is without the Altar wants the Bread of God 3. The other Sacrament of Baptism was generally administred by the Bishops alone within their Respective Diocesses So saith Tertullian Before the Bishop we renounce the Devil and the World For as Cyprian says The Bishops ought only to baptize And to the same effect writes Fortunatus Bishop of Thucabori that our Lord Jesus Christ
gave unto the Bishops the power of Baptizing So that the Bishops did ordinarily baptize all the Persons that were baptized in their Diocesses and if so it is not probable I may say possible that their Diocesses were extended beyond the bulk of single Congregations 4. The Churches Charity was Deposited with the Bishop who as Justin Martyr reports was the common Curator and Overseer of all the Orphans Widows Diseased Strangers Imprisoned and in a word of all those that were needy and indigent To this charitable Office Ignatius adviseth Polycarpus but of that Advice more shall be spoken in another place only let us here observe That that Diocess could not be very large where the Bishop personally relieved and succoured all the Poor and Indigent therein 5. All the People of a Diocess were present at Church Censures as Origen describes an Offender as appearing before the whole Church So Clemens Romanus calls the Censures of the Church the things commanded by the multitude And so the two offending Subdeacons and Acolyth at Carthage were to be tried before the whole 6. No Offenders were restored again to the Churches Peace without the knowledge and consent of the whole Diocess So Cyprian writes that before they were re-admitted to Communion they were to plead their Cause before all the People And it was ordained by an African Synod that except in danger of Death or an instantaneous Persecution none should be received into the Churches Peace without the knowledge and consent of the People 7. When the Bishop of a Church was dead all the People of that Church met together in one Place to chuse a new Bishop So Sabinus was elected Bishop of Emerita by the 〈◊〉 of all the Brotherhood which was also the custom throughout all Africa for the Bishop to be chosen in the Presence of the People And so Fabianus was chosen to be Bishop of Rome by all the Brethren who were met together in one place for that very end 8. At the Ordinations of the Clergy the whole Body of the People were present So an African Synod held Anno 258 determined That the Ordination of Ministers ought to be done with the knowledge and in the Presence of the People that the People being present either the Crimes of the wicked may be detected or the Merits of the good declared and so the Ordination may be Just and Lawful being approved by the Suffrage and Judgment of all And Bishop Cyprian writes from his Exile to all the People of his Diocess that it had been his constant Practice in all Ordinations to consult their Opinions and by their common Counsels to weigh the manners and merits of every one Therein imitating the Example of the Apostles and Apostolick Men who Ordained none but with the Approbation of the whole Church 9. Publick Letters from one Church to another were read before the whole Diocess Thus Cornelius Bishop of Rome whatever Letters he received from Foreign Churches he always read them to his most holy and numerous People And without doubt when Firmilian writ to all the Parish of Antioch they could all assemble together to read his Letter and return an Answer to it since we find that in those days one whole Church writ to another whole Church as the Church of Rome writ to the Church of Corinth And Cyprian and his whole Flock sent gratulatory Letters to Pope Lucius upon his return from Exile Lastly The whole Diocess of the Bishop did meet all together to manage Church-Affairs Thus when the Schism of Felicissimus in the Bishoprick of Carthage was to be debated It was to be done according to the will of the People and by the consent of the Laity And when there were some hot Disputes about the Restitution of the Lapsed the said Cyprian promised his whole Diocess that all those things should be examined before them and be judged by them And so also when they were to send a Messenger to any Foreign Church all the People could meet together to chuse that Messenger as they could in the Church of Philadelphia Now put all these Observations together and duly consider whether they do not prove the Primitive Parishes to be no larger than our modern ones are that is that they had no more Believers or Christians in them than there are now in ours I do not say that the Ancient Bishopricks had no larger Territories or no greater space of Ground than our Parishes have On the contrary it is very probable that many of them had much more since in those early days of Christianity in many places the Faithful might be so few as that for twenty or thirty Miles round they might associate together under one Bishop and make up but one Church and that a small one too But this I fay that how large soever their Local Extent was their Members made but one single Congregation and had no more Christians in it than our Parishes now have for that Diocess cannot possibly be more than one single Congregation where all the People met together at one time Prayed together Received the Sacrament together assisted at Church Censures together and dispatched Church Affairs together and yet the Members of the Primitive Diocesses did all this together as the preceding Observations evidently declare so that I might stop here and add no 〈◊〉 Proofs to that which hath been already so clearly proved § 3. But yet that we may more clearly illustrate this Point we shall demonstrate it by another method viz. By shewing the real Bulk and Size of those Bishopricks concerning whom we have any Notices remaining on ancient Records and manifest that the very largest of them were no greater than our particular Congregations are And for the Proof of this we shall quote the Writings of St. Ignatius in whose genuine Epistles there is such an account of the Bishopricks of Smirna Ephesus Magnesia Philadelphia and Trallium as manifestly evidences them to be but so many single Congregations As for the Diocess of Smirna its extent could not be very large since nothing of Church-Affairs was done there without the Bishop he baptized and administred the Eucharist and none else could do it within his Cure without his permission wherever he was his whole Flock followed him which they might without any Inconveniency do since they frequently assembled together as Ignatius advised Polycarp the Bishop of this Church To convene his Diocess to chuse a faithful honest Man to send a Messenger into Syria So that the Bishop of this Church could know his whole Flock personally by their Names carrying himself respectfully and charitably to all with all meekness and humility towards Serving-men and Serving-maids and charitably taking care of the Widows within his Diocess permitting nothing to be done there without his Privity Insomuch that none were married without his previous advice
Authors mentioned in this Treatise together with those Editions that I have made use of are as follow S. Ignatii Epistolae Graeco-Latin Quarto Edit Isaci Vossii Amstelodam 1646. S. Barnabae Epistola Catholica Edit ad Calcem S. Ignatii Quarto Amstelodam 1646. S. Clementis Romani Epistolae Graeco-Latin Quaerto Edit Patricii Junii Oxonii 1633. S. Irenaei Opera Folio Edit Nic. Galasii Genevae 1580. S. Justini Martyris Opera Graeco-Latin Folio Coloniae 1686. Epistola Plinii Secundi Trojano Imperatori de Christianis in fronte Operum Justin. Martyr Colon. 1686. Clementis Alexandrini Opera Folio Edit Heinsii Lugdun Batav 1616. Tertulliani Opera Folio Edit Paris 1580. Novatiani De Trinitate De Cibis Judaicis inter Opera Tertulliani Edit Paris 1580. Cypriani Opera Folio Edit Sim. Goulart apud Johan le Preux 1593. Vita Cypriani per Pontium ejus Diaconum In fronte Oper. Cyprian Edit Goulart 1593. Fragmentum Victorini Petavionensis De Fabrica Mundi pag. 103 104. Histor. literar Dr. S. Cave Edit Folio Londini 1688. Minucii Felices Octavius Edit ad Calcem Tertullian Apolog. per Desiderium Heraldum Quarto Paris 1613. Origenis Commentaria omnia quae Graece Reperiuntur Edit de Huetii 2 Vol. Folio Rothomagi 1668. Originis contra Celsum Libri Octo ejusdem Philocalia Graeco-Latin Edit Quarto per Gulielm Spencer Cantabrigiae 1677. Originis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seu De Oratione Graeco-Latin Octavo Oxonii 1685. As for those other Works of Origen which are extant only in Latin I have made no use at all of those of Ruffin's Translation except his Creed since in them we know not which we read whether Origen or Ruffin and as for those which were translated by more faithful Hands I have used the Editions of Merlin or Erasmus without nominating the Page Eusebii Pamphili Ecclesiastica Historia Graeco-Latin Folio Edit Henric. Vales. Paris 1659. I have read only the Seven first Books of Eusebius's History because the three others go beyond my limited Time As for the Writings of S. Gregory of Neocaesarea they are but few and from thence I have taken nothing but his Creed so that there is no need to mention any Edition of his Works The same I may say also of the short Epistle of Polycarp which I have cited but once and therein have used the Version of Dr. Cave extant in his Apostolici pag. 127. There are vet some other Fathers whose remaining Tracts I have read as Theophilus Antiochenus Athenagoras c. who are not cited in this 〈◊〉 because I have found nothing in them 〈◊〉 to my Design An Enquiry into the Constitution Discipline Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church CHAP. I. § 1. The various Significations of the word Church § 2. A particular Church the chief Subject of the ensuing Discourse The constituent parts thereof Two-fold viz. Clergy and Laity § 3. Each of these had their particular Functions and both their joint Offices Three things on which a great part of the following Discourse depends proposed to be handled viz. The Peculiar Acts of the Clergy The Peculiar Acts of the Laity and the Joint Acts of them both § 4. The Peculiar Acts of the Clergy propounded to be discussed according to their several Orders First of the Bishops A View of the World as it was in a state of Heathenism at the first Preaching of Christianity necessary to be consider'd Where the Apostles planted Churches they appointed the first Converts to be Bishops thereof § 5. But one Bishop in a Church The Orthodoxness of the Faith proved from the Succession of the Bishops The Titles and Relation of the Bishop to his Flock § 1. THAT we may give the more clear and distinct Answer to this Important Query it is necessary that we first examin the Primitive Notion of the Word Church upon the due apprehension of which depends the Right Understanding of a great Part of our following Discourse This word Church as in our modern acceptation so also in the Writings of the Fathers is equivocal having different Significations according to the different Subjects to which it is applyed I shall not here concern my self about the Derivation of the Word or its Original Use amongst the Heathens from whom it was translated into the Christian Church but only take notice of its various Uses amongst the ancient Christians which were many as 1. It is very often to be understood of the Church Vniversal that is of all those who throughout the face of the whole Earth professed Faith in Christ and acknowledged him to be the Saviour of Mankind This Irenaeus calls The Church dispersed thro' the whole World to the ends of the Earth and The Church scattered in the whole World And Origen calls it The Church of God under Heaven This is that which they called the Catholick Church for Catholick signifies the same as Vniversal Thus Polycarp when he was seized by his Murderers prayed for The Catholick Church throughout the World And in this Sense Dionysius Alexandrinus calls the persecuting Emperour Macrianus A Warrior against the Catholick Church of God II. The word Church is frequently to be understood of a particular Church that is of a Company of Believers who at one time in one and the same place did associate themselves together and concur in the Participation of all the Institutions and Ordinances of Jesus Christ with their proper Pastors and Ministers Thus Irenaeus mentions that Church which is in any place And so Dionysius Alexandrinus writes that when he was banished to Cephro in Lybia there came so many Christians unto him that even there he had a Church Tertullian thinks that Three were sufficient to make a Church In this sense we must understand the Church of Rome the Church of Smyrna the Church of Antioch the Church of Athens the Church of Alexandria or the Church in any other such place whatsoever that is a Congregation of Christians assembling all together for Religious Exercises at Rome Antioch Smirna Athens Alexandria or such like places III. The word Church is sometimes used for the Place where a particular Church or Congregation met for the Celebration of Divine Service Thus Paulus Samosatenus the Heretical Bishop of Antioch ordered certain Women to stand in the middle of the Church and fing Psalms in his Praise So Clemens Alexandrinui adviseth that Men and Women should with all Modesty and Humility enter into the Church So the Clergy of the Church of Rome in their Letter to Cyprian concerning the Restitution of the Lapsed give as their advice That they should only come to the Threshold of the Church-door but not go over it And in this Sense is the Word frequently to be understood in Tertullian Origen and others to recite whose Testimonies at large would be both tedious and needless IV. I find the Word Church once used by Cyprian for
usually meet tho' on some Solemn Occasions they would still all assemble in one Church with their one Bishop That for this Reason these separate Congregations were introduced at Alexandria seems evident enough because Dyonisius Alexandrinus saith that these distinct Congregations were only in the remotest Suburbs and the Christians hereof were not as yet arrived to those great numbers but that seventy years after they could meet all together in one and the same place as might be proved from that forementioned place of Athanasius So that these distinct Congregations were only for the Conveniency and Ease of those who lived at a great distance from the Bishop's Church being introduced in the third Century and peculiar to the Bishoprick of Alexandria All other Bishopricks confining themselves within their Primitive Bounds of a single Congregation as we have before proved the largest of them did even Antioch Rome and Carthage § 12. If then a Bishoprick was but a single Congregation it is no marvel that we find Bishops not only in Cities but in Country Villages there being a Bishop constituted where-ever there were Believers enough to form a competent Congregation For says Clemens Romanus the Apostles going forth and preaching both in Country and City constituted Bishops and Deacons there Much to which purpose Cyprian says That Bishops were ordained throughout all Provinces and Cities Hence in the Encyclycal Epistle of the Synod of Antioch it is said That Paulus Samosatenus had many Flatterers amongst the adjacent City and Country Bishops of this sort of Country-Bishops was Zoticus Bishop of the Village of Comane And we may reasonably believe That many of those Bishops who in the Year 258 were assembled at Carthage to the number of fourscore and seven had no other than obscure Villages for their Seats since we find not the least notice of them in Ptolomy or any of the old Geographers § 13. But let the Bishops Seats have been in any place whatever their Limits as hath been proved exceeded not those of our Modern Parishes I do not here mean as was said before that the Territory of some of them was no larger no I readily grant that for it is very probable that in those places where there were but few Believers the Christians for several Miles round met all 〈◊〉 at the greatest place within that Compass where probably there were most Christians whence both the Church and its Bishop took their Denomination from that Place where they so assembled But this is what I mean that there were no more Christians in that Bishoprick than there are now in our ordinary Parishes and that the Believers of that whole Territory met altogether with their Bishop for the Performance of Religious Services Thus it was in the Age and Country of Justin Martyr who describing their solemn Assemblies writes That on Sunday all the Inhabitants both of City and Country met together where the Lector read some Portions of the Holy Scriptures and the Bishop preached unto them administred the Eucharist and sent by the Deacons part of the Consecrated Elements to those that were absent So that the Inhabitants both of City and Country assembled all at the Bishop's Church hearing him and communicating with him following herein the Exhortation of Saint Ignatius to the Magnesians Let nothing saith he be in you that may divide you but be united to the Bishop and those that preside over you As therefore our Lord Jesus Christ did nothing without his Father neither by himself nor his Apostles so do you nothing without the Bishop and Presbyters but assemble into one Place and have one Prayer one Supplication one Mind and one Hope CHAP. III. § 1. What the Bishop's Office was § 2. Always Resident on his Cure § 3. How the Bishop was Chosen Elected or Presented by the Majority of the Parish § 4. Approved by the neighbouring Bishops § 5. Installed by Imposition of Hands How many Bishops necessary to this Installment § 6. When a Bishop was promoted he certified it to other Bishops § 7. A brief Recapitulation of the peculiar Acts of the Bishop § 1. THE Bishop's Flock having been so largely discussed it will now be necessary to speak something of the Bishop's Duty towards them and of the several Particulars of his honourable Office I shall not here be tedious since about this there is no great difference only briefly enumerate the several Actions belonging to his Charge In brief therefore the particular Acts of his Function were such as these viz. Preaching of the Word Praying with his People administring the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper taking care of the Poor Ordaining of Ministers Governing his Flock Excommunicating of Offenders Absolving of Penitents and in a word whatever Acts can be comprised under those three General Heads of Preaching Worship and Government were parts of the Bishop's Function and Office I have but just named these things because they are not much controverted and my Design leads me chiefly to the Consideration of those matters which have been unhappily disputed amongst us § 2. To the constant Discharge of those forementioned Actions did the Primitive Bishops sedulously apply themselves continually preaching unto their People praying with them and watching over them and to that end residing always with them which Incumbency or Residency on their Parishes was deem'd so necessary that Cyprian enumerating the Sins that brought the Wrath of God upon the Churches in that bloody Persecution of Decius mentions the Bishops Non-Residencies as one Their leaving their Rectories and deserting their Flocks and wandring about the Country to hunt after Worldly Gain and Advantage And therefore the said Cyprian writing to the Roman Consessors who were inveigled into the Schism of Novatian tells them that since he could not leave his Church and come in Person unto them therefore by his Letters he most earnestly exhorted them to quit that 〈◊〉 Faction so that he look'd on his Obligation of Residency at his Church to be so binding as that in no Case almost could he warrant the leaving of it which Determination of his might be the more fix'd and peremptory because that not long before he was so severely tax'd by the Roman Clergy and by many of his own Parish for departing from them for a while though it was to avoid the Fury of his Persecutors who had already proscribed him and would have executed him as a Malesactor had he not by that Recess from his Church escaped their murderous Hand So that the Primitive Apostolick Bishops constantly resided with their Flocks conscientiously applying themselves with the utmost Diligence and Industry to the Promotion of the Spiritual Welfare of those that were committed to their trust employing themselves in all Acts of Piety and Offices of Charity so leading a laborious and mortified Life till either a natural or a violent Death
Church shall be the Subject of the following Chapter CHAP. VII § 1. The Necessity Quality and Excellency of Discipline Six things propounded to be handled 1. For what Faults Offenders were censured 2. Who were the Judges that censured 3. The manner of their Censures 4. What their Censures were 5. The Course that Offenders took to be absolved 6. The manner of their Absolution § 2. Censures were inflicted for all sorts of Crimes especially for Idolatry § 3. The whole Church were the Judges that composed the Ecclesiastical Consistory The Executive Power lodg'd in the Clergy and the Legistative both in Clergy and Laity In difficult Points some neighbouring Bishops assisted at the Decision of them § 4 The manner of their Censures § 5. Their Censures consisted in Excommunications and Suspensions the dreadfulness thereof § 6. The Course that Offenders took to be absolved They first lay groveling and weeping at the Church Doors § 7. Then admitted into the Rank of the Penitents Their Behaviour during their time of Penance § 8. How long their Penance was In some Cases the fixed Period anticipated when ended the Penitents were examined by the Court and if approved then Absolved § 9. The manner of their Absolution They came into the Church with all Expressions of Sorrow publickly confessed the Sin for which they had been censured The Church was tenderly affected with their Confession § 10. After Confession they were absolved by the Clergies Imposition of Hands § 11. Then admitted to the Churches Peace The Clergy generally restored only to Lay Communion § 1. AS all Governments are necessitated to make use of Laws and other Political Means to preserve their Constitution So the Church of Christ which has a certain Government annexed to it that it may preserve its self from Ruine and Confusion has certain Laws and Orders for the due Regulation of her Members and Penalties annexed to the Breaches thereof But herein lies the difference between the one and the other The Penalties and Executions of the former are like its Constitution purely Humane and Carnal but those of the other are Spiritual as Religion was at first received by Spiritual and Voluntary and not by Carnal and Involuntary means for as Tertullian says It is not Religion to force a Religion which ought to be willingly not forcibly received So by the same means it was continued and the Penalties of the Breach of it were of the same Nature also The Churches Arms were Spiritual consisting of Admonitions Excommunications Suspensions and such like by the weilding of which she Governed her Members and preserved her own Peace and Purity Now this is that which is called Discipline which is absolutely necessary to the Unity Peace and being of the Church for where there is no Law Government or Order that Society cannot possibly 〈◊〉 but must sink in its own Ruins and Confusions To recite the numerous Encomiums of Discipline that are interspers'd in the Writings of the Ancients would be an endless Task Let this one suffice out of Cyprian Discipline says he is the Keeper of Hope the Stay of Faith the Captain of Salvation the Fewel and Nutriment of a good Disposition the Mistress of Vertue that makes us perpetually abide in Christ and live to God and tend towards the Heavenly and Divine Promises This to follow is saving but to despise and neglect is deadly The Holy Ghost speaks in Psal. 2. 12. Keep Discipline lest the Lord be angry and ye perish from the right way when his wrath is kindled but a little against you And again in Psal. 50. 16. But unto the Sinner God said What hast thou to do to declare my Law and to take my Judgments into thy Mouth Thou hatest Discipline and castest my Words behind thee And again we read in Wisdom 3. 11. He that casteth off Discipline is unhappy And by Solomon we have received this command from Wisdom in Prov. 3. 11. My Son forget not the Discipline of the Lord nor faint when thou art corrected for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth But if God corrects whom he loves and corrects them that they may amend Christians also and especially Ministers do not hate but love those whom they correct that they may amend since God hath also soretold our Times in Jer. 3. 15. And I will give you Pastors after mine own Heart and they shall seed you in Discipline Now this is that Discipline viz. The Power and Authority of the Church exerted by her for her own Preservation in the censuring of her offending Members that I am now to Discourse of for the clearer apprehension whereof these six Queries must be examined into 1. For what Faults Offenders were censured 2. Who were the Judges that censured 3. The manner of their Censures 4. What their Censures were 5. The Course that Offenders took to be Absolved And 6. The manner of their Absolution § 2. As to the first of these For what Faults Offenders were censured I answer for Schism Heresie Covetousness Gluttony Fornication Adultery and for all other Sins whatsoever none excepted nay the holy and good Men of those days were so zealous against Sin that they used the strictest Severities against the least appearances of it not indulging or sparing the least Branch of its pestiferous Production but smartly punishing the least sprout of it it s lesser Acts as well as those that were more scandalous and notorious Cyprian writes that not only Gravissimae extrema delicta The greatest and most heinous Crimes but even Minora Delicta The Lesser Faults were punished by their Ecclesiastical Courts so cutting off Sin in its Bud and by the Excision of its lesser Acts and Ebullitions preventing its more gross and scandalous Eruptions That particular Sin which they most severely punished and through the frequency of Persecutions had numerous Objects of was Apostacy from the Truth or a lapsing into Idolatry which Crime was always 〈◊〉 with the extremest Rigour of which Ninus Clementianus and Florus were sad Instances who tho' they had for some time couragiously endured their Persecutions and Torments yet at last thro' the violence thereof and the weakness of their Flesh unwillingly consenting to the Heathen Idolatries were for that Fault forced to undergo three years Penance and had it not been for their ancient Merits must have underwent it much longer as may be seen at large in the 53d Epistle of Cyprian And thus by these and such like severe and rigorous Courses those primitive Virtuoso's endeavoured to prevent sin and to make all the Professors of the Christian Religion truly holy and pious for as Origen saith We use our utmost Endeavours that our Assemblies be composed of wise and honest Men. § 3. As for the Judges that composed the Consistory or Ecclesiastical Court before whom offending Criminals were convened and by whom censured they will appear to have been the whole Church both Clergy and Laity
be absolved came into the Church mourning and weeping and expressing all external Indications of his Internal Sorrow As when Natalis a Roman Confessor was absolved for his joyning with the Theodotian Hereticks he came into the Church as it is related by an ancient 〈◊〉 Christian covered with Sackcloth and Ashes throwing himself at the Feet of the Clergy and Laity and with Tears in his Eyes begging their pardon and forgiveness It being looked upon as very proper that they should be admitted into the Church by Tears not by Threats by Prayers and not by Curses Hence at this time for the greater Demonstration of their Sorrow and Humility they were to make a publick Confession of their Sin styled by them Exomologesis which was as Cyprian saith A Confession of their great and heinous Crime and was a necessary Antecedent to Absolution inasmuch as it was the Source and Spring of all true Repentance For as Tertullian observes Out of Confession is born Repentance and by Confession comes Satisfaction And in many places of Cyprian the necessity of Confession is asserted for as Tertullian says Confession as much diminishes the Fault as Dissimulation aggravates it Confession is the Advice of Satisfaction Dissimulation of Contumacy And therefore he condemns those who thro' shame deferred from Day to Day the Publication of their Sin as more mindful of their shamefacedness than of their Salvation Like those who have a Disease in their Secret Parts through shame conceal it from the Chyrurgeons and so with their Modesty die and perish Confession therefore being so necessary the greatest Offenders were not exempted from it as when Philip the Emperor as Eusebius calls him or rather Philip a Prefect of Egypt would have joyned with the Faithful in the Churches Prayer Bishop Babylas denied him admission because of his enormous Crimes nor would he receive him till he had made a Publick Confession of his Faults And accordingly when one of those Bishops that Schismatically Ordained Novatian returned as a Penitent he came into the Church weeping and Confessing his Sin where we may observe that it is said in the singular Number his Sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which intimates that the Penitent's Confession was not only general or for all his Sins in the gross but it was particular for that special Sin for which he was censured consonant whereunto Cyprian as before quoted writes that the Penitent confessed his most great and heinous Sin that is that Sin for which he was so severely punished This Confession of the Penitents was made with all the outward Signs of Sorrow and Grief which usually so affected the Faithful as that they sympathized with them in mourning and weeping Whence Tertullian exhorts the Penitent not through shame to conceal but from a true Godly Disposition to confess his Fault before the whole Church and to weep and mourn for it since they being his Brethren would also weep with and over him And so from the same Consideration Cyprian exhorted the Lapsed to this Penitent Confession with our Tears saith he joyn your Tears with our Groans couple your Groans § 10. As soon as Confession was over then followed the formal Absolution which was thus The Person to be absolved kneeled down before the Bishop and the Clergy who put their Hands upon his Head and bless'd him by which external Ceremony the Penitent was declaratively and formally admitted to the Churches Peace Thus Cyprian writes that they received the Right of Communion by the Imposition of Hands of the Bishop and his Clergy And that no one can be admitted to Communion unless the Bishop and Clergy have imposed Hands on him This being accounted the third and last general Requisite for the reconciling of Offenders the two former being the undergoing a state of Penance and a publick Confession of their Sin all which three are frequently mentioned together as such by Cyprian as where he says Let Offenders do Penance a set space of time and according to the Order of Discipline let them come to Confession and by Imposition of Hands of the Bishop and Clergy let them receive the Right of Communion And in other places he complains of the irregular and unadvised Actions of some of his Presbyters that they admitted some of the Lapsed to Communion before they had undergone a duc Penance made a Publick Confession of their Sin and had Hands imposed on them by the Bishop and Clergy § 11. After the Penitents were absolved by imposition of Hands then they were received into the Communion of the Faithful and made Partakers again of all those Priviledges which by their Crimes they had for a while forfeited Only when an offending Clergy man was absolved he only was restored to Communion as a Lay-man but never re-admitted to his Ecclesiastical Dignity Thus when one of the Schismatical Bishops that Ordained Novatian returned to the Church he was deprived of his Ecclesiastical Office and admitted only to Lay-Communion So likewise Apostate or Lapsed Bishops were never restored again to their Office The Reasons whereof may be seen in the 64th Epistle of Cyprian And therefore Basilides a lapsed Bishop would have been extremely glad if the Church would but have permitted him to communicate as a Layman But yet I suppose that for every Fault Clergymen were not deprived of their Orders but only according to the Greatness of their Crimes and the Aggravation of them since I find that Maximus a Presbyter of the Church of Rome who had been deluded into the Schism of Novatian was upon his Submission restored by Cornelius to his former Office CHAP. VIII § 1. Of the Independency of Churches § 2. Of the Dependency of Churches § 3. Of Synods and the several kinds of them § 4. How often Synods were convened § 5. Who were the Members of Synods § 6. By whose Authority Synods were convened § 7. When convened the manner of their Proceedings a Moderator first chosen what the Moderator's Office was § 8. Then they entred upon Business which had relation either to Foreign Churches or their own with respect to Foreign Churches their Acts were only advising § 9. With respect to their own Churches obliging The End and Power of Synods enquired into § 1. TO that large Discourse of the Primitive Discipline which was the Subject of the preceding Chapter it will be necessary to add this Observation that all those judicial Acts were exerted in and by every single Parish every particular Church having Power to exercise Discipline on her own Members without the Concurrency of other Churches else in those places where there might be but one Church for several Miles round which we may reasonably suppose the Members of that Church must have travelled several if not Scores of Miles to have had the consent of other Churches for the Punishment of their Ofsenders But there is no need to make this Supposition
the Members that composed these Synods they were Bishops Presbyters Deacons and Deputed Laymen in behalf of the People of their respective Churches Thus at that great Synod of Antioch that condemned Paulus Samosatenus there were present Bishops Presbyters Deacons and the Churches of God that is Laymen that represented the People of their several Churches So also we read in an ancient Fragment in Eusebius that when the Heresie of the Montanists was fix'd and preach'd the Faithful in Asia met together several times to examine it and upon examination condemned it So also when there were some Heats in the Church of Carthage about the Restitution of the Lapsed Cyprian writes from his Exile that the Lapsed should be patient till God had restored Peace to the Church and then there should be convened a Synod of Bishops and of the Laity who had stood firm during the Persecution to consult about and determine their Affairs Which Proposition was approved by Moses and Maximus and other Roman Confessors who liked the consulting of a Synod of Bishops Presbyters Deacons Confessors and the standing Laity as also did the whole Body of the Clergy of the Church of Rome who were willing that that Affair of the Lapsed should be determined by the common Counsel of the Bishops Presbyters Deacons Confessors and the standing Laity And thus at that great Council held at 〈◊〉 Anno 258. there were present Eighty Seven Bishops together with Presbyters Deacons and a great part of the Laity § 6. If it shall be demanded by whose Authority and Appointment Synods were assembled To this it will be replyed That it must necessarily have been by their own because in those Days there was no Christian Magistrate to order or determine those Affairs § 7. When a Synod was convened before ever they entred upon any Publick Causes they chose out of the gravest and renownedst Bishops amongst them one or sometimes two to be their Moderator or Moderators as at the Council held at Carthage Anno 258. Cyprian was Moderator or Prolocutor thereof And so we read of the Prolocutors of several Synods that were assembled in divers parts of the World to determine the Controversies concerning Easter As Victor Bishop of Rome was Prolocutor of a Synod held there Palmas Bishop of Amastris Moderator of a Synod held in Pontus and Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons of another in France Polycrates Bishop os Ephesus presided over a Synod of Asiatick Bishops and at a Convocation in Palestina there were two Moderators viz. Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea and Narcissus Bishop of Jerusalem The Office and Duty of a Moderator was to preside in the Synod to see all things calmly and fairly debated and decreed and at the conclusion of any Cause to sum up what had been debated and urged on both sides to take the Votes and Suffrages of the Members of the Synod and last of all to give his own All this is evident in the Proceedings of the Council of Carthage which are extant at the end of Cyprian's Works Cyprian being Moderator of that Council After all things were read and finished relating to the Question in hand sums up all telling the Synod what they had heard and that nothing more remained to be done but the Declaration of their Judgment thereupon Accordingly thereunto the Bishops gave their respective Votes and Decisions and last of all Cyprian as President gave in his § 8. When the Moderator was chosen then they entred upon the consideration of the Affairs that lay before them which may be consider'd in a two-fold respect either as relating to Foreign Churches or to those Churches only of whom they were the Representatives As for foreign Churches their Determinations were not obligatory unto them because they were not represented by them and so the chiefest matter they had to do with them was to give them their Advice and Counsel in any difficult Point which they had proposed to them as when the People of Astorga and Emerita in Spain had written to some African Churches for their Advice what to do with their two Bishops who had lapsed in Times of Persecution This Case was debated in a Synod held Anno 258 whose Opinion thereupon is to be seen in their Synodical Epistle extant at large amongst the Works of Cyprian Epist. 68. p. 200. § 9. But with respect unto those particular Churches whose Representatives they were their Decrees were binding and obligatory since the Regulation and Management of their Affairs was the general End of their Convening Various and many were the particular Ends of these Synodical Conventions as for the prevention of Injustice and Partiality in a Parish Consistory As suppose that such a Consistory had wrongfully and unrighteously censured one of their Members what should that censured Person do unless appeal to the Synod to have his Cause heard there as Felicissimus did who after he was excommunicated by his own Parish of which Cyprian was Bishop had his Cause heard before a Synod who ratified and confirmed the Sentence of Excommunication against him And therefore we may suppose it to be for the prevention of Partiality and Injustice that in Lesser Asia Offenders were usually absolved by the Synod which met every Year Synods also were assembled for the examining condemning and excommunicating of all Hereticks within their Limits that so the Faithful might avoid and shun them As Paulus Samosatenus was condemned by the Council of Antioch for resolving of all difficult Points that did not wound the Essentials of Religion or had relation unto the Discipline of the Church as when there was some Scruple about the Time of baptizing of Children a Synod of Sixty Six Bishops met together to decide it And so when there were some Disputes concerning the Martyrs Power to restore the Lapsed Synods were to be assembled to decide them But why do I go about to reckon up Particulars when as they are endless let this suffice in general that Synods were convened for the Regulation and Management of all Ecclesiastical Affairs within their respective Jurisdictions as Firmilian writes that in his Country the Bishops and Presbyters met together every Year to dispose those things which were committed to their charge Here they consulted about the Discipline Government and External Polity of their Churches and what means were expedient and proper for their Peace Unity and Order which by their common Consent they enacted and decreed to be observed by all the Faithful of those Churches whom they did represent He who denies this must be very little acquainted with the ancient Councils especially those which were held after the Emperors became Christians The reason why we find not more Synodical Decrees of the three first Centuries comes not from that they judicially determined none or required not the observance of them but from that either they were not careful or the Fury and Violence of the Times would
Sin to worship kneeling which custom we also observe from Easter to Whitsontide § 8. The Elements being thus blessed distributed and received they afterwards sung an Hymn or Psalm to the Praise and Glory of God as Tertullian writes Then every one sings an Hymn to God either of his own Composition or out of the Holy Scriptures Then followed for a Conclusion a Prayer of Thanksgiving to God Almighty for his inestimable Grace and Mercy as the same Tertullian saith Prayer concludes this Feast To which was subjoined a Collection for the Poor When as Justin Martyr reports Every one that was able and willing gave according to his Ability and that that was gathered was committed to the care of the Bishop who relieved therewith the Orphans and Widows the Sick and Distressed Prisoners Travellers Strangers and in a Word all that had need thereof CHAP. VII § 1. Of the Circumstances of Publick Worship § 2. Of the Place thereof In Times of Peace fixed Places for that end metonymically called Churches § 3. How those Churches were built § 4. No Holiness in those Places § 5. Of the Time of Publick Worship § 6. The First Day of the Week an usual Time § 7. Celebrated with Joyfulness esteemed holy and spent in an holy manner § 8. Their Reasons for the Observation of this Day § 9. The usual Title of this Day The Lord's Day § 10. Sometimes called Sunday but never the Sabbath-Day § 11. Saturday another Time of Publick Worship § 1. HItherto I have spoken of the several particular Acts of the Publick Worship of the Ancients I now come according to my propounded Order to enquire into the necessary Circumstances thereof By which I mean such things as are inseparable from all humane Actions as Place and Time Habit and Gesture As for Habit as much of that as is Controverted I have spoken to already in that Chapter where I discoursed of the Ministers Habit in Prayer And as for Gesture I have already treated of Worshipping towards the East And of their Posture at the Reception of the Lord's Supper There is nothing more disputed with reference thereunto besides the bowing at the Name of Jesus and the worshipping towards the Communion Table but both these being introduced after my prescribed time viz. above three hundred years after Christ I shall say nothing to them but pass on to the Discussing of the two remaining Circumstances of Publick Worship viz. Place and Time § 2. First As for Place This all will readily grant to be a necessary Circumstance of Divine Worship for if we serve God it is impossible but that it must be in one place or other Now one Query with respect hereunto may be Whether the Primitive Christians had determined fixed Places for their Publick Worship Unto which I answer That usually they had though it is true indeed that in times of Persecution or when their Circumstances would not permit them to have one usual sixed Place they met where-ever they could in Fields Deserts Ships or Inns Yet in times of Peace and Serenity they chose the most setled convenient Place that they could get for the Performance of their Solemn Services which place by a Metonymy they called the Church Thus at Rome the place where the Christians met and chose Fabian for their Bishop was the Church At Antioch Paulus Samosasatenus Bishop thereof ordered certain Women to sing Psalms to his Praise in the midst of the Church At Carthage the Baptized Persons renounced the Devil and all his Works in the Church And thus Fertullian very frequently calls their definite places for Divine Worship Churches § 3. As for the Form of these Churches or the Fashion of their Building I find this Description of them in Tertullian The House of our Dove like Religion is simple built on high and in open View respecting the Light as the Figure of the Holy Spirit and the East as the representation of Christ. The meaning whereofis that their Churches were erected on high and open places and made very light and shining in imitation of the Holy Ghost's Descent upon the Apostles at the Day of Pentecost who came down with Fire or Light upon them and that they were built towards the East in resemblance of Christ whom they apprehended in Scripture to be called the East concerning which Title and the reason thereof I have already discoursed in that Head concerning praying towards the East unto which place to avoid repetition I refer the Reader § 4. But tho' they had these fixed Places or Churches for Conveniency and Decency yet they did not imagin any such Sanctity or Holiness to be in them as to recommend or make more acceptable those Services that were discharged therein than if they had been performed elsewhere for as Clemens Alexandrinus writes Every place is in Truth holy where we receive any knowledge of God And as Justin Martyr saith Through Jesus Christ we are now all become Priests to God who hath promised to accept our Sacrifices in every or in any part of the World And therefore in times of Persecution or such like Emergencies they scrupled not to meet in other places but where-ever they could securely joyn together in their Religious Services there they met though it were in Fields Deserts Ships Inns or Prisons as was the Case and Practice of Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria So that the Primitive practice and Opinion with respect to this Circumstance of Place was That if the State of their Affairs would permit them they had fixed Places for their Publick Worship call'd Churches which they set apart to that use for Conveniency and Decencies sake but not attributing unto them any such Holiness as thereby to sanctifie those Services that were performed in them I know nothing more with respect to Place that requires our Consideration I shall therefore now proceed to enquire into the Time of Publick Worship under which will be comprehended the Primitive Fasts and Feasts § 5. Time is as necessary a Circumstance to Religious Worship as Place for whilst we are in this World we cannot serve God at all times but must have some determinate time to serve him in That God's People therefore under the Law might not be left at an uncertainty when to serve him it pleased the Almighty to institute the Sabbath the Passover and other Feasts at which times they were to congregate and assemble together to give unto God the Glory due unto his Name And for the same end under the Evangelical Administration there are particular Days and Seasons appointed for the Publick and Solemn Worship of the Glorious and Eternal Lord according to the Sayings of Clemens Romanus God hath required us to serve him in the appointed times and seasons For which Reason we ought to serve him at those determinated times That so worshipping him at those Commanded Seasons we may be blessed and accepted by
other Churches kept it the Lords Day after This Diversity of Customs created a violent Disorder and Confusion amongst the Christians for the Church of Rome would impose their Usages on the Churches of the Lesser Asia unto which the latter peremptorily refused to submit To appease these Heats and Storms Polycarp Bishop of Smirna came to Rome to confer with Anicetus Bishop of that Church about it who 〈◊〉 that every Church should be left to follow its own Custom as accordingly they were to the times of Pope Victor who revived this Controversie and was so turbulent and imperious as that he excommunicated the Asiaticks for refusing to comply with the Church of Rome in this matter condemning them as Hereticks loading them with the long and frightful Name of Tessareskaidekatitae or Quartodecimani so called because they kept their Easter Quarta Decima Luna upon the Fourteenth Day after the appearance of the Moon or at the Full Moon on what Day soever it happened But however the Asiaticks stood their Ground and still maintained their old Custom till the Council of Nice Anno 325. by their Authority decided this Controversie decreeing that throughout the whole Christian World Easter should be observed not on the Day on which the Jewish Passover fell but on the Lord's Day ensuing as it was ever after observed and followed § 3. The next Feast that was observed was Whitsunday or Pentecost in Commemoration of the Holy Ghosts Descent on the Apostles which also was very ancient being mentioned several times by Tertullian and reckon'd by Origen for one of the four Festivals observed in his time the other Three being Sundays Saturdays and Easter § 4. As for Christmass or the time of Christs Nativity there is a Passage in Clemens Alexandrinus which seems to intimate that it was then observed as a Festival For speaking of the Time when Christ was born he says that those who had curiously search'd into it affixed it to the 25th Day of the Month Pachon But the Basilidian Hereticks held otherwise who also observed as a Feast the Day of Christs Baptism From which Words who also if that be the meaning of the Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one might be apt to infer that the meaning of Clemens Alexandrinus was that the Basilidians not only feasted at the time of Christs Nativity but also at the time of his Baptism But whether this Interpretation will hold I leave to the Learned Reader to determin On the contrary there are other Considerations which more strongly insinuate that this Festival was not so early solemnized as that when Origen reckons up the Feasts observed in his Age he mentions not one Syllable of Christmas and it seems improbable that they should Celebrate Christs Nativity when they disagreed about the Month and Day when Christ was born Clemens Alexandrinus reckons from the Birth of Christ to the Death of Commodus exactly one hundred ninety four Years one month and thirteen days which years must be computed according to the Nabonassar or Egyptian Account who varied from this in our year in that they had only 365 days in a year never taking notice of the odd Hours or Quadrant of a Day that every fourth Year makes a whole Day and are accordingly by us then added to the Month of February which maketh the Bissextile or Leapyear So that though the Egyptians always begun their Year with the first day of the Month Thoth yet making no Account of the Annual odd Hours that Month wandereth throughout the whole Year And whereas now the first Day of that Month is the first Day of our March about Seven Hundred Years hence it will be the first of September and after Seven Hundred Years more or near thereabouts it will come to the first of March again Wherefore that we may reduce unto our Style this Calculation of Clemens Alexandrinus we must deduce for those odd Hours which are not accounted one Month and Eighteen Days and so reckoning the Birth of Christ from the Death of Commodus which happened on the first Day of January to be One Hundred Ninety Four Years wanting five or six Days it will appear that Christ was born on the 25th or 26th of the Month of December according to the Julian Account which is the Epoch we follow But as the same Father farther writes in the same place There were some who more curiously searching after the Year and Day of Christs Nativity affixed the latter to the 25th of the Month Pachon Now in that Year in which Christ was born the Month Pachon commenced the twentieth Day of April So that according to this Computation Christ was born the 16th Day of May. Nay there were yet some other ingenious Men as the same Father continues to write that assigned Christ's Nativity to the 24th or 25th of the Month Pharmuthi which answers to our 16th or 17th of April So that there were Diversities of Opinion concerning the Time of Christs Birth which makes it very probable that there was then no particular Feast observed in Commemoration of that Glorious and transcendent Mercy § 5. There is yet another Feast called by us Epiphany wherein there is a Commemoration of Christs Baptism which I find to have been peculiarly Solemnized by the Basilidian Hereticks For thus Clemens Alexandrinus reports it to be a particular Custom of theirs to keep as a Festival the day of Christs Baptism The Day on which Christ was baptized they said to be the fifteenth of the Month Tyby in the fifteenth Year of the Reign of the Emperor Tiberius which answers to our One and Thirtieth of December or as others imagin'd it On the Eleventh of the Month Tyby which was the Seven and Twentieth of our December § 6. Besides these forementioned Festivals there were none others observed to the Honour of the blessed Jesus nor of the Virgin Mary nor of the Holy Apostles and Evangelists and which may be a little observable it is very seldom if ever that the Ancients give the Title of Saints to those Holy Persons but singly style them Peter Paul John c. not St. Peter St. Paul or St. John § 7. But now there was another sort of Festivals which every Church Celebrated in the Commemoration of its own Martyrs which was on the Anniversary Day of their Martyrdoms They assembled together where they recited the Martyrs Glorious Actions exhorted to an Imitation of them and blessed God for them So says Cyprian The Passions of the Martyrs we Celebrate with an Anniversary Commemoration And so writes Tertullian Vpon the Annual Day of the Martyrs Sufferings we offer Thanks to God for them When this Practice began cannot certainly be determined it is first found mentioned in the Letter of the Church of Smirna to the Church of Philomilium touching the Death of Polycarp wherein they write That they had gathered up his Martyr'd Bones and buried them in a
decent place where say they if possible we will meet to celebrate with Joy and Gladness the Birth-day of his Martyrdom Hence that they might be certain of the very day of the Martyrs Sufferings there were some appointed to take an exact Account of them and faithfully to register them that so there might be no mistake Thus Cyprian writ from his Exile to the Clergy of his Church That they should take special care exactly to note down the very day of the Martyrdom of the Faithful that so they might be commemorated amongst the Memories of the Martyrs and to signifie to him the precise time of their departure to a glorious Immortality that so he might also celebrate it § 8. The Reasons for which they observed these Festivals we find in the forementioned Letter of the Church of Smirna wherein they write That they would meet to celebrate with Joy and Gladness the Martyrdom of Polycarp for the Commemoration of those who had already gloriously striven and for the Confirmation and Preparation of others by their Examples So that their Design was two-fold to animate and encourage others to follow the glorious Examples of those Heroick Martyrs who were commemorated before their Eyes and to declare the Honour and Veneration that they had for those invincible Champions of Jesus Christ who by their Martyrdoms were now freed from all their Miseries and Torments and Translated to a blessed and glorious Immortality in an happy manner experiencing the Truth of that Scripture in Ecclesiastes 7. 1. That the day of a Man's Death is better than the day of his Birth Whence the Time of the Martyrs Deaths was usually termed their Birth-Day because then was a Period of all their Grief and Trouble and a beginning of their everlasting Bliss and 〈◊〉 Thus in the forementioned Letter of the Church of Smirna concerning the Death of Polycarp they write That they would meet to celebrate with joy and gladness the Birth-day of his Martyrdom And so Tertullian says that 3 they annually commemorated the Birth-days of the Martyrs that is their Deathdays as he writes in another place concerning St. Paul That he was born at Rome when he suffered Martyrdom there § 9. As for the Place where these Anniversary Solemnities were performed it was at the Tombs of the Martyrs who were usually buried with the rest of the Faithful in a distinct place from the Heathens it being their Custom to interr the Christians by themselves seperate from the Pagans accounting it an hainous Crime if possibly it could be prevented to mingle their Sacred Ashes with the defiled ones of their Persecuting and Idolatrous Neighbours Wherefore in the Ratification of the Disposition of Martialis Bishop of Astorga by an African Synod held Anno 258 this was one of the Articles alledg'd against him That he had buried his Sons after the Pagan manner in Gentile Sepulchres amongst Men of another Faith And for this Reason it was that the surviving Christians would run upon ten thousand Hazards to collect the scattered Members of the Dead Martyrs and decently to inter them in the common Repository of the Faithful As when Emilian the barbarous Prefect of Egypt forbad any under Severe Penalties to entomb the Dead Bodies of the murdered Saints and seduously watched if any would durst to do it Yet 〈◊〉 a Deacon of Alexandria resolutely ventured upon it And it is applauded by the Historian as an Act of Religious Boldness and Freedom whereby Asturias a Roman Senator rendred himself renouned in that when he saw the Martyrdom of Marinus at Caesarea he took his martyred Body cloathed it with a precious Garment bore it away on his own Shoulders and magnificently and decently 〈◊〉 it And in a Letter from the Christians of Lyons and Vienna in France to the Churches of 〈◊〉 concerning their sore and grievous Persecutions we find them passionately complaining of the Inhumane Cruelty of their Persecutors that neither Prayers nor Tears neither Gold nor Silver could prevail with them to permit them to collect the dead Bodies of their murthered Brethren and decently to 〈◊〉 them As on the other hand the Faithful or the Church of Smirna rejoyced that they had gotten the most precious Bones of Polycarp which they buried 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 decebat where they ought as Valesius renders it that is as seems most probable at the common Burying Place of the Christians Now it was at these Tombs and Sepulchres that the Memories of the Martyrs were solemnized Thus in the forecited Letter of the Church of Smirna to the Church of Philomilium they write that in that place where they had interr'd the Bones of Polycarp they would by the Blessing of God assemble together and celebrate his Martyrdom which was a Practice so usual and constant as that the Heathens observed it So that as on the one hand under the Persecution of Valerian AEmilian the Prefect of Egypt threatned Dionysius Alexandrinus and his Fellow-Sufferers that for their Obstinacy and 〈◊〉 as he termed it he would send them into Lybia to a desert place called Cephro where they should not meet together or go to those places called Cemeteries That is the places where the Martyrs and the rest of the Faithful were buried so on the other hand when Galienus Valerian's Son restored Peace to the Churches he published an express Edict for returning to the Christians the Cemeteries that were taken from them § 10. If in the next place it shall be enquired how they observed these Festival Days I answer that they did not according to the fashion of the Heathens spend them in Riot and Debauchery in Bacchanalian Revellings and Luxury but in Religious Exercises and Employments in Prayers and Devotions He saith Origen truly keeps a Festival who does what he ought to do always praying and by his Prayers offering up unbloody Sacrifices unto God The Solemnites of these Feast Days were not Drunkenness and Gluttony but Acts of Piety and Charity Now they publickly assembled as the Church of Smirna writes in her Letter concerning the Death of Polycarp to commemorate the Martyrs Courage and Triumphs and to exhort and prepare others to the same glorious and renowned Actions Or as Tertullian expresses it now they offered Oblations as Cyprian They offered Oblations and Sacrifices that is they offered Thanks and Praise to God that had given Grace to those Martyrs to Seal his Truths with their Blood and in evidence of their Gratitude distributed of their Substance to the Poor and 〈◊〉 CHAP. X. § 1. Of the Rights and Ceremonies The difference between them § 2. Of Ceremonies Many used by the Ancients which through various ways crept into the Church § 3. Of Rites Every Church followed its own Rites without imposing them on any other § 4. The Members of every Church obliged to observe the Rites of that Church where they lived § 5. The Conclusion of
Church shall suffice I have nothing more to add but mine earnest Intreaty and Persuasion unto all those into whose Hands this little Treatise shall fall to imitate and follow the Primitive Christians in their Moderation and the Peaceableness of their Temper and Disposition In those happy days the Christians were so eminent above all other Sects for their mutual Love and Charity that the Heathens observed it with astonishment and cried out with Admiration Behold how they love one another We are saith Tertullian ready to die for each other and we call one another Brethren because we acknowledge one and the same God the Father and have been sanctified by the same holy Spirit and have been brought from the same state of Ignorance to the light of the same marvellous Truth But alas How is the Gold become 〈◊〉 How is the most fine Gold changed How is that Love and Charity now turned into Malice and Cruelty Pity Compassion and Tender-heartedness have left the World and Envy Hatred and Rancour are succeeded in their Places Love is now exploded as ungenteel and mean Charity is condemned as abject and base whilst Hatred Revenge and Fury are esteemed as Noble and Generous But O Lord how loug Shall Malice and Envy Wrath and Pride for ever ride Triumphant and uncontrolled When 〈◊〉 thou O Prince of Peace and God of Love heal our Breaches and compose our Differences and cause us with all lowliness and meekness and long-suffering to forbear one another in Love endeavouring to keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace We have too too long unnaturally quarrelled already and to the Dishonour of God and the Scandal of Religion have most unchristianly abused each other I speak not this only of one Party but of all we have all been guilty as to this matter we have all erred and gone astray from the most Holy Commandment and have been deficient every one of us in this great and necessary Duty of Love and Unity We have loathed Concord and loved Jarrs and Divisions and have been always back-biting persecuting and maligning one another to this very day never at all remembring that we were Brethren and Professors of the same blessed and glorious Religion But what shall I say This Theme is too harsh and displeasing if it is an unpleasant Work to rip up those uncharitable Actions may they be buried in perpetual silence and oblivion and never more be remembred so as to stir up Anger and Revenge but only so as they may produce in us all Humility Repentance and mutual Forgiveness let us now with our Floods of Penitential Tears at once quench God's Anger for our past Divisions and the Flames of our present Fire and Heats that so there may be no Fuel for future Contentions and being grieved that we have played the Fool so long we may now the more firmly resolve by the Grace of God to do so no more that so however infamous we have been heretofore for our blind Zeal and unaccountable Animosities we may for the time to come be highly renowned and conspicuous for our ardent Love and fervent Charity Putting away all bitterness and Wrath and Anger and Clamour and evil speaking with all Malice being kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christs sake hath forgiven us Putting on as the Elect of God holy and beloved Bowels of Mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness long suffering 〈◊〉 one another and forgiving one another Certain I am we need no Arguments to induce us hereunto both the necessity and Facility of Love and Unity require it at our hands its necessity is evident from hence that whilst we spend our Zeal and Heat about these inconsiderable matters the very Foundations of Faith and Morals are attack'd and shaken Atheism increases Immorality prevails and those damnable Heresies which for many Ages have been silenced and abandoned are now revived by Men of a corrupt Faith who take an occasion from the Lawlesness and Licentiousness of this present Age to vent those cursed Tenents which eradicate and destroy all Religion it is to be feared that unless we hasten to compose our Differences about the Skirts and Fringes of Religion the very Vitals and Essentials thereof will be corroded and devoured by Heresie and Profaneness And as for these and the like Reasons the necessity of an Union or Comprehension is manifest on the one Hand so the Facility of such an Union is as apparent on the other hand for thanks be to God our differences are neither about Faith nor Manners we all believe in one and the same God hope to be saved by one and the same Redeemer desire to be sanctified by one and the same Sanctifier receive one and the same Scriptures assent to the same Doctrins and acknowledge the necessity of the same Duties Our Disputes are only about lesser matters about Modes and Forms about Gestures and Postures and such like inferiour matters about which it should grieve a wise Man to quarrel and which with the greatest ease in the World might be composed and setled if managed by Men of Prudence and Moderation and such Men t is hoped are the Reverend Bishops advanced by their Majesties whose Promotion to those Places of Dignity and Trust many honest and peaceable Men look upon as a good Omen and Prognostick of our Future Union and happy Establishment With these two Considerations let us remember those solemn Vows and Engagements which we made to Almighty God and to one another in the day of our late Distress how we then vow'd and promised that if God would be pleased to deliver and rescue us we would forget our Differences and mutually condescend and abate of our Rigour and Severity Wherefore now since God hath so wonderfully saved us let us not be so perfidious and faithless as to neglect to perform what we then obliged our selves unto but let us willingly and conscientiously discharge it lest God bring severer Judgments on us then ever and at once utterly destroy us both Root and Branch for our Lying Perjury and Hypocrisie Many other such cogent Arguments I might 〈◊〉 produce but that I may avoid too great Prolixity and Tediousness I shall urge but one more which is that unless we have an uniting Spirit and a peaceable Disposition we are no true Christians we unjustly arrogate that glorious Name for the very Soul of Christianity is Love and Charity The Kingdom of God saith the Apostle is not Meat and Drink not zealous Disputes and Strifes about lesser Points but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy 〈◊〉 for he that in these serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of Men. It is an Absurdity and a meer Contradiction for a Man to say that he is Religious and yet to be malicious and uncharitable Our Saviour flatly tells us that by this all Men shall know that we are his Disciples if
Resurrection during which time they thought themselves by the forementioned Command obliged to fast Secondly From hence we may observe the Duration of this Fast or how long it was continued and that was from the time that Christ the Bridegroom was taken away to the time that he was restored again that is from his Passion to his Resurrection Now according to their Various Computations of the beginning and end of Christ's being taken away so was the Duration of their Fast some might reckon from Christ's Agony in the 〈◊〉 others from his being betrayed by Judas 〈◊〉 again from his being fastned to the Cross and others from his being actually dead and so according to these Diversities of Computations were their Fasts either lengthened or shortned This we may probably suppose to be the occasion of the different Observations of this Fast with respect to its Duration as we find it in Irenaeus Some says he esteem that they must fast but one Day others two others more and some allow to this Fast forty Hours Which last space of Time seems to have been their general and common Allowance Whence this Fast was afterwards called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Quadragesima that is not a Fast of Forty Days in imitation of Christ's Fasting in the Wilderness but a Fast of Forty Hours beginning at Friday Twelve a Clock about which time Christ was dying and ending Sunday Morning when Christ arose So that from Twelve a Clock Good Friday as we call it when Christ the Bridegroom was taken away they fasted in obedience to his Command as they imagined till Sunday Morning when he was found again by his Resurrection at which time they forgot their Sorrow and Mourning concluded their Fast and began the joyful Festival of Easter or of Christs Resurrection § 4. As for the manner of their Fasts we may observe them to be of three sorts viz. Statio Jejunium and Superpositio Station Fasts and Superposition all which three are at once mentioned by Victorinus Petavionensis We fast says he till the ninth hour or till evening or their is a Superposition till the next morning I. There was the Fast of Stations which ended at Three a Clock in the Afternoon or at the Ninth Hour as it is called in the forecited Passage of Victorinus Petavionensis This sort of Fasting was used on 〈◊〉 and Fridays which Days as we have shewn before were called Stationary Days and on them Divine Services were ended at Three a Clock in the Afternoon for which Reason Montanising Tertullian terms them The Half Fasts of Stations II. The next sort was strictly called Jejunium or a Fast which according to the 〈◊〉 place of Victorinus Petavionensis lasted till Evening Of this sort it is probable their Occasional Fasts were as Tertullian writes In times of necessity and danger we dry up our selves with Fasting abstain from all Meat roll our selves in Dust and Ashes and by these means cause God to have mercy upon us Though it is also likely that in times of more eminent Danger they extended these Fasts unto that of Superposition The Second sort of Fasts was observed by some on Fridays who turned the Station into a Fast as Victorinus Petavionensis writes On Friday in Commemoration of the Lord's Passion I either keep a Station or observe a Fast. III. The last sort of Fasts was called Superposition or as by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which lasted till the Morning of the next Day according to that of Victorinus Petavionensis Let Superposition be done till the next Day As for the times when this Fast was observed I find that in some of the Western Churches they so kept every Saturday throughout the Year fasting thereon till Midnight or till the beginning of Sunday Morning as Victorinus Petavioniensis says Let Superposition be done on Saturday lest we should seem to observe the Jewish Sabbath But not only in these but in other Churches also they so fasted on Easter Eve or on the Saturday preceeding that Sunday which being Lent was so necessary and usual that Tertullian enumerating those particular Acts of Divine Worship that a Christian Woman could not freely perform if married to a Pagan Husband reckons this as one That on Easter Eve she could not stay up and watch that Night But to please her Husband must be diverted from this necessary Fast that usher'd in the Glorious Festival of Easter which brings me in the next place to enquire into this and their other Feasts of which in the ensuing Chapter CHAP. IX § 1. Of the Primitive Feasts two-fold Occasional and Fix'd § 2. Of Easter § 3. Of Whitsunday § 4. Of Christmas On what Day of the Year Christ was born § 5. Of Epiphany § 6. Besides these no other Feasts in Commemoration of Christ the Virgin Mary or the Apostles The Apostles not called Saints in the Primitive Writings § 7. Festivals in Commemoration of the Martyrs Observed on the Annual Day of their Martyrdom Persons appointed to take an exact Account of the Day of their Decease § 8. Why those Festivals were observed The Day of the Martyrs Death termed their Birth days § 9. The Place where these Festivals were Solemnized Of the Buryingplace of the Ancients § 10. The manner of the Observation of these Festivals § 1. AS the Primitive Fasts were two-fold so likewise were their Feasts either Occasional or Fixed As for those that were Occasional I shall pass them over because not controverted and come immediately to enquire into their Fixed Feasts which as their Fasts were also two-fold either Weekly or Annual Of their Weekly Feasts which were Sundays and in the Oriental Churches Saturdays I have already discoursed so that there only remains an Enquiry into their Annual Feasts which befides the Martyrs Festivals were two viz. Easter and Whitsunday or at most Three viz Easter Whitsunday and Christmass of each of which in their Order § 2. I begin with Easter as being the antientest Feast of all concerning which Tertullian writes We Celebrate Easter in the first Month every Year Cyprian mentions their Easter Solemnities And Origen reckons Easter as one of the four Festivals observed in his time But that they Solemnized Easter is a thing so well known that it will be unnecessary to prove it especially since every one knows or at least might easily know those sharp Contests and Debates that were in the Church about the time when it should be kept the whole Affair hath been at large related by several Hands in our own Tongue amongst others by the most learned Dr. Cave in his Apostolici in the Life of Irenaeus to which I refer the Curious contenting my self with giving a very brief Account of the Controversie which was this The Churches of the Lesser Asia kept their Easter the same day that the Jews kept their Passover on what day of the Week soever it happen'd The Church of Rome with