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church_n	according_a	apostle_n	doctrine_n	2,761	5	5.6844	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67119	Eleutherosis tēs aletheias, truth asserted by the doctrine and practice of the apostles, seconded by the testimony of synods, fathers, and doctors, from the apostles to this day viz. that episcopacie is jure divino / by Sir Francis Wortley ...	Wortley, Francis, Sir, 1591-1652.	1641 (1641)	Wing W3637; ESTC R34763	18,183	38

confirmed by other Preachers and Doctours here This is also witnessed both by Origen and Theodoret not to speake of those who some of them affirme that Paul some that Iames some that Peter were in this Island and visited the Church here established as Baronius a Romish Writer and of special note in that Church hath it T is further said that Insula glacialis which we now call Glastenbury was granted them by Arviragus King of the Britains This is witnessed unto by divers memorable Records alleaged by the studious and learned Searchers into the British and Saxon Antiquities As for that report of Lucius and Eleutherius mentioned by Beda and Marianus Scotus and so often alleaged by divers others I must either thinke that Rome had changed her customes and many of her Tenents or question the Truth of the relation My Reason for this is because when in the yeer 601. Austin the Monk first required obedience to the Roman Church in three things viz. 1. in Paschate celebrando 2. in Baptismo ministrando 3. in praedicando Anglis Saxonibus In celebrating Easter in administring Baptisme in preaching to the English His motion was refused and Austin utterly disliked Quia to use the words of another Augustini fastum spernebant they disliked Austins pride And well they might for he was haughty and harsh and did contrary to his directions from Gregory Bishop of Rome who sent him hither For he incensed Edlefred so against the poore Christians of Bangor that he put twelve hundred of them to the sword Of this the Reason is given Quia noluere obsequium Augustino praebere because they would not submit to Austins will For this was indeed the quarrell as our Writers say This their refusall to yield to Austin the Monke I produce as a proofe that the Christians which hee found here held in many things with the Eastern Churches as having their doctrine from Ierusalem and Sion whence the Gospel was to be sent Esay 2. 3. Mic. 4. 2. to the Nations And whence as Salvation went Psal. 14. 7. So likewise the Doctrine of salvation for Christ who gave the Apostles Commission to go to all Nations and preach to them the Gospel did bid them stay at Jerusalem till the Holy Ghost furnished them with guifts for the worke commanded This further appeares by that resolute answere which the Abbot of Bangor gave to Austin the Monk Anno 601. viz. That he and his acknowledged no Superioritie in the Bishop of Rome over them nor any Superiour but their own Archbishop Caer-leonis or as some have it Senovensis qui sub Deo solus positus fuit super illos ad supervidendum ad faciendum illos servare viam spiritualem Who alone under God was made an Over-seer or Bishop to them that hee might make them observe the spirituall way Seeing this stout Champion thus answered it is probable that they were of the Primitive institution And this I the rather give credit unto because if the Bishop of Rome had then held the present Tenet of that Church That their Citie is the spirituall Metropolis and that their Bishop is Caput Ecclesiae our Predecessours would have acknowledged the Pope and his See as they had been taught But Baronius saith that our British Bishops are as ancient as those of Rome And t is probable they were so For this we have good proof that at a Council at Arles held Anno Dom. 314. wee had three Bishops viz. 1. Eborius de Civitate Eboraci Episcopus 2. Restitutus de civitate Londini Episcopus 3. Aldelfius de civitate Coloniae Londinensium exinde Sacerdos Presbyter Arminius Diaconus Eborius Bishop of Yorke Restitutus Bishop of London Adelfius Bishop of Colchester and after them Sacerdos a Presbyter Arminius a Deacon These subscribed in this Synod Here therefore I observe that Anno 314. wee had Bishops Presbyters and Deacons the very Governours now in question And Romish they were not as I conceive because they then acknowledged not a Subordination to Rome and because Vrban the second called learned Anselme Patriarcha Britaniae the Patriarch of Britaine Therefore me thinks it should not now be questioned whether Episcopacy be a Romish Relicke but rather that it should be confirmed as an Evangelicall Ordinance and as ancient as the first institution of Churches and as a calling appointed by the Apostles What more have we for Baptisme of Infants What more for our Sunday or the Lords day but convincing deductions from the Scriptures or the practice of the Apostles and the observation of the same in the Churches of God successively to this very day yet wee hold both these to be sacred Ordinances and of divine institution though they both be questioned by some learned men of the reformed Churches as Episcopacie is among some of ours The case is alike and as cleere if not much more for Episcopacie that it had a divine institution If what is formerly said satisfie not I will only use this argument more to prove that Episcopacie is Iure Divino If the charge given 1 Tim. 6. 14. be to Timothy personally and be perpetuall then it is to one person namely to Timothy and to the successors in his place For Timothy was mortall so that the perpetuitie of the charge must reach to all his successors till the appearing of the Lord Christ Iesus But the charge is personall to Timothy and perpetuall even to the appearing of our Lord Iesus Christ Therefore it is to one person viz. to Timothy and to his successors for ever If it be here objected that the charge there was given to Timothy as elswhere the Keyes to PETER and according to that which is said Quod dixit Petro dixit caeteris Apostolis What was spoken to Peter was spoken to the other Apostles also I Answer It is so For what was said to Timothy was said caeterisque Episcopis successoribus eorum both to other Bishops and their successors as Christs giving the keys to Peter were to him and the other Apostles But not to all the Disciples Deacons and widdowes To summe up all in a word since it appeares that Episcopacie Presbytery and Diaconatus are according to the practice of the Apostles analogicall and agreeable to the constitution of the Jewish Church appointed by God and established by Moses pointed at and in some kinde deciphered in the New Testament and strongly insinuated by the successors of the Apostles to have beene received and practised by them as commended to them from divine authority since these three orders in our Church are derived so high have continued so long even from the primitive times to this day we may well conclude that as Presbyters and Deacons so Bishops are Iure divino especially seeing Episcopacie is so generally confirmed and hath beene so constantly continued by the Apostles Apostolick men Councills Fathers and Doctors And much the rather am I induced thus as I have said to judge

run cleare down to the after times I have to his end above defined Episcopum a Bishop if we observe what he is then shall we evidently see whether Saint Paul did institute such a calling or no Of Civill Bishops I speake not but of Spirituall A Bishop of this kind I defined to be Presbyterum cum additamento superioritatis quoad regimen in Ecclesia he governs the Clergie and their flocks in spirituall matters Bishops of this Kind Saint Paul did institute He made Timothy and Titus Episcopos Cleri Gregis quoad regimen in Ecclesia Bishops of the Clergie and their flocks and to have Ecclesiasticall government over them whereas before they were but Presbyters or Disciples brought up under him By this institution were other Presbyters made subordinate to them in governing and teaching the Church Which to prove I thus argue He that is ordained and so ordained that hee hath power Constituere Presbyteres per civitates to ordain presbyters in every City is greater then those who have no such power in their Cities or Churches and those who may correct what is defective are superiour to those for whom matters defective are corrected But Titus and Timothy had such power given them and did so correct things defective and none of the Presbyters had the same from the Apostles Therefore I conclude undeniably that Titus and Timothy were superiors as Bishops over their Presbyters in their severall charges and Divisions viz Titus in Creet and Timothy in Ephesus That they had this power given them by Paul appeares 1. Tim. 5. 22. Lay hands suddenly on no man Tit. 1. 5. For this cause I left thee in Creet that thou shouldst set in order things which are wanting and ordain Elders in every City as I had appointed thee If any other in these Churches could have ordained Presbyters why was Timothy sent to Ephesus and Titus left at Creet for this very purpose And if the Cretians and their Presbyters could have set in order things defective what neede was there that Tit. alone should have this commission Saint Ierom himselfe who was accounted no great friend but rather harsh against Episcopacie in his Epistle to Evagrius pag. 329. gives us this as a distinction {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} remarkable betwixt a Presbyter and a Bishop saying Quid facit excepta ordinatione Episcopus quod non facit Presbyter What doth a Bishop except the ordaining of others which a Presbyter doth not And it is worth the observation that the ancient Father and great Champion for the blessed Trinity Athanasius hath in his second Apologie viz. that Colythus a Presbyter of the Church of Alexandria had constituted Presbyters but what became of them Rescissa est haec ejus ordinatio omnes ab eo constituti in laicorum ordinem redacti fuere The ordaining of others by him was made invalid and they who were ordained by him were degraded and made Laicks So then you see that Bishops are in this eminenter superiores Presbyteris eminently superior to Presbyters having power affirmative and negative by the opinion and practice of the ancient Fathers This confirms what the Apostles had taught practised and appointed others in place above the ordinary Presbyters to do Now I come to shew a second difference betwixt a Bishop and a Presbyter and wherein a Bishop hath eminentem superioritatem a cleere superiority above a Presbyter That is excommunication and was called Mucro Episcopalis the Episcopall weapon and was a power given to Bishops successors of the Apostles and was ever practised by them This appears in that an account of it was and is expected at their hands as is manifested by the quarel which our blessed Saviour had against the Angell of the Church of Pergamus namely that he suffered some of his Church who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans and against the Angell of the Church of Thyatira viz. That hee suffered the woman Iezabell to teach and seduce the people By this it is apparent that Christ expected they should doe what they had by their places power to doe namely that they being Angells of their Churches whom I affirme to bee also Bishops therof and successors to the Apostles as is sufficiently proved by the most reverend and learned Arch-bishop of Armach and by Beza himselfe called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} men in place above others should haereticos coercere ex Ecclesia ejicere Keepe under Heretikes and cast them out of the Church If here it be objected that wee must not argue from darke and mysticall places of Scripture such as the Apocalypse I answere that I argue from a plain place and from the plain words and direct scope of the place not the mystical sense or interpretation Neither can we here admit of that distinction that Angelus is in this place to bee taken collectively pro tota Ecclesia for the whole Church For I conceive that there is not a word in the Scripture but hath its weight and was it not as easie to have said Ecclesiae as Angelo Ecclesiae if Angelus had not something more in it then Ecclesiae And why not Angelus Ecclesi● but Angelus Ecclesiae The Angell the Church but the Angell of the Church if it had beene to be taken collectively But the tearmes be distinct and of a different force like those panis Domini the bread of the Lord and panis Dominus bread representing the Lord Besides to return to Timothy and Titus they are injoyned to command others {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} not to teach other doctrine and obturare ora deceptorum haereticos rejicere to stop the mouthes of deceivers and to reject Hereticks These things were commanded them and an account accordingly exspected of the performance thereof which manifestly proves that every Church had his Angelum who had Episcopall authority and jurisdiction eminent above other inferior Clergie-men And not many Angels in each of these Churches all of equall authority and place Or at least the Angell in each of the seven churches was so absolute in his power that he was {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} chief Governour the Presbyters assistants to him he a spirituall Justicer and of the Quorum they of the Counsell The difference also of Episcopal authority from that of Presbyters appears in the cause of excommunication where there was an appeal to the Synods which either confirmd them or dissolved them but none to the people none to the presbyters This is confirmed by the ancient Councill at Nice Can. 5. and at Antioch Can. 6. And Ierom himselfe writing to Riparius concerning Vigilantius an Hereticall Presbyter is angry that the Bishop under whom he was did acquiescere eius furori non virga Apostolica virgaque ferreavas inutile confringere tradere ad interitum carnis ut spiritus salvu● fiat Did quietly give way to his fury

of a different calling from a Bishop when as he acteth the part of a Bishop in all points by Saint Paul prescribed The practice of all times especially of the first Century warrants not a monethly or yeerly President doing nothing for ordination convention punishment reward without the advise and consent of a company of Presbyters but it allows Bishops superiority to presbyters and Presbyters to Deacons Yea it placed Bishops as successors to the Apostles as were Timothy and Titus and Presbyters and Deacons subordinat to Bishops as to the Apostles whilst they lived Saint Ignatius the next Bishop to Evodius Hee received Episcopall charge from the Apostles and writing to them at Antioch when hee was carried prisoner to Rome useth these words to the Laity Obsequium praebete Presbyteris diaconis Be yee obedient to your Presbyters and Deacons and addeth to the Presbyters pascite gregem apud vos done● Deus ostendit {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} feed the flock under you untill God shew who shall bee your governour and hereby establisheth superiority to Bishops and enjoyneth the Presbyters obedience The same Father in an Epistle to the Ephesians acknowledgeth ONESIMVS named often by Saint Paul to be their Bishop exhorteth them saying {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as it becomes you submit your selves to your Bishops advice Thus here wee finde Saint Pauls charge and ordination observed and followed by Ignatius who lived in the first century and whose worth and authority clouds of witnesses doe confirme In the same journey he writes to the Church of Smyrna and salutes their Bishop by name and exhorteth the flock {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to follow their Bishop as Jesus Christ did his Father and the Presbytery as the Apostles The Bishop here spoken of was Polycarpus as Ireneus his successor affirmes with whom Ireneus was contemporaneus multa accepit ab illo de Sancti Ioannis vita conversatione contemporary and by whom Ireneus was informed in many things concerning Saint Iohns life and conversation In the life time of Trajan the Emperour Saint Iohn returning from his banishment out of Patmos where he wrote his Revelation summoned the seven Bishops who are conceived to be those named in the Apocalypse the Angells of the seven Churches and used their ministery for setling and ordering his own Metropolis of Ephesus and the other Churches in Asia as the ancient Greeke Records found in the Library of Photius testifie Concerning his Apostolicall superiority and practice of constitution and ordination of Bishops is frequent mention in Ireneus Eusebius and Ierom. So then by that which hath been said wee see that Episcopacie is {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} warranted by the practice of the Apostles because that viventibus videntibus constituentibus confirmantibus Apostolis viris Apostolicis patribus Doctoribus testantibus The Apostles and Apostolike men being alive seeing it appointing it and confirming it and the Fathers Doctors being eie witnesses thereof There were these three distinct degrees in the Clergy Bishops Presbyters Deacons Now to the second Point That Episcopacie is analogicall to the institution and constitution of the Church government of the Iewes in the old Testament Which Moses as a Prince did establish by Gods appointment in the wildernesse and which continued in force till the veil of the Temple was rent and the Gentiles became heirs to Abraham and the promises made to him were made good to us his heirs by faith and adoption Because the Iews Abrahams heirs according to the flesh by their own default disobedience forfeited their interest in that conveiance of inheritance which they claimed from their Father Abraham by the evidences registred in Moses and the Prophets Episcopacie and subordination thereunto I say holds Analogie and a kinde of proportion with the Jewish Church government For God in it appointed an High Priest Priests and Levits subordinate one to the other Such is the subordinatiō of the three degrees in the Clergie in the new Testament Church This subordination of the Christian Church Saint Ierom neere the end of his Epistle to Evagrius observes and says Scimus traditiones Apostolorum sumptas de veteri Testamento Quod Aaron filii ejus atque Levitae in Templo fuere hoc Episcopi Presbyteri Diaconi sibi vendicant in Ecclesia scil Christiana The orders delivered to the Church by the Apostles were taken out of the old Testament The same subordination which was seen in Aaron his sons and the Levits now appeares in the Christian Church in our Bishops Presbyters and Deacons This proportion is made undenyable by Saint Iude who chargeth some with the gain-saying of Koreth Now there can be no gain-saying like that of Koreh in the Christian Church except there be distinction subordination of superiours and inferiors in the Clergie as there was and was gain-said by Koreh and his complices desirous of superiour honour and of higher degrees and places then they had a calling unto Here then you see that God would have a proportion of Church-government betwixt the Old and New Testament It is further worthy the observation that both the Church and Common-wealth of the Jewes had in their government a kind of proportion established by God For as the Church was Monarchicall in Moses Aristocraticall in some select Priests and Levits governing under Aaron and Democraticall in the rest of the Priests and Levits So was the Common-wealth Monarchicall in Moses Aristocraticall in some select Princes of each Tribe governing under Moses and Democraticall in the rest and in the whole body of the people Such is the proportion betwixt our Church and Common-wealth and such hath it beene from the first foundation This will I hope appeare when I come to speak of the succession in our Church And what kind of government thus sutable to that of the Jews is in any one Church may be in all Churches namely all degrees of men subordinate to their Princes and all the Princes or Kings subordinate to Christ without having any King on earth Head over the rest as all degrees of men in the Churches were subordinate to the Apostles and the Apostles going to severall and far remote Nations were all equally subordinate to Christ and no one of them Head over the rest To conclude then seeing the Constitution of Episcopall government is so agreeable to that which was most absolute and was established by that wisdome that no other Common-wealth and Church ever was as one observes Dictante Deo constituente Mose God ordaining it and Moses putting it in practice Why should wee endeavour to alter it Such an attempt might prove with us as it did with the people of Capua when Pacuvius saved the Senators It is held an axiome among Architectors that it is scarce wisdom to pull down one of the mayne posts of a building especially so