Congregation of Christians in all the World hath received and embraced the Episcopacy we contend for To this all the Fathers without exception of any one bear witness He among them who ascribes least to Episcopacy St. Jerom who was not a Bishop but a Presbyter of an inferiour Order whose Testimony therefore may stand in stead of many saith In toto orbe decretum est ut unus de Presbyteris electus caeteris superponeretur ad quem omnis cura Ecclesiae pertineret It is universally decreed that one chosen from among the Presbyters should be set over the rest to whom the whole care of the Church should appertain And that this was the universal Custom of the Church appears by this because those Hereticks who made a separation from the Church Catholick did yet retain this Order among them Thus the Authour of the Homilies upon St. Matthew Hereticks in their Schism have all those things among them which are proper to the true Church Similiter Ecclesias similiter Scripturas similiter Episcopos caeterosque Clericorum ordines They have their Congregations Scriptures Bishops and other Orders of the Clergy as the Church hath Aerius indeed in a Pang of indignation because he missed a Bishoprick which he stood for would have made himself equal to the Reverend Bishops by broaching this Doctrine Presbyterum ab Episcopo nulla differentia discerni debere That a Presbyter ought not to be distinguished by any difference from a Bishop but this errour of his was condemned by the whole Church When one wrote to St. Jerom Nihil interest inter Episcopum Presbyterum There is no difference between a Bishop and a Presbyter he reproved him sharply in the Answer which he returned Hoc satis imperite This was not said for want of ignorance In portu ut dicitur naufragium you make shipwrack as they say Proverbially in the Haven Thirdly The Episcopacy under our present consideration is of venerable Antiquity in the Church having it's rise in the Apostles time In proof of which we can have no better Evidence then the Catalogue of Bishops in Irenaeus Eusebius Socrates and Theodoret who begin from the Age in which the Apostles lived Now no man can deny his assent to such Grave Authority so unanimously conspiring in matter of fact without incurring the guilt of singular irreverence and pertinacy It is as if one should deny that which all the Roman Histories affirm that the Consulship of Rome began from the Banishment of the Tarquins Will you hear St. Jerom Alexandriae a Marco Evangelista Presbyteri unum semper ex se electum in celsiori gradu collocatum Episcopum nominabant Ep. 85. The Presbyters of Alexandria ever since St. Mark the Evangelist having chosen one from among themselves and exalting him to an higher place stiled him Bishop St. Mark died in the eighth year of Nero about the year of our Lord 62. whose Successour St. John the Apostle yet living was Amianus to him succeeded Abilius to Abilius Cerdo After the Death of St. James Simon succeeded him in the Bishoprick of Jerusalem After St. Peter's departure Linus Anacletus and Clement or as some St. Peter yet living sate in the Episcopal Chair at Rome as Evodius and Ignatius did at Antioch A Record of such Antiquity confirmed by Ignatius the Disciple of St. John cannot be rejected by any save such onely who have no Faith for any thing that themselves saw not Who may as well deny that ever there was a Philip of Spain or Lewis of France or Henry King of England as that the persons before mentioned were Bishops of their respective Sees Fourthly The Episcopacy we intend is approved by Divine Right or as Bucer expresseth it Visum Spiritui Sancto utinter Presbyteros unus cur am singularem gereret It seemed good unto the Holy Ghost that one among the Presbyters should have the especial care of the Church Of this we have an undeniable Argument in the book of the Revelations where we find Christ from Heaven commanding St. John to write unto the seven Angels of the Churches of Asia The Title of Angel may I acknowledg be applyed in a general signification to every particular Pastour or Presbyter But here it is manifest Christ intends one in each Church onely whom he stiles the Angel in a proper and peculiar sence For It is no ways probable that Churches so large of such vast extent as Ephesus Smyrna and the rest were had but one Pastour or Presbyter in each of them Nay it is certain and evident concerning Ephesus that in the days of St Paul there were many Presbyters ordained or constituted to feed the Church of God Acts 20.17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the Elders of the Church and said unto them verse 28. Take heed unto your selves and to all the flock c. to feed the Church of God And we may as rationally conclude concerning the rest that there were many Pastours in each Church Why then should Christ direct his Epistle to one the Angel if there had not been one among them of a Superiour Function and more eminent Dignity Sub Angeli nomine saith St. Augustine Epist 162. laudatur praepositus Ecclesiae Under the name of the Angel he commends the Prefect of the Church Angelos Ecclesiis Praesidentes dixit Hierom By Angels he understands the Presidents of the Churches And for Smyrna Polycarpus was without controversie Bishop of it ordained by St. John as Bullinger himself acknowledgeth and Irenaeus saith of him l. 3. c. 3. Polycarpus non solum ab Apostolis eruditus c. Polycarp was not onely instructed by the Apostles and conversant with divers of those persons who saw our Lord in the flesh but in Asia he was constituted by the Apostles Bishop of the Church of Smyrna whom I saw saith the Father while I was a young man I wholly wave many other Evidences and descend to a late Protestant Writer Marlorat in locum St. John saith he mentions first the Church of Ephesus in respect of the dignity of the place Nec populum aggreditur sed Principem Cleri utique Episcopum And he doth not apply himself to the people but to the Principal of the Clergy to wit the Bishop And because the Authority of Mr. Beza and Doctour Reinolds may possibly go furthest with those who have no great friendship for the Episcopal Dignity let us in the Point in hand hear them To the Angel saith Beza id est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quem nimirum oportuit inprimis de his rebus admoneri ac per eum caeteros collegas totamque adeo Ecclesiam That is the President who first ought to be admonished and by him his Colleagues and so the whole Church Reinolds in his Conference with Hart c. 8. Sect. 3. saith Though there were in the Church of Ephesus many Presbyters and Pastours to Administer to that Church yet there was one ever those many whom our Saviour stiles the
day of the rain or tempest As for instance 1 They who build upon the bare name of Christianity There is a vast difference between nominals and reals names will never passe in the account of Heaven for things The Church of Sardis had a faire name a name that she lived but this did not advantage her any thing because she was dead Apoc. 3.1 2 They who build upon the shoulders of their religious progenitors the Grand-Mother Lois and the Mother Evnice It is an happinesse too great for Parents to entail their graces together with their estates upon their children all the holinesse they derive to them is a faederal holinesse only a leprous Father begets a leprous child the Father takes a potion and is healed of his leprosy but if the child use not that remedy he dies in his uncleannesse if you reflect upon the children of many holy men in Scripture you may behold Adams Cain Abrahams Ismael Isaacks Esau Davids Amnon Absolom Aarons Nadab Abihu Elies Hophni Phineas too many children are like Manasses Hoc uno patris spectaculum Quod ejus imaginem reddidi ex contrario Eman. Thesaur 3 They who expect the end without the means who build upon their predestination There is a predestination to works as well as to life For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them Ephes 2.10 4 They who rely upon poor weak languishing intentions that never ripen into action the Poet derides those whose intentions were alwayes blossoming but never brought forth any ripe fruit cras te victorum c. good intentions fortifyed with pious resolutions doe fairly introduce one into the paths of virtue but the best intentions without action will never bring him to his journeys end The Jewes I beleeve intended as they said when they desired the Prophet to pray for them and say they according to all that the Lord our God shall say so declare unto us and we will doe it Jeremiah 42.20 and yet he tels them they dissembled in their hearts when they sent him unto the Lord because saith he I have declared it to you but ye have not obeyed the voyce of the Lord nor any thing for which he hath sent me unto you vers 21. good intentions are like the Angel that went before Toby to Rages but the non execuion of them is like the dog that followed after him 5 They who build upon their civil honesty or negative goodnesse they doe no man wrong they are not this or that the Scribes and Pharises were without controversy unblameable in their conversation towards men and it is not to be question'd but that the Pharise spake truth who said God I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers I fast twice in the weeke I give tithes of all that I possesse Luke 18.11 12. and yet our Lord Christ saith except your righteousnesse exceed the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharises ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of heaven Mat 5.20 6 They who build upon their religious performances their own righteousnesse Christ became a stone of offence to the Jews when they would be saved by the works of the Law Rom. 9.31 32. and Saint Paul saith Christ is become of none effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the Law ye are fallen from grace Galat. 5.4 We may safely say of all these as Christ did to his Disciples when they shew'd him the fabrick of the material Temple there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be throwen down Mark 13.2 2 Take heed of disalowing or rejecting Christ Beza upon the T. saith etiam nos hodie vita moribus reprobamus Men may and doe at this day reject Christ by their vitious lives and evil manners they reject or reprobate him in general who are disobedient to the word A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient 1 Pet. 2.8 they more particularly who refuse neglect or despise his ordinances the rejecting of them is the rejecting of Christ in his wisedome and faithfulnesse Every man that lives in a known sin prefers Barabbas before him It is this and this only that renders it a thing perfectly reasonable that the sufferings of sinners should be eternal in the place of torment because by rejecting Christ they contemn that immortal and eternal life which God puts into their hands and upon which they might lay hold by embracing and entertaining him Is there any thing more rational and equal then this that when God sets life and death before men immortal life by entertaining Christ and eternal death by rejecting him they who choose death should have their portion or part in it Take heed least while you acknowledge as you cannot but doe the reasonablenesse of this you doe not as the Jews did condemn your selves in a thir d Person Mat. 21.41 and so I passe from this to the second general 2 The superstructure or fabrick that is built upon this foundation ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house vers 5. In which there are three things considerable the materials edifice and the manner how it becometh such 1 The materials are 1. in general ye 2. more particularly lively stones If you would know 1 Who these ye are you must have recourse to the beginning of this Epistle in the first and second verses of the first chapter they are describ'd by two names strangers and elect 1 Strangers advenis inquilinis in solos Judaeos competit It appertaines to the Jews only saith Master Calvin upon the place who are here called strangers not as the beleevers are afterwards I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts 1 Pet. 2.11 because heaven is their Countrey and they are heer from home but because they were cast out from that Land the Land of Canaan which was peculierly theirs and were now dispers'd and scattered through Pontus Galatia Cappadocia c. Or Advenis strangers i. e. ijs qui ex gentilismo in rem publicam populi Dei transierant Gualt who were transplanted from gentilisme into the Society of Gods people I undertake not to umpire between Calvin and Gualter whether they were Jews or Gentiles but take that which they both agree in the ye heer the materials of this spiritual house to be Christians that is persons made proselites to the faith and profession of Christ whether from the tents of Judaisme or gentilisme it matters not the ye are Christians they the materials of this spiritual house but not all we hope will some say for the Apostle stiles them 2 Elect. whence they infer that none ought to be accounted members of the Church the materials of this spiritual house but the elect only The elect in their sense are I acknowledg the sole Members of
the measure of the parts and yet there is great variety and diversity for some are round as the armes other flat as the hands some prominent and some more retired thus in the spiritual house the Church though there be great variety some learned other unlearned some rich other poor some noble and honourable other mean and vile some strong men other babes in Christ some Fathers other children Or as though in an house there be a celler pantry kitchin and other rooms of meaner office as well as a parlour bed-chamber and closet and great variety between these in respect of form height and latitude yet because there is a convenience and proportion running between the parts and the whole this satisfies for the diversity and reconciles it by the force of proportion to that regularity or symetry that ought to be in the building So in the spiritual house the Church though the members be various yet they may be correspondent if the conveniency or proportion in which symetry consists be held and it must necessarily be with that Church in which this symetry is found as they say of the material Church of Santa Giustina in Padova though the materials be but ordinary stone without any garnishment of sculpture yet it ravisheth the beholders eye by a secret harmony in the proportion 2 Decor This in a material house consists in the keeping of a due respect between the habitation and the Inhabitant It was the saying of a great Artist Palladius that no fabrick is to be regulated by any certain dimensions but by the dignity only of the Master The Gentiles having respect to this were profusely liberal in adorning their Temples witnesse that of Ceres Eleusina at Ephesus upon perswasion that their Gods dwelt in them and the God of heaven though he doe not dwel in Temples made with hands as Saint Paul tels the Men of Athens Acts 17.24 yet because the Temple at Jerusalem was dedicated to his worship and appropriated to him he complains by the Prophet Haggai for want of this decor the not keeping a due respect between the habitation and himself the Inhabitant Is it time for you oh ye to dwell in your cealed houses and this house lye wast Hag. 1.4 In the spiritual house the Church in which God hath said he will dwell for ever the decor is holinesse the Inhabitant is holy and therefore the habitation should be so It is true of the spiritual house that David speaks of the material Temple Holiness becometh thine honse oh Lord for ever Psal 93. and upon the account of his own holinesse God requires this due respect It is written be ye holy for I am holy 1 Pet. 1.16 and Saint Paul urgeth it likewise upon the same account Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you if any Man defile the Temple of God him shall God destroy for the Temple of God is holy which Temple ye are 1 Cor. 3.16 17. 3 Distribution The designing of all the rooms to their several and respective offices In the spiritual house likewise there must be such a distribution Thus the Apostle and he gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers Ephes 4.11 and more expresly 1 Cor. 12.28 God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers c. for as in material buildings some stones doe well within dores that would not serve without to bear out weather and others doe better without then they would doe within so some Christians are more for use and lesse for ornament others more for ornament and lesse for use as therefore God in his wisedome hath design'd and appointed men so they ought to keep their station to continue in that calling or place which ye Mr. Builder hath distributed to them and thus you have an account of the 2d thing the superstructure a spiritual house 3 The manner how Christians become such an house and that is by being built up or building up themselves so if this Text doe not beare it Saint Jude saith expresly But ye beloved building up your selves on your most holy faith vers 20. for though it be strange yet it is true we are both stones and builders to be built and to build up our selves Stones in respect of them whom God hath set over us to square and frame us and builders in respect of our selves first and then of those who are committed to us either by the obligation of ditty or charity every one being to build up those that are committed to his charge into an house for God to dwell in In respect of our selves we are to build God an Oratory in respect of our particuler Families we are to build him a Chappel and if we have a larger circuit if we be set in publick place we are to build him a Church This expression of being built up or building up our selves implies 2. things 1 To what end or upon what terms or conditions we ought to come unto Christ nempe ut in ipso fundemut Calvin that we may be built up on him to whom coming c. ye are built up c. though Christ the living stone be a most sure and tried foundation a rock and a rock of ages yet he will bear no more then God hath design'd him as a foundation to bear It is a maxime of the great Architect Vitruvius fundationes fodiantur si queant inveniri ad solidum in solido let the foundation be laid if it may be upon a solid rock by which words he commends to us saith a learned English Commentator not only a diligent but even a jealous examination what the foundation will bear Though there be no other foundation but Christ and though this foundation be infinitly sufficient to beat the utmost weight that can regularly be laid on it yet this foundation would sink under the burden of the least known sin unrepented of They therefore that come to him i. e. who expect salvation by him upon any other terms or condition then being built up by obedience and conformity to him by increasing in virtue and good works instead of founding doe but confound their own happinesse 2dly This expression of building up our selves or being built up implies that union on in affection that should be between those who are members of the same Church An house built up though the materials before the building timber stones morter and the rest were divers and sundry yet are all so united that they become one So in the spiritual house though every particuler Christian be an house or Temple for the holy Ghost to dwell in yet by being built up all are united into one Basilicon or Princely fabrick An Italian Architect Leon Batista Alberti is so curious in the point of union in a material fabrick that he wisheth that all the timber should be cut out of the same
forrest and all the stones dig'd out of the same quarry This might not probably conduce more to the union of the house then if the timber and stones were cut and dig'd out of divers forrests and quarryes But sure I am it conduceth not a little to the union of the spiritual house that the timber and stones be cut and hewen out of the same forrest and pit For when one saith I am of Paul and another I am of Apollos and a third I am of Cephas this genders to envy strife and division as the Apostle l Cor. 3.3 4. There are two things that tend much to the preservation of this union 1. A Spirit of Contentation with that estate and condition in which God hath plac'd every Member of the Church For as it tends to Schism in the natural body if the foot shall envy the hand or the ear the eye or any of the members the head If the foot shall say why should I bear the burthen of the whole and not be supported as well as the head is or the hand say why should I be employed as the instrument of action and not partake with the eye in its more honourable and easy imployment of speculation So in the spiritual body if one member emulate or envy another the Subject the Prince the Presbyter the Bishop it must necessarily cause a cleft or schism in the building which may ruin the whole For as in material buildings all openings are weaknings and therefore skilful builders advise that dores and windows be as few in number and as moderate in dimension as may be A spirit of contentation therefore is of a primary necessity to the preservation of union 2. A Mutual Communication of particular faculties for the good of the whole For as the foot in the natural body can't refuse to walk the hand to work or the eye to see without the apparent prejudice of the whole No more can any member in the spiritual fabrick withhold his particular ability from the rest without their detriment and suffering losse by it As when the members in the fable conspired to withhold nourishment from the belly they conspired but their own ruine in weakning it And as they observe in Architecture it is a notorious soloecism to weaken that part which must strengthen all the rest But when every member communicates its particular faculty the feet walk the hands work the eyes see the ear hears the tongue speaks this tends to the union of the whole with the advantage of welfare to the particular members And thus I have considered the Christian Church as a spiritual house Whence this inference naturally may be drawn viz. There is a Master of this house by whom the family ought to be ruled and Governed It was an equitable and natural law that King Ahasuerus made upon his Queen Vashti's disobedience That every man should bear Rule in his own house Hester i. ult It is much more reasonable that God the Master of this Spiritual House should bear Rule in it Our very being in Gods house doth necessarily oblige us to Subjection and Obedience to him When the Holy Ghost saith such or such persons were in such or such an house he intends subjection by it Numb 30.3 ult Thus when the Israelites are said to be in Pharoahs house the meaning is they were subject to him Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy Father when they were in Egypt in Pharaohs house 1 Sam. 2.27 Let us therefore give up our selves conscionably and sincerely to the Government of our great Lord and Master In things fundamental and essential to be believed and practised we are to receive our direction from his lips only as he spake by the mouths or pens of those holy men Prophets and Apostles who were inspir'd by the Holy Ghost Thus the Apostle expresly Though we or an Angel from Heaven Preach any other Gospel unto you then that which we have Preached unto you let him he accursed As we said before so say I now again if any man Preach any other Gospel unto you then that ye have received let him be accursed Gal. 1.8 9. where you have the Divine inviolable authority of the holy Scripture asserted and a very dreadful sentence thundred against any person of what rank or quality soever that shall presume to innovate or introduce any Doctrine contrary to the Doctrine of those holy Men who spake as they were inspir'd by the Holy Ghost Though we i. e. Paul himself and the Brethren that were with him in whose name he salutes the Churches of Galatia ver 2. or though we i. e. as Vincent Lirinens etiamsi Petrus etiamsi Andreas etiamsi Joannes etiamsi omnis Apostolorum chorus Evangelizet vobis praeterquam quod Evangelizavimus Anathema sit l. 1. c. 12. praescript advers profan haeresium novitates Though Peter Andrew John though the whole company of the Apostles should Preach to you any other Gospel then that which we have preached let him be Anathema Tremenda districtio a dreadful sentence saith he yet parum est this is but little in respect of that which followes Though an Angel from Heaven should Preach any other Gospel unto you let him be accursed Audite populi tribus linguae viri mulieres pueri senes tota gens Christianorum Sancta as Damas Orat. 2. de imagin give ear O ye people tribes and tongues men women children all the holy company that is called Christians in all the world Licet Angelus licet Rex Evangelizet vobis praeter id quod accepiâ—â—is aures occludite Though a King or Angel Preach any other Gospel to you then that ye have received you are to stop your ears and be as deaf unto his Doctrine But here you must take heed of wresting or misunderstanding the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praeter id or praeterquam quod then that which we have preached for this doth not confine the dispensers of the word to a strict observation of those expressions and syllables only in their Administration which the Apostles used they may notwithstanding this commination use expressions of their own or borrow them from other professions in explicating illustrating or confirming the Truths of the Scripture But the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is either to be interpreted contra contrary to as it is frequently used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Aristot praeter i. e. contra naturam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 praeter i.e. contra legem beside that is contrary to nature And beside the Law that is contrary to it Thus the preposition praeter is used likewise by Terence in Andria praeter civium morem atque legem beside that is contrary to the Law and Custom of Citizens So St. August explicates this Text. Non ait plusquam accepistis sed praeterquam quod accepistis Tract 99. in Joan. he saith not more than you received but other then or beside that which you have received for saith the Father
grand cases of Blasphemy and Heresy but in those lesser occasions of Errour and Schism he is entrusted with Power to quench the least spark as well as the devouring flame Arius in Alexandria was but a little spark in the beginning but because the Christian Emperour did not timely interpose his Authority for the quenching it Totum orbem ejus flamma depopulata est it became a flame which consumed almost the whole Christian World The Prince's Authority may and ought to be exercised in restraining dangerous Disputations concerning Religion Sozomen l. 7. c. 12. tells us that Constantine enacted a Law against Disputes of the Trinity Nemo Clericorum de summa Trinitate disputet And Marcianus prohibited all Disputes De fide Christiana of the Christian Religion Andronicus the Emperour when his Bishops were disputing curiously and subtilely of those words of Christ Pater major me est My Father is greater then I threatned to cast them into the River Ni tam periculosis sermonibus abstinerent unless they did forbear such dangerous Discourses That of Sisinius to Theodosius being most true Disputando de sacris accendi tantum contentiones that Contentions only are fostered by Disputations Secondly To the second Question How far the Coercive Power of the Prince extends It is acknowledged that his Authority may extend to Imprisonment Confiscation of Goods and Banishment of persons sinning against his Commands but whether it may extend to Life is not so manifest because the Apostle saith onely Haereticum hominem devita Titus 3.10 The Gloss upon Gratian turns the Verb into a Substantive de vita and adds supple Tolle There is not as a learned Gentleman of our Church in His Historical Vindication hath observed any example in History of prosecuting an Heretick further then to avoid him till after God having given peace to his people under Christian Emperours they finding that if the Church were in trouble the State was seldom otherwise provided by Laws to punish Hereticks The Councel of Nice therefore having in the year 325 censured the opinion of Arius for Heretical the Emperour who had formerly granted certain considerable Priviledges to Christians declared in the year following Haereticos atque Schismaticos hâ— privilegiis alienos that no Heretick or Schâ—â—smatick should have any part in those Privileges but they rarely proceeded to blood unless perhaps against some seditious Preacher And the Holy men of those times used earnest perswasions to deterr men inclining to that severity from it as not esteeming it to agree with that entire Charity that should be in Christians St. August professeth he had rather be himself slain by them then by detecting the Donatists be any cause they should undergo the punishment of death Ep. 127 This was the Temper of the Christians at least 800. years after Christ But about the year 1000 the Christian World began to punish Miscreants as branches not bearing fruit in Christ by casting them into the fire But the Devout men of those Times did not approve of this rigour St. Bernard explaining those words of Solomon Take us the Foxes the little Foxes that spoil the Vines Cant. 2.15 If saith he according to the Allegory by the Vines we understand the Churches and by the Foxes Heresies or rather Hereticks the meaning is plain that Hereticks be rather taken then driven away Capientur dico non armis sed agrumentis taken I say not by Arms but Arguments whereby their Errours may be refuted and they themselves reconciled if possible to the Catholick Church And that the Holy Ghost intends this is evident saith he because he doth not say simply Take the Foxes sed capite nobis take us the Foxes sibi ergo sponsae suae id est Catholicae jubet acquiri has vulpes cum ait capite eas nobis In Cantic Serm. 64. He commands therefore that they be taken for himself and his Spouse that is the Catholick Church when he saith Take us the Foxes Thus the holy men in that Age in which they first stopped mens mouths not with Arguments but Arms judged of it And indeed we have not many Examples of persons suffering meerly for Conscience till after the year 1216. in which Pope Innocent the Third laid the foundation of that new Court called since the Inquisition who appointed such as should be convicted of Heresie ut vivi in conspectu hominum comburentur to be committed alive to the flames of fire And though such proceedings are not at any good agreement with those rules and examples which Christ hath left us in holy Scripture yet the practise hath been long since taken up in this Kingdom and is in force at this day by the Laws Anno 1166. about thirty Dutch came hither who detested Baptism the Eucharist and other parts of Religion and being by Scripture convicted in an Episcopal Councel called by the King at Oxford they were condemned to be Whipped and burnt in the face and a command given that none should either receive or releive them so that they miserably Perished By the Common-Law that is the Custom of the Realm of England Hereticks are to be Punished by Consuming them with Fire and accordingly there is a Writ De Haeretico comburendo An Apostate Deacon in a Councel held at Oxford by Stephen Langton was first degraded and then by Lay-hands committed to the Fire Bracto l. 3. de Corona c. 9 In Edward the Third's daies about the Year 1347. two Franciscans were Burnt quod de Religione male sentirent because they thought amiss of Religion Pol. Virg. Hist Ang. l. 19. And in the year 1583. Copin and Thacker were hanged at Saint Edmonds-Bury for publishing Brown's Book Cambd. which saith Stow p. 1174 was written against the Common-Prayer Book A Fair warning And thus you see if men will not be Subject to the Higher Powers in matters of Religion for Conscience sake they must be subject because of wrath for the Prince is entrusted with a Coercive Power and bears not the Sword in vain But because it is a thing Morally impossible for one man as the King to Govern the whole Church in his Kingdom Personally by himself He may substitute or delegate others under him to manage all his Power which is communicable in the Government of the Church I say communicable because there are some things inseparable from the Supreme Power as to Correct Alter Ratifie Repeal or Make Null Canons and Constitutions made by any persons under him to reverse or mitigate a Sentence injustly or unduly passed the right of Appeals of nominating Bishops to their respective Sees of translating or deposing them where he seeth cause These and such like are incommunicable unto any inseparable from his Crown But in all other things that are not of this nature he may give Power to others to Govern the Church to whom all persons ow their obedience by virtue of his Delegation as much as to the King himself because it is the King that requires or
forbids any thing by them Thus St. Peter requires Christians to pay their obedience unto Governours sent by him as well as to the King the Supreme Power Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supreme or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do well 1 Pet. 2.13 14. The Governours sent by the King in Ecclesiastical Affairs are the Reverend Bishops I take the word Bishop not in the Common and General notion as every Pastour or Presbyter is a Bishop as he doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oversee the particular Flock committed to his charge Thus the Municipal Aediles among the Romans were stiled Bishops and Cicero Campanae orae Episcopum se dicit constitutum was Bishop of the Campanian Territory But in a more proper and peculiar sence for persons who have not onely the over-sight of the Flock but even of the Pastours themselves a distinct Function and Dignity from Presbyters as the Fathers and Councels generally understand the word Bishop Now concerning these I affirm First Episcopacy that is the Prelacy or Preheminence of one Pastour among the rest is not repugnant to the Scriptures If I evince this that saying of Christ He that is not against us is on our part Mark 9.40 will contribute not a little to the confirmation of this Order And if any man shall say that this Order is repugnant to the Scripture that is if he presume to condemn the whole Christian Church for more then 1000 years after Christ of impiety or folly he must necessarily take upon him the heavy that I say not intolerable burthen of making it good There is not that I am conscious of one Text of Scripture that affords any countenance to that opinion unless that in St. Matthew Jesus called them the ten Apostles unto him and said Ye know that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise Dominion over them and they that are Great exercise Authority upon them But it shall not be so among you Mat. 20.25 26. And somewhat more to their purpose in the tenth of St. Mark 44. Whosoever of you will be chiefest shall be the servant of all To these Texts I Answer 1. The Anabaptists of old and other Fanatick spirits supposing the Antithesis here to be between the Gentiles and the Christian State have extended the Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among you to the whole Gospel-Church and all Christians in it And from thence they conclude that It is unlawfull for Christians to exercise any Rule or Authority over their Brethren So that the same Text by which some would cast Episcopacy out of the Church is made use of by others to as good purpose to thrust Magistracy out of the Christian World 2. Some Learned Interpreters weighing the expression used by Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in eas dominari they Lord it over them Id est cum quadam acerbitate Beza with bitterness and rigour understand Christ's prohibition of an unjust and Tyrannical Power onely such as the Princes of the Gentiles generally used over those that were subject to them And so Christ doth not dehort his Apostles from exercising Power and Authority over their Brethren but onely from the Tyrannical abuse of Power 3. The Presbyterians themselves in foreign Parts do generally acknowledg that this Text in St. Matt. doth not take away the Ecclesiastical Authority of Teaching Binding and Loosing according to the Gospel vel gradus Ecclesiasticorum a Christo institutes datos Ecclesiae no nor those degrees of Ecclesiastical Persons that were instituted and appointed his Church by Christ Apostles Prophets Teachers c. Paraeus he intends not by that Prohibition in St. Matt. to bring a Parity or Equality into the Church Nam sic tolleretur omnis ordo inveheretur confusio as He for so all Order would be abolished and Confusion introduced in the room of it 4. The design and intent of Christ in the forementioned Text is not to take away all Preheminence or Primacy among the Apostles or Pastours of the Church but to admonish the Apostles and ensuing Pastours of the Church that their High and Honourable Calling hath the Ministry or Service of the Church annexed to it Now this is so far from being inconsistent with Preheminence and Authority that even Kings themselves serve the Church and Kingdom in their High Calling So King Antigonus to his Son An ignoras fili mi nostrum regnum nobilem esse servitutem Art thou ignorant O my Son that our Empire is nothing else but a more noble servitude Though therefore the Apostles and their Successours are required to be Ministers and Servants to all this doth not take away their Preheminence any more then a Shepheard's serving his Flock or a Tutour's serving his Pupil or the King 's serving his Subjects takes away the Respective Authority or Preheminence of the Shepheard Tutour or King over those whom they serve 5. This Text is so far from abolishing Prelacy and Preheminence among the Apostles and Pastours that it confirms and establisheth it For when St. Matthew and St. Mark say He that will be greatest among you St. Luke saith he that is greatest and he that is chief Luk. 22.26 and you may observe that our Lord Christ propounds his own example as a pattern to them Whosoever will be Chief among you let him be your Servant even as the Son of Man came not to be Ministred unto but to Minister Mat. 20.27 28. The Duty therefore of Ministring to or serving others doth not hinder but that he who Ministers or serves may be Greater then those to whom he Ministers unless by urging this Text for a Parity among Pastours they intend to level the great Apostle Christ himself to be no more then equal to the other Apostles And one would wonder did not Prejudice and Interest draw a Film over the eye of mens Reason how any man could entertain a thought that ever Christ intended a Parity among Ecclesiastical Persons when by his own finger from Heaven he hath so evidently pointed out a disparity among them He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastours and Teachers Ephes 4.11 which are not onely distinct Functions in the Church but distinct Degrees as is evident by the Apostle in the first to the Corinthians 12.28 And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healings c. The Evangelists themselves are as Hienom ad Fabiol Secundi ordinis minoris gradus but of a second Order and inferiour degree Dignitate minores Apostolis as Calvin inferiour to the Apostles in Dignity The first Assertion then namely That Episcopacy that is the Prelacy or Preheminence of one Pastour among the rest is not repugnant to the Scriptures is undeniably true Secondly The Church Catholick that is the
happy Restauration swallowed up our Sorrows in victory of that Joy the ever-to-be-Honoured Doctour Hammond adds an Apostolical Example from that saying of Saint Paul in the first to the Corinthians xiv 26. How is it then Brethren When you come together every one of you hath a Psalm Which saith he refers to some of the Psalms of David or Asaph which were then ordinarily used in their devotion and because every one had his several Psalm it is therefore reproved by the Apostle as a thing tending to confusion Fourthly The Practise of the Universal Church He who lists need not glean after the Reapers but may fill his Bosom with sheaves of Testimonies collected by the diligent hand of Cassander and since by the late VVriters concerning Liturgies The Greek Church hath Records of Liturgies or set Forms of Prayer made by St. James contracted by St. Basil and again abbreviated by St. Chrysostom And Histories mention a short Form of St. Peter's which alone they say was used in the Roman Church for a great while And we have mention likewise of St. Mark 's Liturgie But though these may admit some scruple or doubt St. Augustine I am sure speaks of some Forms retained in the Church and still to be found in our Liturgy particularly that in the Administration of the Lord's Supper of Sursum corda c. Lift up your hearts Of which he saith that they are Verba ab ipsis Apostolorum temporibus petita expressions borrowed from the very times of the Apostles And for many other particular Forms used by us we find them in Cyril of Jerusalem his Catechism Ignatius is clear and express for a Form 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Magnes Let all meet together to the same action or place in Prayer Let there be oue Common Prayer one minde And waving plenteous Instances take one Grand Testimony of Set-Forms in stead of many The Milevitan Councel c. 12. Plaeuit ut preces quae probatae fuerint in Concilio ab omnibus celebrentur nec aliae omnino dicantur in Ecclesia nisi quae a prudentioribus tractantur vel comprobatae in Synodo fuerint ne forte aliquid contra fidem aut per ignorantiam aut per minus studium sit compositum The Councel thought good that the Prayers which were approved in the Councel should be used by all and that no other should be said in the Church but those that had been weighed by the more prudent or approved in a Synod lest any thing through ignorance or neglect should be done against the Faith These are some Arguments among others for the vindication of Liturgies or Set-Forms of Prayer in General I proceed to consider Secondly The Composition of our Liturgy the Liturgie of the Church England and in pursuance of this I shall advance by three steps I. The Derision Scorn and Reproach which is cast upon our Liturgy by many is so far from being a stumbling-block or stone of offence to scandalize any discerning Christian that it is rather an Argument evincing the dignity and excellency of it For First The best things when they are set up as a mark to shoot at by persons possessed with disdain or dislike of them may be cavilled at and faulted easily scorned and derided Some Criticks have been so bold as to finde fault with the Frame and order of the great Fabrick of the World and called it Blasphemously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confusion or Confused mixture and it is reported of Alphenso Surnamed The Wise one of the Kings of Castile that he used many times to say That if he had stod at God's elbow when he made the World many things should have been ordered better then they were in die first Creation Secondly We ought not to be Scandalized at our Liturgie in respect of the scoffs jears of its adversaries because it is no more then the Holy Ghost hath foretold concerning these times by the Apostles St Peter and St. Jude There shall come in the last days scoffers 2 Pet. 3. There shall be Mockers in the last time Jude 18. Though therefore men stile it in derision The English Mass-Book and The Starve-us-Book and what not that is ugly these may argue the Unchristianness of the persons that belch them forth but they do not evince the Anti-Christianity of our Liturgie Thirdly As when one goes forth to encounter his Adversary with a Rush or Reed onely in his hand we rationally conclude that he hath not a Sword or Spear in his Armory So when men bring railing Accusations onely against our Liturgie we may safely conclude That it is because they are destitute of every thing that is solid or substantial to charge it with Vtatur motu animi qui uti ratione non potest We may indulge them the liberty of their Passion who know not how to make use of Reason II. Though some persons have through ignorance or malice bitterly reproached our Liturgie yet God hath raised up others who have fairly blessed and put a Crown upon the head of it Mr. Calvin himself hath afforded it such a fair Testimony under his Hand that one would think his Disciples for their Master's reputation at least should forbear to blaspheme it Quod ad formulam precum Rituum Ecclesiasticorum valde probo ut certa illa extet a qua Pastoribus discedere in functione sua non liceat Tam ut ccnsulatur quorundam simplicitati imperitiae quam ut certius ita constet omnium inter se Ecclesiarum consensus Postremo etiam ut obviam eatur desultoriae quorundam levitati qui novationes quasdam affectant Ep. 87. wrote to the Duke of Somerset the Protectour 22 Octob. Anno 1548. Concerning your Form of Prayer and Ecclesiatical Rites I do much approve of a certain Set-Form from which it shall not be lawful for the Pastours in their Ministration to recede as well for their sakes who are ignorant and unlearned as that the Consent of the whole Church may thereby the better appear And lastly to prevent the Desultory Levity of some who affect Novelties Arch-Bishop Cranmer having Translated King Edward's Common-Prayer-Book into Latine sent it to Mr. Bucer and required his Judgment of it who answered That there was nothing in it but what was taken out of the Word of God or which was not against it commode exceptum being taken in a good sense There are some things indeed quae nisi quis c. which unless they be interpreted with candor may seem not so agreeable unto the Word of God and which unquiet men may wrest unto matter of Contention Upon which occasion that Book was surveyed and in those particulars subject to such Cavils corrected I shall add onely to these two Foreign Testimonies an equal number of our own Countrey-men both Martyrs Mr. John Hullyer Fellow of King's College in Cambridg who suffered Martyrdom in Queen Mary's days Anno 1557. being at the Stake among
Breviary Processional and Mass-Book as they did their Doctrine retaining nothing but what the Papists had received from purer Antiquity which argues onely a fair compliance in us with the Antient Church and not at all with them And if it be said that some Papists have boasted that our Service is but their Mass in English It is certainly a most unreasonable thing that they who will not believe the Papist in any thing else should believe them in their vain boast against us and thinke it an accusation sufficiently proved because some Papists have impudently said it Fourthly The truth is the Papists condemn our Book as much of Schism as the Consistorian do of compliance they accuse it as much of departing from the Church of Rome as the others of remaining with it Now there cannot be a surer evidence of the innocency of our Liturgie then the contrary Censures which it hath undergon between these two Persecutours in the extream it being the dictate of natural Reason that Virtue is infallibly known by this that is it accused by both the Extreams at guilty of either as for instance the true Liberality of mind is by this exemplifyed that it is defamed by the Prodigal for Parcimony and by the Niggard for Prodigality Thus you have some thing in Reply to the Objections in general whereby it appears that our Liturgie is neither Superstitious nor Popish The particular Objections are exceeding many but as Mr. Hooker in his Ep. Dedicatory to his fifth Book for the greatest part such silly things that the easiness renders them hard to be Disputed of in a serious manner I shall briefly consider the most principal of them First For the Litany against which a Cloud of Darts are cast Mr. Hooker a Person of whom it is hard to say whether his Sobriety or Learning may challenge the greatest admiration tells us that the absolute perfection of this piece upbraids with Errour or something worse them whom in all points it doth not satisfy Eccles Pol. B. § 41. Of the rare effects of which he gives us there two famous Instances the one of Mamercus Bishop of Vienna about 450. years after Christ the other of Sidonius Bishop of Averna who by the frequent and fervent use of the Rogation or Litany obtained of God the aversion of portended Calamities and the removing of Famine and a Potent Enemy which besieged them This part of our Service the Litany was Called by the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 earnest or intense Prayer and in the Greek Liturgy simply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intense or earnest And therefore the Courch requires the Congregation or People to be more exercised in it then in any other part of the Service Concerning which three things have been offered to be justified against any Gainsayers but no man hath yet entred the Lifts 1. That there is not any where extant a more particular excellent enumeration of all the private or common wants of Christians so far as it is likely to come to the cognisance of a Congregation 2. Not a move innocent blameless Form against which there lies no just Objection and most of the unjust ones that have been made are reproachful to Scripture it self from which the Passages excepted against are fetched As for instance That it may please thee to have mercy upon all men from 1. Tim. ii 1. I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men Not a more artificial composure for the raising of our zeal and keeping it up then this so defamed part of our Liturgy For which and other Excellencies undoubtedly it is and not for any coniuring or swearing in it as some Blasphemously have said that the Divel hath took such care that it should drink de peest of the bitter cup of calumnie and reviling Secondly For the Responser and following the Presbyter or Priest in the Confession of Sins and Profession of Faith They were designed by the Church from the example of pure Antiquity to very profitable uses as 1. By way of mutual Charity the people returning a prayer for the Priest who begins one peculiarly for them The Lord be with you saith the Priest And with thy Spirit Answer the people 2. To quicken devotion which is but to prone to dull and slacken by continual heairng 3. To engage every one present to be no idle or unprofitable spectatour or auditour of the Service onely Thirdly For the three Creeds the Apostles Nicene and Athanasius his Creed they have been of old a badg of the Church a mark to discern Christians from Infidels and Jews I have not yet heard of any thing objected against the matter of any of them The Apostles Creed whether delivered by the Apostles to the Church by Oral Tradition that famous Tradition so much mentioned by the Fathers or gathered out of the Writings of the Holy Apostles is the sum of the whole Catholick Faith the Key of the Christian Faith That of the Councel of Nice was made in that famous Assembly of 318. Bishops against the Heresie of Arrius who denyed the Coeternity and Coequality of the Son with the Father Athanasius his Creed composed by that Father who alone opposed himself to that Torrent of Arrianism which had over flowed the whole world was both in the East and Western-Church accounted as a Treasure of great price There is not any imaginable ground of rejecting either of these unless is be to gratifie the Separatists who are professed denyers of one Article the Holy Catholick Church Fourthly For the Doxology or Glory be to the Father c. it is a very antient Piece the former Versicle of it being according to good Authours composed by the first Councel of Nice and appointed by those Fathers to be used in the Church as a lesser Creed or Confession of the Trinity and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Consubstantiality of the Son and the Holy Ghost with the Father At which it hath therefore been the Custom antiently to stand up Confession of God being a praising of Him to which that Posture is most due and proper And for the other Versicle As it was in the Beginning c. when the Macedonian Hereticks excepted against the Divinity of the Holy Ghost as a Novel Doctrine Saint Jerom Opposition to them added that unto the former Versicle Fifthly For the reading of the Commandements and the Responses after them It must be acknowledged that it is not antiently to be found in the Church as a part of the Service no not till King Edward's second Liturgie by which yet we have this Advantage That Popery cannot be charged upon it yet it will appear to be a profitable Part of Devotion For the Priest after a Prayer for Grace to love God and keep His Commandements Almighty God unto whom all Hearts be open c. is appointed to stand and read the Commandements distinctly to the People and they to receive them in