by holding Communion with the particular Church wherein they live that Church not being Schismatical all the particular Churches through all the World being the Members that make up the Mystical Body of Christ the one Catholick Church Sir having shewed you as clearly as I can the true Notion of the Catholick Church and Communion of Saints Schism is so clearly unmasked that a man may though not from the same impulse yet with as much certainty pronounce and declare you a Schismatick as the Prophet Nathan did King David's Sin when he said Thou art the Man For it is most manifest that all who pretend Christianity and wilfully refuse Communion with the Catholick Church do cut themselves off from and cease to be Members of the Body of Christ for he hath but one Body that is his Church and this in the Language of the Scriptures and the Judgment of the Fathers in the Primitive Times is Schism And this agrees too with the Nature and Signification of the Word Sir though it be above my Education yet since I undertook your Enquiry I have made search and do give you this following account of these Fathers whose Judgments are against you St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lugdunum Lib. 4. adver Her cap. 43. who was Cotemporary with Policarpus a Disciple of St. John who must in Reason be allowed to know the Primitive Apostolick notion of Schism better than you or any who are of your Faction exhorts all Christians to harken to those Presbyters who were in the Communion of the Catholick Church and that they might not be deceived describes them Qua propter is qui in Ecclesia sunt Presbyteris obaudire oportet iis qui Successionem haâ—ent ab Apostolis c. Wherefore they are oblig'd to obey those Presbyters who are within the Pale of the Church who as we have shown are the Successors of the Apostles who have received the sure gift of Truth together with an Apostolical right of Succession according to the Deâ—ree of the Fatherâ— Reliquos vero qui absâ—stunt a principali Successione quocunque loco colliguntar c. As for those who renounce the Apostolical Succâ—ssion and Assemble themselves in any place whatsoever suspect and esteem them as Heretical and Damnable Opinions who flatter themselves with hope of Lucre and Vain Glory but as for them who rend and tear in pieces the Unity of the Church they shall receive punishment of God as Jeroboam did St. Ignatius the Second Bishâ—p of Antioch from St. Peter in his Ep. ad Tralianâ—s ad Smyrnenâ—es and in those to the Philâ—ippians c. frequently charges 'em to keep in the Unity of the Christian Church by a regular obedience to the Bishops and by Communicating with those Presbyters who were set over them by Authority of Episcopal Order that to disobey those Bishops and their Presbyters and to separate from them is in those Epistles charged with Schism St. Athanasius brands Ischyras for a Schismatick and gives this Reason for it that Ischyras did Usurp a Ministerial Authority without regular Ordination from the Bishops of the Catholick Church and gather'd to himself a Congregation separate from the Bishop of Alexandria in whose Province he liv'd St. Cyprian Ep. 4. ad populum Carthaginensem de quinque Presbyteris exhorts them to have no Communion with those who had divided themselves from their Bishops assuring them that to be sine Episcopis was to be extra Ecclesiam And in his Book De Vnitate he gives this Notion of Schism Contemptis Episcopis Derilictis Dei sacerdâ—tibus constituâ—re aliud Altare aut Conventicula diversa constituere That it was Schism to dispise and forsake the Bishops and Priests of God and to set up another Alter or to set up distinct Conventicles Sir though I pretend not to the Originals yet having found these Instances produced by men of unquestionable Sincerity and great Learning I presume to present you with them I have more of this kind before me but these Testimonies are sufficient to shew how different from and far short your discription of Schism is from the Notion of Schism the Fathers had in the Primitive times and that in their Judgment you are Guilty of Schism Sir you cannot by this time but see your Guilt and though you as Criminals usually before our Tribunals plead not Guilty 't is your own phrase yet I beseech you consider your Trial must be before that Tribunal which cannot be deceived or bassled you had better try and judge your self now that you be not judged To live in Schism you ingeniously acknowledge is a black and hanious Crime to promote and patronize it as you do must then be a great agravation of it it is to be out of the Catholick Church and Communion of Saints out of which there is no ordinary means nor any firm ground to fix any hope of Salvation its plain Acts 2.47 The Lord dayly added to the Church such as should be saved no being added to the Church no being saved there is no other way revealed by which you may be saved And it concerns you highly to consider how you can answer for all those many poor Souls that you seduce into Schism and so industriously keep out of Christs Fold I caution you in all Meekness and Christian Charity and out of a sincere desire of your eternal welfare and if you have that preparedness of mind that Meekness and Selâ—-denial which the Holy Jesus requires in the Gospel you will no longer contend with Flesh and Blood but immediately surrender your self into the Communion of that Church where if you will not be wanting to your self you will find all the satisfaction that a Christian can desire there being all things exhibited to you that appertain to Life and Salvation Having thus finished what I designed as sufficient to shew you the true Notion of Schism and your mistake in the Nature of it I proceed to make some Remarks upon your Brief Enquiry c. THe Scope of all you say till your Instance of Eldad and Medad amounts to no more but that Schism is an Arch-Rebel c. a deformed Brat c. a Crime so black no body will plead Guilty to the Indictment And then comes another Law term Hue and Cry c. 't is an hanious Crime but 't is very difficult and scarce possible to find it it cannot be described All I need say to this is the difficulty is removed I have plainly shew'd you how to describe it and so to make a true Judgment who are Guilty whether they plead Guilty or not Guilty The Instance of Eldad and Medad is nothing to the purpose of Schism for they were not if I mistake not to administer in Holy things not any thing of the Priest-hood but that Spirit of Prophecy which they received was to qualifie them for the ease of Moses in the Civil Government and a Crime in the State is Sedition not Schism Yet they did
THE ARCH-REBEL found OR AN ANSWER TO Mr. M. H's Brief Enquiry into the true Nature of SCHISM By T. W. Citizen of Chester and a Sincere lover of Truth EZEK 13 Verse 10. Because even because they have seduced my People saying Peace and there was no Peace Printed for the Author in the Year 1690. TO THE READER THO by many Learned and Pious Clergy-men of our Church the Folly and Schism of our Dissenters has been clearly and sufficiently evinced and demonstrated yet you see how restless their Spirits are and with what little shifts they continue to buoy up their Faction The little Book of Mr. M. H's Enquiry c. shall by them be vastly prefer'd to and Dogmatically affirm'd to have the Conquest over all the Learned Orthodox and â—laborate Writings of Hooker Bramhall Hammond â—aunderson and divers others I have heard some of his Disciples boast that it was not nor could be Answer'd by any of the Church-men which considering and withall how it was as much below a Clergy-man to spend his precious time about such a trifle of a Book as it is for a Lyon to concern himself with a little insignificant barking Whelp I undertook my Lay-brother with a Resolution of Patience and Courâ—ge without any Apology being not skill'd therein to undergo the censures of all that read these papers If thou be a true Member of our Church I have confidence and am well assured thy precious Balm will never break my Head thy Religion hath taught thee Charity and Candor sufficient to cover any weakness that thou mayest discover and if thou art pleased with my attempt it is my great satisfaction If thou be a Dissenter who has not Sacrificed thy Name to the Factious so as to divest thy self of all Christian Temper of Humility and Consideration there is hope of thy Reconciliation and that thou wilt consider thy desperate State and Condition and if my weak endeavours may contribute to the snatching thee as a Fire-brand out of the Fire I shall exceedingly rejoyce but not I only for the Blessed Angels in Heaven will have joy among them for thy Addition to the Catholick Church of which they are the most Glorious Members If thou be Sceptical a slighter of our Religion Obstinate and Perverse a Despiser and Reviler of our Clergy whom I esteem as the Stewards of the Mystery of God and the Ministers of Reconciliation I shall altogether glory in thy Scoffs and have a low esteem of thy good words THE ARCH-REBEL found OR AN ANSWER TO Mr. M. H's Brief Enquiry into the true nature of Schism c. SIR HAD your Enquiry been to find out the true Notion of the Ninth Article in the Apostles â—reed viz. I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints â—ou had then found the true Standard by which you might have made a far clearer discovery of Schism than you have done by your Enquiry For which purpose I offer to your Consideration first the Origination and first Existance of the Catholick Church which was before the day of Pentecost Acts 1. v. 15. The number of the Names together were about an Hundred and Twenty This Number consisted of the Apostles and Disciples That this was the Church appears Cap 2. v. 47. And the Lord added to the Church that is to the Apostles and Disciples dayly such as should be saved To encrease his Church and to plant it in all Nations Christ Jesus the head thereof gave unto the Apostles Universal power Saint John 20.21 As the Father sent me even so send I you to Preach the Gospel to all the World that in every Nation they that believe might be Baptiz'd and made Members of this Church which is the Mystical Body of Christ And the Apostles according to the Command of our Saviour and by Virtue of that Power wherewith he invested them and those extraordinary gifts which they received by the Descent of the Holy Ghost enabling them mightily for so great a work did preach the Gospel to all Nations and so wonderfully prevail'd that in the life time of St. John there were Seven Churches Established in Asia under Seven Bishops each Church having a Bishop presiding over it which is very manifest by the name Angel which St. John gives them Now though there be a Multiplication or Plurality of Churches by the encrease of Believers yet no variation they are all one with that Church first mentioned at Jerusalem and all one with one another being all United into one Spiritual Society or Body under one Head Christ Jesus and are in all things the same with that first Church United in one Baptism and in one Faith and all pertake at the same Table eating the same Bread being the Symbol of the same Body which suffered on the Cross and drinking all of the same Cup the Cup of the New Testament the Symbol of the Blood of Christ which he shed for his Church and so United all in the visible external Worship and Service of God This is â— Original and first being of the Church The next thing Sir I offer to your consideration is the Continuance oâ— Duration of this Church on Earth and that is till our Blessed Saviour's second Advent St. Mat. 28.20 And lo I am with you always even to the end of the World Amen The power wherewith our Blessed Saviour vested the Apostles was not to cease or expire with them but as they had received the power of Governing and Conferring Orders in the Church from Christ Jesus so they conferr'd the same on others that the Church might for ever retain this Apostolical power and thus in this respect our Lord is with his Church to the end of the World And this Apostolical Succession was begun in Timothy and Titus the former being Ordained by the Apostles Bishop of Ephesus the other Bishop of Creet that they were both invested with power of jurisdiction and conferring Orders and that though in each Diocess there were many Presbyters yet that none had Authority to ordain Elders or Priests but they is most manifest by Saint Paul's Epistles to them both To propagate this Apostolical Succession Linus by Apostolical Consecration Succeeded the Apostles in the See of Rome Symeon Succeeded Saint James in the Chair of Jerusalem Anianus Succeeded Saint Mark in the Jurisdiction of the Church of Alexandria And this Succession in the right line from the Apostles to secure the Church from Impostors and Pretenders was so sacredly carryed on and propagated with such certainty that Saint Irenaeus affirms Lib. 3. adv Her c. 3. he could name all the Successors of the Apostolick Churches unto his days And accordingly this line of Apostolick Succession of Bishops hath continued in all Ages without interruption to this present time Now whoever he be that is out of this line of Apostolick Succession and exercises any Ministerial Office without the Commission of Episcopal Ordination can be no more or other than a Lay-Impostor and a
Violate its Unity so long as it continues in the true use of the Word and Sacraments though otherwise it be over-run with many blemishes and corruptions Inst l. 4. Sect. 10 11 12. You see how Mr. Calvin is against you from whom the Original of your way had its date I here make it my hearty request to you that you will read the Letters of the Reformed Divines of Foreign Countries to the Bishop of London viz. That of Monsieur le Moyne Professor of Divinity at Leyden concerning the Nature of our Differences and the unlawfulness of Separation from the Church of England That of Monsieur de Langle a Preacher of the Reformed Church-meeting at Charenton near Paris And also That of Monsieur Claude all of the same Subject you have them all at the end of Dr. Stillingfleet's Vnreasonableness of Separation They all conclude you under Schism In Page the 20th towards the end you have these words I need not mention the occasion having dispatched that before Whether they be Episcopal Presbyterian Independent or by what Name or Title soever they be self-dignified or distinguished you cannot forbear not only Uncharitableness but Hatred and Malice against the Clergy and consequently the whole Church you Condemn Bitterness and Uncharitableness as Schism in all other and where can it be found more apparently than in you in these words By what Name or Title soever they be self-dignified or distinguished these are not Applicable to your Party less to the Anabaptists then they must be spoken of the Archâ—Bishops and Bishops of our Church whom the King always nominates and they are accordingly truly Consecrated to be so Orders instituted by the Apostles in the Church of Christ and from them continued to this present age without interruption 1 Cor. 12 28. And God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers c. helps in Government c. God hath set them up and you revile them as men setting up and dignifieing themselves is this your Charity what more Diabolical Spirit can there be in any Sect â—mong men than thus to dispise and set at nought those who are dignified by Divine Right and Authority to Rule and Govern in the Church of God you make it a Schismaticating Principle to censure you of Uncharitableness and Bitterness who have even in this rank'd your self among those whom the Apostle St. Jude in his Epistle verse 28. calls filthy Dreamers who speak evil of Dignities Yet say you But to come a little closer the Meetings of the Dissenters though now blessed be God permitted and allowed by the Law of the Land yet are commonly Charged with being Schismatical the great Out-cry is that we leave the Church and the Vnthinking Mobile who are so well taught as to know no other Churches but the Publick places of Worship are easily induced to believe it as if it were Schism to Worship God any where else let the Worship there be what it will you go on those who will allow themselves the Liberty of an Vnprejudiced thought cannot but see the difference so small that as long as we believe the same Christian Faith and agree in the same Protestant abhorrence of Papal Delusions we may easily be looked upon as one and the same Church as well as two several Parish Churches may especially being Vnited under the Care and Protection of one Protestant King and Members of the same Protestant Common-Wealth Sir Indulgence which carries the Title of the Act always imploys a defect if not a Crime you say you are permitted and allowed though the Act is no more than Indulgence which never signifies approbation or likeing all you have by it is but for the hardness of your Hearts as our Blessed Saviour says of the Indulgence of the Jews for putting away their Wives by a Bill of Divorse to which our Saviour saith Mat. 19 8. But in the beginning it was not so Their Plea for that Indulgence is distroyed by an Argument drawn from Antiquity I have the like Argument for you in the Primitive Church it was not so no Indulgence for seperate Communion upon any pretence whatsoever you have one and I give my reason why I wish no ill effects follow it In the year 1560. Mr. J. Calvin by his Letter to Arch Bishop Grindal solicites him to obtain the favour of the Queen to Assign and at his request she did Assign the Church of Saint Anthony in London for some French exiles then there and were of Mr. Calvins Principle to meet in and with License to set up the Genevian Discipline and a Form of Prayer which had no Conformity with the English Liturgy which proved in the event a design expedient of Calvins for advancing Presbitery in the room of Episcopacy Upon this Toleration their numbers so increased that in the year 1568. they broke out into open Schism choosing to meet in Barns and Fields rather than in Churches with their Brethren as formerly teaching 't was impious to hold any Correspondence with the Conforming Churches Upon this very occasion viz. the Queens Toleration and particularly her Indulging the Genevian Discipline within 8 years time their Members so increased and their Insolence also that the Queen plainly saw as her own words were that such were the restless Spirits of that Factious people that here was no quietness to be expected from them till they were utterly supprest In order to which she called a Parliament in 1592. wherein strict Laws were made against them and executed accordingly Barrow Penry and Burchet were hanged for such Nonconformity-principles as were Treasonable and by those sharp Laws made against them the Ring leaders were humbled and the whole Body of 'em brought to a good degree of Quietness at that time and held dureing her Reign I heartily wish that your Great Champion Mr. Baxter prove not a true Prophet who in his Epistle Dedicatory before his Treatise of Self-denial to Coll. James Berrey then one of the Council of State calls Toleration Englands misery a Liberty for drawing men to Hell a wicked damning Liberty a Strengthening the Party Tolerated a giving way for their Power a giving a way our own Power a preparing Faggots for our own Martirdom And he represents Tolerating Magistrates as a sort of men that Rule as though they were uncertain whether there were a Heaven or a Hell Thus he By the story in the Queen you see what use your Predecessors those great pretenders of Sanctity made of their Indulgence and if you tread their Paths you may fall into the like mischiefs and I will tell you why you can never stand right with the Government because your Principles carry you to the rooting out of Episcopacy which is the Pillar of Ecclesiastical Government And we see by Mr. Baxter with what Vigor and Zeal Uniformity will then be held forth in all your Pulpits I now return to the remainder of your Paragraph You say the meetâ—ng of the