When they were abroad if they were recalled they were to return to their own charge Conc. Antioch Can 3. Many other provisions were made directing how Ministers were to carry themselves when they were abroad but none of those provisions of them off from officiating abroad only they regulate them in their carriage to prevent disorders Many examples antiquity affords us of the dispensing of Ordinances of worship ordination and discipline beyond the limits of the Ministers 〈◊〉 particular charge 〈◊〉 of Alexandria was famous this way Tantum studij in Scripturâ— propaganda posuisse serunt ut praeconem Evangelij Gentibus Orianâ—â—libus Indis sese conferret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is said also that there were many Evangelists and faithful messengers prepared to promote and plant the heavenly word after the guiâ—e of the Apostles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb lib. 5. cap. 9 10. Auiciâ—us Bishop of Rome granted leave to Polycarpus Bishop of 〈◊〉 for the reâ—erence that he owed him to administer the Lorde Supper in his Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb lib. 5. cap. 24. So Nicephorus relates â— 4. cap. 39. And the Centurists Century 2. cap. 10. Anicetus Pius Hyginus Telesphorus and Xystus Bishops of Rome gave the Eucharist to the Bishops of other Churches that resorted to them though differing from them about Easter Euseb ibid. Athanasius consecrated Frumentius Bishop at Alexandria and sent him into India and there he converted many to the faith and builded many Churches Socrates lib. 1. cap. 15. Athanasius travelling from Jerusalem by Peleusium the ready way to Alexandria preached in every city where he came and exhorted them to eschew the Arians and in divers of the Churches he ordained Ministers though it were in other Bishops Provinces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socr. lib. 2. cap. 19. 24. Basil Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia fearing that the Doctrine of Arius would creep into the Provinces of Pontus went into those parts and instructed men in his doctrine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and confirmed the wavering Socrat. l. 4. c. 21 25. Gregory Bishop of Nazianzum did the like in many cities and often went to Constantinople for that end Ibid. Paulus Bishop of Emisa came to Alexandria in the daies of Cyril Bishop there and there he preached a famous Sermon And Cyril writes of him in an Epistle to John Bishop of Antioch that he laboured there in preaching beyond his strength that he might overcome the envy of the devil and joyn together in love the scattered members 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Evagr. lib. 1. cap. 6. Epiphanius Bish of Cyprus came to Constantinople where John Chrysostome was Bishop and in a Church not far from the wals of the City he celebrated the communion and made a Deacon without the leave of Chrysostome And though Chrysostome reproves him for it yet only for the breach of an Ecclesiastical canon Multa contra canones agis Epiphani primùm quod ministros Ecclesia ordinas in Ecclesijs quae sunt in meâ Diocesi Soc. l. 1. c. 13. Moses a Saracâ—â— by birth an eminent man being much desired by Mavia the Queen of the Saracens to be their Bishop was sent to Alexandria to be ordained and though he refused to be ordained by Lucius the Arian Bishop yet certain exiled Bishops ordained him in a mountain Socrat. l. 4. c. 29. Theodorit l. 4. c. 21. Origen being sent for by the Churches of Achaia as he was upon his journey to Athens he went through Palestina and was ordained to be a Presbyter by Alexander Bishop of Jerusalem and Theoctistus Bishop of Caesarea though he was a man of Alexandria and went to officiate in Achaia Histor Magd. Câ—n. 3. c. 10. cited also by M. Pat. Symson History of the Church pag. 268. Yea the dividing of Dioceses and the same we may say of Parishes which are the bounds of particular Congregations was but an humane prudential act And therefore in the Councel of Nice they pleaded no higher ground for it but Mos antiquus obtinuit c. And in the Councel of Constantinople consisting of 250. Bishops it was forbidden by canon that Bishops should leave their own Diocese and intermeddle with forreign Churches for until that time by reason of the great heat and storm of persecution it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 indifferently used Socrat. lib. 5. cap. 8. And what frequent use the Church anciently made of Syâ—â—â—â— and Councel and how authoritatively they acted M. Ellis cannot be ignorant whole Volumes might be written of this subject And thereâ—â—re Reverend M. Cotton in Keys chap. 6. handling the Question Whether a Synod hath power of Ordination and excommunication though his judgement seemeth to inclinâ— to the negative yet saith we will not take upon us hastily to censure the many notable precedents of ancient and latest Synods whâ— have put forth acts of power in both these 〈◊〉 Thâ— refoâ—â—â— of all arguments this of novelty might well 〈…〉 may most justly be retorted upon the contrary 〈◊〉 〈…〉 answers M. Ellis giveth against the antiquity of Synoâ—◠〈…〉 â—â—ndling of things of common concernment doth not conclude them one Corporation no more then the common Treaties of Nations in things of joint concernment vind p. 10. But this common concernment arose from the unity of the head body charter and Laws and the mutual relation of members and therefore that parallel holdeth not 2. Saith he this it is certain was at some distance of time after the discipline of the Churches were corrupt and declined to worldly policy vind p. 11. Ans Surely this is not so of all For the first convention Act. 1. about the installing of a new Apostle and that before the Church was divided into particular Churches and for a thing that concerned the whole Church a meeting which our Divines usually account a Synod yea a general Councel though not in all formalities where there was a joint exercise of the key of order this I say was before the corruption of discipline or declining to worldly policy And that Synod Act. 15. where decrees were made and imposed on the Churches and that by Elders of divers Churches as well as Apostles and concerning things indifferent in their own nature some of them though necessary in regard of that present time that Synod was not lyable to this exception Nor those two Synods in Asia where John the Apostle sate President mentioned by M. Patrick Symson in his first Century of Councels pag. 482. out of Euseb lib. 3. cap. 20. mentioned also by the Magdeburg Centurists 3. It might be saith he by decree and judgement only not by actual execution Or 4. Each Church might act its own power though in union with others as so many several and distinct Churches united and Elders congregated and so they might excommunicate from their own heap or Congregation only Ans The history of the Councels doth abundantly confute this for they acted as one body jointly for all the Churches they
met for and not severally and did both ordain Bishops and also actually excommunicate many hereticks For what several distinct Churches did the convention Act. 1. act seeing there were none then in being 5. It was saith he a voluntary association by right of fraternity and not onenesse of corporation which appears by astringing and confining in after times the power of Bishops and Ministers to and within Dioceses and Churches Ans Though it were voluntary yet might it be necessary and not arbitrary as was shewed before The onenesse of Corporation was not actual but habitual The astringing of them by canon to avoid confusion took not away their habitual power for by leave they might act any where as hath been shewed before But if they had not been endued with habitual power by office their voluntary association could not have enabled them to exert their power jointly when they were met Sect. 5. Let us now hear what witnesses he produceth against the unity and integrality of the Church and the habitual power of the Ministers beyond the limits of their Congregations or their joint acting together as Ministers upon a call First Chrysostome in Serm. 1. de Pash saith The Sacrifice or Passeover was to be eaten in one house and not to be conveyed out i. e. the house is one that hath Christ and the many houses of the Hebrews have but only one power nature and condition as the Churches throughout the whole world and in several Provinces being many in number are but one Church But wherein doth he differ from the Presbyterians herein They grant the Churches are many in number divisim and yet make but one conjunctim habitually But he is expresly against M. Ellis for he grants Provincial Churches and that all the Churches throughout the whole world are one and this must be one integral for a Genus is not made by aggregation of Provinces And all these though organized are similar parts of the whole having but one only power nature and condition 2. Clemens Alexandr lib. 7. Strom. There is absolutely but one ancient and Catholike Church in the unity of one faith And say not the Presbyterians the same also and it appears he held the Catholike Church to be an Integral because he saith it is ancient but a Genus â—ever groweth ancient He might haâ—e gone higher foâ— another Clemens in his constitutions who if he be of any credit speaks more home Nos Apostoli scripsimus vobis Catholicam hanc doctrinam ad fulciendum confirmandum vos quibus universalis Episcopatus creditus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Constit. 6. c. 14. But Basil in Ep. ad Neo-Caesarienses will be of more credit Interrogate patres vestros annunciabunt vobis etiamsi loci situ divisae sunt paraeciae tumen veluti coronamento quodam unitae unâque sententiâ gubernatae fuerint Assidua quidem populi fuit inter se commixtio ipsi pastores verò tantâ praediti fuerunt mutuâ charitate ut alius alio praeceptore ac duce usi sunt And Cyprians testimony de unitate Ecclesiae is direct against him for he defineth the unity of the Church by doctrine and discipline As there is one God one Christ one faith so there is one Church one discipline in it one Bishoprick c. Episcopatus unus est cujus a singulis in solidum pars tenetur Now Bishoprick argueth the Church to be one politically though but habitually and as many that are bound in a bond pro toto in solido are every one liable to be arrested for the whole so many that have a joint interest in a thing in solidum have all a joint right to the whole Upon which words of Cyprian M Parker in Polit. Eccles lib. 3. pag. 122. hath this inference Quid ni unitas Ecclesiae in uno Petro primitùs designata unitatem idest aequalitatem authoritatis in singulis Ecclesijs quibusque denotet sic ut Ecclesia una sit Ecclesiastica potestas una cujus ab Ecclesijs singulis pars in solidum tenetur Cyprian is abundant in this point Episcopatus unus est Episcoporum multorum concordi numerositate diffusus Cypr. Ep. 53. Etsi pastores multi sumus unum tamen gregem pascimus oves universas c. colligere foâ—ere debemus Ep. 67. Cyprian gathered together an authoritative Synod He stoutly opposed Steven Bishop of Rome for receiving some Bishops that were justly deposed pro suâ quam gerebar universalis Ecclesiae curâ Cyp. lib. 1. Ep. 4. Vt unitatem Dominus manefestaret unam Cathedram constituit unitatis ejusdem originem ab uno incipientem sua authoritas disposuit Cyp. de unitate Upon which words Salmasius hath this Comment Omnes Ecclesiae una sunt unitatem conspirantes faciunt omnes Cathedrae unam Cathedram De Prim. pag. 87. Ecclesiae nomine non tantum una sed multorum unitas designatur Bernard in Cant. Serm. 61. Augustine in Tract in Joh. 1.14 is more against him then for him And whereas he saith universa Ecclesia ligat solvitque peccam He cannot mean thereby that the Church is only one in nature and kinde but not in number because he speaks of Priesthood and what one Minister doth binde is bound to all so that he violates saith he the rights of holy Priesthood that joins him to himself that is cast out by another Neither doth Eucherius by his own relation for I have not seen him say any other thing then the Presbyterians in that he saith the Church dispersed throughout the whole world consisteth in one and the same faith and fellowship of Catholike truth And whereas there is an innumerable multitude of the faithful yet they are rightly said to have one heart and one soul in respect of their society in the common faith and love For he grants in these words an universal visible Church and that to be a society now every society of men is one external visible integral And M. Ellis granteth that there doth flow an external communion from the internal and that the mystical union doth imply an union visible also vind paâ— 34. His quotation out of the Councel of Trent might well have been spared for it crosseth himself most Therein is confest a general Councel and that with authority and the major part to binde the rest Indeed they contend that a Councel bindeth not the absent Churches which have no delegates there and who saith the contrary But as those Churches who had delegates there are concerned in their decrees so they be agreeable to the word and that formally because they are their decrees so should the Church-Catholike if the whole had delegates there But this we gain by this quotation that a general Councel is confessed by him to have doctrinal authority and are not the 〈◊〉 equally extensible Have they power to decide points of doctrine as iâ— there confest by M. Ellis and not to exercise discipline who cut
latent among the Idolaters who never bowed the knee to Baal nor kissed him and God might own the people for their sakes being the better part though the lesse Secondly though God doth not divorce a Church for all Idolatry yet they deserve it And at last came forth the sentence of Lo-ammi and Lo-ruhamah against the ten Tribes for it Hos 1.6.9 Thirdly I answer it may be verè Ecclesia as is said of the Church of Rome by some but not vera pura and it was needful for me as near as I could to give a description of a true Church But I will not contend with any about this description you may take a more comprehensive description A visible Church may be described to be a company of those that own or do professe the doctrine of Christ Or such as professe the true Religion The third term to be opened is Sect. 3. Catholike universal or Oecumenical The word Catholike is frequently given to such Churches as hold the true doctrine of the Apostles and in that sense it is the same with Apostolical as it is opposed to heretical and so we finde it frequently used in Eusebius Socrates and Sâ—zomen So Damasus is called Bishop of the Catholike Church at Rome and Aurelius of the Catholike Church at Carthage and Callinicus of the Catholike Church at Peleusium And the Councel of Nice cals the Bishops of the Orthodox Churches Bishops of the Catholike and Apostolical Church And in that sense I suppose M. Ellis intends it in the title of his book which he cals Vindiciae Catholicae a found or Orthodox vindication For if he means by it A general vindication against all that assert a Church-Catholike visible he is mistaken therein also for M. Rutherford hath written professedly of my question in both the branches of it that there is a Church-Catholike visible and that it is the prime Church though I confesse I knew not of it when I printed my Thesis But this signification doth not fully comprehend my meaning of the word Secondly Catholike is taken for an office in the Church next under a Patriarch that was as his Vicar general and is called in Latine Rationalis See Salmas de primat Pap. p 21â— Thirdly Catholike universal or general is taken for a logical second notion abstracted by the minde of man comprehending divers different species under it Fourthly It is taken in the same sense that we use to take Oecumenical that which is or may be all over the world The first and last sense are only pertinent to this Question viz. the Orthodox Church over all the earth and especially this latter and therefore now I have inserted the word Oecumenical into the question And in both these senses Augustine takes it who saith the Church is called Catholike Quia universaliter perfecta est in nullo claudicat per totum orbem diffusa est Aug. de Gen. ad lâ—t cap. 1. We are to know that the Church of God admits of several distinctions from several accidents As in reference to the times wherein the Church hath existed or doth exist it is distributed into the Church under the Old Testament and the Church under the New And this again is distributed into the primitive and successive So in regard of the places where the Church doth exist or persons of whom it consisteth it receiveth the distinction of universal and particular Now in this question universal is meant principally in regard of persons and places and not in regard of time The Church Catholike existing on earth at the same time is compared with particular Churches existing at the same time also What the universal visible Church is The Vniversal visible Church is the whole company of visible beleevers throughout the whole world Now whereas M. Ellis vind p. 52. saith this definition of the Church Catholike reacheth not the subject of my question but contains what is of all hands confessed I answer I aimed at no more in the first part of my question but to prove that there is a Church Catholike visible which he saith is of all hands confessed and then I have as much as I desired namely the subject of my question granted But I will further adde that which M. Ellis thinketh wanting to make it pertinent to this question viz. That this company is one visible Kingdom of Christ on earth The Evangelical Church which is so often called by Christ the Kingdom of heaven several men give several descriptions thereof I shall set down some of their sentences Ecclesia Dei vivi est columna firmamentum veritatis toto orbe terrarum diffâ—â—sa prâ—pter Evangelium quod praedicatur sicut dicit Apostolus in omni creatura quae sub coelo est Aug. Sancta Ecclesia nos sumus sed non sic dico nos quasi ecce qui hic sumus qui me modo auditis sed quot quot sunt Christiani fideles in universo terrarunt orbe quoniam a solis ortu usque ad occasum laudatur nomen Domini Sic se habet Ecclesia Catholica mater nostra Aug. Serm. 99. Adhuc habet Ecclesia quo crescat donec illud impleatur Dominabitur a mari usque ad mare Aug. in Matth. Disseminaâ—a est Ecclesia super omnem terram Iren. lib. 3. cap. 11. Non altera Romana urbis Ecclesia altera totius orbis aestimanda Gallia Bithinia Persis Oriens India omnes barbarae geâ—tes nationes unum Christum adorant unam observant regulam veritatis Si authoritas quaeritur Orbis major est urbe Jerom. ad Evanâ—r Distincti per Orbem Ecclesiarum conventus unam Catholicam faciunt Ecclesiam Beda in 1 Pet. 2. Catholica Ecclesia est illa quae diffusa est per universum orbem Cyril Hierosol Catech. 18. Quum unus sit Deus una fides unus Dei hominum mediator Jesus Christus unicum Ecclesiae caput consequitur necessariò unam quoque esse Ecclesiam Bezae conf fid cap. 5. art 2. Saepe Ecclesiae nomine universam hominum multitudinem in orbe diffusam designamus quae unum se Deum Christum colere profitetur Calv. Iustit l. 4. c. 1. s 7. Est Congregatio omnium per orbem universum qui consentifide Evangelica Bulling Est caetus hominum Christum suum regem sacerdotem prophetum profitentium Keckerm In novo Testamento vocamus Ecclesiam pro omnibus qui Christo nomen dederunt Zuingl Vniversa multitudo Christianorum quae se fidelem censet simul num fidelis populus una Ecclesia dicitur Idem Ecclesia significat totam illam omnium multitudinem qua generatim ex vocatione professione externa astimatur Trelc Ecclesia Catholica ex hominibus unius temporis est Caetus eorum omnium qui doctrinam Evangelij de Jesu Christo in carne jam manifestato per universum mundum profitentur Dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 2.5 i. e. mundus ille
whole There is one Objection which M. Hooker in Surv. c. 15. p. 273. hath against this proof in this text which is of some difficulty vix That Church where Deacons are set is not an unlimited Church But ordinary Deacons were set in the same Church wherein the Apostles were set as in the place 1 Corinth 12. it is affirmed jointly and indifferently of them both Therefore that Church doth not argue an unlimited power Answ It is not affirmed that the Church-Catholike hath an unlimited power but unlimited extent of the power given them by Christ in regard of place within the compasse of the Christian world and so I conceive M. Hookers meaning is But to the Objection itself First I premise that Deacons were not primarily set in a particular Congregational Church but 7 of them were at the first institution of the office set in the Church of Jerusalem over Jews and Grecians where there were many Congregations and therefore a Classical Presbyterial Church divided into many Congregations necessarily at least for some Ordinances as the Lords Supper c. yet governed by one common Presbytery and yet alwaies called one Church But whether their Officers were fixed in the several Congregations or no I know not neither do I think it can be proved Secondly The subject about which their office was exercised was not the Ordinances of worship or discipline as the other offices were but about alm◠which in their own nature are or ought to be and were then voluntary And in regard those alms come not by divine dispensation as the immediate gift of Christ to the Church though they be commanded indeed by Christ but out of mens purses by contribution being a money matter in which the Congregation hath or had propriety there may be something said for the limitation of that office in their act of ordinary distribution to the members of that single or combined Church contributing that it may be performed according to the will of the donors to whom also the Deacons are to render an account Thirdly I desire the manner of the Apostles speech in setting down Deacons and governours may be considered not adding an ordinal numeral unto it as to Apostles Prophets and Teachers but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deinde and 2ly interposing 2 extraordinary endowments of miracles and gifts of healing and 3. the change of speech from the concrete to the abstract helps governments Which though they imply men by whom they are to be exercised viz. helpers and governours yet are not so set down what the meaning of the holy Ghost is herein I cannot affirm but I conceive that the office of Apostles Prophets Teachers is of somewhat more large extent then the other two because they were executed as well without the Church though set in it as within it viz. among heathens for their conversion And in Ecclesia constituendâ the other in constitutâ only and the exerting of the Deacons office not so usually and frequently out of the limits of their particular Churches as theirs that are intrusted with the preaching of the word nor yet their call thereunto so facil as the others for to the exerting of government there is required a voluntary combination of many instituted Churches and for distribution to other Churches there is required a more then ordinary necessity and the consent of the particular Church contributing but no such solemn call is required to the preaching the word in any other Church or Churches But fourthly more directly to the Objection Though alms which is the subject of the Deacons office be not reckoned among the Ordinances given by Christ but are the gift of particular men in particular Congregations as the rest of them yet the necessity command and distribution of them may extend further then the particular Church and in that regard the office of Deacons which is to collect and distribute extends it self equally We are bidden to do good to all but especially to the houshold of faith i. e. as we have occasion and ability which is as extensive as the Church-Catholike Any forreign Church may stand in need of our contribution and distribution And even the Law of our land enjoyneth that if any Congregation cannot maintain their poor there should be help by collections from other neighbouring Congregations And the maimed souldiers of the whole County are maintained by constant collection from every town in the County and there are County Treasurers that receive it which are as it were County-Deacons And if a great Town be visited with the plague or suffer losses by fire c. it is frequent to make collections for them in many Countries Yea for whole Counties as the whole Kingdom hath lately done for Lancashire yea for a whole Kingdom as for our own Kingdom under war yea for forreign Kingdoms as England yea and the Netherlands though under another civil regiment have done for Ireland And we reade what the Churches of Asia did for the Churches of Jerusalem And we have had contribution to redeem captivated Christians under the Turk and not only of our own Nation but other Nations sometimes Grecians Now though these contributions and collections run among us in another channel viz. through the hands of Church-wardens Overseers Constables Collectors yet this is the proper work of the Deacons and therefore that office in regard of the extent of their possible object may well be said to be habitually Catholike or given to the Church-Catholike though their constant distribution should be limited to their own Congregations Another proof is from 1 Tim. 3.15 Sect. 5. These things I write unto thee that thou maist know how thou oughtest to behave thy self in the house of God which is the Church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth This Church must be the visible Church where he and others must exist and converse together and carry themselves in mutual duties Also it must be an organical Church for the Epistle containeth directions about Bishops and Deacons yea even in the context Neither can the directions be solely concerning Ephesus for they are written to Timothy an Evangelist the limits of whose office are commensurable to the Apostles though under them Neither do they concern Ephesus in any especially manner but all Churches where ever Timothy should come Therefore not to it particularly For he prescribeth canons concerning publike praier and the habit and carriage of women in the Church concerning the office of Bishops and Deacons concerning the censuring and reproof of all degrees the Ordination and maintenance of Elders the choice and provision for widows concerning the duties of servants and a charge to rich men not of Ephesus particularly or only but every where Neither did they concern Ephesus primarily for the Officers were already set in that Church Paul found Elders there Act. 20.17 in his visitation of them and had lived there three years vers 31. as himself
And should such private man passe the censure against a scandalous brother that the Elders would do yet it is not Ecclesiastical binding yea though such a scandalous person should referre himself to them as arbitrators and promise to submit to their censure yet they cannot Ecclesiastically excommunicate him or restore him no more then private men in an arbitration can condemn and execute a malefactor or absolve him though he be innocent if indited Many times private men standing by and hearing the evidence at the Assizes against a malefactour will say he is but a dead man yet that is no judicial condemnation of him though it be materially according to the law of the land yet it is not formally for so is the act of the Judge only who is in office for that purpose Fifthly If private Christians bear a double relation Sect. 7. one to the Church Catholike visible as members thereof and another to the particular Congregation where they are particular members then so do the Ministers also The universality of private Christians membership necessarily requires an universality of the ministerial office for dispensing the Ordinances to them though but occasionally As particular members agree with other particular members in Christianity so particular Ministers agree with other particular Ministers in the ministerial office If particular private members can joyn with any Congregations in the Word Sacraments and praier and are bound to contribute to them as members of the same general body if there be need though in forreign countries then may also particular Ministers dispense the Ordinances of Jesus Christ as generally if there be necessity or occasion Epiphanius Bishop of Cyprus ordained a Deacon and Presbyter at Bethlehem in monasterio Bethlemitico in the jurisdiction of John Bishop of Jerusalem when they were almost destitute of spiritual food and defended his action thus Oh Dei timorem hoc facere compulsi sumus maximè quum nulla sit diversitas in sacerdotio Dei ubi utilitati Ecclesia providetur Nam et si singuli Ecclesiarum Episcopi habent sub se Ecclesias quibus curam videntur impendere nemo super alienam mensuram extendatur tamen praeponitur omnibus charitas Christi It seems he accounted his office habitually generaâ— and though the order of the Church required him to keep within his own bounds ordinarily yet necessity the profit of the Church and the love of Christ might draw forth the execution of his office further He addeth further Non considerandum quid factum sit sed quo tempore quo modo in quibus quare factum sit i. e. if it be not done to make a schism in the Church as he expresseth himself afterward ne que feci quicquam ut Ecclesiam scinderem Afterwards he adds Multi Episcopi communionis nostrae presbyteros in nostrâ ordinaverunt Provincia Ipse cohortatus sum beata memoriae Philonem Episcopum S m Theopropum ut in Ecclesiis Cypri quae juxta se erant ad meae autem paraeciae Ecclesiam vide bantur pertinere ordinarent presbyteros Christi Ecclesiae providerent Epiph. Epist ad Johan Hierosol quam Hieronymus lutinam fecit Extat in Hieron Ep. T. 2. in Ep. Hieron ad Paumachum T. 2. Vide Baronium Anno Christi 392. Sect. 42. c. The universal pastoral care which lieth on all Bishops as Bishops saith Crakanthorp puts forth it self both in general Councels yea and out of Councels this universal care of the Church lyeth upon all Ministers that they provide for the safety of the Church as much as lieth in them consulendo hortando monendo arguendo increpando scriptis simul voce alios omnes instruendo cum vel hâ—resis ulla vel schismain Ecclesia grassari caeperit velut incendium publicum illud restinguendo ne latiùs serpat providendo Def. Eccl. Angl. c. 28. Sixthly There will follow divers great absurdities if the office of a Minister stands only in relation to his own Congregation For then he cannot preach any where as a Minister but in his own Congregation nor yet to any that come to his own Congregation occasionally much lesse administer the seals of the Covenant to them though they come never so well approved by testimonials or by their own knowledge of them which yet hath been the ancient custom of the Church and is practised still among our brethren in New-England by vertue of communion of Churches as they say but this being an act of office cannot be done except there be an habitual indefinite power of the ministerial office which by this desire of strangers and their testimonial is drawn forth into act Also hereby a Minister is rendred but as a private Christian to all the Christian world except his own Congregation and if his Congregation be any way dissolved he is but a private man again Also the censore of excommunication which hath been inflicted by such Officers in such a Congregation can never be taken off by any other Officers in any other Congregation after the dissolution of that for no Congregation can receive an excommunicated person to be a member before absolution and absolve him they cannot because he is none of their members Ejusdem est ligare solvere yea and if he be wronged by censures in any particular Congregation no Church in the world can relieve him except there be an indefinite habitual power of office which by such occasions can be drawn forth into act It maketh way also for any private man to preach publikely if he be able for Ministers themselves by this opinion should preach but as private men if they preach out of their own Congregation Also it necessarily implyeth that a Minister cannot remove from his particular Congregation though for the great advantage of the Church unlesse he will divest himself of his former Ordination which was in reference only to his particular Congregation by this opinion and take a new Ordination to his Ministerial office again as if he had never been ordained before And all acting in Councels must be the actings of private Christians And all the Lectures that are kept by neighbour-Ministers in combination or singly except by the particular Ministers of that Congregation where the Lecture is kept are performed by private men for so by this opinion they are to all the world except their own Congregations And so if any of their own members come and hear them preach at any such Lectures Funerals Marriages or Baptizings it is authoritative preaching indeed to them because of their particular relation to him but only a charitative exercising of gifts as a private man out of office to all men else And if this opinion be true what shall become of all the unfixed visible Christians in New-England who by reason of their unresolvednesse where yet to fix their civil habitations or of scrupulosity or want of ability utterance and boldnesse to expresse themselves so as
both Priests and Levites were to be Teachers and Judges and Israel and they had 48. Cities with their suburbs given unto them but they might not at their pleasure exercise this power and dwell where they listed and minister in what they pleased or offer sacrifice promiscuously when they listed or be Teachers and Judges where and when they listed but according to appointment and assignation and according to their courses and as they had a call to exert their power So it is with the Ministers of the Gospel They are vested with an office to dispense Gods Ordinances of worship and discipline but they may not execute this office but as they have an especial call thereunto no more then require maintenance which also belongs to their office except from those that call them to exercise their office among them There are houses and gleabs and maintenance allotted by the law of the land for the Ministry but every Minister may not carve for himself where and what he pleaseth The particular exerting of the office and reception of maintenance in and from particular Congregations is not quà Minister indefinitely and habitually but quà Romanus Alexandrinus Londinensis Gippovicensâ—s The whole Church in reference to Christ the King thereof is indeed an actual politie but in reference to the ordinary Officers whose office though habitually it be indefinite yet is actually drawn forth into exercise by a particular or special call and evocation it may be stiled an habitual polity Sect. 4. Now let us see how M. Ellis's Prejudices Probabilities and Demonstrations will lie against this habitual integrality of the Church-Catholike visible and against the habitual indefinitenesse of the Ministers office First he objecteth the novelty of this opinion And indeed well he may as he hath stated it for he was the first that hatched it in his own brains But that the Church is one habitually and that the particular Churches bear the relation of members to the whole and of fellow members one to another and that Ministers are Ministers beyond the limits of their particular Congregations and can upon occasion administer the Ordinances of God to more persons then those of their own Congregation authoritatively upon which hinge hangeth the whole question this is no novel opinion For the first execution of the Evangelical Ministerial office in teaching and baptizing by John Baptist and by the Apostles before they had their general commission and the preaching of the 70. was without any respect to any particular Congregations for there were none set up And when they were set up the Apostles send faithful teachers to the several Churches whom they commended also to them exhorting them to receive respect and obey them as Timothy and Apollos 1 Cor. 16.10 11 12. Phil. 2.19 23. And the many places whether Timothy and Titus travelled and where they preached and exercised their office is abundantly set down in the Scriptures and gathered out by Sâ—â—â—ct ymnuus and M. Prinâ—e in his unbishoping of Timothy and Titus The Apostle also sent Tychicus a faithful Minister to the Ephesians Eph 6.21 and under the same notion of a faithful Minister he sends him also to the Colossians Col. 7.8 as is further noted in the second question And lest this should be said to he done as he was an Evangelist though we finde him not expresly called an Evangelist yet it is clear that there were many that preached the Gospel in the Apostles daies in more places then one authoritatively The brethren that John writes of in his 3d Epist ment forth and were helpers to the truth taking nothing of the Gentileâ— were Ministers which might have taken maintenance but did not that they might spread the Gospel It appears also even by the false Teachers that crept into Galatia and Corinth in Pauls absence and those that went from Jerusalem to Antinch and bred the broil there and those that preached the Gospel of envy and strife Phil. 2. â—5 who certainly were no Evangelists neither do I allow of their false doctrine yet it proveth that it was ordinary for Ministers to preach to more Congregations then one And it is very probable that those dispersed which went up and down preaching Act. 8.4 were officers as one hath lately shewed for what should the Apostles doe at Jerusalem if there were no private Christians there and it is likely that the heat of the persecution fell most upon the officers and therefore they were generally scattered abroad except the Apostles And in the after ages of the Church there was nothing more frequent then for Ministers to act out of their own Congregations We finde indeed provision made by Canons for the ordering of Ministers in the exercise of their function in other places then their own but no prohibition to exclude them from it As first that they must have leave to do what they did which was a wise provision against such as creep into other Churches without a call It was provided in Conc. Nic. Can. 17. Caranza That no Bishop should ordain any that belong to another Bishop Cum non habeat consensum Episcopi ipsius a quo recessit clericus And Conc. Constinop Can. 2. secundum Zonaram 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Non vocati Episcopi ultra Diocesim ne transeant ad ordinationem vel aliquam aliam administrationem Ecclesiasticam There is not taken away from them power of exercising of any of those things in other Dioceses when they were called by others to help therein Nullus Episcopus ex alia provincia audeat ad aliam transgredi ad promotionem ministerij aliquos in Ecclesijs ordinare nisi literis regatus adveniat Conc. Antioch Can. 13. Caranz Nisi fortè cum consilio voluntatâ— regionis Episcopi Can. 22. Yea the Councel of Sardice provideth that if a Bishop in a Province where there have been more Bishops did neglect to ordain more Bishops then might the Bishops of the neighbouring Province being desired by the people of that Province come ex vicinâ provincia ordinent Episcopum Conc. Saâ—d Can. 2. secund Isidor sed Can. â— secund Caranz Secondly No Bishop ought to sollicite an Ecclesiastical Officer of another Diocese into his own and ordain him there Conc. Sardic Can. â—8 Caraâ—â—12 2 Thirdly When Presbyters travelled abroad they could not be admitted to officiate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Absque literis commendatitijs proprij Episcopi nusquam ullo modo ministrare Conc. Chalced. Can. 13. secundum Zonaâ—â—â— 1â— sec Caranz Then if they came commended by their bishop they might perform any Ecclesiastical duty Vide Concilij septimi canon â—0 apud Zonaram Fourthly They were not permitted to stay too long abroad Non multo tempore in alicua civitâ—te residere Definire ergo tempus quâ—a non recipi Episcopum inhumanum est si diutùs resideat perâ—ciosum est Conc. Sard. Can. 14. Car. Per multa tempora nititur immorâ—â—ri Con. Antioch Can. 3. Fifthly
one key shorter then the other It is granted also here that Councels have to do with matters of common right and joint concernment And thereby the necessity of Synods and Councels will follow seeing there are things of common right to many Churches and may be to all And this will necessarily require that they should be furnished with authority to transact those affairs of common concernment and that is as much as the Presbyterians contend for in the behalf of Synods No State saith he can take my wife from me or dispose of my children in marriage this is of peculiar right so in Churches Answ No more can the Elders of the particular Congregation nor the civil Officers of the particular Town But the civil Officers or State can dispose of mens children and good according to Law for the good and defence of the whole notwithstanding a mans peculiar right So the peculiar rights of persons and Congregations must be subservient and give way to the good of the whole or the greater part And though a master of a family ought not to yield up his family-government over wife children and servants to rule them in common with other Masters of families as M. A. and M. S. note in their Def. p. 110. yet if he abuse his government over them the wronged persons either wife children or servants may be relieved by the Magistrate who yet hath no constant actual hand in the family-government And whereas he saith all the Christians in England would be loth to stand bound to the determinations of 2. or 3. sent in their names to a general Councel I answer by retortion so would a Congregation or our Nobility and Gentry be loth to stand bound by the censures of two or three Elders in a particular Congregation without relief But it is pretended by M. Ellis to be new also relatively in reference to the Protestant Divines Calvin is brought in here vind p. 13 It is true Calvin saith Instit lib 4. cap. 1. sect 3. Ad amplexandam Ecclesiae unitatem nihil opus est Ecclesiam ipsam oculis cernere vel manibus palpare quin potius eo quod in fide sit◠est But his meaning i◠we cannot distinguish the elect from the reprobate by sense referring it to what he had spoken in the former Section Soli Deo permittenda est cognitio suae Ecclesia sect 2. Deus mirabiliter Ecclesiam suam quasi in latebris servat But here M. Ellis cites a man for him who is directly against him For Calvin makes the Ministry of man which God useth in governing the Church to be the chief sinew whereby the faithful cohere together in one body Inst l. 4. c. 3. s 2. where also he dilates upon Eph. 4.4 c. and saith it is meant of the Church militant only And in sect 7. he saith though the Minister be tied to the particular Congregation yet he may not only help other Churches but may be removed to other Churches of the publike utility require it And for Councels he saith l. 4. c. 9. s 1. That he reverenced the ancient Councels ex animo and wisheth all other men did so And saith the promise in Mat. 18.20 where two or three are gathered together in my name c. as it reacheth to particular Assemblies so also to a general Councel Sect. 2. And he giveth to Councels power dogmatical and saith there is no better remedy against errours as I cited the words upon the like occasion before Nullum est melius remedium c. and also Dialactick power c. 10. s 27. in making constitutions according to the general rules 1 Cor. 14.40 and jurisdiction c. 11. not only doctrinal binding and loosing but disciplinary by inflicting censures s 2. and c. 12. s 22. sheweth the ancient manner of yearly Synods and of appeals if any were wronged by their Bishops and not only the relief of the wronged person but the deposition of the Bishop or suspension for a time from communion And he saith that alwaies before one Synod ended the time and place for another was set and then complains that these things were now out of date So that Calvin was not against an habitual unity of the whole Church nor against the exerting of the Ministerial power beyond the particular Congregation or exerting it conjunctim in Synods and Councels Chamier also hath been alledged for it before And the difference is vast between the Church-Catholike visible which our Divines deny 〈◊〉 this as hath been shewed before Chap. 5. Sect. 4. M. Ellis's second just or rather unjust prejudice is from the dangerous consequences of this opinion But indeed they flow from his ill stating of the Question and not from the Tenet it self To the first viz. a necessity of universal and general Officers and some one above the rest to whom the particular Churches may have continual recourse hath been answered before Cha. 7. Sect. 6. To the second viz. the necessity of a continual standing Court Sect. 6. hath been already answered Cha. 7. Sect. 10. The suiting of the Church too much to worldly policy occasioneth this scruple And yet we see that Parliaments and Diets civil are not standing continual Courts no more need Councels Ecclesiastical be And whereas he saith it were notably vain to imagine that Christ hath committed the government of his Church first and chiefly to that body that should not meet six times in sixteen hundred years nay never I answer that I never affirmed a general Councel to be the first subject of the keys nor the London-Ministers that I can finde nor Apollonius that I remember But the Church-Officers in general in opposition to the caetus fidelium or the civil Magistrate c. A general Councel is but occasional yet is it Reverend and August and of more large extent by reason of the general delegation then any other meeting and is full of authority for the exerting of all Ecclesiastical power of the keys as I conceive The gift of the keys was primarily to the whole body of Officers or Organs of the Church respectively as their Offices were capable of them and as they were given to the Apostles together so they may he exercised together And secondarily to the particular Ministers or Officers as being a part of that body And though the power habitually considered be indefinite yet the constant actual exercise thereof is in their particular Congregations or Classes The Ordinances of God for the enjoyment and use of them were given to the whole visible Church for the conversion and edification of the Elect and if they could meet together as the Israelites did in the wildernesse and the Saints for ought I know shall in heaven they might partake of them together as their rightful portion but because they cannot meet but in parcels therefore they have right to enjoy them divisim by vertue of that general gift to the whole which every Congregation or parcel appropriates to
it self as being a member of the whole and yet it is not notably vain to say The gift of them by God and his intention in giving them was to the whole though they never meet nor can meet together in this world So is the case of the Ministers also the Ministry is primarily given to the whole body of them and if they could meet together they might exercise the keys together conjunctim a representation or an epitome whereof is in a general councel but because they cannot meet but in parcels where they are seated and have a particular call to give especial attendance therefore they exercise them divisim yet as parts of the whole body of Organs of the Church and there they serve the whole Church and their dispensations have influence into the whole The third danger viz. the trouble and charge of appeals and the tryal of causes by them that can have no personal knowledge of the cause or persons to be tried but by information hath been answered before c. 7. s 9. Sect. 7. His third prejudice is that this opinion is Papal and Anti-Protestant And to prove this he bringeth in Bellarmines description of the Church-Catholike viz. That it is one visible Church or Congregation of men bound together by the profession of the same faith and participation of the same Sacraments under the government of lawful Pastors and especially of that only Vicar of Christ on earth the Pontiffe or Bishop of Rome This latter clause indeed is papal properly and therefore justly rejected by the Protestants But the former part if it be understood of one habitual body or Congregation is not to be accounted Papal because set down by a Papist for then all the Articles of the Creed which they hold as well as we though not on the same ground should be accounted Papal also Where they differ from the Scripture therein they erre and therein only we dissent from them Neither is it Anti-protestant unlesse as he hath stated it Calvins judgement whom he citeth here again I have shewed before and it is opposite to M. Ellis in point of the power of the ministerial office beyond one Congregation which is the very hinge of the question and in the power and use of Synods Chamier indeed makes the Church to be one general or universal yet he makes it to be aggregated of many particular Churches which strongly argues an integrality for no Genus is made by aggregation and he saith it is compounded of infinite particular Churches but no genus is made by composition Omne aggregatum compositum est integrale He makes it also to consist of many parts yea to have partes extra partes which is the Logicians definition of an integral But how all the Kingdoms in the world as he saith to make a parallel with the universal Church may be called one Kingdom in the general except by logical abstraction I understand not Certainly it cannot be by aggregation and composition and by apposition of them as parts of that general Kingdome he speaks of which yet he yieldeth in the Church-Catholike They have not all the same systeme of written Laws authorized by the same authority neither have they indefinite habitual Officers as the Church hath And for Bishop Iewel in his answer to Harding he disputes against the headship of the Pope but denyeth not Christ to be head of the visible Church And though indeed he rightly cals it a new fancy to prove the Pope to be head of the Church from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as if there were therefore but one King to rule over the whole world yet he denieth not that Christ rules over the whole Church but cals the Church One Kingdom One body One sheepfold And he citeth for the unity of the Church many sentences out of Cyprian viz. Vna est Ecclesia a Christo per totum mundum in plura membra divisa Item Episcopatus unus Episcoporum concords numerositate diffusus Cyp. l. 4. Ep. 2. Also Ecclesia una est connexa cohaerentium sibi invicem Sacerdotum glutine copulaeta Ep. 9. Quandoâ—oramus non pro uno oramus sed pro toâ—o populo quia totus populus unum sumus Cyp. in Orat. Dominic Again Hanc unitatem firmiter tenere vendicare debemus maximè Episcopi qui in Ecclesia praesidemus ut Episcopatum quoque ipsum unum indivisum probemus Cyp. l. 3. Ep. 13. Et si pastores multi sumus unum tamen gregem pascimus c. Copiosum est Corpus Sacerdotum concordiae mutua glutine atque unitatis vinculo copulatum ut si quis ex collegio nostro haeresim facere gregem Christi lacerare ac vastare tentaverit subveniant caeteri Ibid. So that Jewel was far from restraining the Ministers office or power to one Congregation or from denying the authority of Synods and Councels And for M. Rutherford in his Due right of Presbytery I marvel M. Ellis should cite him who is professedly point black against him and hath handled both parts of my question and concludes them affirmatively Due Right of Presbyteries p. 55. c. and 418. Now whose fault is it to cite authors for him that are known to be against him Sect. 8. I come now to view his greater Artillery as he cals it and his first argument is because saith he the Scriptures Christ and his Apostles are silent and speak nothing of one Catholike visible Church yea I may adde and all men else as he hath stated it But for Scripture-proofs I referre the Reader to what I said formerly and now have added Chap. 2. But my proofs from Scripture he was pleased to runne over in vind pag. 42. in 7. lines without any answer to the particulars His second argument is from the institution of Christ because saith he the keys of government were given first and fully entirely and immediatly to the particular Congregation and this he proves from the Church of the Jews to which all Church-power was given first and fully but this was saith he a particular Church not the universal unlesse by accident because there was no other Church-state in the world at that time And though he grants it to be a Type of the Church of the New Testament yet not as Catholike but as Congregational as it self was or else as mystical Vind. pag. 21. Answ It cannot be denied but there were some things peculiar to the Church of the Jews as typical Ordinances and a typical high Priest and that it was bounded within certain limits and they were bound to meet in their males three times yearly which pertain not to the Evangelical Church But in that one Church there were particular Assemblies for ordinary worship and extraordinary also and for acts of government and they had particular Officers and Ecclesiastical rulers over them and there were appeaâ—s reserved to the great Councel at Jerusalem and so it could not be a type of a
extraordinary Officers yet with habitual power of office And although Bishop Pastor Elder and Minister doe carry a reference to some particular place wherein by the polity of the Church such Officers are set yet have they a more general relation extending to the whole Church-Catholike as hath been shewed before Paul an Apostle cals himself a Teacher and Preacher 2 Tim. 1.11 Peter also and John the Apostles call themselves Presbyters 1 Pet. 5.1 2 Ep. Joh. 1. and 3 Ep. Joh. 1. We finde also Ministers are in Scripture spoken of under a general notion They are called Ministers of the word Luk. 1.2 and Ministers of God 2 Cor. 6.4 and Ministers of Christ 1 Cor. 4.1 and Ministers of the New Testament 2 Cor. 3.6 and Ministers of the Gospel 1 Thes 3.2 and Ministers of the Lord Ephes 6.21 Where the Ministerial Office is set down by the reference thereof to the Authour that employeth them and the subject about which they are employed and not the object persons unto whom they ministred They are not called Ministers of the people as if they carried their keys and were their stewards but their Teachers Rulers Pastours Overseers Fathers or Ministers for them Col. 1.7 Indeed the Apostle saith they are your servants for Christs sake 2 Cor. 4.5 As the Gentlemen that serve a Noble man serve the meanest that are invited to his table but therein they do service to their Lord. And the Angels themselves by whose names Ministers are called in 2. and 3. of Revelation they are ministring spirits sent out for the good of the Elect but it is in subjection and obedience to God and not to them And if a Minister of this or that Congregation be not a Minister of the Church-Catholike visible then he is no Minister out of his own Congregation and therefore cannot preach or administer any Sacrament as a Minister out of his own Congregation yea if any members of another Congregation should come and hear a Minister preach in his own Congregation he could not preach to them nor they hear him as a Minister but only as a gifted brother And though he may pray and beseech his own flock as an Ambassadour of Christ to be reconciled unto God 2 Cor. 5.20 yet he cannot say so to any other except he be an Ambassadour in office unto others also And if he be a Minister to one member besides his own Congregation then is he so indefinitely to all by the same reason But if he deliver the word as a Minister to his own Congregation only then the same word which is delivered at the same time by the same man is delivered by vertue of the Ministerial office to some and to others ex officio charitatis generali only as a gifted brother And if this be granted which is absurd yet a greater absurdity will follow viz. that if he administer the Lords Supper to any members of another Congregation he must do that also as a gifted brother and as a private person whereas a private person out of office hath nothing to doe to administer the seals of the Covenant as is confessed by all except a few Anabaptists of late on purpose as I conceive to avoid this argument And yet this communion of members of other Congregations is frequent among our brethren for Congregational Churches Neither can this be answered that it is done by vertue of commnion of Churches except there be a communion of offices and Officers and so every Minister be an indefinite habitual Officer and a Minister of the Church-Catholike And if a Minister hath an indefinite office and can administer the seals of the Covenant to strangers in his own Congregation in his own meeting-house then any where else in any other meeting-house for no man will say his Ministerial office is circumscribed by or tyed unto the fabrick of his own meeting-house or any especial influence or authority afforded him in the execution of his Ministerial function by the presence of his own Congregation He whose office is limited within and stands wholly in relation to a particular place is out of office when he is out of that place as a Mayor of a Corporation and a Constable of a Parish but so is not a Minister he is no private man as soon as he is out of his meeting-house or the limits of his Congregation And though indeed he be more peculiarly their Pastour or Bishop one that hath the oversight of them in the Lord in a more immediate especial manner actually yet this extends to all places whereever he or they shall come by occasion though never so far from their dwellings but so is not a Mayor or Constable And besides this particular relation he hath an indefinite office he is a Minister in general to all others and may exert his power of office to them as God giveth occasion and they give him a call without taking a new especial relation to them but so cannot a Mayor or Constable though they were entreated to use their office out of their limits because they are onely particular Officers See this more fully in Chap. 6. Sect. 4. and 5. Suppose a Ministers flock by mortality or the sword should be dissolved extinct and cease indeed he ceaseth to be their Pastor because the correlative faileth but he ceaseth not to be a Minister of the Gospel A King or Mayor haply cease to be so any longer if his Kingdom or Corporation should sink or be swallowed up because there is no Catholike Kingdom or Corporation whereof they were Officers but the office of the Minister ceaseth not because he was an Officer of the Church-Catholike which correlative sinketh not but still his power in actu primo to dispense all the Ordinances of Christ which a single Officer can perform remaineth only his call ad actum secundum sive exercitum pro hic nunc which is appointed by the polity of the Church for order ceaseth because they are cut off that gave him a call thereto An Objection against this I finde made by those two Reverend Ministers M. A. and M. S. in their Defence p. 208. It is to this purpose If Ordination of a Minister be an indeleble character like Baptism and ceaseth not when his particular relation to a Congregation ceaseth why then should not a ruling-Elder or Deacon remain an Elder or Deacon in the Church though their particular relations cease Answ 1. If you please to cast your eye back to the answer of an Objection of M. Hookers that is like to this Ch. 2. Sect. 4. it may afford some light to the answering of this Objection to which I referre you being loth to repeat the same again 2. I premise also that for ought I can finde both ruling-Elders and Deacons should continue in their offices as long as they lived if the Congregations or Presbyterial Churches which chose them be not dissolved or if they be not ejected by censure 3. I deny not but that