ordained to constitute it This Office as I evinced in my former Paper appertained to the Apostles it being their Work to lay the Foundation of the Christian Church by preaching the Doctrin of Christ as true upon their own Knowledg and consequently making Believers or Disciples which was to gather the Church as also by instituting of Officers and giving Rules about them which was to put the Church under Orders and to settle its Government On this Account the Church is said to be built upon the Foundation of the Apostles and the New Jerusalem the City of God or the Evangelical Church in its most reformed State is described in the Revelations to have twelve Foundations answering to the twelve Apostles who by the Doctrin which they preached and witnessed and the Order which they setled did indeed lay the Foundation of the Christian Church and set it on foot It is true the Evangelists as well as the Apostles were in part at least the Founders of particular Churches But the Apostles only with the Prophets have the Honour of being stiled Founders of the Church these being the only persons that were commissioned by our Lord Christ for that end He immediately sending and directing his Apostles but these sending and directing the Evangelists who are therefore called by some and not unfitly Apostoli Secondarii Apostles of the Second Order So that I do distinguish between the Founding of the Church which was done by the Apostles only and that of particular Churches which was performed by the Evangelists as well as by the Apostles By the Church which for distinction sake I call Essential to discriminate it from particular Constituted Churches I mean nothing but the whole Multitude or Company of the Faithful as they are united to Christ and hold Communion with him as well as one with another by one Common Faith and by the participation of the Holy Spirit And of this Church all that do believe in and make a true Profession of Christ though as yet they are not ranked in any particular one are Members and have their several Uses according to the Measure of the Dispensation given them from which Measure some are Principal and some are less Principal Members He gave some Apostles and some Prophets c. This Essential Church though it is a kind of a Body Society and City yet it is not a Secular Politick Body I mean not a Body united in it self under one External Visible Head by any Universal Politick Orders and Dependencies that run throughout it such as are in Secular Governments whether Monarchical Aristocratical or Democratical to make them one But it is a Spiritual Mystical Body a Body united unto Christ the Head by the Spirit of Faith and Love under the Laws and Rules of Christianity a Religion which obliges all its Members to Communion one with another as much as is possible for mutual Edification and Comfort Could all the Members of the Christian Church have held Communion one with another and ordinarily have met together for the Discharge of Common Duties and Offices and all have been subject unto one External Government common to them there would still have been but one Congregation of them as there was at first and consequently but one Church as to External Orders But the Christian Church in the nature of it being Catholick and Univers◠that is not walled in and confined by distinguishing Rites and Customs as the Jewish was unto a particular People but lying in common to all Nations as much as unto any so that such External Communion and Government was absolutely impracticable in the whole as taken together therefore it was necessary that it should be practised as indeed it was only by Parts each of which Parts was to bear the Denomination of the Whole as being the whole in Little This is the Original of particular Churches in reference to which Churches it may be observed That as the Jewish Church which some call the Synagogue was founded in a Nation so the Christian Church eminently stiled the Church was founded in a particular Assembly the Mother Church at Ierusalem was only a single Congregation It was for the former Reason as well as for others that the Apostles when they instituted Church-Government did not give any General Scheme that should relate to the Catholick Church as to an External Body or to Provincial or to National Churches but they only setled Particular Churches as Homogenecal Parts of the Whole And these in this Order That as the whole Church was a free People that had not one only but many Apostles who by the Original Institution were to take the Care of it so in every particular Church which was to be a Vicinage under Orders or a Company of Professing People that could conveniently meet together for the Discharge of Christian Offices there should be not one only but many Presbyters a College of Presbyters answering to the College of the Apostles who should Rule and Govern but as over a Free People and therefore in all material Businesses with their Approbation and Suffrage Thus in the Mother-Church at Ierusalem besides the Apostles which were Extraordinary there was a Senate or College of Elders as the ordinary standing Officers and these with the whole Church or Body of the People and Brethren are convented upon the Business of Antioch And thus the Apostles Paul and Barnabas every where in every Church or Congregation are said to have established a Senate or Presbyters and that too by the Suffrage or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the People So that the Original Government of the Church of Apostolical Institution was only Congregational which Congregational Government consisted of the People or Brethren and of the Presbyters or Senate in which Senate he that presided tho' in process of Time he was called Bishop by appropriation of the Name which all the Presbyters enjoyed at first in Common yet in the Original Institution he was no more than the first-named Presbyter and so no otherwise distinguished in it than as Peter was in the Institution of the College of the Apostles who is still first named in it And such a Bishop I do acknowledg to have been from great Antiquity namely a Congregational Bishop that had the first Direction of Matters a Person that was Primus Presbyter a Presbyter only in Order and the first of that Order in the College of Presbyters But a Diocesan Bishop invested with the Power of sole Ordination and Jurisdiction and he a Suffragan too for this is the Bishop that is in Controversie between us this Bishop you must prove if you can and nothing is done if you do not prove him to be Apostolical Sure I am that S. Cyprian considered himself but as a first Presbyter and therefore as his Name for the Bishop is always prepositus in respect of the People So he calls the Presbyters his Compresbyters Ep. l. 4. ep 8. Ques ed primitivum Compresbyterum nostrum Et
Corinthian on which you insist so much does serve your purpose For S. Paul his Interposition in that business was purely Apostolical and Extraordinary from beginning to end the Cognisance he took was Extraordinary by his Apostolical Spirit or Revelation as Hierome interprets it absent in Body but present in Spirit The Censure Extraordinary which was to give the Incestuous up unto Satan as to a Tormentor So Hierome carries this also and the manner of the Execution extraordinary too to wit by delegation of his Apostolical Spirit to the Church of Corinth when you come together and my Spirit So that the whole Proceeding was extraordinary and though you are pleased to call it an Act of Episcopal or Prelatical Authority and to make an Argument of it for Diocesan Jurisdiction yet unless you can find Diocesans now that have the Spirit that can have a Cognisance of things at Distance by Revelation that can give up Persons to Satan as to a Tormentor and that can delegate their Spirit to a Congregation the Exception lying against it will still continue in Force Wherefore as yet I see no other Prelacy instituted by the Apostles but that of the Presbyters over the People nor are there any Officers now of any Denomination which ought to have though you seem to intimate that some ought a Mission like to that of the Apostles for as they were Ambassadours that were sent immediately by Christ as he was by God and brought their Credentials with them sealed by the Holy Ghost so I will not scruple to call them Extraordinary upon this Account too any more than to call the Presbyters and Deacons ordinary even though the Papists and the Socinians do so The first Missions were extraordinary whiles the Church was to be constituted but in a constituted setled Church in which the Officers are ordinary their Calling is so likewise But to let you know what Standard there is of Extraordinaries for this you demand I believe I have no more to do but to remind you of what you already know that the use of speaking or common Language is that Standard for certain you that have read so often in Cicero not to mention Livy Suetonius and others of Honores Extraordinarii Praesidium Extraordinarium Potestas Extraordinaria cannot be ignorant that that is Extraordinary which being not the setled standing perpetual order and use is only for some certain time and on some particular special Occasion or Accident And it is in this sense of the word that the Roman Magistrates in respect of time are distributed by Lipsius into Extraordinary and Ordinary when he says Aut enim Magistratus à tempoâ—ibus dividuntur ut Ordina ii Extraordinaâ—ii Illi dicti qui statis Temporibus semper in Republicâ essent uâ— Consulâ—s Praetores Ediles Tribuni Quaestores isti qui nec eodem tempore nec semper ut Dictatores Censores Inter-Reges c. It is true you tell me that the Commission Matth. 28. is not peculiar to the Apostles and that therefore it does not Evidence they were Extraordinary Officers for say you There is indeed a Charge given them to Baptize and Teach but it seems a wonderful way of proving them to be Extraordinary Officers from the Authority they had to do that which any Ordinary Minister may do and that by vertue of this Commission By vertue of this Commission Excuse me as to that every Body will not yield it some think that this Commission was personal given only unto the Apostles Go ye and inforced with a promise that related only to them directly Lo I am with you to the end of the world That is to the Consummation of the Mosaical Seculum for so they understand that Phrase and apprehend they have sufficient Reason to do so upon comparing it with Matth. 24. 3 14. But let that be as it will Indeed Is the Commission given to the Apostles Matth. 28. not peculiar to them Are they Empowered by it to do no more than every ordinary Minister may I had thought that ordinary Ministers had been limited and local not unlimited and oecumenical Officers and that by their Institution they were confin'd to Teach and Rule the particular Churches over which they were appointed and not to Teach and Rule the whole World or as the Apostles had to have care of all the Churches I pray tell me is a Parish-Priest of as great Authority as a Diocesan and yet a Diocesan compared with an Apostle is less than a Parish-Priest The whole World was the Diocess of the Apostles Go ye teach all Nations I profess I am much surprized to find you deny without Distinction that the Apostles were Extraordinary Officers especially after Dr. Cave in his History of the Lives of the Apostles which I believe you have read distinguishes their work and shews what was Extraordinary in it and what was Ordinary But possibly you foresaw that should you have spoken plainly and have said as he does that their ordinary work the standing and perpetual part of it was to Teach and Instruct the People in the Duties and Principles of Religion to Administer the Sacraments to Institute Guides and Officers and to Exercise the Discipline and Government of the Church I would easily reply That the Apostles had provided themselves of Successors as to all this work but that these Successors were the Presbyters which they Instituted in every Church to feed and govern it and that having ordained no others it looks as if they saw no need of others But having this Occasion I beg your pardon if I use it to set out more fully the Institution which the Apostles made for the Government and Edification of the Churches and how that Institution came to be altered and by what steps First then the Apostles instituted a Senate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a College of Presbyters in every Church to Feed and Govern it and this is evident from Acts 14. 23 25. where Paul and Barnabas are said not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Churches but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in every Church to have ordained Elders a College of Elders not a single Elder or Bishop And as they are not said to have ordained a single Bishop or Elder in any Church so much less are they said to have ordained any Prelate or Intendant over many Churches every Church as a Body Politick Compleat had sufficient power within it self for all its Ends They ordained Elders in every Church And to me it is plain that Clement had regard to this practice of the Apostles when in the place I cited before upon another occasion he says of them That going through Countries and Cities preaching the Gospel they appointed the first Fruits of them to be Bishops and Deacons having approved or Confirmed them by the Spirit That the Apostles instituted many Presbyters and not a single Presbyter in every Church is further confirmed not only from the frequent mention of a Presbytery found in
Quid â—usâ—quâ—m meâ—â—nit exortis iliius Episcoporum auctoritais quae Ecclesiae Consuetudine post Marci mortem Alex nâ—â—iae atque â—o Exemplo alibi introduci coepit sed-plaâ—è ut Paulus Apostolus ostendit Ecclesias Communi Prisbyteroâ—um qui iidem omnes Episcopi ipsi Pauloque dicuntur Consiâ—io â—uisse Gubenatas That Clement no where makes any mention in his Epistle of that Eminent Authority of Bishops that by the Custom of the Church began when Mark was dead to be introduced at Alexaâ—dâ—ia and after that Example in other places but he plainly shews as the Apostle Paul also does that the Churches were then governed by the Common Council of the Elders all of which are stiled Bishops by him as well as by S Paul By what I have said you may see how little Satisfaction I received in the Proofs you gave me of the early distinction between Bishops and Presbyters for none of them do reach home unto the First Age and to the Dâ—ocesan Prelatical Bishop and if they did would move me but little For as for Tertullian he more than seems to be on my side when speaking of the Christian Congregations both as to their Discipline and Government and to their Worship he says Praesident probati quique seniores Hon remistum non pretio sed Testimonio adepti That the Presbyters have the Rule and Government in them As for Clemens Alexandrinus his Imitations of the Angelical Glory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which you do imagine you have found the orders of the Celestial Hierarchy imitated in the Bishop Presbyter and Deacon this is but a Flourish of Rhetorick in that Father who though in his Pedagogue he speaks of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons as also of Widows yet in his Stromata Lib. 6. 7. where he treats of the Ecclesiastical Orders more at large he mentions but Two the Presbyters and Deacons and plainly intimates that the Bishop was only a Presbyter honoured with the first Seat But I am much surprized at your Citation of the Emperor Adrian his Epistle to Servianus recorded by Phlegon and related by Vopiscus for certainly it appears by that Epistle that Adrian had but little Acquaintance with the Egyptian Christians and then his Authority is of as little moment or else these Christians were of the worst of Men for he represents them as well as the other Inhabitants of Egypt to be a most seditious vain and most Injurious sort of Men and particularly says That those which Worship Serapis were Christians and that the Bishops of Christ were devoted unto Serapis He adds That the very Patriarch Ipse ille Patriarcha coming into Egypt was constrained of some to Worship Serapis and others to Worship Christ. Was ever any thing more virulently said of Christians and indeed more mistakingly for as for the Devotion of their Bishops to Serapis I cannot imagine any occasion that these Christians should give which with any Colour should render them suspected of that Idolatry but their Signing with the Sign of the Cross and this might it being a way of professing Christianity that at that Time was newly become the Mode and probably it had the Fate of New Modes which is to be approved of by some and be rejected and nick-named of others I am the more inclined to think that this Story of Serapis had some relation to the Christian Bishops who signed with the Sign of the Cross because I find in Pignorius in his Exposition of the Mensa Isaica that Serapis was used to be denoted by a Cross Vrceo says he superne infixa Crux Serapidem notat And says Rhodiginus Lect. ant l. 10. c. 8 9. figuram ejusmodi speaking of the Cross Serapidis pectori insculpâ—bant Egypâ—ii Adding out of Suidas That in the time of the Emperour Theodosius when the Temples of the Greeks were destroyed there were found in the Sacrary of Serapis certain Hieroglyphic Letters which resembled a Cross. But to let this pass I see no cogency in the Citation you make from the Emperour Adrian to evidence any such Distinction between a Bishop and a Presbyter to have been in that time as is in ours and as you do plead for for in that Epistle there is only the Name of Bishop and Presbyter without any specification of Office signified by it either as to its Nature or Limits aâ—d possibly some will tell you That by the Coherence of tâ—e Epistle it is not so clear but that Adrian might intend the same Officers by Bishop and Presbyter But I have no list to engage in such a Dispute and therefore hasten to tell you what is above any that I am SIR Your Humble Servant THE SECOND LETTER SIR I Expected that as I had essayed to set out a Scheme of Church-Government and such a one as I believed and do still believe to have been the Primitive and Original and of Apostolical Institution so you likewise would have given a Scheme according to your Sentiments and then by Comparing Scheme with Scheme and each with the Account of the Scriptures and other undoubted Accounts of the first Century we might at last come to have made a surer Judgment which was the Right and which the Wrong than now in the parcelling and retailing way you take it is possible to do Indeed to gain a true Light into the Nature and Frame of Church-Government in the whole extent of it one ought to distinguish the several States and Circumstances in which the Church hath been and accordingly consider the several Orders which were in it in those several States and the Grounds and Reasons of those several Orders Now the Church I speak of the Catholick or Evangelical Church may be considered either as it was a Constituting before it had received External Form and Shape as to Orders Or after it was Constituted and that the Apostles who had not only received Instructions from their Master what to do in things pertaining to the Kingdom of God but were likewise invited by the concidence of Events had put their last Hand unto it Again the Church after its being Constituted and Clothed with Orders undergoes a Double Consideration for it may be considered either as it subsisted and stood alone singly in a State of Separation from Secular Governments of the World or as it is united to them by the Laws and Ordinances that in several Countries are several which they have enacted and established about it Whosoever considers the Church whilst constituting before it had received its external Form and Orders ought at the same time to acknowledg That of necessity there must be persons to constitute it and cloth it with these Orders which persons if vested with Authority so to do are properly Officers but yet in that performance cannot be conceived to be or act as ordinary Officers these being permanent and standing and belonging to the Church as constituted whereas that Office had its place before the Constitution of the Church as being