AN ANSWER TO SOME QUERIES CONCERNING SCHISM TOLERATION c. IN A LETTER To a Friend It was not long since that the Sins of Rebellion and Sacrilege were so Successful that they did not only cast off their old Names but commenc'd Vertues and it was dangerous to discourse whether there were such Sins or no Prosperous Wickedness has never wanted its Apologists who know how to call Evil Good and Good Evil. The case is almost the same concerning the Sin of Schism and Separation Long 's Epist to the Brethren before the Character of a Separatist An Vniversal Toleration is that Trojan Horse which brings in our Enemies without being seen and which after a long Seige they hope to bring in at last under the pretence of setting our Gates wide enough open to let in all our Friends Still Misch of Separation p. 58. I beseech you Brethren mark them who cause Divisions and Offences contrary to the Doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them Rom. 16. 17. London Printed in the Year MDCC AN ANSWER TO SOME QUERIES CONCERNING SCHISM TOLERATION c. In a LETTER to a Friend SIR I Receiv'd your Letter with some Queries but I cannot imagine what made you pitch upon me when you are acquainted with so many Learned men to Answer ' em But to let you see how willing I am to give you the best Satisfaction that I can I have here sent you the Opinions of some of our most Celebrated Episcopal Divines that out of them you may frame Answers to all your Queries And if you are not Satisfied with what I have Collected out of 'em you may have recourse to their Books your self If you say that the Authors I have quoted are but Private men and their Writings of no Authority I must Answer that most of their Books have past an Imprimatur or which by some is look'd upon as Tantamont The Approbation of the London Divines If you say further That their Practices have in some Cases contradicted their Principles I must say that that is nothing to me Let them look to that If their Principles be Sound and Orthodox that 's all that I desire let them Answer for their Practices As for the Preliminary Questions I have likewise taken the Answers to them out of the same Writers as you 'll find upon the perusal The first Question that you propose is this What is meant by the Church But before a distinct Answer can be given you must know that the word Church has various significations Sometimes 't is taken for the Place where people Assemble and sometimes for the People assembled Sometimes for the Whole Church including the Church Triumphant which is in Heaven as well as the Church Art 19. Militant or the Visible Church here on Earth Sometimes for the Catholick Church Representative or a General Council Sometimes for the Catholick Church Diffusive or the Whole Body of Christians Sometimes for the Church Vniversal Sometimes for a Particular Church c. Q. What is meant by the Church in General or the Catholick Church A. The Church Ecclesia among Christians in the largest use Dr. Loyd ' s Serm. on Acts 2. 42. of the word is the whole Multitude of Believers joyn'd together in One Body or Society under One Head Jesus Christ Or The Catholick Church is the Whole Church of Christ spread Bramhal's Just Vind. p. 23. abroad thro' the whole World Or The Vniversal Church is the Company of Christians Knit together Id. by the Profession of the same Faith and the Communion of the same Sacraments under the Government of Lawful Pastors By Catholick Church is meant the whole number of Christians Disc concerning the Cath. Ch. p. 2. in all Ages and Places admitted into the Church by Baptism and gather'd into Particular Churches under their respective Pastors and Bishops United to one another and to Christ their Head by the Profession of one Faith or Religion Q. What is meant by a Particular Church A. By a Particular Church is meant a Number of Men professing Vindic. of Ch. Eng. from Sch. p. 10. Christianity form'd into a Society under Lawful Governours and govern'd by such Laws and Rules as are not different from but Agreable to the Laws of the Catholick Church Q. What is meant by a National Church A. The whole Body of Christians in a Nation consisting of Stil unreason of Separ p. 299. the Pastors and People agreeing in that Faith Government and Worship which are Establisht by the Law of the Realm Q. What is meant by a Representative National Church A. The Representative Church of a Nation is the Bishops and Id. p. 300. Presbyters of the Church meeting together according to the Laws of the Realm to consult and advise about Matters of Religion Q. What is meant by the Church of England A. The Church of England is a Society of People which in Stil Misc of Separ p. 19. this Nation are united under the same Profession of Faith the same Laws of Government and Rules of Divine worship Or By the Church of England I understand that Body of Men Faith and Prac. of Ch. Eng. man c. 1. who as to Church Affairs are united together under the same Principal Church Officers the Bishops Priests and Deacons and Communicate with them and with one another in all Religious Offices according to the Liturgy and Orders of our Church Profess the Christian Faith according to the Ancient Creeds and the 39 Articles and are govern'd according to the Canons and Laws of this Church Or The Church of England is a Community consisting of profess'd Doct. of Sch. p. 42. Christians united in the same Government Doctrin and Worship according to the 39 Articles and Homilies Her Liturgy Canons and Laws and divided into Parochial Assemblies for the more Convenient worshipping of God Q. What is meant by a Diocesan Church A. The Notion of a Church by the ancient Canons was Stil Misch of Separ p. 29. the same with that of a Diocess or such a number of Christians as were under the Inspection of a Bishop Or A Church is the Body of Christians contain'd in a City and Thorndike's Weights and Measures p. 39. the Territory of it for the Government of such a one the respective Authority of the Apostles convey'd by the Overt Act of their Ordination was visibly vested in a Bishop in a number of Presbyters for his advice and assistance and in Deacons attending upon them and upon the executing their Orders Q. What is meant by a Parochial Church A. A Parochial Church is a Company of Christians united under the care of a Pastor in subordination to the Bishop of the Diocess Q. Wherein consists the Unity of the Church A. Ecclesiastical Unity consists in preserving all those Relations Ham. of Schism p. 508. wherein each member of the whole Church of Christ is concern'd one towards another and this Unity is either of
Subordination or Equality Q. Wherein consists the Vnity of Subordination A. The Unity of those Members that are Subordinate one to Id. the other consists in the constant due subjection and Obedience of all Inferiors to their Lawful Superiors and in due exercise of Authority in the Superiors towards all committed to their Charge Heb. 13. 17. 1 Pet. 5. 2. Q. Wherein consists the Vnity of Equality or fellow Members A. Unity of fellow Brethren consists in the preformance of all Id. ibid. Mutual duties of Justice and Charity towards one another Q. What is meant by Communion A. Communion superadds nothing to Unity but the Relation Id. ibid. of external Association whether by Assembling for the worship of God in the same place where the matter is capable of it or whether by Letters Communicatory by which we maintain external Communion with those who are far distant from us Or Communion with a Church is joyning with a Church as a Stil Vnreason of Sep. p. 107. member of that Church Q. What destroys the Unity of the Church A. Schism Q. What is Schism A. Schism is a Division in or from a Church Doct. of Sch. p. 40. Or Schism is a Voluntary dividing or a Separating or receding Ham. of Schism of any Member from the Unity of the Body i. e. the Church of Christ Or Schism is a Causeless Separation from a true Church Doct. of Sch. p. 58. Q. What is meant by Schism from the Church of England Doct. of Schism p. 45. A. Schism from the Church of England is a sinful dividing from or dissolving our Union and Communion with her in her Governours Members Worship or Assemblies This is the least we can mean by Schism from the Church of England and is called Separation Negative which is made Positive and more formally such when those that have separated set up their Altars against Hers and erect other Congregations in Opposition to Hers. Q. What is meant by Negative Separation or Schism A. Negative Schism is when men do peaceably and quietly withdraw their Communion from the Church in part or in whole to enjoy their Consciences in a private way Q. What is meant by Positive Separation A. Positive Separation is when persons thus withdrawn do Id. p. 60. gather into a Distinct and Opposite Body setting up a Church against a Church to worship God in a separated way themselves which St. Austin calls setting up Altar against Altar Q. What is a Schismatick A. A Schismatick is he that divides himself from the Church Ham. of Schism of God he that goes out or withdraws or recedes of his own accord Q. What is an Excommunicate person A. An Excommunicate person is one that is cut off or separated Ham. of Schism p. 508. and cast out of the Church by the Governours of the Church From the Definitions I think these Conclusions or Propositions will naturally follow viz. 1. That the Christian Church is a Society 2. That the Church is but one Body ' tho it consists of many particular Churches and Diocesses as Members of it 3. That the Church is govern'd by one Supreme Head 4. That the Supreme Head of the Church is Christ 5. That under this Supreme Head there have been always subordinate Governors 6. That those Subordinate Governors were first the Apostles constituted immediately by Christ himself over the whole Church and after them the Bishops as Successors to them in particular Churches or Diocesses 7. That all Bishops in their several Districts or Diocesses have full power as to Spirituals over the whole Flock 8. That all the Members of the Church within such Districts owe subjection to their Lawful Bishops as to those Commission'd by Christ 9. That as Christ did ordain the Apostles and the Apostles Bishops for the Government of the Church so the Bishops have ever since ordain'd Priests and Deacons to take care of and instruct the Church in subordination to them 10. That all Christians are oblig'd to become Members of some particular Church where the Sacraments are administred and Communion enjoy'd under the Authority of some Canonical Bishop or in Communion with some Priest owning and submitting to some Bishop of the Catholick Church 11. That all those who break the Vnity of the Church by actual Separation from the Communion of their Lawful Bishop and fellow Christians are Schismaticks 12. That all those that are united to and in Communion with Canonical Bishops and adhere to the Doctrin and worship establisht in the Church of England as contain'd in the 39 Articles Homilies Liturgy Canons and Laws are the true Church of England and their Assemblies are true Churches 13. That all those who separate themselves as Schismaticks and all those that are Separated as Excommunicate persons by the Governors of the Church are out of the Communion of the Church Q. Is all Separation Schismatical Still unreas of separ p. 209. A. Tho' Schism be always a Sin yet there may be such Circumstances which may make a Separation not to be a Schism That you may know when Separation is Schismatical and when Vindic. of the Ch. of Eng. from Schism p. 16. not you must understand that there are three great Bonds of Communion viz. Faith Worship and Government and whosoever shall separate from any Church whereof he is a member in any of these he or they so doing cannot be acquitted from the guilt of Schism unless the Corruption in some one or more of these be so great as to render the Communion sinful to him who knows it Q. What is meant by the first Bond Faith A. If a Church hold the Catholick Faith tho' her Members Id. may differ in some controverted Points pure and undefil'd and impose no new Articles of Faith as terms of her Communion 't is Schism to break Communion with that Church but if she does impose new Articles of Faith a Separation from such a Church is not only justifiable but a Duty Q. What is meant by the second Bond Worship A. If a Church have a pure Worship as to its substance tho' Id. cloath'd with some accidental Modes Rites and Ceremonies to Separate from such a Church is downright Schism and the reason is because all Ceremonies and Modes of Worship being in their own nature Indifferent cannot by being impos'd become sinful and if not sinful can never justify a Separation But if on the other side the Worship be polluted by Idolatry or profane and immoral mixtures or any other way be made such as that the Members of the Church cannot Communicate without sin Separation from such a Church is not only warrantable but absolutely necessary and the Schism must lie at the door of the Imposers Q. What is meant by the third Bond Government A. If the Church of which we are Members be governed by Lawful and Canonical Bishops and they act according to the Rules of the Catholick Church then to
of Right by the meer consent of the Church which by the precedent Ordination was Conferr'd only in point of Fact being a meer Nullity in point of Right It hath been often practis'd by the Church to receive Id. of Forb p. 69. not only Schismaticks but even Hereticks also that is Such as had receiv'd orders of those that parted from the Church upon an Error of Faith in their respective Orders But always upon Condition of Renouncing the Cause of their Division whereupon they were to receive the Blessing of the Church by prayer with Imposition of hands The reason was because neither is Baptism in Schism effectual to Salvation nor Ordination in Schism effectual to Grace by Ministry of any Office in Schism But being Renounc'd there remains no cause why their Ministry should not be effectual to their People Their Baptism and their Ministry to their own Salvation supposing it sincerely renounc'd Therefore the reason why they who are Ordain'd by Presbyters cannot be receiv'd in their respective Orders is peremptory Because the Schism Consisting in ordaining against Authority cannot be renounc'd unless the Ordination be voided For so long as the Ministry may be Rev. of Mr. M. Hs. New Notion of Schism p. 47. Usurp'd upon such Ordination so long is the Schism on foot I can see no reason why the line of Ordination may not pass thro a Schismatical Church for altho by Schism people are out of the Church and while they Continue so cannot enjoy the benefit either of Ordination or Sacraments yet to say that both are absolutely destroy'd and Nullifi'd so that a Schismatick loses the Chracters and can neither be a Christian nor a Bishop i e not the subject of Apostolical power till he be again Baptiz'd and Ordain'd is an Assertion beyond all that I could ever yet meet with The Meletians were Schismaticks and yet those ordain'd by Meletius were receiv'd into places where others dyed c. I think that Orders and Regularity of Episcopal Succession Ans to Sev. capt Queries p. 19. will suffice to make them Lawful Bishops who for corrupting the Doctrin of the Church shall not be allow'd to be Good ones Q. Whether Toleration will excuse from Schism A. An Act of Parliament would deliver the Dissenters from Vind. Def. of Dr. St. p. 457. Temporal Punishments and might deliver them from the Sin of Disobedience to Civil Governours But the guilt of Schism will remain still unless he Mr. H. thinks the Donatists were not Schismaticks when Julian the Apostate with an uniting design granted a General Toleration So that this project may secure the Estates but cannot secure the Souls of Dissenters Schism will damn men tho they should get it establisht by Act of Parliament There is nothing more or less in a Toleration than a Suspensiou Norris Charge of Sch. p. 26. of the Penal part of the Law This is all that it Can do and perhaps more than it ought For I believe there ought to be no such thing as a Toleration and that 't is more than either the Church or State can Rightfully grant We do not derive the Grounds of Obligation to Ecclesiastick Id. p. 80. Communion from the Authority of the Civil Law tho' that must be allow'd to add a considerable weight to the Obligation but also and chiefly from that of the Divine Law which I conceive to be as positive and express in requiring Unity and Conformity of Worship as in requiring any Religious Worship at all No License given no Toleration granted no Exemption from Blackhalls Serm. on Jo. 6. 66. p. 14. Temporal Penalties in case of Separation allow'd by men is sufficient to excuse from the guilt of Schism those that Separate from the True Christian Church whereof they were Members or to render their Schism no sin Human Lawgivers may give leave to their Subjects to be of any Id. p. 15. Religion or to be of no Religion but if they do they can't make it Lawful in it self either to be Atheists or to profess a false Religion or to forsake the Communion of the True Church for to believe a God and to worship publickly and to worship him in the Assemblies of the Faithful are Duties that are laid upon us by a higher than any humane Authority and therefore no humane Authority can discharge us from them The Law can take away and discharge us from no Obligation but that which its self laid on us so that all the meaning of the largest and most unlimited Toleration that the Law can grant is no more than this viz a Declaration that Men shall not be liable to any Temporal Mulcts or Penalties or be any ways punish'd by the Civil Power upon the account of any Differences in Religion or for being of no Religion at all but if antecedently to the establishment of any Church by the Civil Power and if antecedently to the enacting any Penal Laws to oblige men to hold its Communion it was Schism to separate without cause from that Christian Church whereof we were Members and such Schismatical Separation was a Sin before God then so it will be still notwithstanding any License or Toleration that can be granted by the Secular Power Toleration is not only a means to encourage those that are already Saywel of Vnity p. 137. engag'd in Schism to continue so but by experience is found the most effectual way to multiply new Swarms of Schismaticks c. When a particular Church enjoys a Civil Establishment it receives Letter about Regulating the Press p. 22. as it were a new Authority in as much as it becomes a Civil Right or Property So that unless its Constitution is Materially vicious and sinful it s a high piece of Injustice to destroy or infringe any of its Establish'd Rights or Immunities But yet since the Magistrate is only the Guardian not the Founder of a National Church its Original Authority resting on certain positive Laws and Sanctions enjoyn'd by a Power Superior to that of the Magistrate even that of God Himself wherever a Church in any Province or Nation professeth the True Religion by an Orthodox Faith and a pure worship under Lawful Church Governours and Pastors that is the True National Church in opposition to all Dissenting Sects and Parties tho' it wants the Authority of a Civil Establishment It is indisputably evident that the Christian Church is one Society Id. p. 16. or Body of Men united to CHRIST and each other in certain External as well as Internal and Spiritual Bonds of Union It s certain one great design of Christianity is Vnity or to range Id. p. 23. all the Parts and Members of the Church of CHRIST into an Holy Building and therefore if the Magistrate is Constituted a Guardian of the True Religion all his offices of Succour and Protection must be directed to this end I mean the Bonds of Catholick Vnity throughout his whole Dominions
Without this the Great ends and Proposals of so pure and holy a Religion cannot be accomplisht and therefore whatever Indulgences or Exemptions the Christian Magistrate may rightfully grant to Erroneous Judgments or Consciences acted with simplicity and a pious Disposition he cannot upon the Laws and Oeconomy of the Gospel or any Authority deriv'd to him from thence rightfully give a Positive establishment within the Districts of the same Government to two Opposite Communions or Altars of worship especially when one of them is founded in a Revolt from a Pure and Orthodox National Church This is the very reverse to a Protector and Defender of the True Religion So great a Sin did the Ancient Fathers account Schism before Apologet Vind. of Ch. Eng. p. 92. the happy Union of the Church and Empire when the Meetings of the Schismaticks were as much Tolerated by the State as the Meetings of the Catholicks and upon the same principle Donatism and Arianism were accounted as damnable sins every jot under the Reigns of those Emperours who granted Toleration to them as under the Reigns of those who made Laws against them Nay all the Laws which Constantius and Valens made in favour of Arianism and for the Establishment of it did not alter its damnable nature in the judgment of the Catholicks neither indeed is the obliquity of Schism alterable by Humane Laws and Constitutions as being a Transgression of a Divine Positive Law which God hath made for the preservation of the Body Politick of his Church to which Schism is as destructive in its Nature as Rebellion is to the State Q. Whether Persecution or Force will Excuse from Schism A. If the Church of England be a truely Catholick Church Id. p. 91. as the Divines of all Reformed Churches abroad will tell them the Dissenters She is then they must be guilty of Schism which is a Separation without a just Cause from the Church as a Church without any regard to the State For Schism or Separation without a just Cause is a pure Spiritual Crime and was reckon'd a Damnable sin before the Church Christian was united to the Empire as also in those unhappy Intervals of Persecution when the Church and Empire were disunited again For Example it was a damnable sin when St. Paul charg'd the Ephesians to keep the Unity of the Spirit c. It was a damnable Sin when he told the Corinthians That they were all Baptiz'd by one Spirit into one Body and that as the Natural Body was made one by the Union of many Members in it so also was the Body meaning the Body Politick of Christ It was a damnable Sin when St. Ignatius taught the Churches that nothing should be done without the leave of â—â—e Bishop or in opposition to him and that that was only a valid Eucharist which was administred by him or by one licens'd and appointed by him And that Makers of Schism could not inherit the Kingdom of God It was a damnable sin when St. Cyprian call'd private Meetings in Opposition to the publick Conventicles of the Devil and said that private Altars were no Altars and that if a Schismatick should die for Christ he could be no Martyr nor have any right to the Crown of Martyrdom for which he alledges the words of the Apostles Tho I give my Body to be burnt and have not Charity it profits Nothing c. When great Exigencies force men to do any thing which otherwise Id. p. 51. they would not do they are said to do it unwillingly and to act against their Judgments and Inclinations and particularly when for fear of ruining and Exterminating Penalties which humanly speaking are intolerable men conform to any Religion which otherwise they would disown tho as to outward Conformity and Communion they are of it yet they are not for it in their hearts I Confess men ought to endure any thing rather than to conform to any Religion which they believe to be false or subscribe to any Confession which they believe not to be true but yet we see the Frailty of humane Nature is such that extream severity will make them comply against their Wills with a Religion they certainly know and firmly believe to be false No humane Law can make that Lawful which God has forbidden Vind. Ans to the Kgs. Papers p. 98. Id. p. 106. nor that Vnlawful which he has Commanded No Church in the World can lay an obligation upon a Man to be dishonest that is to profess one thing and do another which is Dissimulation and Hypocrisie And no Church can oblige a Man to believe what is False or do what is Vnlawful rather than do either he must forsake the Communion of that Church Touching the Worship of God since the Divine Establishment of Falkner's Christian Loyalty p. 40. the publick Christian Service is contain'd in the Gospel no Authority upon earth hath any right to prohibit this And those Christians who rightly Worship God in the true Catholick Communion according to the Apostolical and Primitive Church have a right to hold such Assemblies for the Christian Worship as appear useful for the Churches good tho this should be against the Interdict of the Civil Power Seeing Church Communion is a Duty laid upon us by God it plainly Blackall Serm. p. 17. follows That no Humane Authority can release us from our Obligation to it Sometimes Persecution it self is the most prolifick Soil for the Letter about Regulating the Press p. 14. Thorndi Rt. Ch. 1. 5. True Religion to shoot forth and flourish in Christianity had not only its first Foundation in it but we are assur'd received great Increases from it The primitive Christians frequented the service of God when they were in danger of the Laws because that which the Laws forbad was their Assemblies The main point of that Charter which makes the Church a Id. p. 6. Society is the Right of Assembling and holding such Assemblies without warrant against all Law of the world that forbids it The Christian indeed is obnoxious to the power of the Prince Reflections on the Hist pt of Church-Governt p. 50. Id. ibid. Thorndi Rt. of the Ch. p. 233. but Christianity is without the reach of his Sword Passive Obedience is our principle and if this renders the Legal Establishment of our Religion more obnoxious to the pleasure of the Civil Magistrate yet it better secures our Common Christianity The Head of every State is so absolute over the Persons that make the Church that the Independent power thereof in Church matters will enable it to do nothing against but suffer all things from the Sovereign And yet so absolute and depending on God alone is the Church in Church Matters that if a Sovereign professing Christianity should not only forbid the profession of that Faith or the exercise of those Ordinances which God has requir'd to be serv'd with but even the Exercise of that Ecclesiastical Power
obstinate refusal to obey the Imposition of Lawful Bishops Id. p. 381. and Pastors makes Men Schismaticks Whosoever is a Member of any particular Church and refuses Vind. Ch. of Eng. from Sch. p. 22. Thorndike of forbear p. 15. all due Obedience to the Pastors and Governors thereof doth thereby contract the guilt of Schism As it is Heresy to depart from the Faith which they The Apostles Preached so is it Schism to depart from the Authority which they left in the Church till the Worlds end Whoever by virtue of any Authority under Heaven shall Usurp Ecclesiastical Id. Rights of the Ch. p. 278. Power shall Usurp the Succession of the Apostles and take it from them that Rightfully stand possest of it upon pretence of Governing the Church by such Laws as he is really perswaded but falsely to be commanded the Church by our Lord and his Apostles this whosoever shall do or be accessary to is guilty of Schism Suppose a Prosperous Usurper in this Kingdom had gain'd Vind. Ans to the Kings Papers p. 23. a considerable interest in it and challeng'd a Title to the whole and therefore requir'd of all the Kings Subjects within his power to own him to be Rightful King Upon this many of them are forc'd to withdraw because they will not own his Title Is this an Act of Rebellion and not rather of true Loyalty Schism in the Church is like Rebellion in the State There are some things immediately necessary to the Salvation Thorndike's Right of the Church p. 276. of particular Christians whether concerning Faith or Good Manners and there are other things necessary to the publick Order and Peace of the Church that by it Christians may be edify'd in all matters of the first kind The denying any point of the first kind may for distinction sake be call'd Heresie when a man is resolute and obstinate in it But in the other kind it is not false opinion that makes a man a Schismatick till he agree to destroy the Unity of the Church for it It can scarce fall out indeed that any man proceed to destroy the Unity of the Church without some false opinion in Christianity Yet it is not the opinion but the Destroying of a true or erecting of a false Power in the Church that makes Schism Whatever discouragments the Clergy have found they still Faith and Pract. Ch. Eng. Man c. 7. Preach up and perswade Loyalty to the King and by the Doctrine of Passive Obedience to Temporal Authority keep People from Rebellion notwithstanding they have been so often jeer'd and abus'd with it But yet out of modesty seldom insist on the Obedience that is due to the Church and Ecclesiastical Authority tho' there is as much obedience due to Her as even to the Church of Rome from her members Cath. Bal. p. 62. As the Faith which we have in the Principles of Christianity is the foundation of all Christian Graces in the Soul and the inner dispensation of Eternal life so is Episcopacy the Foundation of all visible Union and Government in the Ecclesiastical Body insomuch that were there no one Bishop left in the world the Integrity at least if not the very Essence of the Church would be destroy'd The summ of what has been cited upon this Query amounts to this viz. 1st That if any Church makes the terms of Her Communion sinful by framing new Articles of Faith or by imposing false Doctrines for true or by corrupting Divine Worship by Wicked Idolatrous or Blasphemous Prayers then she is Schismatical and those that Separate from her truly Catholick But if she imposes no false Doctrines nor no new Articles of Faith and enjoyns nothing in the service of God but what is innocent decent and tending to Edification then those that Separate from her are a Schismatical and she a Catholick Church 2ly If any Church disobey the Lawful Commands of their Spiritual Governors or throw off their Rightful and Canonical Bishops and Communicate with the Vsurpers and Intruders into their Sees they are Schismaticks 3ly If any wholly reject Episcopacy they destroy the very Foundation of Christian Vnity Q. Suppose there be more Bishops than one in a Diocess with which of them must the People Communicate A. Almost all Heresies and Schisms that have distracted the Vindic. of Prim. Ch. p. 308. Church have been no other than so many Defections of the discontented part of the Clergy and the more Pragmatical part of the Layety from their Rightful Bishop Non aliunde Haereses obortae Cypr. Ep. 55. sunt aut nata sunt Schismata quam inde quod Sacerdoti non obtemperatur Schisms and Heresies spring from no other cause than Disobedience to the Bishop Inde Haereses obortae sunt dum Episcopus Ep. 69. qui unus est Contemnitur All the disturbance of the Church is purely for want of observing that Precept of the Apostle Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account i. e. Obey those that are Rightfully over you and submit to them not choosing your selves new Teachers and running after your own fancy which Ignatius seems to paraphrase as he is cited by Antiochus Let Ep. ad Smyrn the People assemble where the Bishop is present the Sheep ought not to go wandring whither they please but as the Shepherd leads them The People ought to follow the Directions of their Bishop and conclude what he orders to be most pleasing to God No City how great soever had more than one Bishop This Id. p. 502 is so well known that it would be great impertinence to go about to prove it by Instances and besides the Bishops of most Cities if not all had a considerable Territory belonging to their Jurisdiction which was commonly the Country lying round about their City In great Cities there was one chief Ecclesiastical Governor called Saywel of Vnits p. 43. Bishop to which all both Priests and People were subject and 't was Schism and no Communion to do any thing without his Allowance and Direction It was an inviolable Rule among them the Africans that Vnreason Separ p. 245. there was to be but one Bishop in a City tho' the City were never so large or the Christians never so many One of the greatest and most pernicious Schisms that ever Id. p. 240. happen'd might have been prevented if they had yielded to more Bishops than one in a City and that was the Schism of the Donatists The Novatian Schism began at Rome upon the like occasion To set up one Bishop against another is to set up Altar against Id. 249. Altar as that Phrase is commonly us'd in St. Cyprian and St. Austin Our Author Mr. Hales proves the Donatists in two lines to Long 's Ans to Hales of Sch. p. 107. be compleat Schismaticks 1st For choosing a Bishop in Opposition
to a former 2ly For erecting new places for the dividing party to meet in publickly He Mr. Hales says truly that all Meetings upon unnecessary Id. p. 180. occasions of Separation are to be stil'd Conventicles so that in this sense a Conventicle is nothing else but a Congregation of Schismaticks and he had before determin'd them to be Schismaticks that do choose a Bishop in Opposition to the former and that do erect a New Church and Oratory for the dividing party to meet in publickly The Laws and Customs of all Churches do condemn it for Saywel of Vn 193. Schismatical for a man to come into another Ministers charge c. The summ of what is cited on this Query is this that there ought to be but one Bishop in a Diocess or City that they that set up a Bishop in opposition to the Rightful Bishop and make separate Meetings setting up Altar against Altar are Schismaticks and therefore those that would avoid the guilt of Schism must constantly Communicate with the First and Rightful Bishop but never with the Intruder or his Adherents Q. Are the People that Communicate with Schismatical Bishops and Presbyters guilty of Schism A. A Schismatick is an impious Son which having contemn'd Ham. of Schism out of Ignatius the Bishops and forsaken the Priests of God dares constitute another Altar The Schismaticks are they that having left their Bishop set Doctr. of Schism p. 45. up for themselves abroad another false Bishop and all their Adherents are involv'd in the same guilt who joyn with the Schismaticks against their Bishops An essential part of our Communion with our Bishop Def. of Dr. St. p. 471. is to live in Communion only of those Presbyters who live in Communion of their Bishop that is who officiate by his Authority and are subject to his Directions and Orders This was a standing rule in Ignatius his time as is evident from his Epistles that Presbyters must do nothing in the Church but by the Bishop's consent or order and those who do are Schismaticks and those people who adhere to them in it partake in the guilt of their Schism c. 'T is notorious in all the Histories and Canons of the Church Saywel of Vnity p. 393. that never any more than One Bishop at a time was allowed in any of those great Cities Jerusalem Alexandria c. And if a Schismatick did sometimes creep in as the Novatians and Donatists did in troublesome times they were always condemn'd by the Church which did constantly maintain There ought to be but One Bishop in a City or Diocess and all Priests and Lay Persons ought to be govern'd by him To assemble and celebrate the Eucharist besides the Bishop's Thornd Prim. Gov. Ch. p. 117. appointment was then in St. Ignatius his time the due mark of a Schismatick If the Church unites upon Schismatical Principles whatever Sherl Ans to Anonym the Bishop does in pursuance of such Principles is the Act of the Church and if the Bishops be Schismaticks the Church is so too The Church is by St. Cyprian defin'd to be a People united to St. Cyprian their own Bishop and a Flock adhering to their own Pastor whence you may know the Bishop always to be in the Church and the Church to go along with the Bishop if therefore the Bishop be a Schismatick so must all the Flock that Communicate with him If any Presbyter contemning his own Bishop shall make a Long 's Ch. Sep. p. 85. Separate Congregation and erect another Altar his own Bishop not being condemn'd of any Irreligion or Injustice let him be depos'd as one that is Ambitious and a Tyrannical person and in like manner all that Adhere to him and let the Lay People be Excommunicated after the Bishops third Admonition He who submits to or complies with the manager of a Schism Falkner's Christian Loyalty p. 272. in his prosecution thereof doth involve himself in the same crime Q. If a Bishop or other Clergy man be guilty of any Offence by whom is he to be Try'd and Punish'd A. Touching the Depriving or Degrading of Bishops Presbyters Field of the Ch. p. 512. and Deacons the ancient Canon requires the Concurrence and consent of 3 Bishops for the Censuring and Depriving of a Deacon of 6 for the Depriving of a Presbyter and of 12 for the Censuring Judging and Deposing of a Bishop If a Bishop be Convicted of Heresy or Schism or some great Vind. of Def. p. 128. Wickedness and Injustice his Colleagues that is Bishops may Depose him and forbid his People to Communicate with him and Ordain another in his stead For one particular Primate or Metropolitan to censure any Hills Cath. Balance p. 86. Bishop by himself or to be uncapable of censure in his own Provincial Synods hath no Precedent in the primest and purest Antiquity The Canon Apostolical 33 directing That every Bishop of every Nation give deference to him that is Chief among them and to esteem him as their Head and to do nothing extraordinary without his Cognisance but every one only to do those things which are expedient to his own Diocess and to the Country under him And so neither must the Capital Bishop do any thing without the consent of them all for thus there will be an Vnanimity and God will be glorify'd thro' the Lord in the Holy Spirit Bishops had over their Presbyters and People Supreme Power Faith and Pract. Ch. Eng. m. cap. 1. under Christ as to Church affairs and Accountable only to Christ and to a Council of their fellow Bishops often Meeting and Consulting together for the good of the whole A Bishop of the Church of England by all the Law in the Christian Bishop of Lond. Tryal p. 6. Church in all ages and by the particular Law of this Land in case of offence is to be Try'd by his Metropolitan and Suffragans The Bishop of London's Council urged in behalf of the Bishop Id. for not suspending Dr. S. without a Legal process That absolute Suspension supposes a proof of the Crime c. Id. and That where there is an absolute Suspension there ought to be Citation Form of Proceeding Judgment and Decree and that to Act otherwise is contrary to the Laws of God of Nature of all Nations in all Ages and was never known in the World My Lord I Always have and shall count it my duty to obey the K. in whatever Id. Bp. of London's Letter to my Lord Sanderland he Commands me c. But in this I humbly conceive I am oblig'd to proceed according to Law and therefore 't is impossible for me to comply because tho' His Majesty Commands me only to Execute His Pleasure yet in the capacity I am to do it I must Act as a Judge and your Lordship knows no Judge Condemns any Man before he have knowledge of his Cause and have cited
the Party From him that will never be Vnfaithful to the K. c. To suspend is a Judicial Act which cannot be done without Bp. Londons Council hearing the Cause When the King commands a Judge he commands him to Act as a Judge The Ecclesiastical Commissioners would not declare the Bishop of London suspended till he had been fully heard The Prince of Orange in his Declaration represents the proceedings P. O. Declaration against the Bishop of London as one of the great Grievances he came to redress The Commissioners says he suspended the Bishop of London only because he refus'd to obey an Order that was sent to him to suspend a worthy Divine without so much as Citing him before him to make his own Defence or observing the Common forms of Process The substance of what is said in answer to this Query is 1. That a Clergyman cannot be regularly depriv'd but by Bishops 2. That a Clergyman cannot be suspended but by a Legal Process 3. That a Bishop cannot be try'd or depriv'd but by his Collegues that is Bishops 4. That those that are depriv'd without a Hearing or by Incompetent Judges cannot be so properly said to be Depriv'd as violently Thrust from their Places and therefore it will follow 5. That a Bishop being not Regularly Depriv'd is to all intents and purposes the Canonical Bishop of his See and a Priest the True and Lawful Pastor of his Flock and the people consequently owe obedience to Them and cannot forsake their Communion without incurring the guilt of Schism Q. Were not the Protestants in Q. Mary's days guilty of Schism in making Separate Meetings under the then Depriv'd Bishops A. I willingly grant that in times of manifest Corruptions and Long 's An. to Hales of Schism p. 147. Reform justify'd p. 6. Persecutions such as the Roman and Marian were Private Meetings are Lawful and Necessary Duties because if men do forbid what God has Commanded it is better to obey God than Man 'T is plain that the Schism is on the side of the Papists who upon pretence of Papal Authority did withdraw themselves from the Communion of their own Bishops after an Universal agreement and concurrence in the Communion of the Church of England for ten or eleven years together and make a formal division in the Church which was before united in Peace and Truth The Popish Bishops that were set aside in Q. Elizabeth's Reign Id. p. 14. did possess the places of Lawful Bishops yet living or United themselves to such as did possess them therefore they were Schismatical and no Lawful Bishops of the Church of England For as soon as these Lawful Bishops were turn'd out others were put into their places and not only so but contrary to all rule and orderly Government in the Church For the most certain fundamental Constitution of the Church in all Ages and the constant Order of all Societies which is always tacitly suppos'd tho' not formally observ'd is That while Particular Churches keep to the Faith and Vnity of the Catholick Church as ours had done all things ought to be managed by the Arch-Bishop and Bishops of the Province and so by the Chief Governors and main Body of the Society or else things cannot regularly be done 'T is confess'd that 14 or 15 Bishops were turn'd out or went Id. p. 17. away in Q. Elizabeth's days but according to our Author 's own Argument they were Schismaticks and no Lawful Bishops because they came into the places of Lawful Bishops while they were alive or else were Ordain'd by and Communicated with such Schismaticks I add they Vsurp'd their places by turning out the Metropolitans and Major part of the Bishops of each Province and so could have no Lawful Authority or Jurisdiction The true Right and Authority of the Church was in those Id. p. 18. Lawful Bishops that were made in K. Edward's days and that was the True Church of England which did adhere to their Constitutions They Q. Mary's Bps. were no Lawful Bishops because they Id. p. 20. either did Schismatically invade the places of the Lawful Bishops or else were willingly Consecrated and did joyn in Communion with those Schismatical Bishops When the Queen Eliz. therefore did set them aside she did but dispossess men who had no just Right and remove those by her Civil Authority who had no Power but what they had by Force and the Secular Constitution All else but Thirlby were ordain'd by or Communicated with Id. p. 25. them during their Schism and Usurpation and therefore neither the Ordainers nor Ordained had any Right or Jurisdiction in the Church of England That which is Essential and the Authority and Power to execute Id. p. 27. the sacred office of a Bishop or Priest in their respective Charges is deriv'd from the Bishops of the Province and after great violence and disorder from as many or the major part of them which survive Every Bishop and Priest orderly constituted in his place do's Id. ibid. act by the Power and appointment of the Catholick Church and they contemn the Catholick Church that desert and disturb them in the performance of their Office Hence we may understand our Saviours meaning when he says If he neglects to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican which in the first place do's require us to hear our own particular Parish Priest and Bishop whilst they are constituted and live in the Unity of the Church but principally it does oblige us to hearken to the Catholick Church So that if our own Pastors turn Hereticks or set themselves up by undue means and not according to the Order of the Church they are not to be hearkned to but we must according to our Saviour's Command Hear the Church and not those Pastors that will not themselves Hear and Obey the Church The Popes Usurp'd Authority and his Prohibition of joyning Saywel of Vnity p. 307. with our English Bishops made the first Schism and is the hindrance to keep them from now joyning in Communion with us For the first 10 years of Q. Elizabeth the Papists did Communicate Faith and Pract. Ch. of Eng. man c. 1. with us till the Bull of Pope Pius IV. An. 1569 70. tho' our Reformation was then fully setled So that they are bound to answer it why they joyn not still in Communion with us We can say the Pope never had any setled and quiet Possession Faith and Pract Ch. Eng. man Chap. 1. and exercise of Power here at least for any considerable time together as is at large evident from what Mr. Prynn and others have Collected and all our Statutes of Provisors and Premunire's do show how little hold here the Pope was by our Government allow'd or own'd to have And tho' many did Appeal to Rome it was against Law and therefore that gives the Pope no more Right here than many Peoples
the Execution of which they abridge themselves is such as has Influence on the Civil Rights of the Subject and therefore necessarily requir'd the Concurrence of the Supreme Civil Power It is confest that the extream of Raising the Ecclesiastical Id. p. 31. Power too high in the times of Popery had now produc'd another of Depressing it too much But this was the Infelicity of the Clergy not their Crime It is certain that before the Empire was Christian the Church Burscough Episc p. 12. Saywel of Vnity p. 138. was govern'd by its proper officers as a Society distinct from the State and Independent on it Who ever did account it Schism in the Gospel sense and as the word is now used amongst Christians to disobey the unjust Commands of the Civil Magistrate Were Christ and his Apostles Schismaticks Were all the Primitive Christians Schismaticks till Constantine's time Nay were there not Schismaticks all that while the Church was a Society that had Laws and Government contrary to the Laws of the Secular Princes For does not St. Paul tell the Corinthians that there were Schisms among them and do we not find the Novatians accounted Schismaticks and many others long before Constantine's time Nay moreover were not the Arians Schismaticks under the Reign of Constantius and Valens tho they had the Edicts of the Emperour to favour them which were then of as good Authority as our Acts of Parliament are now with us Or if we should ever have a Popish Parliament that should command us to go to Mass and abolish our present Constitutions should we be Schismaticks for not obeying them I hope not there 's no such matter Christ has Pastors and Teachers in his Church and has promis'd to be with them to the end of the World and commanded all good Christians to obey them The Church did subsist before the Magistrates favour'd it and may continue again tho Kings and Parliaments should leave of to protect it We only are the Poor Tame Dispirited Drowsy Body that Municip Eccles p. 119. are in love with our Fetters and this is the only Scandalous part of our Passive Obedience to be not only Silent but Content with an Oc n of our P rs which are not Forfeited nor forfeitable to any Worldly Power whatsoever The Sovereign Power of the Church consisting in the Sword Thornd Rt. of the Ch. p. 40. of Excommunication upon which the Society thereof is founded it is Necessarily manifest that this power is not lost to the Church nor Forfeit to the State that Professeth Christianity and undertakes the Protection of the Church For the Church and Civil Societies must needs remain Distinct Bodies when the Church is ingrafted into the State and the same Christian Members of both in regard of the Relations Rights and Obligations which is the same Persons remain Distinct according to the Distinct Societies and Qualities of several Persons in the same Therefore as no Christian as a Christian can challenge any Temporal Right by his Christianity which the State wherein he is call'd to be a Christian gives him not So on the other side no Man by his Rank in any State is invested with any Power proceeding from the foundation of the Church as it is the Church So far as Excommunication concerns barely the Society of the Id. p. 237. Vid. Falkner's Chr. Loyal p. 319. Church any Person Capable of Sovereign Power is liable to it upon the same terms as other Christians are because coming into the Communion of the Church upon the same Condition as other Christians the failing of this Condition must needs render the Effect void But if we consider either the Temporal force by which it Vid. Cath. Bal. p. 110 c. comes to Effect or the Temporal Penalties which attend on it to These which cannot proceed but by the will of the Sovereign it is not possible that he should be liable Princes as well as any other Persons must Submit themselves to Falkner's Chr. Loyal p. 321. the Power of the Keys in the Undertaking the Rules of Repentance so far as they are needful for procuring the favour of God and obtaining the benefit of the Keys by Absolution The Pastoral Office of the Guides of the Church doth extend Id. 225. Vid. Cath. Bal. p. 118. it self even to Kings with respect to the conduct of their Souls but yet this doth not exempt them from being under the Regal Sovereignty The Habitual Jurisdiction of Bishops flows we confess from Animadv on 8 Thes p. 41. their Ordination but the Actual Exercise thereof in publick Courts after a Coercive manner is from the gracious Concessions of Sovereign Princes As for Causes purely Ecclesiastical the Bishop being Supreme in Vind. of some Prot. prin p. 88. and Vind. Def. p. 183. his own Diocess there can be no Original Right of appeal from him for there is no appeal from the Supreme He has a free power in the Government of his own Diocess and must render an account of his Actions to Christ who is the supreme Lord of the Church as St. Cyprian tells us While the Clergy Faithfully discharge their office the Prince Animadv on 8 Thes p. 52. ought to Protect them and if for this they suffer no doubt but they are Martyrs When the Civil Power will not own the Church The Ecclesiastical Falkner Chr. Loyal p. 45. Governors by their own Authority may establish necessary Rules for Order as in the Primitive times Bishop Taylor tells us from Fulgentius that when Frazamund King of Bisac in Africa had made an Edict under pain of Death that no more Bishops should be Consecrated designing by that device to have the Catholick Faith rooted out of his Dominions the Bishops of the Province no way affrighted at the Edict met together and Consecrated as many as were wanting considering that those who were worthy of a Mitre need not fear to do their Duty when by so doing they are sure to receive a Crown of Martyrdom If any such Heretical or Infidel Prince should design to dissolve Hill's Cath Ballance p. 127. our Succession we have a Canonical right to preserve our Orders and can but suffer Penalties which may Oppress but not Null or Vacate the Validity of our Ordination No Temporal Christian Powers have any Authority in themselves Id. p. 121. to Vsurp Extinguish Pervert Alter or Retard but only to Inspect and Assist the regular operations of the Powers Hierarchical within its own bounds So that whatsoever Offices thereof are Fundamental to the Catholick Faith Charity Union and Government of the Universal and each particular Church and were receiv'd and practised for such in all Ages before the Empire became Christian are not to be violated by any Acts of State For if such violations were accounted Persecutions in Heathen Emperours and Princes what can they be accounted in Christian ones Of these Fundamental Rights therefore I shall subjoyn some
with the Rules of Christian Patience yet perhaps there may be to reconcile it with Loyalty for Julian was a Rebel against his Emperour Constantius So having forfeited all Right of Succession to Constantius by Rebellion and not being elected by the Lawful Army of Constantius he was no other than as Oliver Cromwell had been in England if all the Royal Family and Relations had been extinct So that if it were not done like a Martyr calmly to permit the Wolf to raven as he hoped yet it was no opposition to any Lawful Prince or His Commissioner but an Vsurper and his Elf And for any thing I know prudential and Venial if no more than so if not also laudable And on this ground the Solemn Liturgies us'd openly against him and the Commendations bestow'd on him that Kill'd him tho one of his own Army may be justifi'd not upon the Account meerly of persecuting Christianity had he been a Lawful Prince but for that he was an Vsurper only of the Empire no Lawful Emperour according to the Rules of Imperial Election c. a Meer Oliver Cromwell and Tyrannical Intruder c. The substance of what is said in answer to this Query is this 1. That Christian Princes tho they are liable to Church Censures yet they are not to Temporal Penalties as Deposition Exile Death 2. That the Doctrine of Resisting and Deposing Lawful Princes upon pretence of Excommunication or any other pretence whatsoever is Damnable and Heretical contrary to the Laws of this Realm and contrary to the Doctrine not only of our Church and all Protestants but of Christ and his Apostles and the Primitive Christians 3. That the Crown in Hereditary and Successive Monarchies Faith and Practice of Ch. Eng. man cap. 6. descending from Fathers to Children whether Males or Females is not liable to be Disposed Alienated or Sold nor doth it depend on any Election or Choice of the People 4. That Monarchy hath at least as good a Title to all its Powers Rights and Privileges as any of its Subjects can have to their Honours Properties and Estates and if Subjects lose no Temporal Rights by Excommunication certainly Princes ought not Q. Whether the People are not oblig'd to Communicate with the Establish'd Church if Superiour in Number to any other Communion and more firmly United A. If the Establish'd Religion be Corrupt in Doctrine and Worship as in Popish Countries or Schismatical as in some Protestant Kingdoms and States they ought not to Communicate with them tho' their Numbers be never so great and they never so closely United For if it be sinful to Communicate with a false or Schismatical Church as it certainly is its being establisht can never make it no Sin It is not the great Number of Church Members in any Diocess Apologet Vind. Ch. Eng. p. 37. Province or Patriarchate but the Cause and Nature of the Communion that makes a True Church As I observ'd before it is not the Number of Communicants Id. p. 39. but the Cause or Soundness of Communion that makes a true Church and therefore were there both for Kind and Number ten times as many more Opposite Sects and Communions as there are in this Nation and Bishops at the Heads of them all yet upon Supposition that the Church of England is sound and Apostolical in Doctrine Worship and Discipline that small number adhering to her Communion must be the True Church Nay if all the Bishops of England but One should fall away from the Church of England that One Bishop and the flock adhering to him would be the True Church of England and as True and Catholick a Church as if there were not one Dissenter in the Land Ans to several Capt. Quer. p. 12. Id. p. 16. Truth is to be follow'd with a Few if there are but Few the follow it but thou shalt not follow a Multitude to do evil Truth is the same and changeth not whether they be Few or Many that profess it and our Religion stands not in a Multitude of Pretenders but in a Holy Doctrine and a Holy Practice whicâ— all ought to follow even when the most do not He who denies that the Major part of the Guides of the Reflect on Hist part of Ch. Gov. pt 5. p. 96. Jewish Church err'd must also deny Christ since by such Church Authority he was rejected He who will determine the Prince to Judge alwaies with the Majority of Church Guides obligeth him in Elijah's time to establish Baalism and at other times Calf-Worship If truth be alwaies on the side of the greatest Number Blackhalls Serm. p. 6. which was the True Church in Abraham's time when he was of a Religion by himself Was it in his small family or amongst the Idolatrous Nations that dwelt round about him or which was the True Church in all that long tract of time from Moses to our Saviour was it not Confin'd to a very small spot of Land even when it was at its largest extent And that again Contracted to a much less compass in Elijah's time when there were not in ten of the Tribes of Israel above 7000 men who had not bow'd the Knee to the Image of BAAL 1 Kings 19. 18. Again if that be alwaies the True Church which is the Largest Id. ibid. time was when the Arian Hereticks were the true Christian Church and the Orthodox Professors of Christianity who were but a very few in Number in Comparison with them were Consequently miserably deluded and rank Hereticks In the Text we are told that many of our Lord's Disciples Id. p. 5. probably not fewer than 5000 went away from him at once and as far as appears by the History there were only 12 that remain'd with him a very small number in comparison with the great Multitude that went away and yet there can be no doubt but that these were the True Church and that they which went Vind. pr. Ch. p. 151. The Protestant Religion vindicated from the charge of Singularity and Novelty in a Sermon preached before the King at Whitehall by Dr. Tillotson April 2 1680. away were Schismaticks Multitude may render a Sect Formidable but 't is but a poor Argument of Right Suppose we were by much the Fewer So hath the Church of God often been without any the least prejudice of the Truth of their Religion What think we of the Church in Abraham's Time which for ought we know was confin'd to one family and one small Kingdom that of Melchisedeck King of Salem What think we of it in Moses's Time when it was confin'd to one People wandering in a Wilderness What of it in Elijah's Time when besides the Two Tribes that worshiped in Jerusalem there were in the other Ten but Seven Thousand that had not bow'd the Knee to Baal What in our Saviour's Time when the whole Church consisted of Twelve Apostles and Seventy Disciples and some few followers besides How would Bellarmin
have despis'd this little Flock because it wanted one or two of his goodliest Marks of the True Church Vniversality and Splendor And what think we of the Christian Church in the Height of Arianism and Pelagianism when a great part of Christendom was over-run with these Errors and the Number of the Orthodox was inconsiderable in comparison of Hereticks But what need I urge these instances As if the truth of Religion were to be estimated and carry'd by the Major Vote which as it can be an Argument to none but Fools So I dare say no Honest and Wise man ever made use of it c. The Revolt to Donatism in all parts of Africa was so general Apologet. Vind. p. 20 that the Catholick Communions look'd more like Conventicles than the Catholick Church It is not bare Vnion but the things in which a Church is united Id. p. 45. that must truly recommend and justifie it to the Christian world and prove it to be the Church of God I believe there never was a more perfect Union and Agreement Id. p. 46. in the Church of Rome or in any other Church than among the Israelites which worshiped the Golden Calf nevertheless it was no Schism to divide from them because they United in a Sin Their Vnion was their Crime The Corahites were as firmly United under Corah as the True Id. p. 47. Church was under Moses and Aaron The ten Tribes were as firmly united at Bethel as the two were at Hierusalem they had Number as well as Vnion to plead but notwithstanding both their Number and Union they were but a great Schism because they united in Innovations contrary to the will of God There hath been at several times as strict an Union among Id. 47. Hereticks and Schismaticks as among the Catholicks The Novatians in particular were remarkable for their Concord Unity and Unanimity So were the Arians generally all of one Communion and very Unanimous against the Homousian Doctrine and yet they were but a great prevailing Schism when they were at the highest and had almost gain'd the whole Christian World From these examples 't is plain that in passing Judgment upon ibid. Churches we are not to look at the Vnion so much as the Cause in which they are united We are to Consider if their Doctrine and Discipline be Apostolical and their Terms of Communion truly Catholick and if they be so then their Union in them is Holy and Laudable and such as makes them the true Churches of God A Concurrence of these things is the genuine Badge of a truly Catholick and Apostolical Church The worst Fraternities have sometimes the firmest Union as Id. p. 55. we of this Nation very well remember the Time when those of the Great Rebellion boasted that God had united the Hearts of his People in his Cause as one Man nevertheless those pretended People of God whose Hearts and Hands were so United that we could not break their Bonds of Union asunder were no better than a Band of Rebels and their Cause downright Rebellion against God and the best of Princes tho they acted in it as if they had been all inform'd with one Common Soul The like hath often happen'd in Ecclesiastical Societies The Samaritans who had neither Sadduces nor Phraisees nor Essens nor Herodians nor Cabalists nor Carraites among them for that reason had a firmer Union among themselves than the Church of the Jews had and yet they were not the True Church So among the Ancient Christians The Novatians liv'd in perfect Peace and Unity among themselves when there were many Feuds and Contentions among the Catholicks which shews that bare Vnity is not a good Test whereby to try Churches The Sum of what is said upon this Query is That 't is Soundness in Doctrine Discipline and Worship that makes a True Church and not Number and Vnion Q. Whether a well-meaning Christian may not now and then or Occasionally Communicate with a Schismatical Church A. We must not give countenance to the Church Assemblies Sanderson's Case of the Liturgy p. 190. Vind. Def. of D. St. p. 5. of Schismaticks by our presence among them if we can avoid it Now if there be but one Catholick Church all the World over then every Separation is a Schism on one side or other for where there are two Separate Churches one if not both must be Schismatical because there is but one Church And if the Unity of this Church consists in one Communion which exacts a joynt discharge of all the Duties of a Church-relation in Hearing and Praying and Receiving the Lord's Supper c. together then to forsake the Church and meet in private Conventicles in Distinct and Opposite Communions for Religious Worship is Separation and when it is Causeless is a Schism You cannot be in Communion with two Churches which are in Sherl Resol of some Cases a State of Separation from each other for to be in Communion with a Church is to be a Member of it and to be a Member of two Separate and Opposite Churches is to be as contrary to our selves as those Separate Churches are to each other Wherever there are distinct and Separate Communions and Def. of Dr. Stil p. 235. Churches which do not own Church-membership with each other but tho they live in the same place yet divide into several distinct Congregations under different Governors and Opposite Orders and Rules there is certainly a Schism on one side or other where there are two distinct and opposite Communions one of them must be Schismatical because there ought to be but One. To assert that there are more True Churches than one how large Def. of Still p. 63. or narrow soever the bounds of it be which were not very large in the first Institution of a Church and may be reduc'd again to a narrow Compass by a general Apostacy is to justify Schism by a Law for then there may be Distinct Churches and Distinct Opposite Communions without Schism which is the most Schismatical Principle in the World if Christ have but One Church and One Body It is impossible to joyn in Communion with such men without Ans to Protest Recon p. 332. Judging and Censuring those whom I believe in those very Acts of Worship in which I joyn with them to be either Superstitious or profane and therefore tho' such men should worship in the same Church or Religious Assemblies yet they do not worship in One Communion It is hard to understand if occasional Communion be Lawful that Mischief of Separ p. 56. constant Communion should not be a Duty Q. Whether Salvation may be had out of the Church A. It is Universally agreed that there is no Salvation to be had Sherl disc of Nat. Vn and Communion c. p. 41. Lowth's Catechism out of the Catholick Church Infidels Jews Turks c. that never were in the Church Hereticks that
have forsaken or Corrupted the Faith that was once deliver'd to the Saints Schismaticks that have divided themselves and Excommunicate Persons that are Cut off from the Communion of the Church without Reconciliation cannot be sav'd For most certain is that Rule of St. Cyprian and St. Austin He shall not have God to be his Father that will not have the Church to be his Mother We cannot run our Spiritual Race unless we be in the Church Sherl Dis of Nat. un and com of Cath. Ch. p. 28. for there is no Prize no Crown to run for out of it And therefore those who lose as well as those who win the prize must be in the Church and Members of it Catholick Communion is our Union in one Body and Communicating Vind of Prot. Prin. p. 34. in this one Body is the exercise of Catholick Communion which those who do not if there be not a just and necessary Cause for it are Schismaticks for all that whatever their Faith and Worship be and Schism is a Damning Sin To disobey our Governors the Bishops and Pastors of the Long 's Char. of a sep p. 90. Church c. hath been ever in the Church of God accounted Schism and that Schism Damnable We Church of England and Rome are thus far agreed that Preface to Vind. Ch. E. from Sch. Schism and Heresy are dangerous sins destructive of the Peace and Order the well being at least if not the Being of Gods Church and such sins as without a true and timely Repentance will unavoidably and eternally ruin those that are guilty of them The Being and Well-being of the Church are incompatible Apolog. Vind. c. p. 93. with Schism and it is not only Evil because God hath forbid it but God hath forbid it because he knew it was Evil and pernicious in its Nature to his One Catholick Church Wilful Schism is in all Cases a Damning Sin Vind Def. p. 401. 415. Ans to Prot. Rec. p. 192. Vind. Def. p. 389. Sher. Ans to Anonym Vind. Def. p. 60 Sherl Vind p. 111. Wilful Schism puts men out of the State of Salvation Christ has made Schism a Damning sin to give Authority to the Church Separation from the Church of England is a Schism and Schism is as damning a Sin as Idolatry Drunkenness or Adultery The Church which is the Schismatick according to the language of the Primitive times is out of the Catholick Church Extra Ecclesiam foris All Ministerial Gifts are for the Edification of Christs Body which supposes that their Efficacy and Influence is confin'd to the Communion of the Church and does not reach the Conventicles of Schismaticks The Increase and Edification of Christians is in the Unity of Id. Ibid. the Church and Consists in the increase of Brotherly Love and Christian Charity Virtues which cannot be learn'd in a Schism c. Christ's Church was never inlarg'd yet by the preaching of Schismaticks Ans to Pro. Reconciler p. 419. which divides and lessens the Church but will never inlarge it There is no doubt but the Spirit of God is departed from Long 's Char. Sep. p. 13. Hellier's Treatise of Schis p. 55. him who is departed from the Unity of the Church Schismaticks have not the kind Influences of the H. Spirit whereby the Church is govern'd Whence not only all their Gifts but all their Good works are utterly spoil'd and come to nothing As a part cannot retain its sense and life when it is out off from the Body as the Branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine as a Rivulet is soon dry'd up when separated Jo. 15. 4. from the fountain as a Ray cannot subsist when taken away from the Sun so neither can a Schismatick Reap any profit St. Cyp. de Vnit Eccl. from his Gifts or Good works when separated from the rest of the Church of Christ Some are not sensible that it is any great harm to go amongst them i e Schismaticks to pray with them or to hear the Gospel Id. p. 57. Preach'd But to joyn with them in those otherwise Holy offices is the way to become partakers of their sins Their Sacrifices shall be to them as the Bread of Mourning all that Eat thereof shall be polluted Where two or three are gather'd together in Christ's Name there is He in the mid'st of them not when they are gather'd against his Name and against the other Members of the Church Such mens Prayers are not only ineffectual but execrable Their Prayers and Preaching and other parts of Divine worship Id. p. 58. being perform'd in Opposition to the other Members of the Church are turn'd into sin and They Come together as the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11. 17. in a Division of Theirs not for the Better but for the worse The efficacy of the Prayers of the Church depends upon the Thorndike's Rt. of the Ch. p. 120. Id. Disc of Forbearance p. 27. Unity of the Church It is agreed upon by the whole Church that Baptism in Heresy or Schism that is when a Man gives up himself to the Communion of Hereticks or Schismaticks by receiving Baptism from them tho it may be True Baptism and not to be repeated being given in the Form of the Church yet is not Available to Salvation making him accessary to Heresy or Schism that is so Baptiz'd We being many are one Bread and one Body for we are all partakers Sherl vind p. 109. 1 Cor. 10. 17. of that one Bread and upon this account it is call'd the Communion of the Body of Christ And therefore the Body of Christ cannot be receiv'd in a Schism For where there is a Schism it is no longer one Bread and Body nor the Communion of Christ's Body when it is divided into different and Opposite Communions That which is the Common Bread of all Christians must be receiv'd in Vnity and one Communion for it loseth its Nature Virtue and Efficacy in a Schism If our Saviour would not allow any man to offer any Sacrifice Id. p. 110. to God who had a private quarrel with his Brother till he had reconcil'd himself to him how unlikely is it that God will hear the Prayers of those men who are at variance with the Church of God and divide the Communion of it Schism indeed we do say is a damning sin but there may be Sherlock's Serm. Nov. 4. 1688. p. 22. Divisions where there is not alwaies the Guilt and Formality of Schism and we hope this is the Case of all good men who separate from the Church thro some invincible prejudices and prepossessions If men be sincerely honest and do fall into Schism thro an Ans to Prot. Reconciler p. 153. Innocent mistake God will be merciful to them which secures the final happiness of Good men The substance of what has been said in Answer to these two last Queries is this 1. That if