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A41815
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A reply to A vindication of a discourse concerning the unreasonableness of a new separation &c.
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Grascome, Samuel, 1641-1708?
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1691
(1691)
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Wing G1576; ESTC R31730
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40,185
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31
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nothing of Moment without his Consent Every other Bishop to employ himself only about those things which are business of his proper Diocesâ— and the Villages or Places thereunto belonging Neither let him i. e. the Chief do any thing without the Concurrence of the rest And so Vnity shall be preserved and God shall be gloryfied c. To this very Canon the Council of Nice relates and explains what is meant by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first amongst them For after a great deal of care taken about the Ordination of the Metropolitan as a Matter of great moment for the Churches Security they conclude the Canon thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 4. i. e. Let the Authority or Confirmation of things done throughout every Province belong to the Metropolitan Upon this very Canon did the African Fathers found their Authority for that saying in their Epistle to Coelestine Bishop of Rome Decreta Nicoena sivâ— inferioris gradûs Clericus sive ipsos Episcopos suis Metropolitanis apertissime commiserunt i. e. The Decrees of the Council of Nice have most plainly put not only the Clergy of inferiour Rank but even the Bishops themselves under the Jurisdiction of their Metropolitans And to both the foregoing Canons the Council of Antioch seems plainly to referr in their 9th Can. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. It behoves the Bishops in every Province to know the Bishop of the Metropolitical See and that he undertakes the Care and Management of the whole Province and that by reason of the great Concourse of People from all places to the Metropolis upon account of Business c. And having thus confirmed the Jurisdiction of Metropolitans they tell you That they did it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. According to an ancient Canon of our Fathers binding or in force And that you may know what particular Canon in this they had an eye to in the very next Words speaking of the Duty of Bishops they expressed it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are the very words used in the Apostles Canon for the same purpose as any one may see who will compare them together From all this it is evident That even Bishops place at Rome it made a Schism and it had been a very Pernicious one had not Felix opportunely died I will not urge upon our Author That his frequent loose way of expressing himself doth in effect basely give up not only the Episcopal Order but all the Orders in Christ's Church and consequently the Church it self to the Secular Power be it what it will if this was done designedly as it seems to be it is so much the worse But I will keep my self to regular Ecclesiastical Practices and Authorities and if a Clergy-man will not abide by these or return them a fair Answer he is much more fit for a Censure than a Disputation It is a Rule so well known to be universally received by the Ancient Church That there shall be but one Bishop in a City that I need not spend time to prove it That of the Chorepiscopi doth not alter the case and particularly is nothing to our case for these two Reasons First That though they were a sort of Rural Bishops yet they were only as Assistants and acted in Subordination to and by the Direction of the City Bishop Secondly That we have none such now and as for those who are so hasty to get into the places of our pretendly deprived Bishops they would never own themselves to be Chorepiscopi but challenge the whole entire Jurisdiction and absolutely thrust out the lawful Canonical Bishops contrary to all the Rules of the Church The reason why this Rule bath been held so Sacred is partly because to do otherwise would be to make the Church a Monster for in St. Cyprian's Sense a Church is a People united to their Bishop where by the way observe That the Word Plebs or People is taken in a larger Sense as well for the Clergy as Layety under the Jurisdiction of one Bishop And here the Bishop supplying the place of the Head and the People of the Body to set up two Bishops were to make two Heads partly because if two Powers independent upon each other command and direct in the same Church it would breed such Disorders and Confusions as usually end in Schism and indeed it might make the Obedience of the People impossible whilst they might command different things at the same time and for this reason both so great Power was given to Metropolitans in Provincial Churches and all Bishops were Prohibited any Acts of Jurisdiction out of their own Precincts which might be any ways prejudicial to the Canonical Bishop of the Place And therefore where there is a lawful Bishop another ought not to be placed there if it be otherwise the whole Act is void and this Sir your good Friend St. Cyprian will tell you Episcopo semel Facto Collegarum ac Plebis testimonio judicio comprobato alium constitui nullo modo posse Ep. 41. ad Cornel. This I think is plain enough but because our Author is for abundance of Words if he please to read St. Cyprian's Epistle to Antosvianus who favoured Novatianus in such a case as is daily expected will be ours he may there find Reasons as well as bare Assertions of which take this taste Cum nemo ante se he speaks of Cornelius Bishop of Rome factus esset cùm Fabiani locus i. e. cum loous Petri gradus Cathedrâ—e Sacerdotalis vacaret quo occupato de dei voluntate atque omnium nostrúm conseasione firmato quisquis jam Episcopus fieri voluit foris fiat necesse est nec habeat Ecclesiasticam Ordinationem qui Ecclesiae non tenct Vnitatem quisquis ille fuerit multum de se jactans sibi plurimum vindicans profanus est alâ—…nus est foris est Et cùm post primum secundus esse non possit quisquis post unum qui solus esse debeat factus est non jam secundus ille sed nullus est Ep. 52. Thus it is plain That the grand Reason why St. Cyprian gives the Cause against Novatian was because Cornelius in the Vacancy of the See was Canâ—…nically placed there before him If therefore a Bishop be thrust into the place of another who is lawfully Bishop of the Place all such transactions are void and null in themselves and all that forsake their true Bishop and joyn with him who is thrust in are Schismaticks and though there should be any Penalty or Deprivation befall the Bishop yet if it be such which in its own Nature doth only amount to a Suspension it cannot make the Place capable of another Bishop because notwithstanding the present restraint he remains Bishop still though under a kind of an arrest and in such Case the return of the use and exercise of that Authority which all this while is really lodg'd in him is to be
Sense Judgment and Practice of the Primitive Times would have done well to have given us a touch or two of his Skill that way by some credeble Authorities and particularly of such a Subjection of the Bishop to the Metropolitan to the Confutation of some of St. Cyprian 's Epistles It being very likely that in a small time the whole Controversie may turn upon this hinge and it being most becoming Church Men to direct Ecclesiastical Proceedings by Ecclesiastical Authority I shall take a little more pains in this place to answer not only what he now objects but to take in what he hath at any time dispersedly spoken as to this Matter If this scornful Gentleman will so give up all to the Civil Power that their Commands and Orders must be actually obeyed and complyed with in every thing he in effect grants two things which done by any Clergy-man to have his Gown pulled over his Ears were too mean a Punishment First That it is in their Power to destroy Christianity and in the room of it to plant any other or none at all Secondly That Religion is only an Artifice or Sham to be made use of so far as it is serviceable to the Civil Power and no otherwise By this you may perceive what a Friend the Erastian is to the Atheist and though our Author doth not speak out yet he hath many Expressions that look earnestly that way But he will allow That the blessed Jesus who instituted the Christian Church did by a published Gospel and Succession of authorized Pastors provide for the Directing Ordering and Governing of that Church which they are to stand by in all Ages and Difficulties then he must grant That there are some Duties of a Christian which no Civil Power can supercede and though we are not allowed to resist the lawful Civil Power how hardly so ever it use us yet we must practice our Duty at our peril and if the Civil Power would obstruct it we must then take up our Cross and follow Christ And if this be not our Case we are mistaken Sufferers but if it be it will very much call in question their Sincerity To fear God and honour the King and not meddle with those who are given to change I think was not only laid down as a wise Man's Advice but designed as a Duty and Obligation upon every particular Person But not to urge here matters of Justice Fidelity and common Honesty which yet by the way I think are never to be slighted we are here to consider what Obligations we may lie under with respect to the Government and Orders in the Church And if he will allow me to reason either from the Practice of the Church or the Canons of the Church or the Writings of those who best understood both particularly St. Cyprians whom he himself Magnifies and than whom no Man better understood this Cause then I doubt not but we may go a considerable way in it That Episcopacy is the highest Order in the Christian Church and that there is nothing which one Bishop as a Bishop may do but another may do the same I readily grant and consequently That there can be no such thing as Episcopus Episcoporum But then that there are withal certain Rights Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to the Metropolitan which have been always thought to have been inseperably annexed to him and from the exercise of which other Bishops have been ever ordinarily debarr'd and that upon this account that the Peace and Unity of the Church cannot be otherwise preserved nor the Government managed this I say I think to be as plain as the High way Whatever the Rights or Priviledges of Metropolitans may be I shall only Discourse of some which were universally allowed by the Ancient Church and confirmed by Canons or Practice universally received and which may at least in some measure affect our Case of which one is this That no one was to be Ordained a Bishop without the concurrence or consent of the Metropolitan In the 19th Canon of the 1st Councel of Antioch it is thus determined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That a Bishop shall not be Ordained without a Synod and the Presence of the Metropolitan And when in the same Canon they had made the actual Presence of the Metropolitan as necessary as such a case could permit they add 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That if any thing be done otherwise then as was than determined the Ordination shall be invalid Now this very Canon was only pursuant to a Canon of the Councel of Nice and because most Men especially those with whom we have now to do have at least formerly pretended a great Veneration for that Ancient Councel we will see what was their Judgment which in the 6th Can. you may find expressed thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let this be universally known that if any one be Ordained a Bishop without the consent of the Metropolitan This great Counsel doth determine that such a one ought to be no Bishop Perhaps it was for this Reason That Eusebius as far as I remember in reckoning up the Ecclesiastical Succession except Jerusalem for which there might be particular Reasons mentions only Metropolitical Sees For whilst the Rights of the Metropolitan were preserved and his Succession undoubted it was scarce possible that the other Bishops of the Province should come in any other way but at the right Door for he was either to be actually at or consent their to Ordination by Bishops summoned by him for that purpose so that as the being sure concerning him removed away all doubt of the rest so the being uncertain concerning him of course makes all the Ordinations in his time uncertain This I say that you may consider what will be the effect of Setting up a Metropolitan against a Metropolitan and how it is a fair way to render the validity of the Ministerial Function called in question But of what force such an Act would be if done I shall consider presently Another matter appropriated by the universal Church to the Metropolitan was that nothing of Moment which might concern the Province or be of general Concernment should be done without his privity and consent so that unjustly to set a Metropolitan aside and for other Bishops to neglect him is to make matters of greatest Moment and nearest Concernment to the Church to become impracticable and to draw a Scandal upon the Actions of all Bishops as to any thing they shall do in such Cases and when I have offered Authorities for the Proof of this I leave others to judge whether they are Credible enough for such a Huff as our Author Amongst those Ancient Canons collected and received before the Councel of Nice which are vulgarly called the Apostles Canons the 34th runs thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The Bishops of every Country ought to observe him who is their First or Chief and to esteem him as their Head and to do