and wisdome whom we may appoint over this businesse but had the persons been found not qualified no man will be so grosse as to think the Apostles might not or ought not to controll the choice And though it were granted which with truth cannot be granted that the Presbyters aforesaid were made by Saul and Barnabas upon most voyces of the people yet if we reserve to them the Nomination of the persons the interesse of the people will be lesse rather then more then the people of this Church useth at the present though not in themselves yet in the Patrones of Churches to whom the Church yieldeth it in the name of the people in respect to the merit of those that built or indowed Churches at least if the ancient Canon were in use For though it be a little without the terms of my subject yet let me say this word for the provision of Pastours in rurall Congregations that by the order thus farre specified it must needs come from the mother-Mother-church out of the gremialls of it In the first ages of the Church there is little or no mention but of Presbyteries in grosse for the common service of Mother-churches whereof hitherto we speak Afterwards when the faith was planted and Congregations ordered in the Territories of those Cities or Dioceses of those Churches we find in the 25. Canon of Neocesarea a difference made between the Presbyters of them whereof some are called there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these of the mother-Mother-church those of rurall Congregations And by the Canon of Chalcedon mentioned afore forbidding all Ordinations at large but for the service of the city Church or other depending on it it appeareth that by virtue of the Ordination in the Mother Church wherein the people concurred no otherwise then hath been said whether Presbyters or other Ministers were invested in their charge of those Churches Before that time it is to be observed that the Councel of Nice Can. xv forbidding Ministers to passe from Citie to Citie whether Bishops Presbyters or Deacons that is to leave their own Mother-church to serve in another Mother-church proceedeth in these terms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It seemed good to put down the fashion that is come up in some parts besides the Rule Signifying that the Rule of the Church from the beginning was to ordain Ministers in Mother-churches for the service of those Mother-churches But in the xvi Canon next following it is further provided that they shall be constrained to return to their first charges in these terms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They must be constrained by all means to return into their own Dioceses For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Canons signifieth the countrey lying to the Citie of the mother-Mother-church which we call the Diocese This Canon speaking of Presbyters and Deacons and not of Bishops besides the voyding of such attempts which is done in the xv Canon afore providing a course to constrain them to return extendeth further then the other did to Presbyters and Deacons in countrey Cures whereas that rested in the mother-Mother-church So the 3. Canon of Antiochia so the xv of the Apostles providing that Ministers should not leave 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their Dioceses as was said speak plain to let us know how much the Cures of the whole Diocese and the Persons by whom they were exercised were in the disposing of the Mother Church when it appeareth that the Ministers of them could not depart to serve in or under other Churches till they were dismissed their first charge with letters of licence from the Mother-church which they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Dimissorias Wherein the condition of the Church is just that of the Greekish Colonies They were wont to have their Priests sent them from the Mother-cities and reserved the first fruits which were the Priests due for an honour to their founders as Thucydides lib. 1. and his Scholiast writeth alledging this for an occasion of that warre because those of Corcyra neglected their Mother-citie of Corinth in that accustomed right So all rurall Congregations being at first nothing but colonies of the Faith planted from Mother-churches founded in Mother-cities from the time of the Apostles it was but reason they should receive their Pastors from the head of the Diocese where the charge of overseeing as well as planting them belonged The right of presenting then yielded by the Church to the people or to the Patrone it concerns not in her regard if it were to Orders as well as to Cures were more then the People should have in chusing out of those which Saul and Barnabas might nominate But he that would have the people both name the persons and chuse out of those themselves named neglecting imposition of hands or injoyning it upon the choice must first put the Epistles to Timothy Titus out of the Bible least at the first insight that appeare to belong to the office of men of their place the account whereof lyeth upon their charge As for the constituting of Bishops fit it is in the first place provision be made for the interesse of the State as well in ordering the choyces as in approving the persons chosen that no man be established prejudiciall to the Common-wealth But yet that course in which the Christian Emperours of ancient times interposed themselves to nominate the persons being acknowledged to be besides the Rule did not destroy it in all but balk it for the time Now if the people from the beginning had a due share of interesse in giving consent to those which were to be ordained their Presbyters much more must we needs think that it was due and of right that the votes of the Presbyters and consent of the people should go before in designing the Persons under whom and with whom they were to guide and be guided in Spirituall matters As for imposition of hands of neighbour Bishops with whom the unitie of the Church was to be preserved by the Ordained it was not then the formalitie of a thing done but the substance of the Act resting upon the account of them that did it by virtue of the Apostles charge And therefore though it is not easie for me to judge how farre it concerneth the Church to retain the Primitive form yet it is easie for indifferent persons to discern how much is required to the retaining of it CHAP. XIII The rule of censuring persons ordained directed to Timothy alone The office exercised according to the other parts of it Something would here be said in the last place of that which dependeth upon these two last particulars of Penance and Ordination that is the censure of offenses whether in doctrine or manners of persons Ordained because the Apostle seemeth to referre this to Timothy that is to the Bishop alone not mentioning any concurrence of his Presbyters in it For so we reade 1. Tim. v. 19 20. Against an Elder receive not an accusation
the Bishop in chief and upon the Presbyters in consequence whether in private upon particular occasions whereof we find much argument of practice in S. Cyprians Epistles or in publick in the assemblies of Christians For thus the matter went afterwards the principall parts and offices of Divine service that is the Sermon and the celebration of the Eucharist were wont to be reserved to the Bishop in honour of his place and the eminence of it unlesse he were absent or it were disposed of otherwise Which I take to be the reason why Justine Martyr in the place alledged afore related that the Sermon was wont to be made and the Eucharist celebrated by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which name compriseth Bishop and Presbyters both as hath been said because the office belonged to the Bishop in the first place to the Presbyters in case of his absence or the like And you shall heare even now Ignatius his argument to perswade the Ephesians not to assemble for the Eucharist but with the Bishop For saith he if the prayers of one or two have that force that Christ is in the midst of them much more the prayers of the Bishop and Church Therefore it was the Bishop whose prayers the Eucharist was celebrated with And in the Life of S. Augustine is related that it was not the custome for Presbyters to preach in the Churches of Africk that is not if the Bishop were present whereupon the Bishop Valerius being a Greek and not so fit to speak to the people in Latine brought that into use there which he had seen practiced in the East and assumed S. Augustine to assist him by preaching in his presence The Commentarie under S. Ambrose his name so often alledged having said upon Ephes iv 11. as we had it afore that at the first all sorts preached in the Church but afterwards it was otherwise settled prosecuteth it with these words Vnde nunc neque Diaconi in populo praedicant And of Baptizing Tertullian l. De Baptist c. 17. Dandi quidem jus habet summus sacerdos id est Episcopus dehinc Presbyteri Diaconi sed non sine autoritate Episcopi propter Ecclesiae honorem quo salvo salvapax est To shew us That all services of the Church even to baptize belonged in chief to the Bishop in respect to his place that for the same reason the Presbyters were silent in their presence and the Deacons not suffered at all to preach at that time Now as the office common to Bishop and Presbyters was and is seen in the services of the Church so was it also seen in appointing the assemblies of the Church for that purpose This we have here to observe out of Ignatius his Epistles in consequence to that which was produced afore out of S. Paul and Clemens concerning the disorders of the assemblies at Corinth that to correct them and to prevent the like the order of the peoples Oblations of the Presbyters celebrating the Eucharist of the Assemblies of the Church for that purpose was regulated by the appointment of the Bishop and Presbyters His words are these Epist ad Smyrn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That without the Bishop neither the people might bring their offerings nor Presbyters consecrate the Eucharist nor both celebrate the feasts of Love used at these assemblies And for the purpose of this particular it is that he is so earnest and frequent throughout his Epistles in exhorting to be subject to the Bishop and Presbyters Epist ad Trall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that is within the Altar saith he is pure wherefore he obeyeth the Bishop and Presbyters But he that is without is he that doth any thing without the Bishop and Presbyters He that is without the Altar in Ignatius his terms that doth things without the Bishop and Presbyters is meant of those of the people that assembled or those of the Presbyters that celebrated the Eucharist without the Bishop and Presbyters or their appointment which was called erecting Altar against Altar in the Primitive time For so Ignatius again in the Epistle to the Ephesians Let no man mistake saith he if a man be not within the Altar he cometh short of the bread of God For if the prayer of one or two be of such force that Christ standeth in the middest of them how much more shall the prayer wherein the Bishop and Church agreeth that is at the Eucharist which he spoke of when he mentioned the bread of God afore prevail And therefore in the end of that Epistle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obeying the Bishop and Presbyters without distraction of mind breaking one bread which is the medicine of immortalitie A plain case The intent of his exhortations is to perswade them to assemble without schisme because that to assemble and celebrate the Eucharist besides the Bishops appointment was then the due marke of aschismatick And that the Presbyters concurred with him in ordering these matters appeareth by the obedience he requireth to both And so still in Ignatius the Presbyters are assistant to the Bishop in all things And this is the meaning of that vith Canon of the Councel at Gangra whereof the tenour is If any man assemble in private beside the Church and will perform Ecclesiasticall Offices in contempt of the Church no Presbyter being there with assent of the Bishop let him be anathema Providing herein against schisme as the occasion of that Councel evidenceth Wherewith agreeth the xxxii Canon of the Apostles And in the viith and viiith Canon next following of the same Councel there is provision against bringing or receiving oblations otherwise then to the Church beside the Bishops mind or his that is trusted for these things for the benefit of the poore under pain of anathema The heavinesse of the sentence proceeding upon the mark of schisme which the action forbidden importeth though there is in it a respect to the maintenance of the Church and poore arising for that time out of the oblations of Christian people the dispersing whereof was then another particular of the office common to Bishop and Presbyters For as we reade acts xi 29. that the benevolence of the brethren of Antiochia was directed to the Elders at Jerusalem by the hands of Barnabas and Saul though the seven Deacons were made afore to attend upon the poore so are we not to think that their office went so high as to dispose of their maintenance but to execute the disposition of Bishop and Presbyters For when the Church of Antiochia mainteined foure thousand poore as is read in a passage of S. Chrysostome the Church of Rome two thousand and five hundred in Cornelius his time as is to be seen in his words related by Eusebius Eccles hist vi 43. it is not reason to imagine that all this means was put in the power of the Deacons Whose office S. Hierome well expresseth when he calleth them mensarum ac viduarum ministros as those that ministred
untill there be reasonable appearance of the effect wrought by it For if in S. Cyprians discipline the people rested so unsatisfied of some whom his gentlenesse had reconciled that they were hardly perswaded to admitte them to communicate as he writeth Epist 55. just cause have good Christians to be scandalized when they see them admitted to communicate of whose offenses they are sure but have no cause to be sure of their amendment CHAP. XII Of Ordinations what is remembred in Scripture The course held in the Primitive Church The Election and constitution of Bishops upon what grounds Presbyters had their part in Ordinations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was not Election by holding up hands Ordination of Deacons for common businesse of Churches The interesse of the people is satisfied in the course now practiced What the Primitive form requireth in the Constitution of Bishops AS for the constituting and ordaining of Ministers which is behind of my promise these are the particulars remembred concerning it in Scripture for the most part touched upon occasion heretofore Acts xiii 3. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away Acts xiv 23. Paul and Barnabas when they had ordained them Elders in every Church and had prayed with fasting they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed and 1. Tim. iv 14. Neglect not the gift that was given thee by prophecy with the imposition of hands of the presbytery which is 2. Tim. i. 6. by imposition of my hands And the charge of the Apostle unto him 1. Tim. v. 22. Lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partaker of other mens sins And the whole instructions of the Apostle to Timothy and Titus by whom he had appointed them to be ordained To which must be added the choice of Matthias and the seven Deacons where is said that they the Congregation put up two Acts i. 23. and the twelve said unto them Acts vi 3. look ye out among you seven men of honest report and verse 5. And they chose Steven and the rest and verse 6. They set them before the Apostles and when they had prayed they layed hands on them Which are alledged by S. Cyprian for the interesse of the people in this businesse Wherein we shall discern the course of proceeding in the Primitive Church by that which is read in an Heathen who being an enemy to all can not be thought partiall to any rank of Christians it is in the life of Alexander Severus where you have related how that excellent young Prince being to promote to the government of Provinces or the like charges was wont to set up the persons names inviting the people to come in against any of them upon any crime whereof they could make evidence upon pain of life if any failed in it And then it follows Dicebátque grave esse cùm id Christiani Judaei facerent in praedicandis Sacerdotibus qui sunt ordinandi non fieri in Provinciarum rectoribus quibus fortunae hominum committerentur capita These words in praedicandis Sacerdotibus qui sunt ordinandi the learned Casaubon understandeth to be meant of that publication of mens merits and qualities which must needs fall out in discussing the competence of persons put up to the approbation of the people to be ordained in any rank of Ministers in the Assemblies of Christians according to the custome then in practice which custome S. Cyprian commendeth upon the pattern of Eleazar made and invested high Priest by Moses in sight of the people whose interesse he specifieth when he saith Ordinationes Sacerdotales sub populi assistentis conscientia fieri ut plebe praesente vel detegantur malorum crimina vel merit abonorum praedicentur ut sit ordinatio justa legitima quae omnium suffragio judicio fuerit comprobata But before mens deserts and qualities could be scanned it behoved that their persons should be nominated in the first place the publication whereof is called in the sixth canon of the Chalced on Councel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where it is provided 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That no man be ordained Presbyter or Deacon or in any rank of the Church at large unlesse he be published to be ordained in some particular Church of a City or village That which is called here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praedicatio in Latine meaning the Publication of persons names that were put up to be ordained seems to come nearer that which the Historian meaneth when he saith in praedicandis Sacerdotibus because hereupon followed the examination of their competence which S. Cyprian declareth to be the interesse of the people For if we conceive that all men indifferently had the right to nominate we must think a great deal of unsufferable confusion must needs follow at such assemblies And the same S. Cyprian when he writeth to his Clergy Ep. 24. concerning the ordination of Saturus and Optatus in these words Quos jampridem communi consilio Clero proximos feceramus excusing himself to them that he had ordained them alone upon this that they had before promoted them to be next the Clergy by common advise sufficiently sheweth that the course was to advise with the Presbyters and rest of the Clergy about the persons to be propounded to the people We need then no more to shew us the course of that time There was first nomination of the person to the people upon their knowledge and approbation of the persons and agreement there followed imposition of hands wherein consisted the accomplishment of the work from whence the whole was called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as ordinatio in Latine compriseth the whole work whereby they are promoted In the Ordination of Bishops there must needs be something particular By the praecedent which S. Hierome hath recorded us in the Church of Alexandria where he said afore that the Presbyters were wont to chuse a Bishop out of their own rank it is plain their stroak was the greatest in nominating the person to be approved by the people and ordained by the Bishops And the Commentaries under Saint Ambrose his name upon Ephes iv 11. tell us that at the first the next of the Presbyters in rank was wont to be assumed and so might it well be practiced in some places untill it was tried that divers times they fell out to be unfit for the place Then saith he immutata est ratio prospiciente consilio ut non or do sed meritum crearet Episcopum multorum Sacerdotum judicio constitutum nè indignus temer è usurparet esset multis scandalum The course was changed upon advise which provided that a Bishop should not be made by rank but by merit to be esteemed by the judgement multorum Sacerdotum signifying by this term as well the Presbyters of the own Church by whom he was desired as the Bishops of other Churches by whom he was ordained For because
assigned his proper services Which further appeareth when he urgeth the example of their sacrifices that were offered before the Temple being first visited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 54. But the Presbyters of that Christian Church he exhorteth with these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Brethren saith he let every one of you give thanks to God that is Celebrate the Eucharist in his language in his own order being in a good conscience not stepping out of the set rule of his Ministery Perhaps his meaning is that they should celebrate by turns Howsoever here is my reason that there was then no Bishop there because then there could not have been so much debate about the order in celebrating the assemblies of Christians which as shall be shewed afterwards were not to be held but upon appointment of the Bishop with advice of the Presbyters being a mark of schisme to assemble otherwise And if this be not enough there is another to second it Whatsoever may be argued from the dissensions at Corinth one saying I am of Paul another I am of Cephas to shew that there was no Bishop there when the Apostle writ this and in his absence still continueth in force at the time of writing Clemens his Epistle The whole subject whereof is to quell such another dissension as this but onely that it was not under such colourable names of Paul and Cephas and Apollos as he complaineth but which is remarkable to prove my intent was as he saith p. 62. a mere faction for the love of one or two persons against the Presbyters no Bishop bearing any part either at one end or other of it Neither is it marvel that this Church should be still without a Bishop for some ten or twentie years perhaps after the death of the Apostle so many companions of the Apostles being then alive Clemens at Rome Titus in Crete Timothy at Ephesus Dionysius at Athens others elsewhere to furnish whatsoever assistance they had received from the Apostle during his time no otherwise then did Timothy and Titus to those Churches wherein they had planted Presbyteries before they had Bishops And this must be the answer if any man ask the question how Bishops came to be propagated through all Churches the answer must be They were made in due time by the heads of neighbouring Churches which we shall discern anon when we come to speak of the course held from the beginning in the choice and constitution of Bishops And by the practice of the Church it should seem the aim was afarre off to propagate Bishops according to the first practice of the Apostles For as they planted Presbyteries to govern Mother-Churches in Mother-Cities so when it became questionable which Churches should have Bishops and which not the matter was regulated according to the greatnesse of Cities or the multitude of Presbyters which the service of the Churches in them required whereof the Bishops were to be heads And therefore in the Councel of Sardica Can. vi it is provided that there should be no Bishop in towns or small cities where one Presbyter might serve but in those places where Bishops were of old time or if a place became so populous that it might deserve to have a Bishop that is either in Cities that had been so populous of old time as to have Bishops or which should afterwards become so populous But the xvii Can on of the Chalcedon Councel providing against innovation in Dioceses taketh order neverthelesse that when a place is promoted by the Emperour to be a Citie the form of the Church shall go along with the form of the Common-wealth that is it shall have a Bishop and his Diocese the territory of that Citie There is here a difference in the particular and yet the same generall ground of both Canons the practice of the Apostles ordaining Presbyteries to govern the Churches which they had planted in Cities the heads whereof were Bishops after their departure And this seemeth to be the reason why the seats of Cathedrall Churches are wont to be Cities And by this means Italy is so full of Bishopricks because it is so full of Cities CHAP. VII Presbyters govern with the Apostles in Scriptures Nothing done in the Church without their advise Why both ranks are called Sacerdotes Presbyteri Antistites and the like HAving hitherto justified the ground whereupon we go and shewed that Bishops came after the Apostles to be heads of Presbyteries in consequence hereunto it must now be averred that the government of Churches passed in common by Bishops and Presbyters as from the beginning the Presbyters governed with the Apostles themselves If in that great action of the Councel at Jerusalem the Elders of that Church bore their part with the Apostles what cause have we to think they did lesse when they were dispersed S. James alone remaining there If they concurred with S. James in his advise to S. Paul about a matter of greatest weight how to deal with those of the Circumcision that believed shall we imagine they did not do the like with his successours If S. Peter call the Presbyters of the Churches to which he writeth his fellow-Elders it is to the purpose to put them in mind of their share in that office which he chargeth himself with If the Apostle of the Gentiles charge the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Acts xx 18. with their part of that care of Christs flock after his departure which he for his time had performed over them shall we think them eased of it because Timothy came to be Bishop there Rather let me conceive this to be the cause why Timothie's instructions are addressed in the singular number to him alone without mention of his Presbyters because they were to receive their charge by themselves about the same time So farre is it from me to think that his Presbyters were not to concurre in assisting that course of government wherein he alone is directed by the Apostle to proceed And if we can go no further in proving this point out of Scripture the reason must be because as appeareth by that which hath been said the Scriptures for the most part speak of that time when Bishops yet were not but the Apostles themselves To which purpose neverthelesse there will be still something to be said out of the Scriptures in the particulars which we shall survey In the mean time let us take notice of a few passages among many more out of Ecclesiasticall writers to argue the generall whereof we speak Ignatius Epist ad Trall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We cannot understand righter what the Presbytery meaneth then out of these words a Colledge or bench of Assessours to the Bishop in sacred matters The Commentaries under S. Ambrose his name upon 1. Tim. v. 1. speak home to this purpose Nam apud omnes utique gentes honorabilis est senectus unde Synagoga postea Ecclesia Seniores
not disposed of their maintenance Though perhaps the advantage of fingring money was it that made them take so much upon them in his time whereof he complaineth Nay it is plain this must rest in the power of Bishop and Presbyters by the portions and divisions thereof wherein each of them had interesse as his maintenance whereof we find remembrance in S. Cyprians Epistles In the last Canon of the Councel of Antiochia is provided that the Bishop shall not alienate the Church-goods which though immovable were given for the same purpose without consent of his Presbyters And in those which are called the Canons of the Apostles which the world knoweth are not theirs but yet do expresse very ancient customes of the Church Can. iii. iv having ordered what sorts of first-fruits should be sent to the Church what home to the Bishop and Presbyters it followeth Now it is manifest that they are to be divided by them among the Deacons and Clergy to the Deacons for the maintenance of the poore to the Clergy for their own Where you see the interesse of the Presbyters in disposing of such oblations CHAP. XI Of the discipline of Penance Those that have the Keyes remit sinnes by prescribing Penance The intercession of the Church Particular persons excommunicated among the Jews Our Lord prohibiteth their course among his Disciples Two degrees of Excommunication as well in the Church as in the Synagogue The Keyes are given to Bishop and Presbyters The interesse of the people and what is required at the hands of the Common-wealth THere remaineth now two particulars of the office common to Bishop and Presbyters wherein the people also claim their interesse the one is the discipline of Penance the other the making of Ministers The due course whereof assigned by our Lord and his Apostles will best be discovered laying together first what we find of them in Scripture and then comparing of it with the proceeding of the Primitive time which we shall perceive the right to go along with The Keyes of the Kingdome of heaven are given by our Lord to the first of his Disciples in those words Matth. xvi 19. And I will give thee the keyes of the Kingdome of Heaven and whatsoever thou bindest on earth shall be bound in Heaven whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven If mens minds were not possessed with prejudice it would soon appear to be the same power that is given to all the Apostles John xx 24. Whosesoever sinnes ye remit they are remitted unto them and whosesoever sinnes ye retein they are reteined But Matt. xviii 17 18. to the same purpose though more at large And if he shall neglect to heare them tell it unto the Church But if he neglect to heare the Church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and as a publican Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven To this must be added the proceeding of the Apostle in delivering to Satan the incestuous person at Corinth 1. Cor. v. 3 4 5. which he also did to Hymeneus and Alexander 1. Tim. i. 20. Now in the practice of the Primitive Church those that exercised this power were in part Judges Censours you may call them if you please and in part Physicians Both parts comprised in S. Cyprians words Ep. 51. Vbi lapsis nec censura deest quae increpet nec medicina quae sanet Judges they are in shutting Gods house upon offenders and binding their sins upon their consciences And the effect of this censure such supposing the proceeding of it to be due that as the disease of sin is not to be cured without the medicine of repentance no more can this knot wherewith sinnes notorious of themselves or otherwise known are tyed to mens consciences be undone without known repentance For since the worst of the souls sicknesse consisteth in not acknowledging her disease it pleased God to give his Church power and charge to constrain offenders to take their Physick which the grief of bodily diseases is able to do alone Physicians they are then in prescribing the medicine of Repentance and in that respect alone are truly said to remit sinnes God himself saith not to the Soul I absolve thee from thine offenses but upon supposition of the means his own gift of repentance that worketh the cure so farre it is from the power of his creature to pronounce forgivenesse without knowledge of the effect which the medicine of repentance hath wrought But if we say true when a Physician is said to cure a mans disease though all the world know he doth no more but prescribe the medicine or at the most see it applyed with as good right is it to be said that mens sinnes are cured by them that prescribe the course by which they are cured Onely whereas he that is cured of a bodily disease is able to tell himself when he is well he that is once sensible of the maladies of his soul is not easily satisfied when the cure is done It hath therefore pleased the goodnesse of God to provide an office and charge in his Church to assure men of forgivenesse of sinnes upon due knowledge of repentance by taking away that knot wherewith they remained tied upon their consciences Firmilianus Bishop of Caesarea Cappadociae in his Epistle to S. Cyprian the lxxvth in number of his Epistles thus writeth Lapsis quoque fratribus per poenitentiam medela quaeratur Non quasi à nobis remissionem peccatorum consequantur sed ut per nos ad intelligentiam delictorum suorum convertantur Domino pleniùs satisfacere cogantur To this purpose was the time and order and fashion of Penance regulated in the ancient Church that the diseases of the soul might receive every one their competent cure and therefore it is plain that among them it was a favour to be admitted to Penance in opposition to Novatianus Qui nemini dandam poenitentiam putavit saith Saint Ambrose De Poenit. 2. 1. exhorting men to repentance indeed but leaving them for pardon to God who had power to give it as his Disciple Socrates writeth Eccles hist iv 13. That is not imploying the power of the keyes and the benefit of it to the cure of their offenses Whereupon S. Ambrose you see calleth it dare poenitentiam as on the offenders side it was then called petere poenitentiam demanding and granting of Penance For this cause it was that this medicine of repentance was wont to be joyned with the prayers of the Congregation but in the chief place of the Bishop and Presbyters which if repentance be Physick is correspondent to that which is given to make Physick work And this is called in Tertullian Presbyteris advolvi Caris Dei adgeniculari Omnibus fratribus legationes deprecationis suae injungere and in S. Augustine Gemitus columbae the Mourning of the
according to that which we conceived afore from the beginning Bishops were propagated through all Churches by no other means but by the assistance of neighbour Churches that had Bishops afore hereupon it proceeded to be a custome in the Church that a Bishop was not made without approbation and consent of the neighbour Bishops from whom he was to recieve imposition of hands and with whom he was to preserve the unity of the Church which at that time was actuated by no means but by the correspondence of Bishops in the name of their Churches This is the ground of the custome that under three Bishops it was not usuall to ordain one Novatianus was ordained by no lesse at Rome in the way of Schisme against Cornelius who was ordained by sixteen as we reade in S. Cyprian But when the proceeding of this businesse came to be regulated by the Canons of Nice and Antiochia the Church by that time being incorporate in the state of the Romane Empire then was it thought fit that a Bishop should be made by all the Bishops of the Province the Metropolitane that is the Bishop of the head City in chief without whom nothing to be done so that if some few agreed not the businesse neverthelesse to proceed and be executed by three at the least The intent was indeed so farre as opportunity should serve that these Acts should be done at the Provinciall Synods of Bishops to be held twice a year by the fifth Canon of Nice as may be observed among others in that which Saint Augustine mentioneth contra Cresc iii. 26. de vestris majoribus exstat secundi Tigisitani concilium cum paucissimis quidem factum apud Cirtam post persecutionem codicum tradendorum ut ibi in locum defuncti ordinaretur Episcopus If no such fell out it was provided that three might do it the rest consenting under their hands Can. 19. Conc. Antioch Thus without consent of the Bishops all proceedings of Clergy and people were quite disabled and becalmed if any faction any sinister practice appeared in them and all this upon the charge of the Apostle to Timothy Lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partaker of other mens sinnes And by virtue of their Ordination a Bishop was established and invested so that a Bishop with Jurisdiction before Ordination was an estate not yet come into the world so long as the primitive custome and rule of the Church was in force which it seemeth succeeding custome hath brought to passe since Now of all parts of the office common to Bishop and Presbyters this of Ordination is that which the Bishop first began to exercise alone so that with S. Chrysostome and S. Hierome it is taken in a manner for granted that it was to be done by him alone The one Hom. 11. in 1. ad Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Onely in Ordination the Bishops go beyond the Presbyters that is it alone which they seem to have more than these The other Ep. ad Euagr. Quid enim facit Episcopus except â ordinatione quod Presbyter non facit excepting Ordination which a Bishop doth a Presbyter as he granteth doth not In which neverthelesse setting aside the stroke the Presbyters had in making their Bishops if we take not our marks amisse we shall find argument enough at least at the beginning for the concurrence of Presbyters with him in making of Presbyters and other inferiour Orders In the first place those generall passages of the Fathers wherein is witnessed that the Presbytery was a Bench assistant to the Bishop without advice whereof nothing of moment was done must needs be drawn into consequence to argue that it had effect in a particular of this weight Then the Ordination of Timothy by imposition of hands of the Presbytery will prove no lesse within compasse of the Scripture Indeed it is well known that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ecclesiasticall writers signifieth divers times the office and rank of Presbyters which signification divers here embrace expounding imposition of hands of the Presbytery to mean that by which the rank of Presbyter was conferred But the Apostles words running as they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oblige a man to ask when he is come as farre as the imposition of the hands of whom or whose hands they were he speaketh of which the next words satisfie had it been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sense might better have been diverted but running as it doth with the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with imposition of THE hands it remaineth that it be specified in the next words whose hands were imposed as in the other place 2. Tim. i. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with imposition of my hands Thus this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Gospel Luke xxii 66. And in Ignatius his Epistles signifieth the Colledge of Presbyters which hath the nature and respect of a person in Law and therefore is read in the singular for the whole Bench and being assembled and set is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in both places and in Cornelius of Rome his Epistle to S. Cyprian where he saith placuit contrahere Presbyterium But to put the signification of the word out of doubt by the circumstance of the sense call to mind the Prophesies that went before concerning Timothy and compare his case with the Apostles and the prophesies that went before of him in like case and the imposition of hands which thereupon both recieved and sure it will prove an unreproveable ground to conclude that what is expressed in the Apostle is to be understood of the Disciple that these prophesies coming from the Ministers of the Church concerning the purpose to which God hath ordained them in his service occasioned that which they did about both in giving them imposition of hands and that as S. Paul received imposition of hands from the Presbyters of Antiochia so did Timothy from S. Paul and the Presbyters of that Church which he speaks of but names not Neither are the arguments of this interesse quite worn out of the practice of the Church either in the point of nominating the persons or that of imposing hands For when S. Cyprian expresseth himself so oft in this particular that it was not his purpose to do any thing without advice of his Presbyters and consent of his people it is not his meaning that the Clergy should bear no other part in this work then did the multitude but as they were distinct bodies so according to his own words to expect advice from them as concerning the persons to be promoted but consent from the people if there were no fault to be found of moment with the persons designed And in these terms the matter stands in the 22. Canon of of that which is called the fourth councel of Carthage where is provided Vt Episcopus sine consilio Clericorum suorum Clericos non ordinet it à ut civium assensum testimonium
conniventiam quaerat And as for imposition of hands we have in the Epistle aforesaid of Firmilianus Bishop of Caesarea Cappadocia if not rather of the whole act of Ordination Omnis potestas gratia in Ecclesia constituta est in qua praesident majores natu qui baptizandi manum imponendi ordinandi habent potestatem And in Ignatius his Epistle to Hero whosoever writ it it is ancient enough to speak to our purpose speaking to his Deacon of his Presbyters 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They baptize they celebrate the Eucharist they impose hands in Penance they ordain thou ministrest unto them as holy Stephen at Jerusalem to James and the Presbyters And where it is provided Conc. Carthag 4. c. 3. that the Presbyters when the Bishop giveth imposition of hands shall likewise impose their hands by his it behoveth us in their case also to call to mind that this is and was and ought to be in signe of their consent to what is done the Apostle having said to Timothy Lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partaker of other mens sinnes But the interesse of the people is inhansed beyond all measure or rule of primitive practice It will not serve the turn that the people had then satisfaction of the persons and their competence to the Ministeries to which they were ordained unlesse we will believe that when it is said Acts iv 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the meaning is that they were made by most voices of the people signified by holding up their hands as we find in Demosthenes and others that custome to have been in Greekish Communalties Saul and Barnabas doing nothing but moderating the choice that is in effect telling the voices And to this purpose is alledged that of the Apostle 2. Cor. viii 19. And not that onely but who was also chosen of the Churches to travel with us with this grace that is administred by us where in the Greek is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying Election as they would have it and not Ordination seeing the office of carrying almes requireth no imposition of hands To which let me adde if they refuse not that help the words of Ignatius much in the same kind for in his Epistles ad Smyrn ad Polyc. out of his care and affection to his Church at Antiochia having received news of their good estate and finding himself in the like he desires the Church of Smyrna and Polycarpus to chuse one to go with their letters to Antiochia whom he will have called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so it should be read not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a messenger in matters belonging to God to certifie them of his good estate and to congratulate with them of their own this office it seemeth requireth no imposition of hands and therefore that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which Ignatius desireth them to appoint it signifieth as it should seem not Ordination but Election by the same reason as that of the Apostle The rest that is brought to avouch this new conceit is the words of Zonaras upon the first of the Canons of the Apostles where in down right terms he delivereth the use of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to come from the fashion of giving voices by holding up hands used in the Church at first to discern on which side most voices were from whence it came afterwards to be used for imposition of hands But let them bethink themselves that if these Presbyters were made by Saul and Barnabas by holding up hands of the people then were they not made by imposition of their own hands for if we take that sense of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other must needs be excluded And then let me ask if it be a thing reasonable to measure the sense of the Apostles language by what was done at Athens rathen then by that which among the Jews from whence the faith of Christ was transplanted was known and in use Or to imagine that the Apostle to follow the fashion of Greekish communalties never heard of in after ages of the Church should balk the Ceremony which the people of God had received from Moses which was from old time frequented in creating their Sanedrin Judges which the Apostles in their own persons practiced which the Church hath alwayes observed in promoting of Ministers signifying the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost and praying to obtein it To the words of the Apostle and Ignatius seeing they have in them no appearance of resolute sense let me answer two wayes First though they were not ordained by imposition of hands yet it is no inconvenience they should be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 using the word in a generall sense for those that are ordained or constituted in any form because this form was so frequented in divers occasions As for the purpose among the Jews all their Rabbies are called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the letter signifieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or ordained by imposition of hands because at the first so they were made though they be not promoted after that form but made as since they are ordinarily made by writing or word of mouth as Rab. Moses in Sanedrin chap. 4. writeth But in the second place observe the words which Ignatius writing to Polycarpus about this matter useth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where for the constituting of a person fit for this purpose he adviseth him to convent one of these Assemblies wherein they used to advise about Ordinations as hath been said And therefore it seemeth no inconvenience to think that he desireth him to be ordained to that purpose Whereupon it will not be amisse to inquire a little further to what Ministery in the Church such a person may be thought to be ordained wherein if we fail not perhaps it will make us able to give a fair conjecture at that of the Apostle by the correspondence of the cases Ignatius in the Epistle to the Philadelphians writeth to them for the same purpose as here he doth to those of Smyrna though the sense is hitherto disguised in the printed copies in which the words runne thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which words it is plain make no sense But I have seen the written copy of an old translation of these Epistles in barbarous Latine in Caius Colledge Library here with us in which these words are rendred thus Quod annunciatum est mihi pacem habere Ecclesiam quae est in Antiochia Syriae Decens est vos ut Ecclesiam Dei Ordinare Diaconum ad intercedendum illic Dei intercessionem in congaudere ipsis in idipsum factis glorific are nomen He that made this translation read here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in stead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which now is read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and maketh it no sense and this is without
others most daring to innovate opinions in matters of religion especially as well as in those that concern other knowledge But he that calleth to remembrance that correspondence which in ancient times was actuated between Churches of severall nations people commercio formatarum as Optatus speaketh by traffique of those letters of correspondence which under set forms were wont to passe between Bishops in the name of their Churches the true form of that unitie which our Lord commended to his Church after it was become Catholick must needs lament to see that most beautifull peace of this Government in ancient time defaced and lost by the fault of them that hate to be reformed in the dissensions of Christendome alledged to destroy it The honour and esteem which the learned of the reformed Churches abroad have professed of the state of our Churches and our charity in excusing the necessities of theirs and acknowledging the efficacy of the Ministery which they use will be sufficient through Gods goodnesse to actuate the correspondence we desire to preserve with them without those innovations which they never required at our hands to such purpose But he that acknowledgeth and is glad to see these heads stand in their right place looking back upon their beginning which was to succeed the Apostles over severall Presbyteries in the place which they held over all for the time must needs misse their relatives the bodies of these Presbyteries in the government of Churches And though that alteration cannot be charged upon any man which is come to passe through time and insensible custome especially seeing it cannot be counted an alteration in this Church of England because we are to think it had prevailed in the Church before this Nation received the Faith yet must it needs be remembred by him that believeth all the evil consequences which this government is charged with whether in opinion or truth to have come from the discharge of Presbyteries from their part of the office One particular no man need to be nice in reckoning to be of that nature though it is not in the power of one man were he as much in love as I am with the primitive form or scarce of one age without a publick act to amend it That is the committing of jurisdiction at large even that which is proper and essentiall to the Church by the power of the keyes which our Lord hath given it as hath been said in effect to Lay persons Which jurisdiction though for the present it passe not upon present advise but upon Laws of the Church for the purpose yet so long as Laws are generall and few Cases particular and numberlesse will alwayes deserve to be exercised with mature and charitable advise of those to whose charge our Lord first committed it if we mean to attain the ends of correction and example Though the profession by which it is ministred deserve to retain the rank it holdeth in regard of those other points of jurisdiction in charitable causes by the favour of Princes and laws of Common-wealths annexed to the Church passing as it doth by the laws whereof they professe knowledge This inconvenience if such it be counted seemeth to proceed from that unsensible change whereof hath been said for had the Presbyteries continued as at the beginning upon the exercise of this Discipline of Penance it is not to be thought that power could have been so lightly alienated as from one wherein a number had their interesse But this and the like consequences seem to have brought this undue opinion upon the Church Government that as Cathedrall Churches long since so now the State of Bishops among indifferent men is counted a matter of indifference which had they continued in the Primitive charge must needs have been counted as counted they ought to be inviolable And therefore though as the case standeth it is neither possible nor desired to call the whole Presbytery of a Diocese to a share in the publick government yet let me have leave to say that the next course to retrive the Primitive form with the wholesome grounds and consequences of it is to reestate these Presbyteries in Cathedrall Churches and perhaps in other populous places seats of jurisdictions where the Diocese is great furnishing them with number of men of abilities and joyning them with and under the Bishops for assistance in all parts of the office hitherto proved common to both It seems the means that hath brought to passe that insensible change whereof we speak was from the beginning no other then this because the form of proceeding in particular Churches was never regulated by Canons of the Church but left to particular custome And therefore it is past my apprehension how more right should be done then distributing the common charge into particular interesse by such rules as may best expresse those generall terms which the purest Primitive times were content with that as without the Bishop nothing to be done so the Bishop to do nothing without advice of his Presbyters The performance of divine service in the Cathedrall common sense finds too slight a work for such persons the cures of all Churches within such populous places if they belonged to their titles would be a work sutable to such prime abilities Then the exercise of the power of the keyes in the discipline of Penance Triall and Approvement of persons presented to Cures or assistance of Cures according to laws excluding all Ordinations without such title Censure of offenses in doctrine or life of persons ordained alwayes under the Bishop and for his assistance are works that require mature advise and passe best in cōmon for satisfaction to the publick matters of religion being by nature more popular then the Common-wealth If this be not enough such may be mēs abilities that all these Presbyteries may become schools of the Prophets and Seminaries of able Preachers through the severall Jurisdictions or Dioceses A thing wished on all hands but not to be expected without means to bring it to passe This hath been alwayes desired at the hands of Cathedrall Churches and some steps of it remain still in some of ours though the staple of this education being long since drained from other places to the two Universities the charge hath been sustained by them alone with unspeakable benefit to the Church as well as to the Common-wealth yet the assistance of these places with them for the service of the Church is not to be counted their prejudice leaving intire unto them the place they possesse of Seminaries of the Common-wealth FINIS