began first with the lowermost Office of a Lector tho' by his extraordinary Merits he deserved those that were more sublime and honourable § 12. That this was their constant and unalterable Practice I dare not affirm I rather think the contrary as I might easily prove were it pertinent to my Design this that follows is more certain that whether they were gradually or presently Ordained Presbyters their Names were published or propounded to the People of that Church where they were to be Ordained that so if worthy of that Office they might have the Testimony and Attestation of the People or if unworthy and unfit they might be debarred and excluded from it by which course the Crimes of the Wicked were discovered the Vertues of the Good declared and the Ordination became Valid and Legitimate being examin'd by the Suffrage and Judgment of all § 13. If the People objected nothing against the Persons proposed but approved their fitness for that Office the next thing that followed was their Actual Ordination in that particular Church where they were so propounded not that they were only ordain'd for that particular Church but in it they were ordained Ministers of the Church Universal being at liberty either to serve that Church where they received their Orders or if they had a Legal Call to spend their Labours elsewhere in other Churches as Origen was a Presbyter of Alexandria tho' he was Ordained in Palestina by the Bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem and Numidicus was a Presbyter of the Church of Carthage tho' he received his Orders elsewhere Hence the Presbyters of a Church were not confined to a set number as the Bishop and Deacons were but were sometimes more sometimes less as fit Persons for that Office presented themselves so were they Ordained some of whom still remained in the same Church where they received their Orders and others went and served other Churches every one going where the Providence of God did call him § 14. But now their formal Ordination was by Imposition of Hands usually of the Bishop and Presbyters of the Parish where they were Ordained For this there needs no other Proof than that Injunction of St. Paul to Timothy 〈◊〉 Tim. 4. 14. Neglect not the Gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery As for Imposition of hands it was a Ceremony that was variously used in the Old Testament from whence it was translated into the New and in the Primitive Church used on sundry occasions to no purpose here to enumerate One of those Actions was Ordination of church-Church-Officers wherein I think it was never omitted Thus Novatian was Ordained a Presbyter by Imposition of Hands And the Bishops of Cesarea and Jerusalem Imposed Hands on Origen to make him a Presbyter The Imposition of Hands being the Completion of Ordination or the Final Act thereof for whosoever had past through the forementioned Examination and Attestation and consequently to that had received the laying on of Hands he was esteemed by all as legally Ordained and was ever after deemed to have sufficient Power and Authority to exert and discharge the Duty and Office of the Presbytership to which by those Actions he was advanced and promoted § 15. Here now I shall conclude what I designed to write with respect to the first Particular concerning the Peculiar Acts of the Clergy under which I have discoursed distinctly of the Office and Order of Bishops Priests and Deacons as also of several other things relating to their Charge and Dignity As for those other Acts of theirs which remain to be inquired into I shall not meddle with them here for tho' they may have some Rapport or Connexion to this Head yet they more properly and immediately respect the third unto which place therefore I shall refer their Discussion and Examination CHAP. VI. § 1. The Peculiar Acts of the Laity proposed to be discoursed of What were the Qualifications of Church-Membership § 2. The People in some Cases had Power to depose their Bishops § 3. The Conjunct Acts of the Clergy and Laity proposed to be discoursed of All Ecclesiastical Affairs were managed by their joint Endeavours § 1. HAving in the former Chapters treated of the Peculiar Acts of the Clergy I come now in this to speak something to the Peculiar Acts of the Laity and to enquire into those Actions and Powers which they exerted distinctly by themselves And here it may not be amiss first of all to make an Enquiry into the Constitution of the Laity that is how and by what means they were first admitted to be Members of a Church by Vertue of which Membership they were made Partakers of all those Powers which we shall hereafter mention Now for Answer hereunto in general all those that were baptized were look'd upon as Members of the Church and had a right to all the Priviledges thereof except they had been guilty of grofs and scandalous Sins as Idolatry Murder Adultery and such like for then they were cast out of the Church and not admitted again till by a Penitent and holy Deportment they had testified their Grief and Sorrow for their unholy and irregular Actions for as Origen saith We do our utmost that our Assemblies be composed of good and wise Men. So that none who are admitted to our Congregations and Prayers are vitious and wicked except very rarely it may happen that a particular bad Man may be concealed in so great a number But since the greatest part of Christians were adult Persons at their Conversion to Christianity and admission into Church-Fellowship and Society therefore we must consider the Prerequisites of Baptism since that Sacrament gave them a Right and Title to that admission or reception Now those Persons who designed to leave Heathenism and Idolatry and desired to be Members of a Christian Church were not presently advanced to that degree but were first continued a certain space of Time in the rank of the Catechumens or the Catechised ones These were Candidates of Christianity who were to stay some time in that Order for these two Reasons The one was That they might be catechised and instructed in the Articles of the Christian Faith from whence they were called Catechumens And the other was that they might give demonstrations of the reality of their Intentions by the Change of their Lives and the Holiness of their Conversations Whilst they were in this Estate or rather in a Preparatory thereunto they were first privately instructed at home till they understood the more Intelligible Principles of Christianity and then they were admitted into the first Rank of Catechumens who are called by Tertullian Edocti or those that are taught These were permitted to come into the Church where they stood in a place by themselves and were present at the Sermons which were adapted to their Capacities being Discourses of
removed them from Earth to Heaven where they were made Priests to the most High and were infinitely remunerated for all their Pains and Sorrows and so leaving their particular Flocks on Earth to be sed and govern'd by others who should succeed them in their places which brings me in the next place to enquire How a vacant Bishoprick was supplied or in what manner a Bishop or Minister was elected to a Diocess or Parish § 3. Now the manner of electing a Bishop I find to be thus When a Parish or Bishoprick was vacant through the Death of the Incumbent all the Members of that Parish both Clergy and Laity met together in the Church commonly to chuse a fit Person for his Successor to whom they might commit the Care and Government of their Church Thus when Alexander was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem it was by the Compulsion or Choice of the Members of that Church And as for the Bishoprick of Rome we have a memorable Instance of this kind in the Advancement of Fabianus to that See upon the Death of Bishop Anterus All the People met together in the Church to chuse a Successor proposing several illustrious and eminent Personages as fit for that Office whilst no one so much as thought upon Fabianus then present till a Dove miraculously came and sate upon his Head in the same manner as the Holy Ghost formerly descended on our Saviour and then all the People guided as it were with one Divine Spirit cryed out with one Mind and Soul That Fabianus was worthy of the Bishoprick and so straightways taking him they placed him on the Episcopal Throne And as Fabianus so likewise his Successor Cornelius was elected by the suffrage of the Clergy and Laity Thus also with respect to the Diocess of Carthage Cyprian was chosen Bishop thereof by its Inhabitants and Members as Pontius his Deacon writes That though he was a Novice yet by the Grace of God and the Favour of the People he was elevated to that sublime Dignity which is no more than what Cyprian himself acknowledges who frequently owns that he was promoted to that Honourable Charge by the Suffrage of the People § 4. When the People had thus elected a Bishop they presented him to the neighbouring Bishops for their Approbation and Consent because without their concurrent Assent there could be no Bishop legally instituted or confirmed Thus when the fore-mentioned Alexander was Chosen Bishop of Jerusalem by the Brethren of that place he had also the common Consent of the circumjacent Bishops Now the Reason of this I suppose was lest the People thro' Ignorance or Affection should chuse an unfit or an unable Man for that sacred Office it being supposed that a Synod of Bishops had more Wisdom Learning and Prudence than a Congregation of unlearned and ignorant Men and so were better able to judge of the Abilities and Qualifications of the Person elect than the People were Hence we find that sometimes the Election of a Bishop is attributed to the Choice of the Neighbouring Bishops with the Consent and Suffrage of the People This Custom generally prevail'd throughout Africa where upon the Vacancy of a See The Neighbouring Bishops of the Province met together at that Church and chose a Bishop in the presence of the People who knew his Life and Conversation before which Custom was observed in the Election of Sabinus Bishop of Emerita in Spain who was advanc'd to that Dignity by the Suffrage of all the Brethren and of all the Bishops there present But whether the Election of a Bishop be ascribed to the adjoining Ministers or to the People of that Parish it comes all to one and the same thing neither the Choice of the Bishops of the Voisinage without the Consent of the People nor the Election of the People without the Approbation of those Bishops was sufficient and valid of it self but both concurred to a legal and orderly Promotion which was according to the Example of the Apostles and Apostolick Preachers who in the first Plantation of Churches Ordained Bishops and Deacons with the Consent of the whole Church § 5. A Bishop being thus elected and confirmed the next thing that followed was his Ordination or 〈◊〉 which was done in his own Church by the neighbouring Bishops as Cyprian mentions some Bishops in his time who went to a City called Capse to install a Bishop whither when they were come they took the Bishop Elect and in the presence of his Flock Ordained or Installed him Bishop of that Church by Imposition of Hands as Sabinus was placed in his Bishoprick by Imposition of Hands Therefore Fortunatus the Schismatical Bishop of Carthage got five Bishops to come and Ordain him at Carthage And so Novatian when he Schismatically aspired to the Bishoprick of Rome that he might not seem to leap in Uncanonically wheedled three ignorant and simple Bishops to come to Rome and install him in that Bishoprick by Imposition of Hands How many Bishops were necessary to this installing of a Bishop Elect I find not Three were sufficient as is apparent from the forecited action of Novatian whether less would do I know not since I find not the least footsteps of it in my Antiquity unless that from Novatian's sending for and 〈◊〉 just three Bishops out of Italy we conclude that Number to be necessary But if there were more than Three it was not accounted unnecessary or needless for the more Bishops there were present at an Installment the more did its validity and unexceptionableness appear Whence Cyprian argues the undeniable Legality of Cornelius's Promotion to the See of Rome because he had sixteen Bishops present at his Ordination And for this Reason it was that Fortunatus the Schismatical Bishop of Carthage falsely boasted That there were Twenty-five Bishops present at his Installment And thus in short we have viewed the Method of the Ancients in their Election of Bishops we have shewn that they were elected by the People approved and installed by the Neighbouring Bishops on which Account it is that Cyprian calls them Chosen and ordained § 6. It may not now be amiss to mention this Custom that when a Bishop was thus presented and advanced to a See he immediately gave notice of it to other Bishops especially to the most renowned Bishops and Bishopricks as Cornelius writ to Cyprian Bishop of Carthage an Account of his being promoted to the See of Rome betwixt which two Churches there was such a peculiar Intercourse and Harmony as that this Custom was more particularly observed by them insomuch that it was observed by the Schismatical Bishops of each Church Novatian giving notice to Cyprian Bishop of Carthage of his Promotion to the Church of Rome And Fortunatus advising Cornelius Bishop of Rome of his Advancement to the Church of Carthage § 7. Let what hath been spoken now suffice for the peculiar Acts
had been an unaccountable Impudence and a most detestable act of Schism for any one tho' never so legally Ordained to have entred those Parishes and there to have performed Ecclesiastical Administrations without the permission of or which is all one in Defiance to the Bishops or Ministers thereof for though a Presbyter by his Ordination had as ample an inherent Right and Power to discharge all Clerical Offices as any Bishop in the World had yet Peace Unity and Order oblig'd him not to invade that part of God's Church which was committed to another Man's Care without that Man's Approbation and Consent So then in this Sense a Presbyter was inferiour to a Bishop in Degree in that having no Parish of his own he could not actually discharge the particular Acts of his Ministerial Function without leave from the Bishop of a Parish or Diocess The Bishops were superiour to the Presbyters in that they were the presented 〈◊〉 and inducted Ministers of their respective Parishes and the Presbyters were inferiour to the Bishops in that they were but their Curates and Assistants § 3. But though the Presbyters were thus different from the Bishops in Degree yet they were of the very same specifick Order with them having the same inherent Right to perform those Ecclesiastical Offices which the Bishop did as will appear from these three Arguments 1. That by the Bishop's permission they discharged all those Offices which a Bishop did 2. That they were called by the same Titles and Appellations as the Bishops were And 3. That they are expresly said to be of the same Order with the Bishops As to the first of these That by the Bishop's permission they discharged all those Offices which a Bishop did this will appear from that 1. When the Bishop ordered them they preach'd Thus Origen in the beginning of some of his Sermons tells us That he was commanded thereunto by the Bishop as particularly when he preach'd about the Witch of Endor he says The Bishop commanded him to do it 2. By the permission of the Bishop Presbyters baptized Thus writes Tertullian The Bishop has the Right of Baptizing and then the Presbyters but not without his leave 3. By the leave of the Bishop Presbyters administred the Eucharist as must be supposed in that saying of Ignatius That that Eucharist only was valid which was celebrated by the Bishop or by one appointed by him and that the Eucharist could not be delivered but by the Bishop or by one whom he did approve 4. The Presbyters ruled in those Churches to which they belonged else this Exhortation of Polycarpus to the Presbyters of Philippi would have been in vain Let the Presbyters be tender and merciful compassionate towards all reducing those that are in Errors visiting all that are weak not negligent of the Widow and the Orphan and him that is poor but ever providing what is honest in the sight of God and Men abstaining from all Wrath Respect of Persons and unrighteous Judgment being far from Covetousness not hastily believing a Report against any Man not rigid in Judgment knowing that we are all faulty and obnoxious to Judgment Hence 5. They presided in Church-Consistories together with the Bishop and composed the executive part of the Ecclesiastical Court from whence it was called the Presbytery because in it as Tertullian says Approved Elders did preside 6. They had also the Power of Excommunication as Rogatianus and Numidicus Two Presbyters of Cyprian's Church by his Order join'd with some Bishops of his Nomination in the Excommunication of certain Schismaticks of his Diocess But of both these two Heads more will be spoken in another place 7. Presbyters restored returning Penitents to the Church's peace Thus we read in an Epistle of Dyonisius Bishop of Alexandria That a certain Offender called Serapion approaching to the time of his Dissolution Sent for one of the Presbyters to absolve him which the Presbyter did according to the Order of his Bishop who had before commanded That the Presbyters should absolve those who were in danger of Death 8. Presbyters Confirmed as we shall most evidently prove when we come to treat of Confirmation Only remark here by the way That in the days of Cyprian there was a hot Controversie Whether those that were baptized by Hereticks and came over to the Catholick Church should be received as Members thereof by Baptism and Confirmation or by Confirmation alone Now I would fain know Whether during the vacancy of a See or the Bishop's absence which sometimes might be very long as Cyprian was absent two years a Presbyter could not admit a returning Heretick to the Peace and Unity of the Church especially if we consider their positive Damnation of all those that died out of the Church If the Presbyters had not had this Power of Confirmation many penitent Souls must have been damn'd for the unavoidable Default of a Bishop which is too cruel and unjust to imagine 9. As for Ordination I find but little said of this in Antiquity yet as little as there is there are clearer Proofs of the Presbyters Ordaining than there are of their administring the Lord's Supper All Power and Grace saith Firmilian is constituted in the Church where Seniors preside who have the Power of Baptizing Confirming and Ordaining or as it may be rendred and perhaps more agreeable to the sense of the place Who had the Power as of Baptizing so also of Confirming and Ordaining What these Seniors were will be best understood by a parallel place in Tertullian for that place in Tertullian and this in Firmilian are usually cited to expound one another by most Learned Men as by the most Learned Dr. Cave and others Now the passage in Tertullian is this In the Ecclesiastical Courts approved Elders preside Now by these approved Elders Bishops and Presbyters must necessarily be understood because Tertullian speaks here of the Discipline exerted in one particular Church or Parish in which there was but one Bishop and if only he had presided then there could not have been Elders in the Plural Number but there being many Elders to make out their Number we must add the Presbyters to the Bishop who also presided with him as we shall more fully shew in another place Now the same that presided in Church-Consistories the same also ordained Presbyters as well as Bishops presided in Church-Consistories therefore Presbyters as well as Bishops Ordained And as in those Churches where there were Presbyters both they and the Bishop presided together so also they Ordained together both laying on their Hands in Ordination as St. Timothy was Ordained by the laying on of the Hands of the Presbytery that is by the Hands of the Bishop and Presbyters of that Parish where he was Ordained as is the constant signification of the word Presbytery in all the Writings of the Ancients But 10. Though as to every particular act of the Bishop's Office it
to the Gentiles declaring those glad Tidings to all Kingdoms and Provinces so that as the Apostle Paul said Rom. 10. 18. Their sound went into all the Earth and their words unto the ends of the World every one taking a particular part of the World for his proper Province to make known the joyful News of Life and Salvation through Christ therein Thus St. Andrew principally preach'd the Gospel in Scythia St. Bartholomew in India St. Matthew in Parthia St. John in the Lesser Asia and all the rest of the Apostles had their particular Provinces allotted them wherein they went forth preaching the Gospel and as they came to any City Town or Village they published to the Inhabitants thereof the blessed news of Life and Immortality through Jesus Christ constituting the first Converts of every place through which they passed Bishops and Deacons of those Churches which they there gathered So saith Clemens Romanus The Apostles went forth preaching in City and Country appointing the First Fruits of their Ministry for Bishops and Deacons generally leaving those Bishops and Deacons to govern and enlarge those particular Churches over which they had placed them whilst they themselves passed forwards planted other Churches and placed Governors over them Thus saith Tertullian Clemens was ordained Bishop of Rome by St. Peter and Polycarp Bishop of Smirna by St. John § 5. Whether in the Apostolick and Primitive days there were more Bishops than one in a Church at first sight seems difficult to resolve That the Holy Scriptures and Clemens Romanus mention many in one Church is certain And on the other hand it is as certain that Ignatius Tertullian Cyprian and the following Fathers affirm that there was and ought to be but one in a Church These Contradictions may at the first view seem Inextricable but I hope the following Account will reconcile all these seeming Difficulties and withal afford us a fair and easy Conception of the difference between the Ancient Bishops and Presbyters I shall then lay down as sure that there was but one Supreme Bishop in a place that was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Bishop by way of Eminency and Propriety The proper Pastor and Minister of his Parish to whose Care and Trust the Souls of that Church or Parish over which he presided were principally and more immediately committed So saith Cyprian There is but one Bishop in a Church at a time And so Cornelius Objects to Novatian That he did not remember that there ought to be but one Bishop in a Church And throughout the whole Epistles of Ignatius and the generality of Writers succeeding him we find but one single Bishop in a Church whose Quotations to which purpose would be fruitless to recite here since the 〈◊〉 Practice of the Universal Church confirms it and a great part of the following Discourse will clearly illustrate it Only it may not be impertinent to remark this by the way that by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Succession of Bishops from those Bishops who were Ordained by the Apostles the Orthodox were wont to prove the Succession of their Faith and the Novelty of that of the Hereticks Let them demonstrate the Original of their Churches as Tertullian challenges the Marcionites and other Hereticks Let them turn over the Orders of their Bishops and see whether they have had a Succession of Bishops from any one who was Constituted by the Apostles or Apostolick Men Thus the truly Apostolick Churches have as the Church of Smirna has Polycarp there placed by St. John and the Church of Rome Clement ordained by Peter and other Churches can tell who were ordained Bishops over them by the Apostles and who have been their Successors to this very day So also says Irenaeus We challenge the Hereticks to that Tradition which was handed down from the Apostles by the Succession of Bishops And in the next Chapter of the same Book the said Father gives us a Catalogue of the Bishops of Rome till his days by whom the true Faith was successively transmitted down from the Apostles in which Catalogue we find but one Bishop at a time and as he died so another single Person succeeded him in the Charge of that Flock or Parish So that this Consideration evidences also that there was but one Bishop strictly so called in a Church at a time who was related to his Flock as a Pastor to his Sheep and a Parent to his Children The Titles of this Supreme church-Church-Officer are most of them reckoned up in one place by Cyprian which are Bishop Pastour President Governour Superintendent and Priest And this is he which in the Revelations is called the Angel of his Church as Origen thinks which Appellations denote both his Authority and Office his Power and Duty of both which we shall somewhat treat after we have discoursed of the Circuit and Extent of his Jurisdiction and Superintendency which shall be the Contents of the following Chapter CHAP. II. § 1. As but one Bishop to a Church so but one Church to a Bishop The Bishop's Cure never call'd a Diocess but usually a Parish no larger than our Parishes § 2. Demonstrated by several Arguments § 3. A Survey of the extent of several Bishopricks as they were in Ignatius's days as of Smirna § 4. Ephesus § 5. Magnesia § 6. Philadelphia And § 7. Trallium § 8. The Bigness of the Diocess of Antioch § 9. Of Rome § 10. Of Carthage § 11. A Reflection on the Diocess of Alexandria § 12. Bishops in Villages § 13. All the Christians of a Diocess met together in one place every Sunday to serve God § 1. HAving in the former Chapter shewn that there was but one Bishop to a Church we shall in this evidence that there was but one Church to a Bishop which will appear from this single Consideration viz. That the ancient Diocesses are never said to contain Churches in the Plural but only a Church in the Singular So they say the Church of the Corinthians the Church of Smirna the Church in Magnesia the Church in Philadelphia the Church in Antioch and so of any other place whatsoever the Church of or in such a place This was the common name whereby a Bishops Cure was denominated the Bishop himself being usually called The Bishop of this or that Church as Tertullian saith That Polycarp was ordained Bishop of the Church of Smirna As for the Word Diocess by which the Bishops Flock is now usually exprest I do not remember that ever I found it used in this Sense by any of the Ancients But there is another Word still retained by us by which they frequently denominated the Bishops Cure and that is Parish So in the Synodical Epistle of Irenaeus to Pope Victor the Bishopricks of Asia are twice called Parishes And in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History the Word is so applied in several hundred places It is usual
of the Bishop We have proved that there was but one Bishop to a Church and one Church to a Bishop we have shewn the Bishop's Office and Function Election and Ordination what farther to add on this Head I know not For as for those other Acts which he performed jointly with his Flock we must refer them to another place till we have handled those other Matters which previously propose themselves unto us The first of which will be an Examination into the Office and Order of a Presbyter which because it will be somewhat long shall be the Subject of the following Chapter CHAP. IV. § 1. The Definition and Description of a Presbyter what he was § 2. Inferior to a Bishop in Degree § 3. But equal to a Bishop in Order § 4. The Reason why there were many Presbyters in a Church § 5. Presbyters not necessary to the Constitution of a Church § 6. When Presbyters began § 1. IT will be both needless and tedious to endeavour to prove that the Ancients generally mention Presbyters distinct from Bishops Every one I suppose will readily own and acknowledge it The great Question which hath most deplorably sharpned and sour'd the Minds of too many is what the Office and Order of a Presbyter was About this the World hath been and still is most uncharitably divided some equalize a Presbyter in every thing with a Bishop others as much debase him each according to their particular Opinions either advance or degrade him In many Controversies a middle way hath been the safest perhaps in this the Medium between the two Extremes may be the truest Whether what I am now going to say be the true 〈◊〉 of the Matter I leave to the Learned Reader to determin I may be deceived neither mine Years nor Abilities exempt me from Mistakes and Errors But this I must needs say That after the most diligent Researches and impartialest Enquiries The following Notion seems to me most plausible and most consentaneous to Truth and which with a great facility and clearness solves those Doubts and Objections which according to those other Hypotheses I know not how to answer But yet however I am not so wedded and bigotted to this Opinion but if any shall produce better and more convincing Arguments to the contrary I will not contentiously defend but readily relinquish it since I search after Truth not to promote a particular Party or Interest Now for the better Explication of this Point I shall first lay down a Definition and Description of a Presbyter and then prove the parts thereof Now the Definition of a Presbyter may be this A Person in Holy Orders having thereby an inherent Right to perform the whole Office of a Bishop but being possessed of no Place or Parish not actually discharging it without the Permission and Consent of the Bishop of a Place or Parish But lest this Definition should seem obscure I shall 〈◊〉 it by this following Instance As a Curate hath the same Mission and Power with the Minister whose Place he supplies yet being not the Minister of that place he cannot perform there any acts of his Ministerial Function without leave from the Minister thereof So a Presbyter had the same Order and Power with a Bishop whom he assisted in his Cure yet being not the Bishop or Minister of that Cure he could not there perform any parts of his Pastoral Office without the permission of the Bishop thereof So that what we generally render Bishops Priests and Deacons would be more intelligible in our Tongue if we did express it by Rectors Vicars and Deacons by Rectors understanding the Bishops and by Vicars the Presbyters the former being the actual Incumbents of a Place and the latter Curates or Assistants and so different in Degree but yet equal in Order Now this is what I understand by a Presbyter for the Confirmation of which these two things are to be proved I. That the Presbyters were the Bishops Curates and Assistants and so inferiour to them in the actual Exercise of their Ecclesiastical Commission II. That yet notwithstanding they had the same inherent Right with the Bishops and so were not of a distinct specifick Order from them Or more briefly thus 1. That the Presbyters were different from the Bishops in gradu or in degree but yet 2. They were equal to them in Ordine or in Order § 2. As to the first of these That Presbyters were but the Bishops Curates and Assistants inferiour to them in Degree or in the actual Discharge of their Ecclesiastical Commission This will appear to have been in effect already proved if we recollect what has been asserted touching the Bishop and his Office That there was but one Bishop in a Church That he usually performed all the parts of Divine Service That he was the general Disposer and Manager of all things within his Diocess there being nothing done there without his Consent and Approbation To which we may particularly add 1. That without the Bishop's leave a Presbyter could not baptize Thus saith Tertullian The Bishop hath the Right of Baptizing then the Presbyters and Deacons but yet for the Honour of the Church not without the Authority of the Bishop and to the same Effect saith Ignatius It is not lawful for any one to baptize except the Bishop permit him 2. Without the Bishop's permission a Presbyter could not administer the Lord's Supper That Eucharist says Ignatius is only valid which is performed by the Bishop or by whom he shall permit for it is not lawful for any one to celebrate the Eucharist without leave from the Bishop 3. Without the Bishops Consent a Presbyter could not preach and when he did preach he could not chuse his own Subject but discoursed on those Matters which were enjoyned him by the Bishop as the Bishop commanded Origen to preach about the Witch of Endor 4. Without the Bishop's Permission a Presbyter could not absolve Offenders therefore Cyprian severely chides some of his Presbyters because they dared in his absence without his Consent and Leave to give the Church's Peace to some offending Criminals But what need I reckon up particulars when in general there was no Ecclesiastical Office performed by the Presbyters without the Consent and Permission of the Bishop So says Ignatius Let nothing be done of Ecclesiastical Concerns without the Bishop for Whosoever doth any thing without the knowledge of the Bishop is a Worshipper of the Devil Now had the Presbyters had an equal Power in the Government of those Churches wherein they lived how could it have been impudent and usurping in them to have perform'd the particular acts of their Ecclesiastical Function without the Bishop's Leave and Consent No it was not fit or just that any one should preach or govern in a Parish without the permission of the Bishop or Pastor thereof for where Churches had been regularly formed under the Jurisdiction of their proper Bishops it
Ordained to their Office by Prayer and Imposition of Hands § 5. But as for the Ordination of Presbyters I shall more distinctly and largely treat of the Manner and Form thereof which seems to be as follows Whosoever desired to be admitted into this Sacred Office he first proposed himself to the Presbytery of the Parish where he dwelled and was to be Ordained desiring their Consent to his designed Intention praying them to confer upon him those Holy Orders which he craved Now we may suppose his Petition was to the whole Presbytery because a Bishop alone could not give those Holy Orders as is most evident from Cyprian who assures us that all Clerical Ordinations were performed by the Common Counsel of the whole Prebytery And therefore when upon a most urgent and necessary occasion he had been forced to ordain one but a Lector without the Advice and Consent of his Presbytery which one would be apt to think was no great Usurpation he takes great pains Ep. 24. p. 55. to justifie and excuse himself for so doing § 6. Upon this Application of the Candidate for the Ministry the Presbytery took it into their Consideration debated his Petition in their Common Council and proceeded to examine whether he had those Endowments and Qualifications which were requisite for that Sacred Office What those Gifts and Qualifications were touching which he was examined may be reduced to these Four Heads his Age his Condition in the World his Conversation and his Understanding As for his Age It was necessary for him to have lived some time in the World to have been of a ripe and mature Age for they ordained no Novices or young Striplings That was the Practice of the Hereticks whom Tertullian jeers and upbraids with Ordaining Raw and Vnexperienced Clerks But as for the Orthodox they took care to confer Orders on none but on such as were well stricken in years observing herein the Apostolick Canon in 1 Tim. 3. 6. Not a Novice lest being lifted up with Pride he fall into the Condemnation of the Devil But yet if any young Man was endued with extraordinary Grace and Ability the fewness of his Years was no Obstacle to his Promotion that being superseded by the Greatness of his Merit as we find in the case of Aurelius in Cyprian who tho' young in years yet for his eminent Courage and Excellency was graced with Ecclesiastical Orders And such an one I suppose was the Bishop of Magnesia in the times of Ignatius which gave occasion to that Exhortation to the People of that Diocese not to despise their Bishop's Age but to yield him all due Respect and Reverence § 7. As for his Condition in the World he was not to be entangled with any mundane Affairs but to be free from all secular Employments and at perfect Liberty to apply himself wholly to the Duties of his Office and Function This also was founded on that other Apostolick Canon in 2 Tim. 2. 4. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that 〈◊〉 may please him who hath chosen him to be a Soldier Which Words saith Cyprian if spoken of all How much more ought not they to be entangled with Secular Troubles and Snares who being busied in Divine and Spiritual things cannot leave the Church to mind earthly and worldly actions Which Religious Ordination as he goes on to write was emblematiz'd by the Levites under the Law for when the Land was divided and possessions were given to eleven Tribes the Levites who waited upon the Temple and Altar and the Sacred Offices thereof had no share in that Division but the others till'd the ground whilst they only worshipped God and received Tenths of the others Encrease for their Food and Sustenance all which hapned by the Divine Authority and Dispensation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who waited on Divine Employments should not be withdrawn therefrom or be forced either to think of or to do any Secular Affairs Which fashion as he there continues to write is now observed by the Clergy that those who are promoted to Clerical Ordinations should not be impeded in their Divine Administrations or iucumbred with secular Concerns and Affairs but as Tenths receiving Subscriptions from the Brethren depart not from the Altar and Sacrifices but night and day attend on Spiritual and Heavenly Ministrations These words were spoken on the occasion of a certain Bishop called Geminius Victor who at his Death made a certain Presbyter called Geminius Faustinus Trustee of his last Will and Testament which Trust Cyprian condemns as void and null Because a Synod had before decreed that no Clergyman should be a Trustee for this Reason because those who were in Holy Orders ought only to attend upon the Altar and its Sacrifices and to give themselves wholly to Prayer and Supplication It was a Blot in the Hereticks Ordinations that they Ordained such as were involved in the World and embarass'd with Carnal and Secular Concerns § 8. As for the Conversation of the 〈◊〉 to be Ordained he was to be humble and meek of an unspotted and exemplary Life So says Cyprian In all Ordinations we ought to choose Men of an unspotted Integrity who worthily and holily offering up Sacrifices to God may be heard in those Prayers which they make for the safety of their Flock For it is written God heareth not a Sinner but if any one be a Worshipper of him and doth his Will him he heareth Wherefore before they were Ordained they were proposed to the People for their Testimony and Attestation of their holy Life and Conversation But of this we shall speak more in another place Only it may not be improper to remember here that this is also an Apostolick Canon in 〈◊〉 Tim. 3. 2 3 7. A Bishop then must be Blameless the Husband of one Wife vigilant sober of good Behaviour given to hospitality apt to teach not given to Wine no Striker not guilty of filthy Lucre but Patient not a Brawler not Covetous Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without lest he fall into Reproach and the snare of the Devil § 9. As for the understanding of the Person to be Ordained he was to be of a good Capacity fit and able duly to teach others This is also another of the Apostolick Canons in 2 Tim. 2. 15. Study to shew thy self approved unto God a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of Truth And in 1 Tim. 3. 2. A Bishop must be apt to teach which implies an Ability of teaching and a 〈◊〉 of rightly understanding apprehending and applying the Word of God to which end Humane Learning was so conducive as that Origen pleads not only for its usefulness but also for its necessity especially for that part of it which we call Logick to find out the true Sense and Meaning of the Scripture as appears from this following Digression which
he will contradict all other Writers it being avouched by all that Synods did depose all those Bishops that were guilty of criminal and scandalous Enormities as Privatus Bishop of Lambese was deposed by a Synod of Ninety Bishops for his many and heinous Crimes § 7. But now excepting these three Causes of Apostacy Heresie and Immorality it was Schism in a Parish to leave their Minister or to set up another Bishop against him for tho' they at first chose their Bishop yet their Bishop being on their Choice approved and confirmed by the neighbouring Bishops they could not dethrone him without truly assigning one of those forementioned Causes for this was to gather a Church out of a Church to erect a new Altar and a new Bishop which could not be in one Church for as Cyprian writes God is one Christ is one the Church is one the Rock on which the Church is built is one wherefore to erect a new Altar and constitute a new Bishop besides the one Altar and the one Bishop is impracticable whosoever gathers here scatters so to do is adulterous impious sacrilegious mad and wicked From hence says Cyprian Schisms do arise that the Bishop is not obeyed and it is not considered that there ought to be but one Bishop and one Judge in a Church at a time And this is the Rise and Source of Schismaticks that through their swelling Pride they contemn their Bishop and so they go off from the Church so they erect a profane Altar and so they rebel against the Peace of Christ and the Ordination and Vnity of God And again From thence proceed Schisms that the Bishop who is but one and presides over the Church is contemned by the proud Presumption of Men and he that was thought worthy by God is esteemed unworthy by Men. And again The Church is the People united to their Bishop and the Sheep adhering to their Pastour the Bishop is in the Church and the Church in the Bishop whosoever are not with the Bishop are not in the Church and those do in vain flatter themselves who having not Peace with God's Priests creep about and privately communicate with some as they think when the Catholick Church is not divided but connexed and coupled together by the Vnity of its agreeing Bishops Whosoever therefore should causelesly desert his Bishop and solicit others so to do was a true Schismatick since in so doing he divided a Portion of the Flock with the Bishop separated the Sheep from their Pastour and dissipated the Members of Christ. From these Quotations then it is apparent that the Primitive Schism respected only a particular Church and consisted in a Person 's Separation from Communion with his lawful Bishop without a just and authentick Cause when any one should set up a particular Church in a particular Church in opposition to the lawful Bishop thereof and should draw away the Inhabitants of that Parish from the Communion of their legal Minister setting up distinct Meetings and Conventicles as Cyprian calls them This was true Schism for as Ignatius says whosoever so assembled were not congregated legally according to the Command And whosoever officiated without the Bishop sacrificed to the Devil § 8. This Notion now of Schism gives us a clear Reason why we find in Ignatius so frequent and Pathetick Injunctions of Obedience to and Unity with our respective Pastours of avoiding all Divisions and closely adhering to them because a deserting of them or a separating from them was a Commission of this horrid and detestable Sin of Schism as will appear from these following Exhortations and Instructions of his with which every Leaf almost of his Epistles are fraught and furnished All you of the Church of Smirna obey your Bishop as Jesus Christ did the Father and the Presbytery as the Apostles and honour the 〈◊〉 according to the Command of God Let nothing of Ecclesiastical Services be done without the Bishop let that Communion only be esteemed valid which is performed by the Bishop or by one permitted by him Wherever the Bishop is there let the People be as where Jesus Christ is there the Catholick Church is it is not lawful without the Bishop or one permitted by him to baptize or celebrate the 〈◊〉 this is pleasing unto God that so whatsoever is done may be firm and Legal Have respect unto your Bishop as God hath respect unto you My Soul for theirs that obey their Bishop Presbyters and Deacons and with them let my part in God be Let us not resist our Bishop lest we be found Resisters of God I exhort you to do every thing in the Vnity of God the Bishop presiding in the place of God and the Presbyters in the place of the Council of the Apostles and the Deacons persorming the intrusted Ministry of Jesus Christ let there nothing be in you that may divide you but be united to your Bishop and Presidents As therefore Christ did nothing without the Father being united to him neither by himself nor by his Apostles so do you nothing without the Bishop and Presbyters nor privately withdraw from them but assemble together having one Prayer one Supplication one Mind and one Hope Flee all Division where the Pastour is there as Sheep follow for there are many 〈◊〉 Wolves that seek to carry you away but let them have no place in your Vnity Whoever are God's and Jesus Christ's they are with the Bishop and whosoever repenting shall come to the Vnity of the Church those shall be God's that they may live according to Jesus Christ. Be not deceived my Brethren if any one follows a 〈◊〉 or one that causeth Division and Separation he shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Respect the Bishop Presbyters and Deacons do nothing without the Bishop Keep your Flesh as the Temple of God Love Vnity Avoid Schisms be followers of Jesus Christ as he was of his Father Where Division and Wrath is God dwells not God therefore pardons all Penitents if they penitentially return to the Vnity of God and the Presbytery of the Bishop And some other such like Expressions there are in the 〈◊〉 of this Father which evidently demonstrate Schism to be nothing else than a causeless Separation from our Parish Bishop or Minister and a wandring after or an Adhesion to another false and pretended Pastour § 9. But for the clearer Proof that this was what the Father 's meant by Schism it may not be altogether unnecessary to add unto these Quotations an Example or two for Examples more convincingly 〈◊〉 than bare Testimonies and Citations And here let us first view the Schism of Felicissimus in the hurch of Carthage as it is related in the 38th 40th and 55th Epistles of Cyprian and we shall find it respecting only that particular Church or Parish When Cyprian was elected Bishop of Carthage Felicissimus and others of his Faction opposed him but
whatsoever and therefore neither an African Synod nor Antonius an African Bishop would communicate with the Legates of Novatian Nor would Cornelius joyn in Communion with Felicissimus a Schismatick of Carthage when he came to Rome but as he was excluded from Communion in his own Church so likewise was he in that of Rome 2. It was the Custom when any Bishop was Elected to send News of his Promotion to other Bishops as Cornelius did to Cyprian that so he might have their Confirmation and their future Letters to the Bishop of that Church to which he was promoted might be directed unto him as Cyprian did unto Cornelius which Custom of sending Messengers to other Churches to acquaint them of their Advancement to the Episcopal Throne was also observed by the Schismaticks and in particular by Novatian who sent Maximus a Presbyter Augendus a Deacon Machaeus and Longinus unto Cyprian to inform him of his Promotion to the See of Rome Now if any Bishop or Church did knowingly approve the Pretensions of the Schismatical Bishop they broke the Concord of the Church and became guilty of Schism as may be gathered from the beginning of an Epistle of Cyprian's to Antonius an African Bishop wherein he writes him That he had received his Letter which firmly consented to the Concord of the Sacerdotal Colledge and adhered to the Catholick Church by which he had signified that he would not communicate with Novatian but hold an Agreement with Bishop Cornelius And therefore when Legates came to Cyprian both from Cornelius and Novatian he duly weighed who was legally Elected and finding Cornelius so to be he approved his Election Directed his Congratulatory Letters unto him refused to communicate with the Schismatical Messengers of Novatian and exhorted them to quit their Schism and to submit to their lawfully elected Bishop So that in these two respects the Schism of a particular Church might influence others also involving them in the same Crime creating Quarrels and Dissentions between their respective Bishops and so dividing the Dischargers of that Honourable Office whom God had made one for as Cyprian says As there is but one Church throughout the whole World divided into many Members so there is but one Bishoprick diffused through the agreeing Number of many Bishops § 11. But now that we may conclude this Chapter the Sum of all that hath been spoken concerning Schism is that Schism in its large Sense was a Breach of the Unity of the Church Universal but in its usual and restrained Sense of a Church Particular whosoever without any just reason through Faction Pride and Envy separated from his Bishop or his Parish Church he was a true Schismatick and whosoever was thus a Schismatick if we may believe Saint Cyprian He had no longer God for his Father nor the Church for his Mother but was out of the Number of the Faithful and though he should die for the Faith yet should he never be saved Thus much then shall serve for that Query concerning the Churches Unity The next and 〈◊〉 thing that is to be enquired into is the Worship of the Primitive Church that is the Form and Method of their Publick Services of Reading Singing Preaching Praying of Baptism Confirmation and the Lord's Supper of their Fasts and Feasts of their Rites and Ceremonies and such like which I thought to have annexed to this Treatise but this being larger than I expected and the Discourse relating to the Primitive Worship being like to be almost as large I have for this and 〈◊〉 other Reasons reserved it for a particular Tract by its self which if nothing prevents may be expos'd hereafter to publick View and Observation FINIS THE SECOND PART OF THE ENQUIRY INTO THE Constitution Discipline Unity Worship OF THE Primitive Church That Flourished within the First Three Hundred Years after CHRIST Faithfully Collected out of the Extant Writings of those Ages By an Impartial Hand LONDON Printed for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lyon and John Wyat at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1691. The Second Part of the Enquiry into the Constitution Discipline Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church CHAP. I. § 1. Of the Publick Worship of the Primitive Church § 2. In their Assemblies they began with Reading the Scriptures Other Writings Read besides the Scriptures § 3. Who Read the Scriptures from whence they were Read and how they were Read § 4. Whether there were appointed Lessons § 5. After the 〈◊〉 of the Scriptures there followed Singing of Psalms § 6. What Psalms they Sung § 7. The manner of their Singing § 8. Of Singing Men and of Church Musick § 9. To Singing of Psalms succeeded Preaching On what the Preacher discoursed How long his Sermon was § 10. The Method of their Sermons § 11. Who Preached usually the Bishop or by his Permission any other either Clergyman or Layman § 1. HAving in a former Treatise enquired into the Constitution Discipline and Unity of the Primitive Church I intend in this to enquire into the Worship thereof which naturally divides its self into these Two Parts Into the Worship its self and Into the necessary Circumstances thereof as Time and Place and such like both which I design to handle beginning first with the Worship its self wherein I shall not meddle with the Object thereof since all Protestants agree in the Adoring God alone through Jesus Christ but only speak of those Particular Acts and Services whereby in the Publick Congregations we honour and adore Almighty God such as Reading of the Scriptures Singing of Psalms Preaching Praying and the Two Sacraments every one of which I shall consider in their Order as they were performed in the Ancient Parish Churches And First § 2. When the Congregation was assembled the first Act of Divine Service which they performed was the Reading of the Holy Scriptures In our Publick Assemblies says Tertullian The Scriptures are Read Psalms Sung Sermons Preached and Prayers presented So also Just in Martyr writes that in their Religious Assemblies first of all The Writings of the Prophets and Apostles were read But besides the Sacred Scriptures there were other Writings read in several Churches viz. The Epistles and Tracts of Eminent and Pious Men such as the Book of Hermas called Pastor and the Epistle of Clemens Romanus to the Church of Corinth which were read in the publick Congregations of many Churches § 3. He that read the Scriptures was particularly destinated to this Office as a Preparative to Holy Orders as Aurelius whom Cyprian design'd for a Presbyter was first to begin with the Office of reading The Name by which this Officer was distinguished was in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Latin Lector both which signifie in English a Reader or as we now call him a Clark The Place from whence the Clark Read was an Eminency erected in the Church that so all
this Chapter and his Gospel with saying that when the Apostles went 〈◊〉 and Preached the Lord 〈◊〉 with them and confirmed the Word with Signs following So that these were extraordinary Actions 〈◊〉 promised to the 〈◊〉 and first 〈◊〉 of the Faith of Christ. But now it is evident from the forementioned Determination of Vincentius Bishop of 〈◊〉 that in his Age they apprehended them to be like Baptism ordinary and standing Administrations in the Church and so 〈◊〉 in the Sense of the fore-cited Text introduced for an ordinary and constant Practice that which was promised by Christ for an extraordinary and miraculous Gift Christ promised his 〈◊〉 the miraculous Power of casting Devils out of Bodies possessed by them But these Fathers understood this Promise of the common Spiritual Effects of the Gospel which where it is believingly received delivers that Person from the Desusion and Dominion of the Devil under which we all naturally are being by Nature Children of Wrath and for the Declaration of this invisible Freedom and Deliverance which they all thought to be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Baptism they made use of this external Sign of Exorcism just before Baptism to declare thereby that now the unclean Devil with all his Power and Tyranny was cast out of that Person who was now going in and by 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 to the Service of a 〈◊〉 Master viz. of the Blessed Trinity Father Son and Holy Ghost God blessed for evermore § 3. When 〈◊〉 was 〈◊〉 then came Baptism its self and the Person being ready to be Baptized the Minister by Prayer 〈◊〉 the Water for that use because it was not any Water but only that Water as Sedatus Bishop of Turbo writes which is sanctified in the Church by the Prayers of the Minister that 〈◊〉 away Sin It is true indeed as Tertullian writes That any Waters 〈◊〉 Sacramentum sanctificationis consequuntur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 supervenit 〈◊〉 statim 〈◊〉 de Coelis Baptism p. 598. may be applyed to that use but then God must be first Invocated and then the Holy Ghost presently comes down from Heaven moves upon them and 〈◊〉 them 〈◊〉 saith Cyprian The Water must be first 〈◊〉 and sanctified by the Priest that by its washing it may wash away the Sins of Man that is Baptized § 4. The Water being Consecrated the Person was then Baptized in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost So writes Justin 〈◊〉 They are baptized in the Name of God the Father Lord of all and of our Saviour Jesus Christ and of the Holy Ghost For as Clemens 〈◊〉 says The baptized Person by this Dedication to the Blessed Trinity is delivered from the corrupt Trinity viz. The Devil the World and the Flesh and is now Sealed by the Father Son and Holy Ghost This Baptizing in the Name of Trinity Origen terms The Invocation of the Adorable Trinity § 5. As for the 〈◊〉 of Water employed in Baptism that is whether they 〈◊〉 or dipped to me it seems evident that their 〈◊〉 Custom was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or dip the whole Body When St. Barnabas describes a baptized Person by his going down into the Water We go down saith he into the Water full of Sin and Filth but we ascend with Fruit and Benefit in our Hearts And so Tertullian represents baptized Persons as entred into the Water And as let down into the Water And Justin Martyr describes the same by being washed in Water and calls the place where they are baptized 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a washing-place or a Bath whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 against the Baptism of Hereticks condemns it as carnal and as being upon that account no 〈◊〉 different from the Baptism or washing of the Jews which they used as a common and ordinary Bath to wash away the 〈◊〉 of their Bodies § 6. But though Immersion was their usual Custom yet Perfusion or Sprinkling was not accounted unlawful but in cases of necessity that was used as in Clinic Baptism which was when sick Persons whose Deaths they apprehended were Baptized in their Beds as 〈◊〉 being sick and 〈◊〉 Death as was 〈◊〉 was Baptized in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perfusion or Pouring on of Water It is true indeed this Baptism was not generally esteemed as perfect as the more solemn Baptism for which Reason it was a Custom in some Churches not to advance any to Clerical Orders who had been 〈◊〉 Baptized an Instance whereof we have in the Church of Rome where the Ordination of Novatian to be a Presbyter was opposed by all the Clergy and by many of the 〈◊〉 as unlawful because of his Clinic Perfusion But yet that they held it not altogether or absolutely unlawful to be done appears from that on the Intreaties of the Bishop they consented that he should be ordained as he accordingly was And Cyprian in a set Discourse on this Subject declares that he thought this Baptism to be as perfect and 〈◊〉 as that done more solemnly by Immersion for when one Magnus writ to him 〈◊〉 his Opinion whether those were 〈◊〉 baptized who through their 〈◊〉 were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but only perfused or aspers'd he 〈◊〉 Nos quantum concipit mediocritas nostra 〈◊〉 in nullo mutilari 〈◊〉 posse divina beneficia nec minus aliquid illic posse contingere ubi plena tota 〈◊〉 dantis sumentis accipitur quod de divinis muneribus hauritur Neque enim sic in Sacramento Salutari delictorum contagia ut in lavacro carnali seculari 〈◊〉 cutis corporis 〈◊〉 ut aphronitris 〈◊〉 quoque adjumentis Solio Piscina opus fit quibus ablui mundari corpusculum 〈◊〉 Aliter pectus credentis abluitur aliter mens hominis per fidei merita mundatur In Sacramentis 〈◊〉 necessitate cogente Deo indulgentiam suam 〈◊〉 totum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divina compendia Nec quemquam movere debet quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 persundi videantur aegri cum gratiam dominicam 〈◊〉 quando 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per Ezechielem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspergam super vos aquam 〈◊〉 mundabi mini ab omnibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab omnibus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vos dabo vobis cor novum Spiritum novum dabo in vobis Item in Numeris homo qui 〈◊〉 immundus usque ad 〈◊〉 hic 〈◊〉 dietertio die septimo mundus erit si 〈◊〉 non suerit purificatus die tertio die septimo non erit mundus exterminabitur anima illa de Israel quoniam aqua aspersionis non est super eum sparsa Et iterum locutus est Dominus ad Moysen dicens accipe 〈◊〉 de 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Israel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ita 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 purificationem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aqua purificationis iterum aqua aspersionis purificatio est Unde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quoque aquae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lavacri obtinere quando haec in ecclesia 〈◊〉 ubi sit dantis accipientis 〈◊〉 integra stare omnia