Bishopricks were contained that e Insuper praeter septem collaterales Episcopos erant alii Episcopt qui dicuntur suffraganci Romani Pontificis nulli alii Primati vel Archiepiscopo subjectis qui frequenter ad Synodos vocarentur MS. Vatican apud Baron ann 1057. §. 23. were immediatly subject to the Bishop of Rome and frequently called to his Synods the names whereof are found registred in the Records of that Church The antiquity of which number as it may in some sort receive confirmation from the Roman Synod of seventy Bishops held under Gelasius so for the distinction of the Bishops which belonged to the city of Rome from those that appertayned to Italy we have a farr more ancient testimony from the Edict of the Emperour Aurelian who in the controversy that arose betwixt Paulus Samosatenus and Domnus for the house which belonged unto the Church of Antioch commanded that it should be delivered to them f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Niceophorus Callist lib. 6. hist cap. 29. but Eusebius lib. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more fully 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to whom the Bishops of Italy and Rome should by their letters declare that it ought to be given which distinction aswell in the forecited g Ex provinciâ Italiae civitate Mediolanen c. Ex provinciâ Romanâ civitate Portuen ut suprà Acts of the Councell of Arles as in the Epistles of the h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synod Sardic epist ad Alexandrino in 2. Athanasii Apologiâ tomo 1. Oper edit Commelin pag. 588. Sardican Synod and i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas epist ad solitar vit agentes ibid. pag. 640. At hanasius may likewise be observed the name of Italy being in a more strict sense applyed therein to the seven provinces which were under the civill jurisdiction of the Vicarius or Lievtenant of Italy and the Ecclesiasticall of the Bishop of Millaine And it is well worth the observing that the Fathers of the great Councell of Nice afterwards confirming this kind of primacy not only in the Bishops of Rome and Antioch k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nicaen 1. Can. 6. but also in the Metropolitans of other Provinces doe make their entrance into that Canon with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let the ANCIENT customes continue Which openeth unto us the meaning of that complaint which some threescore and tenne yeares before this S. Cyprian made against Novatianus for the confusion which by his schisme he brought upon the Churches of God that l Cùm jampridem per omnes provincias per urbes singulas ordinati sint Episcopi in aetate antiqui in fide integri in pressurâ probati in persecutione proscripti ille super eos creare alios pseudoepiscopos audeat Cyprian epist 52. whereas long since in all Provinces and in all Cities Bishops had been ordained in age ancient sound in faith tryed in affliction proscribed in persecution yet took he the boldnesse to create other false Bishops over their heads namely subordinate Bishops in every City and Metropolitans in every Province In Africk at that time although there were many civill Provinces yet was there but one Ecclesiasticall whereof Cyprian himselfe was m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Constantinopol in Trullo can 2. Arch-bishop as the Fathers of the Trullan Synod call him It pleased saith he in one of his Epistles n Vniversis Episcopis vel in nostrâ provinciâ vel trans nare constitutu Cyprian epist 40. all the Bishops constituted either in our province or beyond the sea intimating thereby that all the Bishops which were on his side the sea did belong unto one province o Quoniam latiùs fusa est nostra provincia habet etiam Numidiam Mauritanias duas sibi cohaerentes Id. epist 45. For our province saith he in another place is spread more largely having Numidia also and both the Mauritaniaes annexed unto it Whence that great Councell assembled by him for determining the question touching the baptizing of those that had been baptized by Hereticks is said to bee gathered p Ex provinciâ Africâ Numidià Mauritaniâ Concil Cypriam out of the province of Africa Numidia and Mauritania For howsoever in the civill government the Proconsular Africa wherein Carthage was seated Numidia and both the Mauritanies Sitifensis Caesareensis were accounted three distinct provinces yet in the Ecclesiasticall administration they were joyned together and made but one province immediatly subject to the Metropoliticall jurisdiction of the prime see of Carthage Some threescore yeares before this African Councell was held by Cyprian those other Provinciall Synods were assembled by the Metropolitans of sundry nations for the composing of the Paschall controversy then hotly pursued and among the rest that in our neighbour country out of q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb histor lib. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the parishes for so in the ancient language of the Church those precincts were named which now we call dioceses of which Irenaeus had the superintendency whence also hee wrote that free Epistle unto Victor Bishop of Rome r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the person of those brethren over whom he was president at which time and before the ſ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most famous Metropoles of that country and so the t 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. ibid. most eminent Churches therein were Lyons Vienna in the one whereof Irenaeus was then no les renowned a Prelat then Cyprian was afterwards in Africa Dionysius the famous Bishop of Corinth was elder then they who among many other Epistles directed one u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. lib. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Church of Gortyna and all the rest of the Churches of Crete wherein he saluted their Bishop Philip. whereby it appeareth that at that time aswell as in the ages following Gortyna was the Metropolis and the Bishop thereof the Metropolitan of all the rest of that whole Iland Which kind of superintendency there Eusebius the ancientest Ecclesiasticall historian now extant deriveth from the very times of Titus whom out of the histories that were before his time he relateth to have held x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishoprick of the Churches in Crete With whom the Grecians of after times doe fully concurre as appeareth both by the subscription annexed by them unto the Epistle of S. Paul y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Titus ordained as there they say the first Bishop of the Church of the Cretians and by the argument out of Theodoret prefixed by them before the same speaking of him to the same effect that z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodoret argument epist ad Tit. in Occumenio he was by Paul ordained Bishop of that great countrey and had commission
Residence were the Metropoles Concil Constantinop 1. can 2. which also the second Canon of the second generall Councell afore mentioned doth clearely import But I shall not thus satisfy you perhaps except the second point also be declared namely to whose Government the Churches of all other Provinces did belong Touching which I will tell you briefly what searching the best I could into the ancient Ordination and government both Civill and Ecclesiasticall of the Empire of Rome I have observed The whole Empire of Rome was divided into XIII Dioceses whereof VII belonged to the East Empire and VI. beside the Prefecture of the city of Rome before mentioned to the West Those XIII Dioceses together with that Prefecture contained among them CXX Provinces or thereabout so that to e-every Diocese belonged the administration of sundry Provinces Lastly every Province contained many Cities within their territories The Cities had for their Rulers those inferiour Iudges which in the Law are tearmed Defensores civitatum and their seats were the cities themselves to which all the Townes and Villages in their severall territories were to resort for justice The Provinces had for theirs either Proconsules or Consulares or Praesides or Correctores foure sundry appellations but almost all of equall authority and their seats were the chiefest cities or Metropoles of the Provinces of which in every Province there was one to which all the inferiour cities for judgement in matters of importance did resort Lastly the Dioceses had for theirs the Lievtenants called Vicarij and their seats were the Metropoles or principall cities of the Diocese whence the edicts of the Emperour or other Lawes were published and sent abroad into all the Provinces of the Diocese and where the Praetorium and chiefe Tribunall for judgement was placed to determine the Appeales and minister justice as might be occasion to all the Provinces belonging to that jurisdiction And this was the disposition of the Roman Governours for to speake of the severall properties of these subordinate Rulers government were tedious and for our purpose needlesse And truly it is wonderfull how neerely and exactly the Church in her Government did imitate this civill Ordination of the Roman Magistrates For first in every city as there was a Defensor civitatis for secular government so was there placed a Bishop for spirituall regiment in every city of the East and in every city of the West almost a severall Bishop whose jurisdiction extended but to the city and the places within the Territory of it for which cause the jurisdiction of a Bishop was anciently knowne by no other name but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying not as many ignorant Novelists think a parish as now the word is taken that is the places or habitations neere a Church but the Townes and Villages neere a city all which together with the City the Bishop had in charge Secondly in every Province as there was a President so was there an Arch-Bishop and because his Seat was the principall City of the Province he was commonly knowne by the name of Metropolitan Lastly in every Diocese as there was a Lievetenant-Generall so was there a Primate seated also in the principall city of the Diocese as the Lievtenant was to whom the last determining of Appeales from all the Provinces in differences of the Clergy and the soveraigne care of all the Diocese for sundry points of spirituall government did belong So that by this discourse it appeareth that 1. a Bishop in the ancient acception was the chiefe spirituall governour of a City 2. A Metropolitan chiefe of a Province 3. a Primate chiefe of a whole Diocese which was anciently a farre greater matter then a Province as containing the joynt administration of many Provinces although now it import a farre lesse jurisdiction even that Precinct which anciently 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 did Now of what Cities these Primates of the Dioceses were Bishops and what Provinces belonged to the jurisdiction of every one I could set downe but I should be long which I am loth to be loving a great deale better sparingnesse then prolixity of discourse and specially at this present when I have no leasure to spare But by this that I have already said of the number of the Dioceses you may see that there were XI Primates besides the III. Patriarchs for of the XIII Dioceses besides the Praefecture of the city of Rome which as before I said was administred by the Patriarch of Rome that of Egypt was governed by the Patriarch of Alexandria and that of the Orient by the Patriarch of Antiochia and all the rest by the Primates Yet I must confesse that in Africa as it is to be seen in sundry of the African Councells the name of Primates and Metropolitans was promiscuously used for the superintendents of single Provinces although the just power and dignity of Primate belonged but to one among them all Now touching the power and jurisdiction of these Primates although it was no lesse then that of the Patriarchs the office being the same as you may see in Anacletus his epistles Anaclet epistol ad Episcop Ital. Gratian. Dist 99. and in Gratian and the name also of Patriarchs of the Dioceses being commonly given unto them by Iustinian yet the honour was somewhat lesse the Patriarchs ever having precedence and priority of place in Councells and that in a certaine order first Rome then Alexandria and then Antiochia But if you should aske me the reason why all these soveraigne Bishops being equall in power only three of them till the ambition of the Bishops of Constantinople and Ierusalem had obtained that title had the name of Patriarchs Gelas in Concil 1. Romano Gregor lib. 6. Ep. 37. ad Eulog I can yeild no better although I know some Bishops of Rome have pretended other then either because from these three cities above all others the Christian Religion was dispersed abroad among many nations in acknowledgement whereof Christians reverenced them as mother-Churches above all the rest or else for the great dignity of the cities themselves exceeding all other of the Roman Empire For first of Rome the Lady of the world there is no question Dio Chrysost in orat 32. ad Alexandrinos Aristid in orat de Romae laudib but she surpassed all the rest and of Alexandria Dion Chrysostomus and Aristides have recorded it to be the second as Iosephus also hath registred Antiochia for the third city of all the Empire And as for the Vnity of the Church the preservation whereof you suppose might be the finall cause of reducing all Christian countries under the Regiment of those three Patriarchs it was otherwise singularly provided for partly by the excellent subordination before touched of inferiour Clerks to Bishops in every City of Bishops to Metropolitans in every Province and of Metropolitans to Patriarchs or Primates in every Diocese and partly if the wounds and rents of the Church by
Brerewood OXFORD Printed by LEON LICHFIELD Anno Dom. 1641. THE JUDGEMENT OF M. BUCER touching the Originall of BISHOPS And METROPOLITANS BY the perpetuall observation of the Churches M. Bucer de Regno Christi ad R. Edvardum VI. lib. 2. cap. 12. inter scripta ejusdem Anglicana pag. 67. even from the Apostles themselves we doe see that it seemed good to the holy Ghost that among the Presbyters to whom the ordering of the Churches was chiefly committed some one should be appointed to have a singular charge of the Churches and the whole sacred Ministery who by that care and sollicitude had a presidency over all the rest For which cause the name of of Bishop was peculiarly attributed unto these chiefe governours of Churches although they ought to decree nothing without the counsell of the rest of the Presbyters who themselves also by reason of this common administration of the Churches have the name of Bishops in the Scriptures given unto them So we may see Idem de Animarum curâ officioque Pastor Eccles ibid. pag. 280. Act. 20.28 that by the ordinance of the holy Ghost the care of soules and the pastorall office ought to be imposed upon all the Presbyters of the Church in common And from hence S. Hierome did rightly collect that the Presbyters and Bishops office and charge was one and the same Hierome indeed writeth this withall that in the beginning of the Church those Presbyters tooke care of the Church and governed it by common counsell and that then at length one of the Presbyters was set over the rest and peculiarly called a Bishop when sects and heresies began to arise in the Church and every one laboured to advance his owne sect But it is not credible that this was so observed long nor in all Churches neither For as we have cleare testimonies out of the Fathers that were more ancient then Hierome in all the chiefe Churches from the Apostles times thus it was observed that the Episcopall office indeed was imposed upon all the Presbyters yet so notwithstanding that alwaies even in the times of the Apostles themselves one of the Presbyters was chosen and ordained to be a guide of this office and as it were a Prelate who went before all the rest and had the care of soules and administred the Episcopall office chiefly and in the highest degree Hence also our Lord Idem de vi usu S. ministerii explicat Cantabrigiae ann 1550. ibid. pag. 581. 582. when he would have his to be conjoyned and cohere one with another as members doe in the body he subjecteth every one of his unto others by whom as by members of a more ample and large power and efficacy hee might bee preserved moved and directed The same doth the holy Ghost command Eph. 5.21 Submit your selves one to another in the feare of God The holy Fathers therefore of old considering these things appointed such an order in the Clergy that all the rest of that rank should bee kept and governed by the singular care of the Presbytery and that among the Presbyters the Bishop as the Consul among the Senators of the Common-wealth should take upon him the chiefe care and custody as of the whole Church so specially of the whole order of the Clergy Such Bishops did they ordaine in all more populous Churches and to each of those Churches they commended those others that were more neare unto them in the smaller townes or villages And to that purpose would have each of the Presbyters and overseers of those Churches whom they called Chorepiscopi to be obedient to the Bishop and Presbytery that was next unto them whom those other prime Bishops did upon all occasions call together with the rest of their Clergy and informed them in the skill and diligence which was to bee used in the discharge of their function Now seeing it was Gods will that all his servants should mutually embrace and take care each of other as farre and wide as their ability could reach unto all Christians being but one body the holy Fathers did ordaine that the Bishops of every Province for all the nations subject to the Romans were now distributed into Provinces should meet together with the Presbyters and Deacons as oft as the need of the Churches did so require but constantly twice in the yeare that they might enquire touching Christs doctrine and discipline how it was administred and maintained in every Church and where they did find any thing faulty they might correct it but such things as they did find were right they might confirme and further And that these Synods might bee administred rightly and in due order they would have the Metropolitans take the charge both of congregating and moderating them to wit the Bishops of every Metropolis for so was the chiefe city of every Province called wherein was the Court of the supreme President And to this end they imposed upon these Metropolitan Bishops a kind of charge and care of all the Churches within their Province that if they did understand any thing were not rightly ordained or done either by the ministers of the Churches or by the people they might admonish them thereof in time and if by their admonitions they could not amend it they might call together a Synod of the Bishops to correct it The Judgement of DOCTOR RAINOLDES touching the same VVHen a Act. 14.23 Elders were ordained by the Apostles in every Church b Tit. 1.5 through every City D. Rainold Conference with Hart in the end of the 3. and beginning of the 5. division c Act. 20.28 to * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to doe the duty of a Pastor to it feed the flock of Christ whereof the holy Ghost had made them Overseers they to the intent they might the better doe it by common counsell and consent did use to assemble themselves and meet together In the which meetings for the more orderly handling and concluding of things pertaining to their charge they chose one amongst them to be the President of their company and Moderatour of their actions As in the Church of Ephesus though it had d Acts 20.17 sundry Elders and Pastors to guide it yet amongst those sundry was there one chiefe whom our Saviour calleth e Rev. 2 1. the Angell of the Church and writeth that to him which by him the rest should know And this is he whom afterward in the Primitive Church the Fathers called Bishop For as the name of Ministers f 1. Cor. 4.1 common to all them who serve Christ in * Luk. 12.42 the stewardship of the mysteries of God that is in preaching of the Gospell is now by the custome of our English speech restrained to Elders who are under a Bishop g 1. Tim. 3.2 Tit. 1.7 Act. 20.28 so the name of Bishop common to all Elders and Pastors of the Church was then by the usuall language of the Fathers
to gather at large as o Erasm Annot in Act. 16 Rom. 16. Erasmus did after him that Asia in the New Testament denoteth that part of Asia minor in which Ephesus standeth It is here also further to be noted that as in the state of the civill governement the jurisdiction of the annuall Presidents by Aristides styled p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristid in orat citat quum antea dixisset 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishops was extended unto all the cities that were contained within the limits of their severall provinces so in the Easterne empire especially the Ecclesiasticall regiment was herein conformed unto the civill there being but one Metropolitan Bishop setled in every Province unto whom the Bishops of all the rest of the cities were subordinated By which meanes it came to passe that of the seven Churches in Asia spoken of in the book of the Revelation Ephesus alone in the dayes of Constantine had the Metropoliticall dignity lest unto it Then after the dayes of Valens the Emperour Lydia being separated from Asia the Bishop of Sardis which had been the q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strabo lib. 13. pag. 625. ancient seat of the Lydian Kings became the Metropolitan of that province the sees of Philadelphia and * In the Latin edition of the subscriptions adjoyned unto the 6 Action of the Councell of Chalcedon Thyatira is made subject to Synnada but the Greeke readeth there not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather a see well knowne to be suffragan to Synnada which Synnada in Socratis histor Ecclesiast lib. 7. cap. 3. is by another error made to be a city of Phrygia Pacatiana whereas it was without all controverfy the Metropolis of Phrygia Salutaris See the subscript of the V. generall Councell Collat. 8. Thyatira being made subject to him as Smyrna and Pergamus were to the Bishop of Ephesus There remained then of the seven only Laedicea which got the honour of being the Metropolis of Phrygia Pacatiana as we read in the Greeke subscription of the first epistle unto Timothy the latenesse whereof is thence rightly collected by the learned q Vnde satis liquere potest de subscriptione primae epistolae ad Timotheum recentiorem eam esse Cujac in exposit Novell 145. Cujacius For as the distinction of Phrygia Pacatiana and Salutaris is no where to be found before the distribution of the provinces made by Constantine so at that time also when but one Metropolis was allotted unto every Province it is a question whether of those two * Laodicea and Hierapolis as they were neere one another and so conjoyned by the Apostle in Coloss 4.13 so have they the first place also assigned unto them among the cities of Phrygia Pacariana by Hierocles in the civill list of the Provinces Append Geogr. sacr pag. 21. prime cities that were so neare together Hierapolis which without all controversie was acknowledged to belong unto Phrygia was not rather chosen to be the mother city therein then Laodicea which by reason of the doubtfull situation thereof as wee have heard was indifferently challenged to appertaine unto Phrygia Garia and Lydia In the dayes of the succeeding Emperours indeed r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Chalcedon Can. 12. who yielded so farre to the ambition of some Bishops that they were content there should bee two Metropolitans in one Province both these cities were accounted for the Metropoles of Phrygia Pacatiana which is the cause why in the fourth generall Councell assembled at Chalcedon aswell ſ Concil Chalced. Act. 6. Nunechius Bishop of the Metropolis of Laodicea as Stephen Bishop of the Metropolis of Hierapolis doe subscribe for themselves and the absent Bishops which were under them as also in the fifth generall Councell held at Constantinople there is mention made at the same time t Concil V. Collat. 8. of Iohn Bishop of the Metropolis of the Laodiceans and Auxanon Bishop of the Metropolis of the Hierapolitans and in the sixth of Tiberius Bishop of the Laodiceans and Sisinnius of the Hierapolitans either of them giving unto his seat the title u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil VI. Constantinop Act. 18. of the Metropolis of the Pacatian Phrygians And although by a Canon of the said Councell of Chalcedon it was provided that any Bishop which afterward x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Chalced. can 12. would attempt to make such divisions to the derogation of the rights of his owne Metropolitan should be deprived of his dignity and that y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. the new Metropoles formerly constitured by the Imperiall Charters should so content themselves with this honour that the proper rights should still be preserved unto that which was the Metropolis indeed yet we see for all this that z Notit Graec. in Appendic Geograph sacr pag. 16. 18. item 48. 52. Iur. Graeco Roman tom 1. pag. 94. 98. in the lists of the Bishopricks of the East made in the succeeding times there are still distinct suffragans reckoned under these two Metropolitans of Laodicea and Hierapolis and that diverse other private Bishops were not hereby restrained from aspiring unto a Metropoliticall dignity among whom to speak only of those who are within our compasse was the Bishop of Smyrna who found the means to be made first a Notir Graec. in Append Geograph sacr pag. 8. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or independent and then b Iur. Graeco-Roman tom 1. pag. 88. 45. a Metropolitan with c Ibid. pag. 100. seven suffragans depending upon him d Georg. Codin Curopalat de Offic. Constantinop pag. 221. 237. edit Fr. Iunii the Bishop of Pergamus who was exempted likewise from his subordination to Ephesus and made a Metropolitan by himselfe and the Bishop of Philadelphia e Ibid. pag. 219. 231. who by Andronicus Palaeologus the elder was substituted into the place of the Bishop of Sardis and made Metropolitan of all Lydia So as of the Bishops of the seven Churches mentioned in the book of the Revelation he of Thyatira only excepted all at the last became Metropolitans as they were at the first But among all these the See of Ephesus had evermore the preeminence And as it was the mother city of the Proconsular Asia so was that Asia likewise the prime Province of all the Asian Diocese and had in such esteem that the Proconsul thereof was exempted from the jurisdiction of the Praefectus Praetorio Orientis as before we have heard out of Eunapius unto which the Vicarius or Lievtenant of the rest of the Asian diocese was subject Gonformably whereunto in the Ecclesiasticall government the Bishop of Ephesus was not only held to bee the Metropolitan of the Proconsular Asia but also the Primate of all the provinces that were contained within the compasse
heresy or schisme were growne more wide and dangerous by the congregation of Councels either Provinciall by the Metropolitan or Patriarchall by the Patriarch or Primate or Generall by the Emperour according to the severall necessities of the Church The second Question To what Patriarch was the Church and Bishop of Carthage subject To Alexandria or Rome Answere TO neither of both But he himselfe was Primate and consequently had Patriarchicall jurisdiction in all the provinces there were VI. of them of the Diocese of Afrique for of the XIII Dioceses of the Empire before mentioned that of Afrique was one So that all the Region of Afrique excepting the most Aesterly part of it called Mauritania Tingitana for that Province belonged to the jurisdiction or Diocese of Spaine as it is in Notitiâ Provinciarum and the Easterly part beyond the greater Syrtis for that belonged to the jurisdiction of Egypt all the rest of Afrique I say was subject to Carthage as their chiefe Primate Chiefe Primate I must tearme him speaking now of Afrique because as before I observed the Africans usually called all their Metropolitans Primates contrary to the custome of the rest of Christendome But yet as I said the principall power of Primate in Afrique belonged to the Arch-Bishop of Carthage alone Novell 131. cap. 1. For Iustinian doth plainly give him the same jurisdiction and prerogative in the Diocese of Afrique that he did to the Bishop of Iustiniana prima in the Diocese of Dacia that is to say as you shall understand by mine answer to your last Question of an absolute Primate Which assignement or donation of Iustinians notwithstanding you must not conceive to be the first erecting of it to that dignity but the restoring of it when as by the service of Belisarius he had recovered it with Afrique out of the Vandales hands who had held the dominion and possession of it many yeares to the state of Primacy wherein it had been before they surprised it Stephan de Vrbib in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leo. 9. Epist 4. Salvian lib. 7. de gubernatione Dei Stephanus Byzantius also I remember calleth it the Metropolis of Afrique and Leo the IX a Pope acknowledgeth it to have been the Metropolis of all Afrique and that which Salvianus writeth of it in the 7. book importeth no lesse But above all the erecting of it by Iustinian into a Praetorian Praefecture doth most evidently assure it assigning it not a Lievetenant Vicarium as it had before it came into the Vandales hands when it was under the jurisdiction of the Praefectus Praetorij Italiae but as I said à Praefectus Praetorio Cod. lib. 1. tit 27. de offic Praefect Praetor Africx leg 1. as it is in the Code and annexing to his jurisdiction two Provinces more then anciently pertained to it For even the principall Cities of Dioceses wherein the Vicarij kept residence were cities of Primacies much rather therefore those that were the seats of the Praefecti Praetorio whose places the Vicarij did but supply Now for your first doubt of Lybia in the Nicene Canon attributed to the Patriarch of Alexandia you must understand that it is there taken properly for that region of Afrique which retained peculiarly the name of Lybia of which you may read in S. Hierome in his Questions on Genesis where he entreateth of the progeny of Noahs sonnes The situation of it Prosem lib. 4. Geograph in initio in tab 3 Africae Procop lib. 6 Aedificior you may find in Ptolemy to bee that region of Afrique that lyeth next to Egypt and for the amplitude Procopius may direct you that it anciently contained all that was betwixt Egypt and Cyrenaica Yet true it is that the name of Lybia in a generall acception contained all the regions of Afrique and the very like was the fortune of the name Africa it selfe which properly signifying the region about Carthage yet became common to all the Countries from Spaine to Egypt And may we not observe the same in the names of the other grand Regions of the Continent Asia and Europe for Europa properly was but one of the Provinces of Thrace whereof Heraclea was the Metropolis and Asia properly taken but one of the Provinces of Anatolia whereof the Metropolis was Ephesus And that the name of Lybia in the Nicene Canon is to be taken in this peculiar sense the Canon it selfe will enforce not only because it is ordered in the Canon in such sort as indeed the Countries lye betwixt Egypt Pentapolis Pentapolis is the same that is otherwise termed Cyrenaica but much more effectually for the former reason perhaps is but light because it had been vaine to have added Pentapolis after Lybia if they had meant by Lybia all the great Region of Afrique whereof Pentapolis was but a small part As for the point of Appeales certaine it is that the last appeales of the Clergy in any Diocese were regularly to be made to the Patriarch of that Diocese and that from the sentence of the Patriarch was no appeale as it is evident by the Constitutions of Iustinian Novell 123. cap. 22. Cod. lib. 1. Tit. 4. leg 29. both in the Novells and in the Code in the title de Episcopali Audientiâ L. Sancimus But you must understand that those whom Iustinian calls the Patriarches of the Diocese were not only the five Patriarchs for in Iustinians time there were so many commonly termed by that Name but as I before noted the Primates of the Dioceses who had Patriarchichall jurisdiction For Iustinian in the place of the Code now alleadged acknowledgeth the order of appealing there set downe from the Bishop to the Metropolitane and from him to the Patriarch of the Diocese to have been an old decree And that very decree we find in the Councell of Chalcedon Concil Chalced Act. 15. can 9. Bellar. l. 2. de Pontif. Rom. cap. 22. but not under the name of Patriarch of the Diocese but of Primate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Diocese for as for Bellarmin's interpreting the Bishop of Rome to be the Exarch of the Diocese in that Canon mentioned although he follow * Nicol I. in epist ad Michael Imp. a Pope therein it is by his leave but an unskilfull shift and bewrayeth in him some ignorance of the ancient Ordination and government of the Church And with these Constitutions of the Empire and of the Church those decrees of the Councels of Melevis and of Afrique which you alleadge Concil M levit can 22. Concil African cap. 105. doe perfectly agree for by them are forbidden if you mark them well not onely Trans-marine Appeales meaning those to Rome although in the Milevitan Canon there be a speciall clause to exclude them because the Bishop of Rome had specially claimed that priviledge but all forraine Appeales any whether out of Afrique so that by these Canons the Bishop of Alexandria was no lesse excluded then the
the old Canon of Sardica for liberty of Appeales to the Romane Bishops no Provinces being by the Canon excepted or think that the Bishop of Iustiniana prima was subject to him because at the first erection of that primacy by Iustinian he was perhaps consecrated by Vigilius Bishop of Rome But as this act was performed by the appointment of the Emperour so that Canon of Sardica so much stood on seemeth by the later and greater Councell of Chalcedon againe to be revoked and the order of Appealing otherwise restrained as you may read in the ninth Canon of that Councell And thus confessing my ignorance of the reasons of other mens irregular actions I end having wearied my selfe and dulled my pen perhaps to trouble you more then to satisfy you Yet this latter was my purpose and to take the trouble my selfe for your satisfaction Howsoever it fall out I doubt not but you will accept what is well written for my good wils sake to pleasure you who am not wont to write discourses of this kind to many men and pardon the imperfections and errors which may perhaps escape me because it was my intention to write the truth whereof I have no where wittingly failed and because my little leasure and little learning would not allow me on the suddaine to doe better FINIS THE VALIDITY OF THE ORDINATION Of the MINISERS of the REFORMED CHVRCHES BEYOND THE SEAS MAINtained against the Romanists BY FRANCIS MASON With A briefe Declaration premised thereunto of the severall Formes of Government received in those CHURCHES By IOHN DUREE OXFORD Printed by LEONARD LICHFIELD Anno Dom. 1641. The severall formes of Gouernment received in the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas IN the Church of Sweden the Government is committed to one Arch-Bishop and seven Bishops whom formerly the King now the Regents of the kingdome doe appoint Yet some kind and forme of Election used by the Clergy doth goe along with that appointment The Bishops as Bishops have voyce in Parliament and with them so many of the inferiour Clergy as are from every Socken that is the name of a certaine number of Parishes deputed to appeare in Parliament together with such husbandmen as are usually sent thither in the name of a Socken The Bishops authority over the rest of the Clergy is to direct and order aswell in as out of publick meetings all Ecclesiasticall assayres according to the received constitutions of the Church And as they use not without counsell and knowledge of their Consistorialls to doe any thing of moment so if they think it expedient they may call a Synode of their Diocese and therein make such particular Constitutions as they shall think fit for their owne edification Their meanes and maintenance is answerable in some proportion to the place wherein they are set above others and so are by all respected and honoured as Fathers of the Church In Denmarck their authority is not so great yet they keep the name and place of Bishops and have maintenance somewhat answerable to their place They are appointed by the King for the ordering of Ecclesiasticall affayres with the consent of their Brethren in Confistory as Directours of Meetings and out of Meetings as peculiar Inspectors over the Church to receive complaints and provide that scandals may be taken out of the way In other Lutherane Churches as in Holstein Pomeren Mekelenburgh Brunswick Luneburgh Bremen Oldenburg East Friesland Hessen Saxony and all the upper part of Germany where Lutheranes beare rule as also in most of the great Imperiall Cities the Government of the Church belongeth to Superintendents who are called and put in place by the Princes in their owne Dominions and by the Magistrates in the great Cities They have a Priority over the rest of the Ministery and commonly in the Dominions of Princes there is an Ecclesiasticall Consistory made up of Clergy men and Counsellours of the state to oversee and direct the Superintendents in things which may be expedient To which Consistory also the Decision of hard matters incident when strife ariseth doth belong In the Diocese of Bremen the Arch-Bishop his Chancellour Court doth direct order all things in the name of his Highnesse But in Brunswick and Luneburgh besides the Generall Consistory and the particular Superintendents which are ordinarily amongst all the rest of the Lutheranes there bee others who are named Generales and Generalissimi Superintendentes whereof the former is subordinate unto the latter and both unto the Supreme Ecclesiasticall Consistory whereof the Generalissimus Superintendens and such others as the Prince doth appoint are members All these Superintendents are in place during life and are allowed maintenance in some proportion answerable to their priority of place above others In the Reformed Churches heretofore in the Palatinate the Government was administred by those whom they called Inspectores and Praepositi whose power was the same with that of the particular Superintendents amongst the Lutherans And above these Inspectores was the Ecclesiasticall Consistory made up of three Clergy men and three Counsellours of state with their President These the Prince named and to them in his name the ordering of all matters did belong In like manner in the Wetteraw in Hessen and in Anhalt they have still their Praepositos and Superintendentes with the same power and forme of Government which is already mentioned Now in Holland although their Presbyteriall or as they call it their Classicall Meetings are very frequent videlicèt every month and their Classicall Synodes every yeare yet they have of late found a necessity of erecting some officers to whom a more universall charge is committed then others have These they call Deputatos Synodi and are only temporary for some few yeares with a limited power These Deputies of the Synode have their peculiar Meetings by themselves upon severall incident occasions but chiefly at the time of every Provinciall Synode wherein they consult before hand how matters ought to be laid and proposed unto the Assemblies and then in the Meeting they have a peculiar place by themselves where they sit and concerning every thing which is to bee determined the Praeses of the Synode doth require of them first that they should open the matter unto the Assembly and declare their judgements of it before it be put to the Votes of the Multitude In Geneva and Helvetia the Eldest Ministers have the place before others and for the most part that authority and respect which in other Churches the Superintendents receive by speciall order and constitution these have by custome and tacite consent of their Brethren although at particular occasions of Meetings they chuse severall Presidents of the action The like is also in France where the Ministery of Paris party by reason of the Eminency of the place partly by reason of the guifts and endowments of the men ordinarily appointed to that place doth beare a great sway before all others But in Transylvania Polonia and Bohemia
position is condemned by the a Sess 23. Can. 7. Councell of Trent not from the Episcopall considered alone and apart from the Priest-hood for the Bishoprick without the Priest-hood saith b Bellarm. de Sacram. Ordinis cap. 5. §. 16. Bellarmine is so farre from being a superiour order that in very deed it is nothing but a meere figment in the mind Wherefore I will anwere your question with these words in Gregory de Valentiâ c Gregor de Valentiâ to 4. d. 9. q. 1. p. 4. resp ad arg 1. Episcopum non per solam potestatem quam in Episcopali ordine accepit sed per illam simul per Sacerdotalem potestatem ordinare Sacerdotem A Bishop ordaineth Priests not by the power only which he received when hee was ordained Bishop but by his Episcopall Presbyteriall power joyned together which is agreeable to Bellarmine saying d Bellarm. de Sacram. ord cap. 5. §. 13. The entire Episcopall ordination ariseth from a double ordination and the entire and perfect Episcopall character which is an absolute perfect and independent power of conferring the sacraments of Confirmation and Order is not one simple quality but a thing composed of a double Character ORTHOD. THen you referre it only to the Sacrament and Character of order wherefore if it can bee proved out of your owne writers that every Presbyter hath as much as a Bishop of the Sacrament and Character of order you must confesse that every Presbyter hath intrinsecall power to give orders But this shall be proved by a world of witnesses all affirming in effect that which is added in Episcopall Consecration whereby a Bishop is distinguished from a Presbyter is neither Sacrament of order nor imprinteth a Character To begin with the Schoolemen The Master of the Sentences saith e 4. Sent. dist 24. Cumque omnes spirituales sint c. Whereas all the seven orders are spirituall and sacred yet the Canons thinke that two only are called sacred orders by an excellency to wit the order of Deaconship and Priesthood because the Primitive Church so farre as we can reade had only these two and of these only wee have the Apostles precept For the Apostles ordained Bishops and Presbyters in every City we read also that Levits hee meaneth Deacons were ordained by the Apostles Thus hee affirmeth that the Primitive Church in the Apostles time had Bishops Priests and Deacons yet acknowledgeth but two sacred orders the Deaconship and the Priesthood And whereas he saith Ordo Episcoporum est quadripartitus the order of Bishops is branched into fowre parts it is certaine he taketh the word Order largely and improperly which may appeare because a little before he excludeth the Episcopall function from being an Order in these plaine and expresse termes Sunt alia quaedam non ordinum sed dignitatum vel officiorum nomina dignitatis simul officii nomen est Episcopus There be also other names not of Orders but of Dignities and offices yea a Bishop is a name both of Dignity and Office Bonaventure f 4. Sent. dist 24. q. 3. a. 2. Episcopatus desicit ab ordine c. The Episcopall function commeth short of an order because order is a seale that is a Character because a seale doth signify a Character and this Character is not imprinted in the Episcopall function a signe whereof is this that a Bishop cannot be consecrated unlesse he be a Priest and so of it selfe it doth not imprint a Character Moreover it faileth from being an Order because there is not given any new power but only the power of binding and loosing is inlarged And Episcopatus includit necessariò ordinem perfectissimum scilicèt Sacerdotium illi super addit eminentiam The Episcopall function includeth necessarily the most perfect order to wit the Priesthood and addeth unto it eminency Thomas Aquinas saith g Supplement 3 part q. 40. art 5. Ordo potest accipi dupliciter c. Order may be taken two wayes one way as it is a Sacrament and so as it is said before every order is ordered to the Sacrament of the Eucharist whereupon seeing a Bishop hath no more superiour power then a Priest in this respect the Bishoply function shall not be an order Order may be considered another way in that it is a certaine office in respect of certaine sacred actions and so seeing a Bishop hath power in Hierarchichall actions above a Priest in respect of the body Mysticall the Bishoply function shall be an Order Durandus h In 4. sent dist 24. q. 6. Dicendum est quòd Episcopatus seu ordinatio Episcopalis est Ordo Sacramentum non quidem praecisè distinctum à sacerdotio simplici sed ut est unum sacramentum cum ipso sicut perfectum imperfectum i. e. It is to be said that the Bishoply function or the Episcopall ordination is an order and a sacrament not truely and precisely distinct from the simple Priesthood but as it is one sacrament with the Priesthood even as perfect and imperfect Dominicus Soto i De Iustit Iure l. 10. q. 1. art 2. 4. sent dist 24. q. 2. art 3. Episcopatus non est sacramentum Ordinis est tamen Ordo hoc est Dignitas gradus altior sacerdotio cui eminentiora officia sunt annexa i. e. The Bishopship is not a sacrament of Order and yet it is an order that is a higher dignity and degree them Priesthood to which certaine eminent offices are annexed Richardus k In 4. sent dist 24. art 5. q. 2. Ordo dupliciter potest accipi uno modo pro gradu potestatis ordinatae mediatè vel immediatè ad consecrationem corporis vel sanguinis Christi alio modo pro quolibet gradu potestatis respectu quarumlibet actionum sacrarum Primo modo Ordo est sacramentum sic Episcopatus non est ordo c. i.e. Order may be taken two waies one way for the degree of an ordinate power mediatly or immediatly to the consecration of the body or blood of Christ another way for any degree of power in respect of certaine sacred actions In the first sense Order is a sacrament and so Episcopatus is not an order and before Non sunt nisi septem ordines in Ecclesiâ quod non esset verum si Episcopatus esset ordo i. e. There are but seven orders in the Church which would not be true if Episcopatus were an Order Aureolus doth argue l In 4. d. 24. q. 1. art 2. by proving that the Episcopall function is not another order distinct frō the Priesthood because then this order should be either superiour then a Priest or inferiour But it is neither so nor so Therefore it is no way an order The Minor is proved Because it is apparent that it cannot be an inferiour order because that which is inferiour is first taken and is presupposed to the superiour order But
Episcopall consecration is not presupposed to the Priestly ordination but rather the contrary And that it is not a superiour order is plaine because it hath no superiour act as it is distinguished against Priesthood which is apparent because the act of a Bishop as he differeth from Priesthood is to ordaine and the act of a Priest as he differeth from a Bishop is to make the body of Christ which is a better and more worthy act then to ordaine Peradventure it will be said that the Episcopall degree is worthier because it includes the Priestly order and besides this addeth somewhat else which is proper to it selfe and both these together are more worthy then the one by it selfe But it is otherwise because the Bishoply function is not here compared to the Priesthood in respect of that which they both include but precisely in respect of that whereby one differeth from another Therefore though the Episcopall function may be called an Order yet not distinct from the Priesthood because it is not referred to any act superiour to the act of Priesthood nor inferiour nor equall Hitherto Aureolus I need produce no more Shcoolemen upon the Master of the Sentences because m Navar. in Manuali c. 22. num 18. Navarrus saith there are only seven Orders according to the common opinion of Divines affirming that the first tonsure and the Bishoply function are not Orders but Offices Neither is this only a common but the more common opinion as witnesseth n In scrutinio Sacerdotali Tract 2. de Ordine Fabius Incarnatus Communior opinio est quod prima tonsura Ordo Episcopalis non sunt ordines i.e. It is the more common opinion that the first tonsure and Episcopall order are not Orders Where note by the way that phrase of speech The Episcopall Order is not an Order an Order and not an Order signifying that though men speaking vulgarly doe improperly call it an Order yet in his judgement to speake exactly it is not an Order PHILOD Surely the Canonists doe hold it an Order ORTHOD. First not all the Canonists for whereas o Dist 93. cap. Legimus Gratian brought in Saint Ierom word for word affirming that a Bishop and a Priest are the same the author of the Glosse hath these words Some say that in the first primitive Church the office of Bishops and Presbyters was common and the names were common but in the second primitive Church both names and offices began to be distinguished And againe A third sort say this advancing was made in respect of name and in respect of administration and in respect of certaine ministeries which belong only to the Episcopall office And the same author himselfe is of this opinion saying Before this advancing these names Bishops and Presbyters were altogether of the same signification and the administration was common because Churches were governed by the common advise of Presbyters And againe This advancing was made for a remedy against schisme as it is here said by Saint Ierom. That one should have the preheminence in regard of the name the administration and certaine sacraments which now are appropriated unto Bishops We must understand that when they distinguish the primitive Church into first and second they begin the first at the Ascension of Christ extending it to the time when the Apostles began to single out one Presbyter in every city and gave him preheminence above the rest In which time the office of Bishops and Presbyters is said to be common because those offices which are now appropriated unto Bishops were then in their judgement performed by Presbyters And those which hold that the office and administration were altogether common must needs hold them to be one order for an absolute identity of offices doth argue an absolute identity of order Secondly those Canonists which make nine orders doe not differ from the Schoolemen as witnesseth Bellarmine p Bellar. l. de Clericis cap. 11. sect ult In re non est dissensio There is no difference in the thing it selfe For the Divines doe only consider orders in relation to sacrifice in which respect a Bishop and a Presbyter are not distinguished but the Canonists consider them as they make an Hierarchy and therefore they rightly distinguish a Bishop from a Presbyter Wherefore howsoever they call it an order in respect of regiment yet they neither think it to be a Sacrament of Order nor to imprint a Character TO these we may adde a cloud of witnesses q Apud Binium Concil Tom. 4. Henry Kalteisen in his answere to the second article of the Bohemians in the Councell of Basill saith It is apparent that from the beginning of the legall Priesthood untill now there was alwaies a distinction of a Bishop from a Priest although they were after reckoned by the same name for their affinity which they have in authority because a Bishop excelleth a Priest only in jurisdiction or in the dignity of jurisdiction If only in the dignity of jurisdiction then not in order according to the judgement of Kalteisen who was a Dominican Frier and Professor of Divinity in the University of Collen and one of the Inquisitors against Heretiques whose Oration was lately set out by Henricus Canisius Professor of the sacred Canons at Ingolstad and inserted into the body of the Councells by Binius Tostatus r Tostat in Exod. 29. q. 18. p. 144. Sic est in consecrationibus c. So is it in the consecration of Bishops or of the Pope in which there is not imprinted a character seeing they are not orders but dignities or degrees of Ecclesiasticall preeminence And againe Non dicitur potestas Episcopalis character neque vocamus propriè Episcopatum Ordinem neque etiam sacramentum The Episcopall power is not called a character neither doe we call the Episcopall function properly an Order nor a Sacrament Armachanus ſ Armachan Summ. ad quaestion Armenorum l. 11. cap. 2.3 4 5 6. Episcopus in hujusmodi c. A Bishop in such things hath no more in respect of his order then every simple Priest although the Church hath appointed that such things should be executed only by those men whom we call Bishops And againe Est etiam alia ratio c. There is also an other manifest reason because from the time of distinction of Churches and Parishes no 〈◊〉 man can law fully execute such things but only in those places in which he hath power of government which because simple Priests have not they cannot exercise the acts of it lawfully nor other sacramentall acts unlesse this be specially committed unto them by them which have authority in those places Which restraint of Priestly power was not in the Primitive Church This seemeth to me to be according to the holy Scripture Gerson t Gers de septem Sacramentis Supra Sacerdotium non est ordo superior imò nec Episcopatus nec Archie-piscopatus i. Above Priesthood
Isidorus de Patrib and Dorothei Synopsis To two of these Timothy and Titus the one at Ephesus the other at Crete Euseb lib. 3. cap. 4. the Apostles imparted their owne Commission while they yet lived even the chiefe authority they had To appoint Priests Tit. 1.5 Hieron in eum locū To ordaine them by imposition of hands 1. Tim. 5.22 2. Tim. 2.2 To keep safe and preserve the Depositum 1. Tim. 6.14 20.2 Tim. 1.14 To command not to teach other things 1. Tim. 1.3 Tit. 3.9 2. Tim. 2.16 To receive Accusations 1. Tim. 5.19 21. To redresse or correct things amisse Tit. 1.5 To reject young Widowes 1. Tim. 5.11 To censure Hereticks and disordered persons Tit. 1.11 and 3.10 1. Tim 6.5 2. Tim. 3.5 And these after the Apostles deceased succeeded them in their charge of Government which was ordinary successive and perpetuall their extraordinary guifts of miracles and tongues ceasing with them So Irenaeus lib. 3. cap. 3. Quos successores relinquebant suum ipsorum locum Magisterii tradentes Of the promiscuous use of their NAMES These were they whom posterity called Bishops But in the beginning regard was not had to distinction of Names The authority and power was ever distinct the name not restrained either in This or Other The Apostles were called Priests or Seniors 1. Pet. 5.1 Deacons or Ministers 1. Cor. 3.5 Teachers or Doctors 1. Tim. 2.7 Bishops or Overseers Acts 1.20 Prophets Acts 13.1 Revel 22.9 Evangelists 1. Cor. 9.16 The name of Apostle was enlarged and made common to more then the XII To Barnabas Act. 14.4 14. Andronicus Rom. 16.7 Epaphroditus Phil. 2.25 Titus and others 2. Cor. 8.23 Timothy Hieron in Cant. Chr. Euseb The Priests were called Prophets 1. Cor. 14.32 Bishops Philip. 1.1 Tit. 1.7 So Chrysostom in Philip. 1. Quid hoc an unius civitatis multi erant episcopi Nequaquà m sed Presbyteros isto nomine appellavit Tunc enim nomina adhuc erant communia Hierome Hîc episcopos Presbyteros intelligimus non enim in unâ urbe plures Episcopi esse potuissent Theodoret Non fieri quidem poterat ut multi Episcopi essent unius civitat is pastores quo sit ut essent soli Presbyteri quos vocavit Episcopos in 1. Tim. 3. Eosdem olim vocabant Episcopos Presbyteros eos autem qui nunc vocantur Episcopi nominabant Apostolos Oecumenius Non quòd in unâ civitate multi essent Episcopi c. For in the Apostles absence in Churches new planted the oversight was in them till the Apostles ordained and sent them a Bishop either by reason of some schisme or for other causes The Bishops as the Ecclesiasticall History recounteth them were called Apostles Philip. 2.25 Evangelists 2. Tim. 4.5 Diaconi 1. Tim. 4.6 Priests 1. Tim. 5.17 For it is plaine by the epistle of Irenaeus to Victor in Eusebius lib. 5. cap. 26. that they at the beginning were called Priests that in very truth and propriety of speech were Bishops And by Theodoret in 1. Tim. 3. that they which were Bishops were at the first called Apostles The name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Suidas was given by the Athenians to them which were sent to oversee the Cities that were under their jurisdiction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The name Episcopus was given among the Romans to him qui praeerat pani vaenalibus ad victum quotidianum ff de munerib honorib Cicere ad Atticum lib. 7. epist 10. Vult me Pompeius esse quem tota haec Campania maritima ora habeat Episcopum The name in Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 41.34 seemeth to have relation to the second use for they were such as had charge of the graine laying up and selling under Ioseph The necessary use of the BISHOPS office and the charge committed to him The party who in the New Testament is called Episcopus is in the Old called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 109.8 with Act. 1.20 In a house or familie it is first affirmed of Ioseph Gen. 39.4 who had the oversight and government of the rest of the servants In a house there may be many servants which have places of charge but there is one that hath the charge of all that is Oeconomus the Steward So doe the Apostles terme thēselves 1. Cor. 4.1 and their office 1. Cor. 9.17 and their successours the Bishops Tit. 1.7 Vid. Hilar. in Matth. 24.45 In a flock Vid. Hierenym epist 4. ad Ruslicum cap. 6. epist 85. ad Evagrium the Pastour Ioh. 21.15 Act. 20.28 Mat. 25.32 1. Pet. 5.2 Ephes 4.11 In a Camp the Captaine Matth. 2.6 Hebr. 13.7 17 24. In a ship the Governour 1. Cor. 12.28 under whom others Act. 13.5 In the Common-wealth they be such as are set over Officers to hasten them forward and see they doe their duties as in 2. Chron. 34.12 and 31.13 Nehem. 11.22 and 12.42 So that what a Steward is in a house a Pastour in a flock a Captaine in a Camp a Master in a ship a Surveiour in an office That is a Bishop in the Ministerie Upon him lieth to take care of the Churches under him 2. Cor. 11.28 Philip. 2.20 1. Pet. 5.2 Concil Antiochen can 9. and for that end to visit them Act. 9.32 and 15.36 and to be observant Of that which is Well and orderly to confirme it Act. 15.41 Revel 3.2 Otherwise to redresse it Tit. 1.5 To him was committed I. Authority of ordeyning Tit. 1.5 and so of begetting Fathers Epiph. haeres 75. See Ambrose Theodoret and Oecumenius in 1. Timoth. 3. Damasus epist 3. Hierome epist 85. ad Evagr. Leo epist 88. Concil Ancyran can 12. al. 13. For though S. Paul should mention a Companie with him at the ordeyning of Timothie 1. Tim. 4.14 yet it followeth not but that he onely was the Ordeyner No more then that Christ is the onely Iudge although the XII shall sit with him on Thrones Luc. 22.30 II. Authority of enjoyning or forbidding 1. Tim. 1.3 Ignat. ad Magnesian Cyprian epist 39. III. Authority of holding Courts and receiving accusations 1. Tim. 5.19 1. Cor. 5.12 Revel 2.2 Augustin de opere monachor cap. 29. IV. Authority of correcting 1. Tim. 1.3 Tit. 1.5 Hieron contra Lucifer cap. 4. epist 53. ad Riparium Cyprian ep 38. ad Rogatianum V. Authority of appointing Fasts Tertullian advers Psychicos FINIS THE ORIGINALL OF BISHOPS AND METROPOLITANS briefely laid downe BY MARTIN BUCER sometimes Professor of Divinity in the Vniversity of Cambridge IOHN RAINOLDES late Professor of Divinity in the Vniversity of Oxford IAMES VSSHER sometime Professor of Divinity in the Vniversity of Dublin afterward Arch-Bishop of Armagh and Primate of all IRELAND Whereunto is annexed A Geographicall and Historicall Disquisition touching the Lydian or Proconsular Asia and the seven Metropoliticall Churches contained in it by the said Arch-bishop of Armagh Together with A Declaration of the Patriarchicall Government of the ancient Church by Edward
appropriated to him who had the Presidentship over Elders Thus are certaine Elders reproved by h Epist 12. Cyprian for receiving to the Communion them who had fallen in time of persecution before the Bishop had advised of it with them and others And i Euseh hist Eccles lib. 6. cap. 42. Cornelius writeth that the Catholick Church committed to his charge had sixe and forty Elders and ought to have but one Bishop And both of them being Bishops the one of Rome the other of Carthage k Cornelius Cypriano Ep. 46. Cyprianus Presbyteris Deaconis Ep. 6. doe witnesse of themselves that they dealt in matters of their Churches government by the consent or counsell of the company of Elders or the Eldership as they both after S. Paul doe call it In this sort then the Elders as I said ordained by the Apostles in every Church l Cornelius Ep. 46. apud Cyprianum through every city chose one amongst themselves whom they called Bishop m 1. Tim. 4.14 to be the President of their company for the better handling and ordering of things in their assemblies and meetings wherein they provided by common counsell and consent for the guiding of the flock of Christ committed to them Which point of care and wisdome the Bishops following also knowing that n Prov. 11.14 where counsells want the people falleth but in the amplenesse of counsellours there is health had their meetings likewise for conference together when things of greater waight required more advise and they chose to their President therein the Bishop of the chiefest city in the Province whom they called the Metropolitan For o Notit Provinciar Imperii Romanl a Province as they tearmed it was the same with them that a shire is with us and the shire-town as you would say of the Province was called p L. observare D. de officio Proconsulis Dio in Adria no. Metropolis that is the Mother-city In which as the Iudges and Iustices with us doe heare at certaine times the causes of the whole shire so the ruler of the Province with them did minister justice made his abode there ordinarily Whereupon by reason that men for their businesse made great concourse thither the Church was wont to furnish it of godly policy with the worthiest Bishop endued with guifts above his brethren And they reposed in him such affiance that they did not only commit the q Concil Antioch can 20. Chalced. can 19. Presidentship of their Assemblies to him but agreed also that r Concil Nicen can 4. 6. none through all the Prouince should be made a Bishop without his consent nor ſ Concil Antiochen can 9. any weightier matter be done by them without him The Originall of BISHOPS and Metropolitans set down By IAMES Arch-Bishop of ARMAGH THe ground of Episcopacy is fetched partly from the patterne prescribed by God in the Old Testament and partly from the imitation thereof brought in by the Apostles and confirmed by Christ himselfe in the time of the New The government of the Church of the Old Testament was committed to the Priests and Levits unto whom the ministers of the New doe now succeed in like sort as our Lords day hath done unto their Sabbath that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet touching the vocation of the Gentiles a Esai 66.21 I will take of them for Priests and for Levits saith the Lord. That the Priests were superiour to the Levites no man doubteth and that there was not a parity either betwixt the Priests or betwixt the Levits themselves is manifest by the word of God wherein mention is made of the Heads and Rulers both of the one and of the other 1. Chron. XXIV 6 31. and Ezr. VIII 29. The Levits were distributed into the three families of the Gershonites Cohathites and Merarites and over each of them God appointed one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ruler Num. III. 24 30 35. The Priests were divided by David into foure and twenty courses 1. Chr. XXIV who likewise had their Heads who in the history of the New Testament are ordinarily called b Matth. 2.4 and 27.1 Acts 19.14 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or chiefe of the Priests and clearely distinguished from that singular one who was the type of our c Hebr. 4.14 great High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Iesus the son of God Yea in the XI of Nehemy we find two named Bishops the one of the Priests the other of the Levits that dwelt in Ierusalem The former so expressely tearmed by the Greek in the 14th the latter both by the Greek and Latin Interpreter in the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX Episccopus Levitarum Hieron 22. vers and not without approbation of the Scripture it self which rendreth the d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 109.8 Hebrew word of the same originall in the old by the e Act. 1.20 Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the new Testament Of Levi it was said by Moses the man of God f Deut. 33.10 They shall teach Iacob thy judgements and Israel thy law they shall put incense before thee and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine Altar Because this latter part of their office hath ceased with them and the Leviticall Altar the truth prefigured thereby being now exhibited is quite taken away may not wee therefore conclude out of the former part which hath no such typicall relation in it that our Bishops and Presbyters should be as the Apostle would have them to bee g 1. Tim. 3.2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apt to teach h Tit. 1.9 able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gain-sayers Nay and out of the latter part it selfe where God had appointed that i Deut. 28.1 the Priests the Levits and all the Tribe of Levi should eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire doth not the Apostle by just analogy inferre from thence that forasmuch as k 1. Cor. 9.13 14. they which waited at the altar were partaker with the altar even so had the Lord ordained that they which preached the Gospel should live of the Gospell With what shew of reason then can any man imagin that what was instituted by God in the Law for meer matter of government and preservation of good order without all respect of type or ceremony should now be rejected in the Gospel as a device of Antichrist that what was by the Lord once l Iorem. 2.21 planted a noble vine wholly a right seed should now be so turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine that no purging or pruning of it will serve the turne but it must be cut down root and branch as m Matth. 15.13 a plant which our heavenly Father had never planted But nothing being so familiar now a dayes as to father upon Antichrist whatsoever in Church matters we
Rufini versione locus est restituendus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Papias in Prooemio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 apud Euseb lib. 3. hist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If upon occasion any of the Presbyters which had accompanyed the Apostles did come I diligently enquired what were the speeches which the Apostles used what Andrew or what Peter did say or what Philip or Thomas or Iames or Iohn or Matthew or some other of the disciples of the Lord and the things that Aristion and Iohn the Elder our Lords disciples did speak d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb ibid. The two last of whom he often cited by name in the processe of the work relating the passages in this kind which he had heard from them And thus have we deduced Episcopacy from the Apostolical times and declared withal that the Angels of the seven Churches were no other but such as in the next age after the Apostles were by the Fathers tearmed Bishops It followeth now that we enquire why these Churches are confined within the number of seven in the superscription of that Apostolicall Epistle prefixed before the book of the Revelation e Revel 1.4 Iohn to the seven Churches in Asia Grace be unto you and peace where S. Iohn directing his setters unto them thus indefinitly without any mention of their particular names hee cannot by common intendment bee conceived to have understood any other thereby but such as by some degree of eminency were distinguishable from all the rest of the Churches that were in Asia and in some sort also did comprehend all the rest under them For taking Asia here in the most strict sense for the Lydian or as the f Co. l. Theodos lib. 16. tit 1. de fide Cathol leg 3. Imperiall Constitutions call it the Proconsular Asia it is not to be imagined that after so long paines taken by the Apostles and their disciples in the husbanding of that part of the Lords vineyard there should be found no more but seven Churches therein especially since S. Paul that g 1. Cor. 3.10 wise master builder professeth that he had here h 1. Cor. 16.8 9. a great doore and effectuall opened unto him and S. Luke testifyeth accordingly that i Act. 19.10 20. all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Iesus both Iewes and Greeks so mightily grew the word of God and prevayled Which extraordinary blessing of God upon his labours moved the Apostle to make his residence k Act. 20.18 31. in those parts for the space of three yeares wherein he ceased not to warn every one night and day with teares And in particular among the Epistles of Ignatius written but twelve yeares as hath been shewed after the mention of these seven Churches made in the Apocalypse there is one directed to the Church in Trallis which by l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stept an de Urbib Stephanus Byzantinus is reckoned among the cities of the Lydian and by m Iul. Capitolin in Antonio Pio. Iulius Capitolinus of the Proconsular Asia wherein hee maketh mention of Polybius their Bishop or n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb lib. 3. hist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Governour as Eusebius calleth him whom they had sent to visit him at Smyrna adding withall his usuall admonitions o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. epist ad Trallian Be subiect to the Bishop as to the Lord and p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. to the Presbytery as to the Apostles of Iesus Christ our hope q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. He that doth any thing without the Bishop and the Presbyters the Deacons such a one is defiled in conscience r 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ibid. Fare yee well in Iesus Christ being subject to the Bishop and likewise to the Presbyters That in ſ Plin. lib. 5. hist natur cap. 29. Laodicea Sardis Smyrna Ephesus and t Id. ibid. c. 30. Pergamus the Roman governours held their Courts of justice to which all the cities and townes about had recourse for the ending of their suites is observed out of Pliny In u Ptolem. Geograph lib. 5. cap. 2. Ptolemy likewise Thyatira is expressely named a Metropolis as Philadelphia also is in the x Concil Constantino sub Mennâ Act. 5. Greek Acts of the Councell of Constantinople held under Menna Which giveth us good ground to conceive that the seven Cities in which these seven Churches had their seat were all of them Metropoliticall and so had relation unto the rest of the townes and cities of Asia as unto daughters rising under them The Lydian Asia was separated from Caria by the river Maeander upon the banks whereof were seated both Trallis and Magnesia which in the y Hieroclis Notit Orientalis Imperii in Append. Geograph sacr Caroli à S. Paulo edit Paris ann 1641. pag. 27. civill list of the Empire are placed under the peculiar regiment of the Proconsul of Asia and in the z Ordo Metropolitar ib. pag. 11. in tomo 1 Iuris Graeco-Romani à Io. Le unclavio edit pag. 90. Ecclesiasticall register under the government of the Metropolitan of Ephesus But whether this subordination were as ancient as the dayes of Ignatius whose Epistles are extant unto these three Churches and a Euseb lib. 3. hist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Damas the then Bishop of Magnesia with Polybius of Trallis were at that time subject to Onesimus the Bishop of Ephesus might well be doubted but that the same Ignatius directeth one of his Epistles unto the Church b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. epist ad Roman which had presidency in the place of the Region of the Romans and in the body thereof doth attribute unto himselfe the title of the Bishop of Syria Whereby as he intimateth himself to have been not only the Bishop of Antioch but also of the rest of the province Syria which was under that Metropolis so doth he likewise not obscurely signify that the Bishop of Rome had at that time a presidency over the Churches that were in the c Ex Vrblca riâ Regione Cod. Theod. lib. 11. tit 2. leg 3. Vrbicarian Region as the Imperiall Constitutions or the d Ex Provincià Romanâ civitate Portuen c. In nominibus quae Concilio Arelatensi I praefixa leguntur Roman Province as the Acts of the first Councell of Arles call it What that Vrbicarian Region was I will not now stand to discusse whether Tuscia only wherein Rome it selfe was situated which in the dayes of Ignatius was one entire region but afterwards divided into Tuscia Suburbicaria and Annonaria or the territory wherein the Praefectus Vrbis did exercise his jurisdiction which was confined within the compasse of a hundred miles about the City or with that those other provinces also whereunto the authority of the Vicarius Vrbis did extend or lastly the circuit within which those 69
to ordaine the Bishops that were under him which they gather out of those words of S. Paul unto him a Tit. 1.5 For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting and ordaine Elders in every city as I had appointed thee Out of which M. Calvin collecteth this doctrine unto us for the generall b Discimus ex hoc loco non eam fuisse tunc aequalitatem inter Ecclesiae ministros quin unus aliquis autoritate consilio praeesset Calvin in Tit. 1.5 We learne out of this place that there was not then such an equality betwixt the ministers of the Church but that there was some one who was president over the rest both in authority and in counsell and S. Chrysostom for the particular of Titus c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Tit. 1. homil 1. Had hee not been an approved man he would not have committed that whole Iland unto him he would not have commanded him to supply the things that were defective hee would not have committed unto him the judgement of so many Bishops if he had not had very great confidence in the man and B. Iewell upon him againe Having the government of many Bishops what may we call him but an Archbishop Which is not so much to be wondred at when we see that the Bishops of another Iland stick not and that without any controll to deduce the ordination of their Metropolitan from the Apostolick times in the face of the whole generall Councell of Ephesus For whereas the Patriarch of Antioch did claym an interest in the ordaining of the Metropolitan of Cyprus the Bishops of that Iland prescribed to the contrary that d A sanctis Apostolis nunquam possunt ostendere quòd adfuerit Antiochenus ordinaverit vel communicaverit unquà m insulae ordinationis gratiam neque alius quisquam Concil Ephcsin Act. 7. from the time of the holy Apostles it could never bee shewed that the Bishop of Antioch was ever present at any such ordination or did ever communicate the grace of ordination to that Iland and that the former Bishops of Constantia the Metropolis of Cyprus Troilus Sabinus Epiphanius e Et nunc memorati Episcopi qui ante illos sanctissimi Episcopi qui à sanctis Aposlolis erant omnes ortho loxi ab his qui in Cypro conslituti sunt Ibid. and all the holy and orthodoxe Bishops which were before them ever since the holy Apostles were constituted by those which were in Cyprus and therefore desired that f Sicut initio à temporibus Apostolorum constitutionibus canonibus sanctissime magnae Synodi Nicaenae illaesa superior insidiis potentiâ permansit nostra Cypriorum synodus Ibid. as in the beginning from the times of the Apostles and by the constitutions and canons of the most holy and great Synod of Nice the Synod of the Cyprian Bishops remained untouched and superiour to privy underminings and open power so they might still bee continued in the possession of their ancient right Whereupon the Councell condemning the attempt of the Bishop of Antioch as g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. an innovation brought in against the Ecclesiasticall lawes and the canons of the holy Fathers did not only order that h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. the governours of the Churches which were in Cyprus should keep their owne right entire and inviolable according to the Canons of the holy Fathers and their ancient custome but also i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pauIo pòst 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. for all other dioceses and provinces wheresoever that no Bishop should intrude himselfe into any other province which had not formerly and from the beginning been under him or his predecessours The beginning of which kind of subordination of many Bishops unto one chiefe if it were not to bee derived from Apostolicall right yet it is by Beza fetched k Neque verò magis existimandum est hunc externum ordinem fuisse initio humani generis Pagi enim ex familiis ex pagis urbes ex urbibus civitates ipsae suadente naturâ necessitate flagitante senfim coierunt aliis aliorum exemplum sequutis Bez. de divers gradib ministr contr Sarav cap. 24. § 4. from the same light of Nature and enforcement of Necessity whereby men were at first induced to enter into consociations subjected one unto another and by Bucer acknowledged to have l Atque hoc consentiebat legi Christi siebatque ex jure corporis Christi M. Bucer de vi usu S. Ministerii inter scripta ejus Anglicana pag. 565. been consentaneous to the law of Christ and to have been done by the right of the body of Christ and by all men must be confessed to be conformable to the patterne delivered by God unto Moses For having set apart the three families of the Levits for his owne service and constituted a chiefe as we have heard over every of them he placed immediatly over them all not Aaron the High Priest but Eleazar his son saying m Num. 3.32 Eleazar the sonne of Aaron the Priest shall bee chiefe over the chiefe of the Levites and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the Sanctuary In respect of which oversight as he hath by the Septuagint warrantably enough by the word of God given unto him the name of n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LXX Num. 4.16 a Bishop so the holy Ghost having vouchsafed to honour him with the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 o Iid. Num. 3.32 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the President of the Presidents of the Levites none that without prejudice did take the matter into consideration would much stick to afford unto him the name of an Arch-bishop at least hee would be taught hereby to retaine that reverend opinion of the primitive Bishops of the Christian Church who so willingly submitted themselves not only to the Archiepiscopall but also to a Patriarchicall government which Calvin professed hee did that in all this they were farre from having a thought p Reperiemus veteres Episcopos non aliam regendae Ecclesiae formam voluisse fingere ab eā quam Deus verbo suo praescripsit Calvin Institut lib. 4. cap. 4. §. 4. to devise another forme of Church-government then that which God had prescribed in his Word A GEOGRAPHICALL AND Historicall disquifition touching the Lydian or Proconsular Asia and the seven Metropoliticall Churches contained therein AS the lesser Asia now called Natolia or Anatolia was a part of the great and Asia properly so called a part of that lesser so the Lydian or Proconsular Asia was a parcell of that Asia which was properly so called For the fuller understanding whereof wee are to call to mind that the Romans having possessed themselves of the countryes which had formerly belonged unto the Pergamen
Dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata Caystri and in the seventh of the Aeneids mdash sonat amnis Asia longè Pulsa palus It is further also reported by Strabo that e 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strab. lib. 14. pag. 650. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eustath in Iliad ss pag. 254. edit Roman in this field neere unto the banks of the river Cayster the inhabitants used to shew the Chappels dedicated to the honour of Caystrius and of one Asias whom the Etymologist f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Etymologic magn in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 noteth to have been sometime King of Lydia and to have given the name unto this Asian field or g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herodet lib. 4. §. 45. as the Lydians themselves would have it to the whole land of Asia alledging further that from this Asias the sonne of Cotys the sonne of Maneus they had a tribe in their head-city Sardis which they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is recorded by Herodotus Whether h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stephan de Vrbib in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from this Asias the continent of Asia did take his denomination or from the forementioned city of Lydia or from Asia the wife of Prometheus or from some other originall Stephanus Byzantinus leaveth us to enquire But beside that the first vowell in Homers Asia is long and in the greater Asia which i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. ibid. Stephanus acknowledgeth him to have been ignorant of is of a short quantity no man can doubt but the derivation of the name of Asia from a Lydian city or from a Lydian King and Heros is farre more properly applyable to Lydia it selfe then to the whole continent either of the greater or the lesser Asia For that Lydia comprised within the bounds before described had in a peculiar acception the name of Asia ascribed unto it may further be made cleare both out of the New Testament and the distinction made by the Romane Emperours betwixt the Proconsular Asia which we will shew was the same with this and the rest of the Asian Diocese In the 16. chapter of the Acts of the Apostles the journy of S. Paul and his company is by S. Luke thus described When they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the holy Ghost to preach the word in ASIA After they were come to Mysia they assayed to goe into Bithynia but the Spirit suffered them not And they passing by Mysia came downe to Troas Where it may be observed that the greater Phrygia through which they passed into Galatia and Mysia Olympena which was next adjoyning unto Bithynia and Hellespont wherein Troas was situated being all of them parcells of that Asia which at first was by the Romans properly so called and afterwards of the Asian Diocese also are yet expressely distinguished from Asia in a more strict sense so denominated as Caria likewise wherein Miletus stood seemeth to be by what we read in Acts 20.16 17. And as these are thus exempted by S. Luke so the rest that remaine of the proper Asia together with the seven Churches of Asia mentioned in the Revelation of S. Iohn are all of them comprehended within the limits of that Lydian Asia whereof we have spoken For that Pergamus was accounted a city of Lydia we have heard before confirmed out of Xenophon to whom Aristotle also may be added in his booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where he speaketh of a warre sometime raised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sardis Philadelphia and Thyatira are by Ptolemy Smyrna and Epheus by Scylax Caryandensis and k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Steph. de Vrbib in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laodicea by Stephanus Byzantinus placed therein Yet is Laodicea by Ptolemy referred unto Caria and by others unto Phrygia The reason of which difference we may learne from Strabo l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strab. lib. 13. pag. 628. who sheweth that the confines of Phrygia Lydia and Caria were so coincident that they were hardly to be discerned the one from the other which is the cause that though he himselfe m Id. lib. 12. pag. 576. lib. 14. pag. 663. doth reckon Laodicea among the cities of Phrygia yet Hierapolis which was n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. lib. 13. pag 629. opposit to it toward the East is by Stephanus p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stephan de Vrbib said to be seated betwixt Phrygia and Lydia it by that meanes being placed in and Laodicea without the borders of Phrygia This also doth Strabo assigne for another reason q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strab. lib. 13. pag. 629. why the bounds of the Provinces hereabout were confounded because that the Romans did not divide these places by the nations but ordered them after another manner according to the circuits wherein they kept their Courts and exercised judicature Five of these tribunals were seated in the cities of r Plin lib. 5. cap. 29. 30. Laodicea Sardis Smyrna Ephesus and Pergamus Philadelphia was subject to the Sardian and Thyatira to the Pergamen jurisdiction Thus was it when Pliny wrote toward the beginning of the empire of Vespasian although afterward s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ptolem lib. 5. c. 2. Thyatira was a Metropolis of it selfe as Ptolemy declareth in his Geography and in all likelyhood Philadelphia also the only city remaining of those seven famous ones singled out as the seats of the most eminent Churches of all Asia in the book of the Revelation For that Philadelphia was herein no whit inferiour unto Thyatira may easily be gathered by the respect which it still retained after that Lydia as we shall heare was separated from the Proconsular Asia and each Province ordinarily permitted to have but one Metropolis For Sardis being then the prime city of Lydia the next in account after it was Philadelphia another also being placed betwixt it and Thyatira as appeareth by the order of them constantly observed aswell in the t Hieroclis Notit Orientalis Imperii in Append. Geograph sacr edit Paris an 1641. pag. 29. Civill as in the u Ordo Metiopolit ibid. pag. 13. 45. in tomo 1. Iuris Graeco-Romani pag. 90. Ecclesiasticall Catalogues of the cities belonging to that Province Whereupon in the Acts of the Constantinopolitan Councell held under Menna we see that Eustathius subscribeth himselfe in expresse termes x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Constantinop sub Mennâ Act. 5. Bishop of the METROPOLIS of the Philadelphians of the province of the Lydians The addition of these two mother-mother-cities seemeth to have been then made when Vespasian added those many new Provinces to the old government which y Sueton. in Vespasian cap. 8. Suetonius speaketh off at what time as it is most probable he separated this Proconsular Asia from the rest of that Asia which together with this was z Strabo
Synod of seventy Bishops held by Chrysostom in the foure hundreth yeare of our Lord doth expressely distinguish the Bishops of Lydia from the Bishops of Asia for as for the subscriptions of the first Councell of Nice which are to be found in some Latin copies they are of latter times and deserve little or no regard Yet in this distraction of Lydia from the Proconsular Asia it is to bee observed that the Southerne part thereof lying betwixt the rivers of Maeander and Cayster which we noted to have been attributed by Ptolemy unto Caria and wherein were the cities of Priene Magnesia Trallis and Nysa was still reserved unto Asia together with all that lay upon the sea-coast from Ephesus up unto Assos mentioned in Acts 20.13 as doth appeare aswell x Append. Geograph sacr edit Paris ann 1641. pag. 27. 43. cum tomo 1. Iuris Graeco-Romani pag. 90. by the Civill and Ecclesiasticall lists of the Provinces of the Easterne Empire recorded by the Grecians as by the y Subscript Concil Chalced Act. 6. Concil Constantinop sub Mennâ Act. 5. Concil Constantinop VI. Act. 18. c. subscriptions of the Councell of Chalcedon and other of the Easterne Synods And so z Sub dispositione viri Spectabilis Proconsulis Asiae Provinciae infra-scriptae Asia Insulae Hellespontus Notitia Provinciar dignitat urriusque Imperii Asia thus restrained and disjoynted from Lydia together with the two other Provinces of the Ilands called Cyclades and Hellespontus continued under the government of the Proconsul of Asia as these eight were a Sub dispositione viri Spectabilis Vicarii Dioeceseos Asianae Provinciae infra-scriptae Pamphylia c. Ibid. under the disposall of the Vicarius of the Asian diocese Pamphylia Lycia Lycaonia Pisidia which foure were not contained within the Asia propriè dicta of the ancient Romans Lydia Caria Phrygia Pacatiana and Phrygia Salutaris This distribution is to be seen in the Latin list of the Provinces and Dignities of both the Empires calby b Alciat Parerg lib. 5. cap. 13. Alciat the Breviary of Theodosius the yonger c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Io. Malel Antiochen Chronic MS. lib. 14. by whom Lycia was first divided from Lycaonia and made a Province by it selfe Myra being appointed the Metropolis and place of the residence of the President thereof as Iohannes Malela setteth downe in his Chronicle Which report of his if we admit for authentique we must withall say that Theodoret had relation to the state of his owne time when speaking of the care which Chrysostom had d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodoret. histor Ecclesiastic lib. 5. cap 28. of the whole diocese of Asia he saith that it was governed by eleven Presidents counting the three Provinces which were under the Proconsul of Asia with the other eighth that were under the Vicarius of the Asian diocese which otherwise if Lycia and Lycaonia had been conjoyned would have been but seven Provinces Indeed c Asianae X. Pamphylia Hellespontus Lydia c. Notit utriusque Imperii in the generall enumeration of the Provinces of the Easterne Empire which we meet withall toward the beginning of the foresaid Theodosian Breviary there are but ten Provinces numbred of the whole Asian diocese the first and principall of them all to wit Asia it selfe by some errour wherewith f Onuph Panuin Reipubl Roman lib. 3. pag. 424. edit Francofurt ann 1597. Onuphrius also was misledd being omitted Which was nothing amended by Isidorus Mercator but increased rather when he reckoneth up g Asiae Provinciae XII Asia ipsa in quâ est Ilium id est Troia Lydia Galatia Lycia Caria Hellespontus c. Provinciar Romanar libell ab Ant. Sconhovio Andr. Schotto edit ex Isidori Collect. Epistolar Decretal MS. twelve Provinces in this Asia the first where of is Asia it selfe saith he in which is Ilium or Troy the second Lydia the third Galatia Whereas Ilium was situated not in this but in the province of Hellespont and Galatia appertained to the Pontican and not to the Asian Diocese Whence by the way wee may correct an errour that hath crept into the Greek edition of the subscriptions of the 6. Action of the Councell of Chalcedon wherein though Theosebius Bishop of Ilium had put to his name yet Stephen the Metropolitan of the Ephesians among those absent Bishops that were under his jurisdiction doth nominate Rufinus Bishop not Timi as the Latin books have it but Ilij And here it is further to be observed that howsoever in former times the Proconsular Asia had divers metropoliticall cities in it as by that which hath been already said and specially by the Rescript of the Emperour Antoninus vouched by Vlpian is manifestly proved yet in the disposition of the Empire made by Constantine it was ordered that aswell there as in all other provinces respectively there should be but one chiefe city held for the Metropolis wherein the Roman Deputy was to make his principall residence and to which the provincialls might have recourse for the administration of publick justice Now Ephesus being held to be h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aristid orat de concordiâ ad civitates Asiaticas the common treasury of Asia as Aristides calleth it was appointed to be the Metropolis thereof as may appeare by the testimonies aswell of i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in argument epist ad Ephes Chrysostom and others of the ancient who wrote upon the Epistle of S. Paul to the Ephesians as by the Emperour k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theodos jun. epist ad Dioscor Alexandrin insert Actioni 1. Concil Chalcedon Theodosius in the letters whereby he summoneth Dioscorus and other Bishops to appeare at the second Councell of Ephesus assembled by him in the yeare of our Lord CCCCXLIX And he that wrote the book of the places mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles falsely fathered upon S. Hierom saying that l Specialiter ubi Ephesus civit as est Asia vocatur Lib. de locis Act. Apostol inter Hieronymi Bedae opera where the city of Ephesus is there is the Asia specially so called could meane no other thing thereby but that the province which hath Ephesus for it's Metropolis is that which hath the name of Asia in a singular manner appropriated unto it if therein hee looked any further then to the bare words of the text wherein it is said that Paul m Act. 19.10 continuing at Ephesus by the space of two yeares all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord. and that afterward n Act. 20.16 18. he determined to sayle by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia and thereupon sending for the Elders of the Church of Ephesus he said unto them Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons Out of all which it was no hard matter for him
of the whole Asian Diocese Upon which ground it was that among those Bishops which Palladius in the life of Chrysostom mentioneth to have been ordayned by Antoninus Bishop of Ephesus f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sozomen hist lib. 8. cap. 6. some were of Lycia and Phrygia as well as others of Asia the ordination of these latter being challenged by vertue of his Metropoliticall of the others by his Patriarchicall jurisdiction Which Patriarchicall right of ordination being taken afterwards from that See by the Councell of Chalcedon was by g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euagr. Instor lib. 3. cap. 6. Timothy of Alexandria the deadly enemy of that Councell restored againe So we see that as Metropolitan of the Asian province he thus subscribeth unto the Constantinopolitan Synod held under Menna h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 potiùs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil CP sub Mennâ Act. 5. I Hypatius by the mercy of God Bishop of the Metropolis of the Ephesians of the Asian Province have defined and subscribed and as Patriarch of the Asian diocese to the letters sent by the sixth Councell of Constantinople unto Pope Agatho thus i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synod VI. Constantinop Act. 18. I Theodorus by the mercy of God Bishop of the Metropolis of the Ephesians and Primate of the Asian Diocese both for my selfe and the Synod that is under me have subscribed And of the Proconsular Asia and by occasion thereof of the Asian Diocese also whereof it was a member thus much may suffice THE PATRIARCHICALL Government of the ancient Church declared by way of Answere unto foure Questions proposed unto EDWARD BREREWOOD The first Question Whether every Church or Bishop at the time of the Nicene Councell were subject to one of the three Patriarchs of Rome of Alexandria and of Antiochia mentioned in the 6. Canon of that Councell Answere NO They were not the Canon it selfe puts it out of question For when as the former part of that Canon had reserved to those three the accustomed prerogative and power over their neighbour Regions there is immediatly added that the dignities or priviledges belonging to the Churches of other Provinces should in like sort be maintained And the second Canon also of the first Generall Councell of Constantinople will enforce as much But for the better declaring of this point two things would be considered First what the Extent or Bounds of those three Patriarchs jurisdiction was Secondly to whose jurisdiction the rest of the Provinces belonged without those precincts Touching the first Concil Nicen can 6. To the Patriarch of Alexandria are attributed in the Nicene Councell the Regions of Aegypt Lybia and Pentapolis Epiphan contr haeres sect 68. prope princip Epiphanius addeth Thebais Maraeotica and Ammoniaca and yet he addeth nothing for Thebais and Maraeotica were provinces of Aegypt and Ammoniaca was part of Lybia The utmost cities of which Patriarchs jurisdiction were toward the East Rhinocorura not farre from Anthedon and Gaza where he confined with the jurisdiction of Antiochia and toward the West Berenice neere the greater Syrtis that was I say the utmost city of his jurisdiction that way but the utmost bound of it was at the towne of Phileni in the bottome of the greater Syrtis where the jurisdiction of Egypt confined with that of Afrique Within which large bounds at the time of the Nicene Councell were a Notitia Provinciar six Provinces of the Romane division but afterward in the time of the b Action 1. Concil Chalced in epist ad Dioscorum Councell of Chalcedon it seemes there were tenne the greater Provinces being then divided into lesse for so many Metropolitan Bishops doe the Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian call to that Councell out of the Diocesse of Egypt To the Patriarch of Antiochia belonged all c Concil Constantinop 1. can 2. the Provinces of the Orient which name taken properly in the Romane writers not for the Easterne Empire whereof Constantinople was the Metropolis but for the East Diocesse of the Empire whereof Antiochia was containeth all the Provinces of the Romane Empire lying at the East end of the Mediterrane Sea as farre as their Empire extended Eastward together with Cilicia and Isauria confining with the former but yet being on the North side of the midland Sea all together being in number d Notitia Provinc prope princip 15. Provinces Now lastly touching the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Rome although I will not take on mee resolutely to determine the precincts of it yet I will tell you my opinion Which is that it contained all those Provinces of the Diocesse of Italy which the old Lawyers and others terme Suburbicarias There were ten of them whereof three were the three Islands Sicilie Corsica and Sardinia and the other seven were in the firme land of Italie and took up in a manner all the narrow part of it for all Italie East ward belonged to it but on the West the river Magra which was and still is the limit of Tuscany toward the Tyrrhene Sea and the River Esino Asius it was called not farre to the West of the city Ancona toward the Adriatique Sea were the bounds of it for at that River Esino if I be not mistaken the Province of Picenum Suburbicarium confined with that which was termed Picenum Annonariū whereof the former belonged to the Praefecture of Rome whereof the city of Rome was Metropolis and the later together with all the other provinces in the broader part of Italy there were seven of them in all pertained to the Diocese of Italy properly so termed whereof the Metropolis was the city of Milan And that this and no other was the ancient jurisdiction of the Roman Patriarch I am not without reason to perswade me for first Ruffin hist Eccles lib. 1. cap. 6. Ruffinus in his Ecclesiasticall history registring the Canon of the Nicene Councell above alleadged setteth it down thus Apud Alexandriam ut in Vrbe Româ vetusta consuetudo servetur ut ille Aegypti hic Suburbicariarum Ecclesiarum solicitudinem gerat whose translation if he meant but to translate the Canon out of the Greek as I will not approve so his declaration if he meant that I cannot reprove because living so shortly as he did after the Nicene Councell and being of Italy as hee was hee might well know the bounds of that Patriarch's jurisdiction as it was then practised Secondly so many Provinces and no more belonged to the Prefecture of the city of Rome that was to the civill Jurisdiction of him that was Vicarius Vrbis Notitia Provinciar Imper Occidental as in the book of Provinces is manifest And of all the other Ecclesiasticall jurisdictions whether of Patriarchs or Primates it is certaine that they extended no farther then the Temporall Regiment of the Lievtenants did that is to the bounds of those Dioceses whereof the cities of their
of Maerspurge very often professed and promised And againe this inconvenience that Presbyters should ordaine might be prevented if the parties to be ordained were not compelled to promise the upholding of evident abuses for unlesse that were required at their hands they would willingly receave ordination from Bishops which now they are constrained by a certaine necessity both to seeke and receave from other Ministers And as they could not obtaine ordination from your Popish Churches so neither by the same reason from the Greeke Church For b Bellarm. lib. de notis Ecclesiae cap. 8. §. 22. Bellarmine denyeth it to be a Church because they were lawfully convicted in three full Councells at Lateran Lions and Florence of heresy and especially of the heresy about the proceeding of the Holy Ghost which to be a manifest heresy saith he both the Lutherans and the Calvinists doe confesse Wherefore seeing no Church will give orders but only to such persons as approve and embrace their doctrine therefore they could not with a safe conscience seeke to the Greeke Church whose doctrine they justly misliked Being thus excluded from the Greeke and the Latin from the East and the West what should be done It was the duty of Magistrates whose hearts the Lord had touched not to suffer false Prophets but to drive them away like wolves and to plant godly Preachers in their places But whence should they have them The Popish Priestes converted were like a few clusters in a great vintage or a few mariners in a great ship wherefore either there must be a new supply or the ship of Christ must be endangered And there was but one way for this supply to wit by Ordination Now the Bishops were so farre from yeelding it in any tolerable manner that they persecuted such as sought the reformation and branded them with schisme and heresy Wherefore it must either be devolved unto Presbyters or the Church of God must suffer most lamentable ruine and desolation And was not this a case of necessity I will conclude this point with a memorable saying of Waldensis worthy to be written in letters of gold c Vbi ista duo concurrunt in communitate Ecclesia scilicèt extrema non ulteriùs differendo necessitas ordinarii pastoris aut praesidis ad succurrendum desperata facultas quaerendus est extraordinarius pater priusquà m Christi Domini fabrica dissolvatur Thom. Waldens Doctrinal fidei tom 1. lib. 2. cap. 80. §. 2. When these two things doe meet in the state of the Church to wit extream necessity admitting no delay the hopelesse want of ability to yeeld releefe in the ordinary Pastor or guide we must seeke an extraordinary Father before the fabrick of the Lord Iesus be dissolved PHILOD SVppose that ordination might be devolved to Presbyters in case of necessity yet the necessity ceasing such extraordinary courses should likewise cease Why then doe they continue their former practise why doe they not now seeke to receave their orders from Protestant Bishops ORTHOD. The Churches of Germany need not to seek to forraine Bishops because they have Superintendents or Bishops among themselves And as for other places which embrace the discipline of Geneva they also have Bishops in effect for two things of all other are most proper to Bishops 1. Singularity in succeeding because though there be many Presbyters in a Church yet above the rest there is one Starre one Angell of whose unity depends the unity of the Church and therefore when he dieth another must succeed in the like singularity 2. Superiority in ordaining because ever since the Apostles times these Starres and Angells have been invested with the power of ordination which they might performe without Presbyters but Presbyters might not regularly performe without them Now in these reformed Churches the President of each Presbytery is their Starre or Angell indued with both properties Concerning the first Beza saith d Bez. de divers gradib mmistr contr Sarav cap. 23. §. 25. Essentiale fuit in eo de quo hîc agimus quòd ex Dei ordinatione perpetuâ necesse fuit est erit ut in Presbyterio quispiam loco dignitate primus actioni gubernandae praesit cum eo quod ipsi divinitùs attributum est jure This was essentiall in the matter we have in hand that by Gods perpetuall ordinance it hath been is and shall bee needfull that some one in the Presbytery which is first both in place and dignity should have the preheminence in ruling of every action with that right which is given him from God Therefore concerning the second whereas the Presbytery consisteth partly of Ministers partly of Lay-men their Lay-presbyters are wholly excluded from Ordination for e Non liquidò constat an quum aliquis consecrandas erat minister omnes soliti fuerunt manum imponere ejas capiti an unus duntaxat loco nomine omnium Imò huc magis inclinat conjectura unum tantùm fuisse qui manut imponeret Calvin in 2. Tim. 1.6 Hoe postremò habendum est non universam multitudinem manus imposuisse suis ministris sed solos Pastores Id. in Institut l. b. 4. cap. 3. §. 16. Calvin teacheth that in the Apostolick times only Pastors imposed hands neither is it lawfull for every Pastor in the Presbytery to execute this office but it is reserved to him who is first both in place and dignity having preheminence in every action and consequently in Ordination Wherefore though that he doe it not by his sole authority but with common consent neither hath the name of a Bishop or such ample titles annexed as godly Princes have thought fit for the honour of the place because these things are not sutable with popular estates delighting in equality yet he hath the substance of the office it selfe which he exerciseth not in one only particular parish but in the City Suburbs and the territories thereof containing sundry Parishes as for example at Geneva XXIIII or there about Wherefore seeing a Bishop and a Presbyter doe not differ in order but only in preheminence and jurisdiction as your selves acknowledge and seeing Calvin and Beza had the order of Priesthood which is the highest order in the Church of God and were lawfully chosen the one after the other to a place of eminency and indued with jurisdiction derived unto them from the whole Church wherein they lived you cannot with reason deny them the substance of the Episcopall office And wherein soever their Discipline is defective we wish them even in the bowels of Christ Iesus by all possible meanes to redresse and reforme it and to conforme themselves to the ancient custome of the Church of Christ which hath continued from the Apostles time that so they may remove all opinion of singularity and stop the mouth of malice it selfe Thus much concerning the Ministers of other reformed Churches wherein if you will not believe us disputing for the lawfulnesse of their calling yet you must give us leave to believe God himselfe from heaven approving their ministery by powring downe a blessing upon their labours Blesse them still O Lord and blesse us and make all our Ministery faithfull fruitfull and effectuall to the comfort of our own Consciences the advancing of thy Kingdome the joy of thy little flock and to the recalling of those lost sheepe which as yet wander in the wildernesse of the Church of Rome or elsewhere that so it may be powerfull by thy Spirit to the salvation of many thousand soules AMEN FINIS