of Cleophas sister of the blessed Virgin the wife of Alpheus and mother of James the lesse Wherewith agreeth Clemens Alexandrinus in Eusebius Eccles hist ii 1. where he acknowledgeth but two Jameses the son of Zebedee and this James of Jerusalem mentioned by the Apostle And herewith agreeth S. Chrysostome upon that text of the Apostle where he observeth that for S. James his honour S. Paul calleth him brother of our Lord whereas he might as well have called him sonne of Cleophas as the Evangelist had done Here it is plain that James the brother of our Lord and sonne of Cleophas is the Apostle sonne of Alpheus according to S. Chrysostome As for that which followeth that neverthelesse he was not of kin to our Lord according to the flesh but according to the opinion of the world it seemeth to depend upon Hegesippus in Eusebius iii. 11 26. where he maketh Cleophas brother to Joseph supposed father of our Lord. Which is possible to be true that Joseph and Cleophas brothers should take to wife the two Maries sisters or cousins But otherwise there is so much appearance in the Gospel that Mary mother of James and Joses is Mary of Cleophas sister to the blessed Virgin that it must needs be an inconvenience to deny this James to be kin to our Lord by her side As for other relations and conjectures of Church-writers the varietie whereof is endlesse and unreconcilable it is not reason to draw them into consequence to the prejudice of a conjecture which maketh so clear an agreement of this whole difference It was my desire to shew the true meaning of the Apostles words but it is not my purpose to build upon uncertainties Whosoever this James of Jerusalem was we find the Church of Jerusalem under his charge almost assoon as there was a Church there at least if we believe Ignatius Epist ad Trall where he saith S. Stephen was Deacon to this James of Jerusalem which must be betimes after our Lords death And therefore thus we see whom the Bishops of Jerusalem succeed CHAP. III. The Apostles planted mother-churches in mother-mother-cities The Government of them estated upon Presbyteries Saint Paul at the beginning made no Bishops over those Presbyteries The reason Himself had the oversight of the Churches of his planting for the time The like in the Churches of S. Peters charge LEt us now go abroad with the Apostles and see how they followed this pattern in the Churches which they converted to the faith Tertullian l. De praescript c. 20. speaketh thus of them ac providè Ecclesias apud unāquamque civitatem condiderunt This slight circumstance which he but pointeth at that the Apostles founded Churches in Cities is very considerable in our businesse For it is plain they could not bestow their pains on all places reason required they should labour most to plant the faith in the most populous And common sense and the least knowledge of times will serve to shew that from thence it was propagated through the Countreys that lay to those Cities which therefore in time became and were called the Territories Parishes or Dioceses of such or such Churches Now the form of government estated by S. Paul over these Churches is pointed out to us Acts xiv 23. where we reade in the end of their first journey that Paul and Barnabas having ordained them Presbyters in every Church returned to Antiochia But unto Titus the Apostle writeth thus Tit. i. 5. For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou mightest set in order the things that are wanting and constitute Elders in every city as I had appointed thee Elders in every Church in the one place and Elders in every city in the other both to the same effect not meaning one in a place but Presbyteries that is Colledges bodies companies of Presbyters with common advice to order the Churches planted in these Cities Such a Colledge of Presbyters it was that we spoke of in the last chapter instituted by the Apostles in the Church of Jerusalem the pattern whereof S. Paul followeth in the Churches which he converted out of the Gentiles And thus in the Church of Ephesus you shall see S. Paul Acts xx 17. sending for the bench of Elders there to Miletus Thus in the Church of Philippi you shall find that the Apostle directeth his Epistle to the Bishops and Deacons there which must be to the Colledge of Presbyters next above the order of Deacons Thus when the Apostle writeth to the Thessalonians 1. Thess v. 12. And we beseech you brethren to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord the multitude whereof he speaketh is to be understood of the like company of Presbyters Thus in Ignatius his epistles you shall find him up and down reckoning next after the Bishops the Presbyteries of all the Churches to which he writeth The like in S. Cyprians epistles for the Presbyteries of Rome and Carthage To spare more words in all Church-writers you shall find continuall remembrance of these Presbyteries whensoever there is speech of Mother-churches in mother-Mother-cities And therefore those we are to understand when we reade that Paul and Barnabas ordained Presbyters in every Church and Titus in every City And such Bodies or Colledges of Presbyters they were to whom the Apostle committed the Churches which he had planted But this being granted the question will be in the next place Where are the Bishops the chief and heads of these Presbyteries For had the Apostle from the beginning of his planting these Churches placed that rank over these Presbyters it is like we should have found some remembrance of it Now these Presbyters are styled by the name of Bishops as hath been observed ever since S. Hierome and which is more to averre the observation for this purpose neither in the relation of his planting and ordering the Churches nor in the style of his Epistles nor in his instructions concerning ministers of these Churches is there any remembrance or respect to be found but of Presbyters and Deacons which in so much eminence of place so much difference of Bishops office if any then had been could scarce have come to passe and maketh me conclude that the Apostle ordained none such from the beginning over the Presbyteries No Bishop the Apostle had yet settled at Ephesus when he used these words to the Presbyters there Acts xx 17. Take heed to your selves and to the whole flock over whom the holy Ghost hath made you EPISCOPOS Bishops or Overseers For as he giveth the name to the Presbyters so he addresseth his instructions to none besides None at Philippi when he directed his Epistle to the Bishops and Deacons there neither the custome of the Church bearing more then one Bishop in one Church at once nor being a thing reasonable to think if any such had been that the Apostle would not have found a room for him in the style of his Epistle None in the Churches within
his purpose because he saith no more but this that the First to Timothy was sent from Macedonia But the Apostle having resolved if it were possible to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost Acts xx 16. maketh hast and overtaketh his company at Troas Acts xx 6. And thus we see the reason why there is no respect of Timothy in his instructions to the Elders of Ephesus Acts xx 18. because that then he began to enter upon his charge there and because of the instructions he had received from the Apostle by his first Epistle besides word of mouth So the upshot of all this discourse is thus much That within compasse of the time of this voyage at the beginning whereof the Apostle said in the Spirit that when he had been at Jerusalem he must also see Rome Acts xix 21. at the midst whereof he writeth to the Romanes chap. xv 23. that he had no more place in those parts and at the end whereof he saith to the Elders of Ephesus Acts xx 25. And now behold I know that all you among whom I have gone preaching the kingdome of God shall see my face no more knowing by revelation that he was to serve God no more in those parts appointeth his two Disciples Timothy and Titus to be in his stead over the Churches of Asia and Crete Now that the charge of Timothy and Titus giveth them a power as great as that of Bishops was from the beginning no question is made if they prove not more then so the businesse is clear For true it is something not ordinary in Bishops we must acknowledge in Timothie's person when he is called an Evangelist 2. Tim. iv 5. Do the work of an Evangelist To which we must referre that grace whereof the Apostle speaketh 1. Tim. iv 14. Neglect not the gift that is in thee that was given thee by prophecy with the laying-on of the hands of the Presbytery Whereof again 2 Tim. i. 16. I put thee in mind that thou stirre up the gift that is in thee by the putting-on of my hands And 1. Tim. i. 18. This charge I commit unto thee sonne Timothy according to the prophecies that went afore of thee In this the Disciples case is somewhat like the Apostles as you shall see it anon Acts xiii 2. where the Prophets in the Church of Antiochia having foretold through the holy Ghost what God would do in the planting of his Gospel by his hands and Barnabas and declared his will for setting them apart for that purpose hereupon they receive imposition of hands So likewise we must conceive that these prophecies went afore of Timothy to inform the Church of the will of God concerning him and the work he had appointed him to perform As for the grace he receiveth by imposition of hands what other can any man imagine it to be then that which is designed in the name of an Evangelist which the Apostle meant when he said Ephes iv 11. that our Lord hath given to his Church some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists Or how can we further distinguish it otherwise from the gifts of Apostles and Prophets then placing it in the extraordinary temporary indowments of the holy Ghost inabling such persons according to the exigence of that time to publish the Gospel and to perswade it which neverthelesse cometh short of the personall qualitie of witnesses of our Lord and his doctrine and of the measure and kind of those graces of miracles languages and the like that make an Apostle But he that would draw this into consequence and argue that Timothy was no Bishop because an Evangelist may with more reason conclude that Philip was no Deacon because he was an Evangelist and contradict the Scripture that saith Acts xxi 8. We entred into the house of Philip the Evangelist which was one of the seven For if an Apostle in that eminence of graces and priviledges neverthelesse abiding upon a certain charge and taking care of it is to be counted Bishop of a particular place as was argued afore much more may an Evangelist for his extraordinary gift be a Bishop for his severall charge which is to say thus much in English That the gift of an Evangelist may fall upon any rank of ordinary Ministers as we see Philip for his place in the Church one of the seven Deacons at Jerusalem Acts vi 5. is neverthelesse an Evangelist for the graces God had bestowed upon him by his means to convert Samaria to the faith Acts viii 15. Nay further if the gift of an Evangelist be competible with a Deacons place it must be granted that Timothy as an Evangelist is no Governour of Churches And whereas it is argued that it was but a Commission for the time which Timothy and Titus are trusted with from the Apostle because it appeareth they were otherwhiles imployed otherwhere by the Apostle 2. Tim. iv 9 10. as any Bishop in case of publick necessities of the Church must be without the Apostle let me be bold to affirm that the rules of continued settled government directed to them by the Apostle to be executed by them in their persons are sufficient evidence that they were appointed by him for perpetuall Governours and not for temporary Commissaries Indeed as there is something more then ordinary in Timothie's person so is there something more then ordinary in Titus his charge in that he was left in Crete to ordain Presbyters in every citie Tit. i. 5. by which as appeareth in the sequele of the Epistle the Churches of those cities were to be governed under Titus as was observed afore The like to be said of Timothy whose instructions qualifying Presbyters and Deacons alone leave him alone superiour to all the Presbyteries he should institute according to his instructions Now if we observed the custome of the Apostles hitherto set forth of instituting Presbyteries in populous cities and observe the custome of the Church after their time wherein a Bishop was alwayes head of one of these Presbyteries Quid est enim Episcopus nisi primus Presbyterorum saith S. Augustine it will not be hard to espy a difference between the place of a Bishop and the extent of their charge For it will not serve the turn to say as some do that Titus was Archbishop of Crete and so intrusted with divers Churches For an Archbishop is a chief among Bishops not a person to govern divers Churches seats of Bishopricks Besides that these degrees among Bishops came in afterwards when the Church became incorporate into the State of the Romane Empire as having the charge of Churches in head-head-Cities of Provinces or according to the precedence of places wherein the Emperours or chief temporall Powers made their residence But in the mean time let me use Epiphanius his words The Apostles could not settle all things uniformly at once Is it a reasonable thing to argue that because S. Paul taketh no order for the heads of these Presbyteries which were
assigned his proper services Which further appeareth when he urgeth the example of their sacrifices that were offered before the Temple being first visited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 54. But the Presbyters of that Christian Church he exhorteth with these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Brethren saith he let every one of you give thanks to God that is Celebrate the Eucharist in his language in his own order being in a good conscience not stepping out of the set rule of his Ministery Perhaps his meaning is that they should celebrate by turns Howsoever here is my reason that there was then no Bishop there because then there could not have been so much debate about the order in celebrating the assemblies of Christians which as shall be shewed afterwards were not to be held but upon appointment of the Bishop with advice of the Presbyters being a mark of schisme to assemble otherwise And if this be not enough there is another to second it Whatsoever may be argued from the dissensions at Corinth one saying I am of Paul another I am of Cephas to shew that there was no Bishop there when the Apostle writ this and in his absence still continueth in force at the time of writing Clemens his Epistle The whole subject whereof is to quell such another dissension as this but onely that it was not under such colourable names of Paul and Cephas and Apollos as he complaineth but which is remarkable to prove my intent was as he saith p. 62. a mere faction for the love of one or two persons against the Presbyters no Bishop bearing any part either at one end or other of it Neither is it marvel that this Church should be still without a Bishop for some ten or twentie years perhaps after the death of the Apostle so many companions of the Apostles being then alive Clemens at Rome Titus in Crete Timothy at Ephesus Dionysius at Athens others elsewhere to furnish whatsoever assistance they had received from the Apostle during his time no otherwise then did Timothy and Titus to those Churches wherein they had planted Presbyteries before they had Bishops And this must be the answer if any man ask the question how Bishops came to be propagated through all Churches the answer must be They were made in due time by the heads of neighbouring Churches which we shall discern anon when we come to speak of the course held from the beginning in the choice and constitution of Bishops And by the practice of the Church it should seem the aim was afarre off to propagate Bishops according to the first practice of the Apostles For as they planted Presbyteries to govern Mother-Churches in mother-Mother-Cities so when it became questionable which Churches should have Bishops and which not the matter was regulated according to the greatnesse of Cities or the multitude of Presbyters which the service of the Churches in them required whereof the Bishops were to be heads And therefore in the Councel of Sardica Can. vi it is provided that there should be no Bishop in towns or small cities where one Presbyter might serve but in those places where Bishops were of old time or if a place became so populous that it might deserve to have a Bishop that is either in Cities that had been so populous of old time as to have Bishops or which should afterwards become so populous But the xvii Can on of the Chalcedon Councel providing against innovation in Dioceses taketh order neverthelesse that when a place is promoted by the Emperour to be a Citie the form of the Church shall go along with the form of the Common-wealth that is it shall have a Bishop and his Diocese the territory of that Citie There is here a difference in the particular and yet the same generall ground of both Canons the practice of the Apostles ordaining Presbyteries to govern the Churches which they had planted in Cities the heads whereof were Bishops after their departure And this seemeth to be the reason why the seats of Cathedrall Churches are wont to be Cities And by this means Italy is so full of Bishopricks because it is so full of Cities CHAP. VII Presbyters govern with the Apostles in Scriptures Nothing done in the Church without their advise Why both ranks are called Sacerdotes Presbyteri Antistites and the like HAving hitherto justified the ground whereupon we go and shewed that Bishops came after the Apostles to be heads of Presbyteries in consequence hereunto it must now be averred that the government of Churches passed in common by Bishops and Presbyters as from the beginning the Presbyters governed with the Apostles themselves If in that great action of the Councel at Jerusalem the Elders of that Church bore their part with the Apostles what cause have we to think they did lesse when they were dispersed S. James alone remaining there If they concurred with S. James in his advise to S. Paul about a matter of greatest weight how to deal with those of the Circumcision that believed shall we imagine they did not do the like with his successours If S. Peter call the Presbyters of the Churches to which he writeth his fellow-Elders it is to the purpose to put them in mind of their share in that office which he chargeth himself with If the Apostle of the Gentiles charge the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Acts xx 18. with their part of that care of Christs flock after his departure which he for his time had performed over them shall we think them eased of it because Timothy came to be Bishop there Rather let me conceive this to be the cause why Timothie's instructions are addressed in the singular number to him alone without mention of his Presbyters because they were to receive their charge by themselves about the same time So farre is it from me to think that his Presbyters were not to concurre in assisting that course of government wherein he alone is directed by the Apostle to proceed And if we can go no further in proving this point out of Scripture the reason must be because as appeareth by that which hath been said the Scriptures for the most part speak of that time when Bishops yet were not but the Apostles themselves To which purpose neverthelesse there will be still something to be said out of the Scriptures in the particulars which we shall survey In the mean time let us take notice of a few passages among many more out of Ecclesiasticall writers to argue the generall whereof we speak Ignatius Epist ad Trall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We cannot understand righter what the Presbytery meaneth then out of these words a Colledge or bench of Assessours to the Bishop in sacred matters The Commentaries under S. Ambrose his name upon 1. Tim. v. 1. speak home to this purpose Nam apud omnes utique gentes honorabilis est senectus unde Synagoga postea Ecclesia Seniores
according to that which we conceived afore from the beginning Bishops were propagated through all Churches by no other means but by the assistance of neighbour Churches that had Bishops afore hereupon it proceeded to be a custome in the Church that a Bishop was not made without approbation and consent of the neighbour Bishops from whom he was to recieve imposition of hands and with whom he was to preserve the unity of the Church which at that time was actuated by no means but by the correspondence of Bishops in the name of their Churches This is the ground of the custome that under three Bishops it was not usuall to ordain one Novatianus was ordained by no lesse at Rome in the way of Schisme against Cornelius who was ordained by sixteen as we reade in S. Cyprian But when the proceeding of this businesse came to be regulated by the Canons of Nice and Antiochia the Church by that time being incorporate in the state of the Romane Empire then was it thought fit that a Bishop should be made by all the Bishops of the Province the Metropolitane that is the Bishop of the head City in chief without whom nothing to be done so that if some few agreed not the businesse neverthelesse to proceed and be executed by three at the least The intent was indeed so farre as opportunity should serve that these Acts should be done at the Provinciall Synods of Bishops to be held twice a year by the fifth Canon of Nice as may be observed among others in that which Saint Augustine mentioneth contra Cresc iii. 26. de vestris majoribus exstat secundi Tigisitani concilium cum paucissimis quidem factum apud Cirtam post persecutionem codicum tradendorum ut ibi in locum defuncti ordinaretur Episcopus If no such fell out it was provided that three might do it the rest consenting under their hands Can. 19. Conc. Antioch Thus without consent of the Bishops all proceedings of Clergy and people were quite disabled and becalmed if any faction any sinister practice appeared in them and all this upon the charge of the Apostle to Timothy Lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partaker of other mens sinnes And by virtue of their Ordination a Bishop was established and invested so that a Bishop with Jurisdiction before Ordination was an estate not yet come into the world so long as the primitive custome and rule of the Church was in force which it seemeth succeeding custome hath brought to passe since Now of all parts of the office common to Bishop and Presbyters this of Ordination is that which the Bishop first began to exercise alone so that with S. Chrysostome and S. Hierome it is taken in a manner for granted that it was to be done by him alone The one Hom. 11. in 1. ad Tim. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Onely in Ordination the Bishops go beyond the Presbyters that is it alone which they seem to have more than these The other Ep. ad Euagr. Quid enim facit Episcopus except â ordinatione quod Presbyter non facit excepting Ordination which a Bishop doth a Presbyter as he granteth doth not In which neverthelesse setting aside the stroke the Presbyters had in making their Bishops if we take not our marks amisse we shall find argument enough at least at the beginning for the concurrence of Presbyters with him in making of Presbyters and other inferiour Orders In the first place those generall passages of the Fathers wherein is witnessed that the Presbytery was a Bench assistant to the Bishop without advice whereof nothing of moment was done must needs be drawn into consequence to argue that it had effect in a particular of this weight Then the Ordination of Timothy by imposition of hands of the Presbytery will prove no lesse within compasse of the Scripture Indeed it is well known that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ecclesiasticall writers signifieth divers times the office and rank of Presbyters which signification divers here embrace expounding imposition of hands of the Presbytery to mean that by which the rank of Presbyter was conferred But the Apostles words running as they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oblige a man to ask when he is come as farre as the imposition of the hands of whom or whose hands they were he speaketh of which the next words satisfie had it been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sense might better have been diverted but running as it doth with the article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with imposition of THE hands it remaineth that it be specified in the next words whose hands were imposed as in the other place 2. Tim. i. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with imposition of my hands Thus this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Gospel Luke xxii 66. And in Ignatius his Epistles signifieth the Colledge of Presbyters which hath the nature and respect of a person in Law and therefore is read in the singular for the whole Bench and being assembled and set is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in both places and in Cornelius of Rome his Epistle to S. Cyprian where he saith placuit contrahere Presbyterium But to put the signification of the word out of doubt by the circumstance of the sense call to mind the Prophesies that went before concerning Timothy and compare his case with the Apostles and the prophesies that went before of him in like case and the imposition of hands which thereupon both recieved and sure it will prove an unreproveable ground to conclude that what is expressed in the Apostle is to be understood of the Disciple that these prophesies coming from the Ministers of the Church concerning the purpose to which God hath ordained them in his service occasioned that which they did about both in giving them imposition of hands and that as S. Paul received imposition of hands from the Presbyters of Antiochia so did Timothy from S. Paul and the Presbyters of that Church which he speaks of but names not Neither are the arguments of this interesse quite worn out of the practice of the Church either in the point of nominating the persons or that of imposing hands For when S. Cyprian expresseth himself so oft in this particular that it was not his purpose to do any thing without advice of his Presbyters and consent of his people it is not his meaning that the Clergy should bear no other part in this work then did the multitude but as they were distinct bodies so according to his own words to expect advice from them as concerning the persons to be promoted but consent from the people if there were no fault to be found of moment with the persons designed And in these terms the matter stands in the 22. Canon of of that which is called the fourth councel of Carthage where is provided Vt Episcopus sine consilio Clericorum suorum Clericos non ordinet it à ut civium assensum testimonium
the charge of Timothy and Titus set aside their own persons whereof we shall give account afterwards in whose instructions the Apostle is large in qualifying Bishops and Deacons such Bishops as we reade of Tit. i. 7. where having said that he left him in Crete to make Presbyters in every city the Apostle addeth For a Bishop must be blamelesse but of any other rank not a syllable None in the Church of Corinth The Commentaries under S. Ambrose his name yield this reason of the disorders the Apostle taxeth there 1 Cor. xi 21. Because there was no Bishop there The words are not of ordinary mark Hos notat qui sic in Ecclesiam conveniebant ut munera sua offerentes advenientibus Presbyteris quia adhuc Rectores Ecclesiis non omnibus locis fuerant constituti totum sibi qui obtulerat vindicaret schismatis causâ So whereas that whereof the Eucharist was consecrated should be spent by the assembly in the common feast of Love some made good chear others that had not offered went away without their share Therefore saith the Apostle ver 22. Have ye not houses to eat and drink in but despise ye the Church of God coming thither for dissensions sake and belly-chear not for the Sacrament and for peace and shame them that have not sending them away without enterteinment therefore verse 33. he exhorteth to stay for one another at their meetings Thus farre out of those Commentaries Which reason as it giveth a clear meaning to the whole passage of the Apostle so it groweth still more probable because we shall find afterwards that it continueth still in force at the time of writing Clemens his Epistle published not long since And men of learning have argued that this reason might better be yielded for their dissensions saying I am of Paul I am of Apollos I am of Cephas which the Apostle reproveth in the beginning of the Epistle to wit Because there was then no Bishop there and in the Apostles absence And indeed if we reckonnot amisse what reason have we to think that this Apostle should ordain in the Churches of his planting a higher rank of Bishops to govern the Churches above and with the Presbyters Do we not see that he chargeth himself with the oversight of these Churches wherein he had planted the Colledges of Presbyters aforesaid 2. Corinth xi 28. Besides those things which are without that which cometh upon me dayly the care of all the Churches To what purpose else is the journey he taketh Acts xv 36. to visit the Churches wherein he had ordained Presbyters afore Let us return saith he to Barnabas and visit our brethren in all cities where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they do We see he taketh care to exercise discipline upon the incestuous person at Corinth which it seemeth the Rulers of the Church there had neglected to do 1. Cor. v. 4. pronouncing sentence of excommunication and requiring the Church to see it ratified executed And for a thing remarkable observe in what terms he proceedeth 1. Cor. v. 4. When ye are gathered together and my spirit saith he his Spirit which ruled there in chief for the time So that it is not for nothing that Tertullian lib. De praescript cap. 36. reckoneth Corinth Philippi Thessalonica Ephesus and the rest of the same rank all Apostolicall Churches from this one Apostle because he planted and ruled them all for his time Apud quas saith he ipsae adhuc cathedrae Apostolorum suis locis praesident which is in good English neither more nor lesse then here is affirmed The Apostles chair rested in them all till Tertullians time therefore the Apostle for his time sate in it And to my apprehension all his Epistles are nothing else but so many acts of this government spirituall in chief which the Apostle reserved himself in the Churches of his own planting The like to be said of S. Peters Epistles and hath been observed in part by Eusebius Eccles hist lib. iii. cap. 5. That the title of his former Epistle addressed to the strangers dispersed through Pontus Asia Galatia Cappadocia and Bithynia that is to the Jews sojourning in those provinces argueth it to be a work of his care in preaching the Gospel to the charge he had undertaken according to the division alledged before Galat. ii 9. And therefore as hath been hitherto argued of the other Apostle so when we see S. Peter 1. Pet. v. 1. direct his exhortation to feed the flock to none but Presbyters we have cause to conceive that those Churches to whom he writeth and whom we shall heare Epiphanius say anon that he went sometimes from Rome to visit had as yet no Bishops over their Presbyters The same that S. Hierome hath argued long since out of Hebr. xiii 17. where the Apostle writeth in the plurall number Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves CHAP. IV. As the Apostles withdrew so Bishops came over the Presbyteries in their stead Timothy and Titus had not their charge till S. Paul left those parts His journey from Ephesus through Macedonia into Greece By the way he left Titus in Crete Why he wintered at Nicopolis At spring he returned by land into Macedonia There and then Timothy undertaketh the Church of Ephesus Timothy an Evangelist The prophecies that went before of him and the grace he received Titus and he over many Presbyteries Bishops over each afterwards The Angels of the seven Churches BUt as the Apostles began to wear out or otherwise as their occasions gave them not leave to attend in person upon the Churches of their care reason required if but in correspondence to the state of government that had hitherto rested in some Apostle and the Presbyteries of particular Churches there should be instituted some heads of these companies of Presbyters to whom the name of Bishops hath been appropriated ever since and certain it is that during the time of the Apostles instituted they were This agreeth extreme well with the charge and instructions of the Apostle to his Disciples Timothy and Titus over the Churches of Asia and Crete whom as all Ecclesiasticall writers after Eusebius acknowledge to be made Bishops of Ephesus and Crete so must we not fail to observe here that this was not done till it was revealed to the Apostle that from thenceforth the Lord would imploy him in the Western parts of the world The businesse is most an end agreed upon on all hands yet because the observation is so effectuall to this purpose let me take leave to inlarge it by clearing the whole passage of the Apostles last voyage from Ephesus through Greece and back again Acts xix 21. we reade at that time Paul resolved by the Spirit having passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying When I have been there I must also see Rome In 2. Cor. i. 15. he writeth to them that he had formerly purposed to go
but under two or three witnesses Them that sinne rebuke before all that others also may have fear But having hitherto shewed that our Lord in the Gospel hath appointed matters of particular offense to come before the Consistory of Bishop and Presbyters That the Apostles themselves in divers matters belonging to the Government of the Church used their assistance That in the Primitive times of the Church even under the Apostles matters of Censure and Ordination both were wont to passe by the Presbyters but in the Assemblies of Christian people Let me referre this to al indifferent persons to judge whether the same course of proceeding were in likelyhood observed in the censure of Presbyters The Apostles direction regulating what information to admit is directed to Timothie alone for the meaning is not that two or three should be present when it is put in but that it should not be admitted but as the Syriack translateth it upon the mouth that is the word of two or three witnesses But the censure of reproof is prescribed to passe in the congregation when he saith them that sinne that is them that are found in fault rebuke before all that others may have fear no otherwise then the censure of the Apostle did and was prescribed to do 1. Cor. v. 4. 2. Cor. ii 6. and therefore we are to think that the examination of such causes must passe as others of like nature by him with the Presbyters to whom the Apostle had assigned a charge of governing the Church there Acts xx 28 35. So the keyes of the Church given to S. Peter and to the Apostles were neverthelesse intended to be exercised by the Church as hath been said So the charge of excommunicating Hereticks is directed to Titus alone Titus iii. 10. But we have no reason therefore to imagine that Titus is directed to proceed otherwise in it then we know the Church was wont to proceed in Censures of that nature according to that which hath been said And so it is in the case that followeth a little after verse 22. Lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partaker of other mens sinnes where the rule of Ordinations is directed to Timothy alone yet have we no cause to believe that it was practiced by him otherwise then according to the form aforesaid joyning with him the Ptesbyters in imposition of hands as was practiced by the Apostle The eminence of their place is to be acknowledged because the Apostles instructions for managing these matters are directed to them alone But their course of proceeding must be measured by that which we know otherwise CHAP. XIV Retaining the primitive form Bishops cannot be abolished How Aerius is counted an Heretick All displeasure against Bishops occasioned by defect of Presbyteries To what purpose they might be restored THat which hath been said being intended to represent the form delivered in Scripture by the agreement of Historicall truth and primitive practice concerneth no more as every man sees then the government of Mother-churches contained in mother-Mother-cities Because that is all the Scripture hath expressed But what influence and effect this ought to have in the present state of the Church now that Dioceses are divided Churches built and congregations assigned is not for a private person to particularize unlesse he meant to build Churches as some men do Castles in the air Let it be enough to say thus much in generall which every man must think that believeth what hath been said to be true that he that aimeth at the Primitive form and that which cometh nearest the institution of our Lord and his Apostles must not think of destroying Bishops but of restoring their Presbyteries Were it but an humane Ordinance of yesterday established by due course of right let me be bold to say that if Aerius withdraw his submission to it he must come within Epiphanius his list of Hereticks not understanding an Heretick in S. Augustines sense wherein Tertullian in his book de praescript went afore him to be none but he that will not believe some point of doctrine necessary as the means of salvation to be believed but according to the latitude of the word taking all to be Hereticks that make Sects and assemble themselves apart besides the Church of God lawfully settled This sense is used in Can. 6. Conc. 1. Constantinop where they are counted Hereticks that hold the sound faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And this latitude it seemeth Epiphanius comprised because he reckoneth the Quartadecimani in the roll of Hereticks These when the position whereupon the separation is grounded is not of weight setting their separation aside to separate them from the invisible Church are since according to the Authors named afore by a proper term called Schismaticks though Hereticks in the proper sense separate no lesse then they do And of this crime my earnest desire is that those which have separated themselves from this Church of England upon this quarrel of government by Bishops or the like unjust or unsufficient causes may stand acquitted though how they will acquit themselves of it I cannot yet perceive But if the rank of Bishops over their Presbyters be not onely a just humane Ordinance but estated in possession of sixteen hundred years without deceit or violence at the beginning let me have leave to think it will be hard to shew a better title of humane right for any estate upon the earth How much more when the possession is avouched to have been delivered from the hands and time of the Apostles must it needs seem strange that the successours of their place should be destroyed by the sons of their faith Be it pardonable for our neighbours and Brethren of the reformed Churches abroad to have overseen the succession of the Apostles because they could not discern it as they found it blended with such abundance of accessories especially in the persons of men that hated to be reformed But among us there hath been time to plead the right to the quick and though not without eagernesse of debate which interesse breedeth yet alwayes with advantage to the true tenure And among the multitude of speech that this time hath bred we have heard little or nothing as yet of new reasons to quell the cause with So that before advancing new plea the old right descending from such hands standeth now in as good terms as ever heretofore As for the point of peace within our selves and correspondence with our neighbours be it considered how large S. Hierom of all Church writers least favourable to the Order as he that found himself pinched with the Bishop of Jerusalem hath been neverthelesse in acknowledging that the peace of particular Churches could not be preserved without it To which we must adde the remembrance of so many happy dayes as this Church since the Reformation hath seen without such ruptures as have fallen out in other parts by the benefit of it among a people alwayes observed to be of all
not yet made therefore he did not intend there should be any such in the Church Rather let me argue that because S. Paul left two of his principall Disciples in two principall places with charge to plant Presbyteries as there was means to propagate Churches therefore he gave a pattern of that which these Disciples and all the Church was to do afterwards in settling the government of those Churches in the Presbyteries of them and in their heads which themselves were for the time And this we shall find was done in good time in the Churches of Timothies charge if we take but a short consideration of the beloved Disciple John the Apostle and Evangelist what we find concerning him in Scriptures or otherwise received and credible in this nature He lived longest of all the Disciples as is said and he will easily shew us Bishops over the Churches of Timothies charge for such without doubt were the seven Churches of Asia unto whom the Apostle sending from our Lord seven Epistles ii and iii. chapt of his Revelation directeth them to the Angels of those Churches a style not competible to a person of common rank and the act of directing Epistles to one in the name and behalf of the whole Church arguing the eminence of the head fit to answer for the body he representeth Herewith agree the words of Clemens Alexandrinus in Eusebius iii. 23. concerning this Apostle that being returned from Patmus to Ephesus he used upon request to go among the neighbour-nations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is in some places to constitute Bishops to wit where there were Presbyteries afore that yet had none in some to found whole Churches in others to ordain a Clergie out of such as were signified by the Spirit as we reade of S. Paul and Timotheus For will you have these to be Bishops according to the use of the word in S. Paul where it is all one with Presbyters Sure we must needs think of such as his own writings make Angels of Churches Ignatius that was his Disciple according to some in all his Epistles specifieth and sometimes by name the Bishops of some the same Churches and some of others together with their Presbyteries and in particular Onesimus Timothie's successour at Ephesus Tertullian and Ireneus the most ancient we can alledge have named Polycarpus in particular made Bishop of Smyrna by this Apostle It is not possible to say more in this case So often as we find mention of government in particular Churches in Scripture so often we meet with Presbyteries or the heads of Presbyteries Apostles themselves or deriving their charge from the Apostles Nay it is very much not pretending that Bishops came on otherwise then to be in stead of the Apostles over particular Churches that there is so much to be said for their office out of Scriptures all written during their time CHAP. V. The Presbyterie at Antiochia S. Peter and S. Paul heads of the Church there Likewise of that at Rome The difference about their next Successours Epiphanius his conjecture upon it Another Clemens succeeded S. Peter and Linus S. Paul The succession of the Apostles there is unquestionable THe Church of Antiochia is remembred next to that of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles but of the government thereof we have nothing so distinct or expresse in Scripture Yet this we reade Acts xiii 2. Now there were in the Church at Antiochia certain prophets and teachers And as they ministred unto the Lord and fasted the holy Ghost said Seperate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them they sent them away That these Prophets and Teachers were all of them Presbyters of that Church is more then can be affirmed because it is nowhere set down But when we reade that they ministred unto the Lord which must be understood of the service of God in their assemblies especially in celebrating the Eucharist and gave imposition of hands we find among the number of them the works of ordinary Ministers when there was no higher rank then that of Presbyters able to do the like For as concerning the Heads of this Church we must have recourse to Ignatius his Epistle ad Magn. where he useth these words For at Antiochia the Disciples were first called Christians Paul and Peter founding the Church And in the Epistle ad Antioch if it be his as the other unquestionably is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is Ye are Pauls and Peters Disciples Remember Euodius that first had the rule of you put into his hands by the Apostles Be he what he will be that writ this let me be bold to say it agreeth marvellous well with what hath been said and with the Scripture In which it is plain there were at the beginning two congregations of Christians at Antiochia one of the Circumcision the other converted from the Gentiles because S. Peter Gal. ii 12. fearing those of the Circumcision withdrew himself and ate no more with the Gentiles In regard of the care of which two congregations performed by S. Peter and S. Paul according to the division agreed upon Gal. ii 9. the words of Ignatius are to be verified where he maketh both Apostles founders of the Church at Antiochia Who finding themselves imployed in other parts of the world took the same course with this Church which S. Paul did with those he commended to Timothy and Titus and put both congregations by that time united and concorporate in one under the charge of Euodius predecessour to Ignatius These two Apostles are usually counted founders of the Church at Rome as well as of that of Antiochia Ireneus iii. 3. Fundantes itaque instituentes beati Apostoli Ecclesiam Lino Episcopatum Ecclesiae administrandae tradiderunt Hujus Lini Paulus in iis quae sunt ad Timotheum Epistolis meminit Succedit autem ei Anacletus Post eum tertio loco ab Apostolis Episcopatum sortitur Clemens Where you see he referreth the foundation of that Church to both the Apostles as doth Dionysius also of Corinth some hundred and twentie years after their death in Eusebius Eccles hist. iii. 26. and others of later stamp sans number Whereupon Epiphanius Haer. 27. reckoning the succession of the Bishops of Rome putteth Peter and Paul in the first place But yet observe further the difference between the words of Ireneus which put Linus after the Apostles and the Latine Church which according to S. Hierome Catal. Script in CLEM. reckoneth Clemens in that place which Tertullian the most ancient of that language lib. De Praescript averreth To which difference we may ascribe the confusion that Baronius hath observed in the Pontificall book under the name of Pope Damasus an ancient piece but pieced indeed out of severall writings and crosse to one another divers times As for the purpose when it