to the Gentiles declaring those glad Tidings to all Kingdoms and Provinces so that as the Apostle Paul said Rom. 10. 18. Their sound went into all the Earth and their words unto the ends of the World every one taking a particular part of the World for his proper Province to make known the joyful News of Life and Salvation through Christ therein Thus St. Andrew principally preach'd the Gospel in Scythia St. Bartholomew in India St. Matthew in Parthia St. John in the Lesser Asia and all the rest of the Apostles had their particular Provinces allotted them wherein they went forth preaching the Gospel and as they came to any City Town or Village they published to the Inhabitants thereof the blessed news of Life and Immortality through Jesus Christ constituting the first Converts of every place through which they passed Bishops and Deacons of those Churches which they there gathered So saith Clemens Romanus The Apostles went forth preaching in City and Country appointing the First Fruits of their Ministry for Bishops and Deacons generally leaving those Bishops and Deacons to govern and enlarge those particular Churches over which they had placed them whilst they themselves passed forwards planted other Churches and placed Governors over them Thus saith Tertullian Clemens was ordained Bishop of Rome by St. Peter and Polycarp Bishop of Smirna by St. John § 5. Whether in the Apostolick and Primitive days there were more Bishops than one in a Church at first sight seems difficult to resolve That the Holy Scriptures and Clemens Romanus mention many in one Church is certain And on the other hand it is as certain that Ignatius Tertullian Cyprian and the following Fathers affirm that there was and ought to be but one in a Church These Contradictions may at the first view seem Inextricable but I hope the following Account will reconcile all these seeming Difficulties and withal afford us a fair and easy Conception of the difference between the Ancient Bishops and Presbyters I shall then lay down as sure that there was but one Supreme Bishop in a place that was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Bishop by way of Eminency and Propriety The proper Pastor and Minister of his Parish to whose Care and Trust the Souls of that Church or Parish over which he presided were principally and more immediately committed So saith Cyprian There is but one Bishop in a Church at a time And so Cornelius Objects to Novatian That he did not remember that there ought to be but one Bishop in a Church And throughout the whole Epistles of Ignatius and the generality of Writers succeeding him we find but one single Bishop in a Church whose Quotations to which purpose would be fruitless to recite here since the 〈◊〉 Practice of the Universal Church confirms it and a great part of the following Discourse will clearly illustrate it Only it may not be impertinent to remark this by the way that by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Succession of Bishops from those Bishops who were Ordained by the Apostles the Orthodox were wont to prove the Succession of their Faith and the Novelty of that of the Hereticks Let them demonstrate the Original of their Churches as Tertullian challenges the Marcionites and other Hereticks Let them turn over the Orders of their Bishops and see whether they have had a Succession of Bishops from any one who was Constituted by the Apostles or Apostolick Men Thus the truly Apostolick Churches have as the Church of Smirna has Polycarp there placed by St. John and the Church of Rome Clement ordained by Peter and other Churches can tell who were ordained Bishops over them by the Apostles and who have been their Successors to this very day So also says Irenaeus We challenge the Hereticks to that Tradition which was handed down from the Apostles by the Succession of Bishops And in the next Chapter of the same Book the said Father gives us a Catalogue of the Bishops of Rome till his days by whom the true Faith was successively transmitted down from the Apostles in which Catalogue we find but one Bishop at a time and as he died so another single Person succeeded him in the Charge of that Flock or Parish So that this Consideration evidences also that there was but one Bishop strictly so called in a Church at a time who was related to his Flock as a Pastor to his Sheep and a Parent to his Children The Titles of this Supreme Church-Officer are most of them reckoned up in one place by Cyprian which are Bishop Pastour President Governour Superintendent and Priest And this is he which in the Revelations is called the Angel of his Church as Origen thinks which Appellations denote both his Authority and Office his Power and Duty of both which we shall somewhat treat after we have discoursed of the Circuit and Extent of his Jurisdiction and Superintendency which shall be the Contents of the following Chapter CHAP. II. § 1. As but one Bishop to a Church so but one Church to a Bishop The Bishop's Cure never call'd a Diocess but usually a Parish no larger than our Parishes § 2. Demonstrated by several Arguments § 3. A Survey of the extent of several Bishopricks as they were in Ignatius's days as of Smirna § 4. Ephesus § 5. Magnesia § 6. Philadelphia And § 7. Trallium § 8. The Bigness of the Diocess of Antioch § 9. Of Rome § 10. Of Carthage § 11. A Reflection on the Diocess of Alexandria § 12. Bishops in Villages § 13. All the Christians of a Diocess met together in one place every Sunday to serve God § 1. HAving in the former Chapter shewn that there was but one Bishop to a Church we shall in this evidence that there was but one Church to a Bishop which will appear from this single Consideration viz. That the ancient Diocesses are never said to contain Churches in the Plural but only a Church in the Singular So they say the Church of the Corinthians the Church of Smirna the Church in Magnesia the Church in Philadelphia the Church in Antioch and so of any other place whatsoever the Church of or in such a place This was the common name whereby a Bishops Cure was denominated the Bishop himself being usually called The Bishop of this or that Church as Tertullian saith That Polycarp was ordained Bishop of the Church of Smirna As for the Word Diocess by which the Bishops Flock is now usually exprest I do not remember that ever I found it used in this Sense by any of the Ancients But there is another Word still retained by us by which they frequently denominated the Bishops Cure and that is Parish So in the Synodical Epistle of Irenaeus to Pope Victor the Bishopricks of Asia are twice called Parishes And in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History the Word is so applied in several hundred places It is usual
usually meet tho' on some Solemn Occasions they would still all assemble in one Church with their one Bishop That for this Reason these separate Congregations were introduced at Alexandria seems evident enough because Dyonisius Alexandrinus saith that these distinct Congregations were only in the remotest Suburbs and the Christians hereof were not as yet arrived to those great numbers but that seventy years after they could meet all together in one and the same place as might be proved from that forementioned place of Athanasius So that these distinct Congregations were only for the Conveniency and Ease of those who lived at a great distance from the Bishop's Church being introduced in the third Century and peculiar to the Bishoprick of Alexandria All other Bishopricks confining themselves within their Primitive Bounds of a single Congregation as we have before proved the largest of them did even Antioch Rome and Carthage § 12. If then a Bishoprick was but a single Congregation it is no marvel that we find Bishops not only in Cities but in Country Villages there being a Bishop constituted where-ever there were Believers enough to form a competent Congregation For says Clemens Romanus the Apostles going forth and preaching both in Country and City constituted Bishops and Deacons there Much to which purpose Cyprian says That Bishops were ordained throughout all Provinces and Cities Hence in the Encyclycal Epistle of the Synod of Antioch it is said That Paulus Samosatenus had many Flatterers amongst the adjacent City and Country Bishops of this sort of Country-Bishops was Zoticus Bishop of the Village of Comane And we may reasonably believe That many of those Bishops who in the Year 258 were assembled at Carthage to the number of fourscore and seven had no other than obscure Villages for their Seats since we find not the least notice of them in Ptolomy or any of the old Geographers § 13. But let the Bishops Seats have been in any place whatever their Limits as hath been proved exceeded not those of our Modern Parishes I do not here mean as was said before that the Territory of some of them was no larger no I readily grant that for it is very probable that in those places where there were but few Believers the Christians for several Miles round met all 〈◊〉 at the greatest place within that Compass where probably there were most Christians whence both the Church and its Bishop took their Denomination from that Place where they so assembled But this is what I mean that there were no more Christians in that Bishoprick than there are now in our ordinary Parishes and that the Believers of that whole Territory met altogether with their Bishop for the Performance of Religious Services Thus it was in the Age and Country of Justin Martyr who describing their solemn Assemblies writes That on Sunday all the Inhabitants both of City and Country met together where the Lector read some Portions of the Holy Scriptures and the Bishop preached unto them administred the Eucharist and sent by the Deacons part of the Consecrated Elements to those that were absent So that the Inhabitants both of City and Country assembled all at the Bishop's Church hearing him and communicating with him following herein the Exhortation of Saint Ignatius to the Magnesians Let nothing saith he be in you that may divide you but be united to the Bishop and those that preside over you As therefore our Lord Jesus Christ did nothing without his Father neither by himself nor his Apostles so do you nothing without the Bishop and Presbyters but assemble into one Place and have one Prayer one Supplication one Mind and one Hope CHAP. III. § 1. What the Bishop's Office was § 2. Always Resident on his Cure § 3. How the Bishop was Chosen Elected or Presented by the Majority of the Parish § 4. Approved by the neighbouring Bishops § 5. Installed by Imposition of Hands How many Bishops necessary to this Installment § 6. When a Bishop was promoted he certified it to other Bishops § 7. A brief Recapitulation of the peculiar Acts of the Bishop § 1. THE Bishop's Flock having been so largely discussed it will now be necessary to speak something of the Bishop's Duty towards them and of the several Particulars of his honourable Office I shall not here be tedious since about this there is no great difference only briefly enumerate the several Actions belonging to his Charge In brief therefore the particular Acts of his Function were such as these viz. Preaching of the Word Praying with his People administring the two Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper taking care of the Poor Ordaining of Ministers Governing his Flock Excommunicating of Offenders Absolving of Penitents and in a word whatever Acts can be comprised under those three General Heads of Preaching Worship and Government were parts of the Bishop's Function and Office I have but just named these things because they are not much controverted and my Design leads me chiefly to the Consideration of those matters which have been unhappily disputed amongst us § 2. To the constant Discharge of those forementioned Actions did the Primitive Bishops sedulously apply themselves continually preaching unto their People praying with them and watching over them and to that end residing always with them which Incumbency or Residency on their Parishes was deem'd so necessary that Cyprian enumerating the Sins that brought the Wrath of God upon the Churches in that bloody Persecution of Decius mentions the Bishops Non-Residencies as one Their leaving their Rectories and deserting their Flocks and wandring about the Country to hunt after Worldly Gain and Advantage And therefore the said Cyprian writing to the Roman Consessors who were inveigled into the Schism of Novatian tells them that since he could not leave his Church and come in Person unto them therefore by his Letters he most earnestly exhorted them to quit that 〈◊〉 Faction so that he look'd on his Obligation of Residency at his Church to be so binding as that in no Case almost could he warrant the leaving of it which Determination of his might be the more fix'd and peremptory because that not long before he was so severely tax'd by the Roman Clergy and by many of his own Parish for departing from them for a while though it was to avoid the Fury of his Persecutors who had already proscribed him and would have executed him as a Malesactor had he not by that Recess from his Church escaped their murderous Hand So that the Primitive Apostolick Bishops constantly resided with their Flocks conscientiously applying themselves with the utmost Diligence and Industry to the Promotion of the Spiritual Welfare of those that were committed to their trust employing themselves in all Acts of Piety and Offices of Charity so leading a laborious and mortified Life till either a natural or a violent Death
we have Love one to another We may talk what we please of Religion and profess what we list the Word of God is plain that whosoever hath not Love and Charity is no Christian but to allude to that of Christ John 10. 1. He is a Thief and a Robber he hath not the Spirit of God abiding and dwelling in him for The Fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance And The Wisdom from above is peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy and good Fruit. So that the very Soul and Spirit of Christianity consists in Unity Love and Amity Wherefore let my Intreaties be prevalent with you to endeavour for a mutual Compliance and Comprehension as you have any Regard to the Honour of God and the Credit of Religion as you would hinder the Growth of Damnable Errors and abominable Debaucheries and do what in you lies to prevent the Ruin and Damnation of Multitudes of poor Souls nay as you would secure your own Salvation and be able with Confidence to appear at the dreadful and impartial day of Judgment let me conjure you in the Name of God to love one another with a pure Heart forvently to follow after Righteousness Godliness Faith Love Patience Meekness to forget and pardon all former Injuries and Affronts doing nothing for the time to come through Strife or Vain-Glory but in lowliness of Mind each esteeming others better than themselves doing all things without Murmurings or Disputings avoiding all foolish and unlearned Questions knowing that they do but gender Strifes behaving your selves like the Servants of the Lord who must not strive but be gentle unto all Men apt to teach patient mutually complying with each other doing all things unto Edification labouring after Peace and Unity that so we may at length with one mind and one mouth glorifie God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And for the Accomplishment of this blessed and glorious Design let us above all things avoid Pride and Vain-glory which as it is to be feared hath had no small share both in the causing and increasing of our Divisions We have been so stiff and self-conceited and stood so much upon the pitiful Punctilio's of Honour that we have refused to condescend to one another or to join in a way of Comprehension or mutual Relaxation which seems to be the only way left for Union and Agreement if ever we hope or intend to have it Wherefore let me address my self unto you in the Words of the Reverend and Moderate Bishop Hall Men Brethren and Fathers help for Gods sake put to your Hands to the Quenching of this common Flame the one side by Humility and Obedience the other by Compassion both by Prayers and Tears And as he so let me beg for Peace as for Life by your Filial Piety to the Church of God whose Ruins follow upon our Divisions by your Love of God's Truth by the Graces of that one blessed Spirit whereby we are all informed and quickened by the precious Blood of that Son of God which was shed for our Redemption be inclined to Peace and Love and though our Brains be different yet let our Hearts be one Let us all endeavonr by a Compliance and a Comprehension to promote Love and Charity Peace and Unity that so being Children of Peace and obedient Subjects of the Prince of Peace the God of Peace may Bless us with Peace Quiet and Serenity here and at the end of our Days receive us into his Eternal Peace and everlasting Rest which God of his infinite Mercy grant may be the Portion of us all through the Merits of his only Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen POSTCRIPT BEcause some Practises and Customs mentioned in the precedent Treatise were not from the first Plantation of Christianity but were afterwards introduced and others might not be universal but only followed in some particular Churches it will not be unnecessary to add a Table of the Names Age and Country of those Fathers and of their Contemporaries who have been cited by us that so we may guess at the time when such Customs were brought in and know the Places where they were chiefly practised Names Countries Age. Several Synods held in Africa between Anno Christi 250 260. Alexander Bishop of Jerusalem Anno 228 Anonymus apud Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 16. p. 182. Lesser Asia 170 Anicetus Bishop of Rome 154 The Synodical Letter of the Council of Antioch held Anno 265 Apollinaris Bishop of 〈◊〉 in Lesser Asia 170 Apollonius  200 Asturius Palastina 260 Aurelius Carthage 〈◊〉 Artemon  196 Babylas Bishop of Antioch 246 Saint Barnabas  50 Basilides the Heretick Alexandria 134 Basilides a Bishop in Spain 258 Celerinus Carthage 253 Letters of the Clergy of Rome to the Clergy of Carthage writ between Anno 250 〈◊〉 Clemens Bishop of Rome 70 Clemens of Alexandria 204 Cornelius Bishop of Rome 252 Crescens Bishop of Certa in Africa 258 Cyprian Bishop of Carthage 250 Dionysius Bishop of Corinth 172 Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria 260 Eusebius a Deacon of Alexandria 259 Fabianus Bishop of Rome Anno 236 Firmilian Bishop of Caesarea in Cap padoeia 250 Fortunatus a Schismatic in Africa 255 Fortunatus Bishop of Thucabori in Africa 258 Gregory Bishop of Neoearsarea 250 Ignatius Bishop of Antioch 109 Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons 184 Justin Martyr Samaria 155 Lucius Bishop of Thebeste in Africa 258 Names Countries Age. A Letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne to the Churches of Asia Anno 177 Minucius Felix Rome 230 Martialis a Bishop in Spain 258 Natalis Rome 210 Nemesianus Bishop of Thubunic in Africa 258 Novatian Rome 252 Origen a Presbyter of Alexandria 230 Palmas Bishop of Amastris in Pontus 196 Paulus Samosatenus Bp. of Antioch 265 Plinius an Heathen  110 Polycarpus Bishop of Smirna 140 Polycrates Bishop of Ephesus 196 Pontius a Deacon of Carthage 260 Privatus Bishop of Lambese in Africa 254 Sabinus Bishop of Emerita in Spain 258 Sedatus Bishop of Turbo in Africa 258 Secundinus Bishop of Carpis in Africa 258 An Epistle of the Church of Smirna to the Church of Philomilium 168 Stephen Bishop of Rome 258 Tatianus Syria 180 Tertullian a Presbyter of Carthage 200 Theoctistus Bishop of Caesarea in Palaestina 228 Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea in Palaestina 196 Victor Bishop of Rome 196 Victorinus Petavionensis Hungary 290 Vincentius Bishop of 〈◊〉 in Africa 258 Zoticus Bishop of Comane in Lesser Asia 168 * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stromat lib. 2. p. 263. 1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 1. cap. 2. p. 34. 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 1. cap. 3. p. 36. 3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Euseb lib. 6. c. 25. p. 226. 4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apud Eus. l. 4. c. 15. p. 131. 5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epistad Herm. apud Euseb.
Suppose it was disputed whether a Parson and Lecturer were of the same Order would not this sufficiently prove the Affirmative That though for some Accidental Respects they might be distinguished in their Appellations yet originally and frequently they were called by one and the same Name The same it is in this Case though for some contingent and adventitious Reasons Bishops and Presbyters were discriminated in their Titles yet originally they were always and afterwards sometimes called by one and the same Appellation and therefore we may justly deem them to be one and the same Order But if this Reason be not thought cogent enough the Third and last will unquestionably put all out of doubt and most clearly evince the Identity or Sameness of Bishops and Presbyters as to Order and that is that it is expresly said by the Ancients That there were but two distinct Ecclesiastical Orders viz. Bishops and Deacons or Presbyters and Deacons and if there were but these two Presbyters cannot be distinct from Bishops for then there would be three Now that there were but two Orders viz. Bishops and Deacons is plain from that Golden Ancient Remain of Clemens Romanus wherein he thus writes In the Country and 〈◊〉 where the Apostles preached they ordained their first Converts for Bishops and Deacons over those who should believe Nor were these Orders new for for many Ages past it was thus prophesied concerning Bishops and Deacons I will appoint their Bishops in Righteousness and their Deacons in Faith This place of Scripture which is here quoted is in Isa. 60. 17. I will make thine Officers peace and thine Exactors righteousness Whether it is rightly applyed is not my business to determin That that I observe from hence is that there were but two Orders instituted by the Apostles viz. Bishops and Deacons which Clemens supposes were prophetically promised long before And this is yet more evidently asserted in another passage of the said Clemens a little after where he says that the Apostles foreknew through our Lord Jesus Christ that Contention would arise about the Name of Episcopacy and therefore being endued with a perfect foreknowledge appointed the aforesaid Officers viz. Bishops and Deacons and left the manner of their Succession described that so when they died other approved Men might succeed them and reform their Office So that there were only the Two Orders of Bishops and Deacons instituted by the Apostles And if they ordained but those Two I think no one had ever a Commission to add a Third or to split One into Two as must be done if we separate the Order of Presbyters from the Order of Bishops But that when the Apostles appointed the Order of Bishops Presbyters were included therein will manifestly appear from the Induction of those fore-cited Passages in Clemens's Epistle and his drift and design thereby which was to appease and calm the Schisms and Factions of some unruly Members in the Church of Corinth who designed to depose their Presbyters and that he might dissuade them from this violent and irregular Action amongst other Arguments he proposes to them that this was to thwart the Design and Will of God who would that all should live orderly in their respective places doing the Duties of their own Stations not invading the Offices and Functions of others and that for this end that all occasions of disorderliness and confusion might be prevented he had Instituted Diversities of Offices in his Church appointing every Man to his particular Work to which he was to apply himself without violently leaping into other Mens places and that particularly the Apostles foreseeing through the Holy Spirit that contentious and unruly Men would irregularly aspire to the Episcopal Office by the Deposition of their lawful Presbyters therefore that such turbulent Spirits might be repressed or left inexcusable they ordained Bishops and Deacons where they preached and described the manner and qualifications of their Successors who should come after them when they were dead and gone and be rever'd and obeyed with the same Respect and Obedience as they before were and that therefore they were to be condemned as Perverters of the Divine Institution and Contemners of the Apostolick Authority who dared to degrade their Presbyters who had received their Episcopal Authority in an immediate Succession from those who 〈◊〉 advanced to that Dignity by the Apostles themselves This was the true Reason for which the fore-quoted Passages were spoken which clearly evinces that Presbyters were included under the Title of Bishops or rather that they were Bishops For to what end should Clemens exhort the Schismatical Corinthians to obey their Presbyters from the consideration of the Apostles Ordination of Bishops if their Presbyters had not been Bishops But that the Order of Presbyters was the same with the Order of Bishops will appear also from that place of Irenaeus where he exhorts us to withdraw from those Presbyters who serve their Lusts and having not the fear of God in their hearts contemn others and are lifted up with the Dignity of their first Session but to adhere to those who keep the Doctrine of the Apostles and with their Presbyterial Order are inoffensive and exemplary in sound Doctrine and an holy Conversation to the Information and Correction of others for such Presbyters the Church educates and of whom the Prophet saith I will 〈◊〉 thee Princes in Peace and Bishops in Righteousness Now that by these Presbyters Bishops are meant I need not take much pains to prove the precedent Chapter positively asserts it the Description of them in this Quotation by their enjoying the Dignity of the first Session and the application of that Text of Isaiah unto them clearly evinces it No one can deny but that there were Bishops that is that they were superiour in degree to other Presbyters or as Irenaeus styles it honoured with the first Session but yet he also says that they were not different in Order being of the Presbyterial Order which includes both Bishops and Presbyters To this Testimony of Irenaeus I shall subjoin that of Clemens Alexandrinus who tho' he mentions the Processes of Bishops Presbyters and Deacons from which some conclude the Bishops Superiority of Order yet the subsequent Words evidently declare that it must be meant only of Degree and that as to Order they were one and the same for he immediately adds That those Offices are an imitation of the Angelick Glory and of that Dispensation which as the Scriptures say they wait for who treading in the steps of the Apostles live in the perfection of Evangelick Righteousness for these the Apostle writes shall be took up into the Clouds Here he alludes to the manner of the Saints Glorification in 1 Thess. 4. 17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the Air and so shall we ever be with the Lord and there first as Deacons attend and then
the Members that composed these Synods they were Bishops Presbyters Deacons and Deputed Laymen in behalf of the People of their respective Churches Thus at that great Synod of Antioch that condemned Paulus Samosatenus there were present Bishops Presbyters Deacons and the Churches of God that is Laymen that represented the People of their several Churches So also we read in an ancient Fragment in Eusebius that when the Heresie of the Montanists was fix'd and preach'd the Faithful in Asia met together several times to examine it and upon examination condemned it So also when there were some Heats in the Church of Carthage about the Restitution of the Lapsed Cyprian writes from his Exile that the Lapsed should be patient till God had restored Peace to the Church and then there should be convened a Synod of Bishops and of the Laity who had stood firm during the Persecution to consult about and determine their Affairs Which Proposition was approved by Moses and Maximus and other Roman Confessors who liked the consulting of a Synod of Bishops Presbyters Deacons Confessors and the standing Laity as also did the whole Body of the Clergy of the Church of Rome who were willing that that Affair of the Lapsed should be determined by the common Counsel of the Bishops Presbyters Deacons Confessors and the standing Laity And thus at that great Council held at 〈◊〉 Anno 258. there were present Eighty Seven Bishops together with Presbyters Deacons and a great part of the Laity § 6. If it shall be demanded by whose Authority and Appointment Synods were assembled To this it will be replyed That it must necessarily have been by their own because in those Days there was no Christian Magistrate to order or determine those Affairs § 7. When a Synod was convened before ever they entred upon any Publick Causes they chose out of the gravest and renownedst Bishops amongst them one or sometimes two to be their Moderator or Moderators as at the Council held at Carthage Anno 258. Cyprian was Moderator or Prolocutor thereof And so we read of the Prolocutors of several Synods that were assembled in divers parts of the World to determine the Controversies concerning Easter As Victor Bishop of Rome was Prolocutor of a Synod held there Palmas Bishop of Amastris Moderator of a Synod held in Pontus and Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons of another in France Polycrates Bishop os Ephesus presided over a Synod of Asiatick Bishops and at a Convocation in Palestina there were two Moderators viz. Theophilus Bishop of Caesarea and Narcissus Bishop of Jerusalem The Office and Duty of a Moderator was to preside in the Synod to see all things calmly and fairly debated and decreed and at the conclusion of any Cause to sum up what had been debated and urged on both sides to take the Votes and Suffrages of the Members of the Synod and last of all to give his own All this is evident in the Proceedings of the Council of Carthage which are extant at the end of Cyprian's Works Cyprian being Moderator of that Council After all things were read and finished relating to the Question in hand sums up all telling the Synod what they had heard and that nothing more remained to be done but the Declaration of their Judgment thereupon Accordingly thereunto the Bishops gave their respective Votes and Decisions and last of all Cyprian as President gave in his § 8. When the Moderator was chosen then they entred upon the consideration of the Affairs that lay before them which may be consider'd in a two-fold respect either as relating to Foreign Churches or to those Churches only of whom they were the Representatives As for foreign Churches their Determinations were not obligatory unto them because they were not represented by them and so the chiefest matter they had to do with them was to give them their Advice and Counsel in any difficult Point which they had proposed to them as when the People of Astorga and Emerita in Spain had written to some African Churches for their Advice what to do with their two Bishops who had lapsed in Times of Persecution This Case was debated in a Synod held Anno 258 whose Opinion thereupon is to be seen in their Synodical Epistle extant at large amongst the Works of Cyprian Epist. 68. p. 200. § 9. But with respect unto those particular Churches whose Representatives they were their Decrees were binding and obligatory since the Regulation and Management of their Affairs was the general End of their Convening Various and many were the particular Ends of these Synodical Conventions as for the prevention of Injustice and Partiality in a Parish Consistory As suppose that such a Consistory had wrongfully and unrighteously censured one of their Members what should that censured Person do unless appeal to the Synod to have his Cause heard there as Felicissimus did who after he was excommunicated by his own Parish of which Cyprian was Bishop had his Cause heard before a Synod who ratified and confirmed the Sentence of Excommunication against him And therefore we may suppose it to be for the prevention of Partiality and Injustice that in Lesser Asia Offenders were usually absolved by the Synod which met every Year Synods also were assembled for the examining condemning and excommunicating of all Hereticks within their Limits that so the Faithful might avoid and shun them As Paulus Samosatenus was condemned by the Council of Antioch for resolving of all difficult Points that did not wound the Essentials of Religion or had relation unto the Discipline of the Church as when there was some Scruple about the Time of baptizing of Children a Synod of Sixty Six Bishops met together to decide it And so when there were some Disputes concerning the Martyrs Power to restore the Lapsed Synods were to be assembled to decide them But why do I go about to reckon up Particulars when as they are endless let this suffice in general that Synods were convened for the Regulation and Management of all Ecclesiastical Affairs within their respective Jurisdictions as Firmilian writes that in his Country the Bishops and Presbyters met together every Year to dispose those things which were committed to their charge Here they consulted about the Discipline Government and External Polity of their Churches and what means were expedient and proper for their Peace Unity and Order which by their common Consent they enacted and decreed to be observed by all the Faithful of those Churches whom they did represent He who denies this must be very little acquainted with the ancient Councils especially those which were held after the Emperors became Christians The reason why we find not more Synodical Decrees of the three first Centuries comes not from that they judicially determined none or required not the observance of them but from that either they were not careful or the Fury and Violence of the Times would
loud sounding Cymbals by which the Tongue is to be understood which sounds or speaks through the knocking or coition of the Lips § 9. When the Singing of Psalms was ended then succeeded the Preaching of the Word So writes Tertullian Scriptures are read Psalms sung and then Sermons pronounced As for the Subject of the Preacher's Sermon it was usually a Commentary or Explication of the Lessons that were just before read So it was in the Time and Country of Justin Martyr who writes that when the Reader had ended the Bishop made a Sermon by way of Instruction and Exhortation to the Imitation of those excellent things which had been read Whence Origen calls their Sermons Explanations of the Lessons And such Explanations are all his Sermons or Homilies as whosoever reads them will easily see and he himself intimates as much in several of them As for the Length of their Sermons they usually preach'd an Hour as Origen complains of his abundance of Matter that if he should throughly handle every part of it it would require not only the one Hour of their Assembly but several Therefore when the Lessons were long and copious which sometimes consisted of several Chapters as the Lesson which was the Subject of Origen's 15th Homily on Jeremiah reached from the 15th Chapter and 10th Verse to the 17th Chapter and 5th Verse The Preacher passed over some of the Matter unmentioned and handled the most important or the most curious part therein Thus in the beginning of a Sermon of Origen's we find that the Chapters that were read were the 25 26 27 and 28th Chapters of the first Book of Samuel which he complains were too large and 〈◊〉 to be all handled at once and therefore he would only discourse of the 28th Chapter touching the Witch of Endor and those things related there 〈◊〉 her § 10. As for the manner of their Sermons we may observe this Method in those of Origen's that he first began with a short 〈◊〉 and then explained Verse after Verse or Sentence after Sentence 〈◊〉 the Natural and Literal Signification of the Words and then the Spiritualized or Mystical meaning of them and concluded with a suitable Application of all either by way of Exhortation to Piety and Vertue or by way of Dehortation from Vice and Impiety Always accommodating their Discourses to the Capacities of their Hearers Is their Auditors were prudent and understanding then they scrupled not to treat of the profound Mysteries of the Gospel but if they had attained no great measure of Knowledge and had need of Milk as the Apostle stiles it then they concealed from them those deep and recondite Points § 11. As for the Preacher himself it was usually the Bishop of the Parish So saith 〈◊〉 Martyr The Bishop Preaches by way of Instruction and Exhortation to the Imitation of those excellent things which we Or else he desired a Presbyter or some other fit Person to preach in his room without his Consent it had been Schism and Violence in any Person whatsoever to have usurped his Chair but with his Permission any Clergyman or Layman might Preach in his Pulpit Now that Clergymen Preach'd no one will question though it will be doubted whether Laymen did But that they did so appears from a memorable History concerning Origen who going from Alexandria into Palestina by the Desire of the Bishops of that Country publickly Preach'd in the Church and expounded the Holy Scriptures although he was not yet in Holy Orders At which Action when Demetrius Bishop of Alexandria was offended Alexander Bishop of Jerusalem and Theoctistus of Caesarea writ to him in defence of it as follows Whereas you write in your Letter that it was never before seen or done That Laymen should preach in the presence of Bishops therein you wander from the Truth for wheresoever any are found that are fit to profit the Brethren the Holy Bishops of their own accord ask them to Preach unto the People So Evelpis was desired by Neon Bishop of Laranda and Paulinus by Celsus of Iconium and Theodorus by Atticus of Synnada our most blessed Brethren and it is credible that this is likewise done in other Places though we know it not But yet though Laymen Preach'd it was not every one that did so but only those that were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fit to prosit the Brethren and though they were never so fit yet they did not irregularly or disorderly run about a Preaching or discharge that Sacred Office till they were desired by the Bishop of a Parish to do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but stayed for the Permission and Approbation of such an one for without that their Sermons and Discourses would have been but so many Acts of Schism and Faction CHAP. II. § 1. After Preaching all the Congregation rose up to joyn in Publick Prayers § 2. They prayed towards the East Their Reasons for that Custom § 3. They lifted up their Hands and Eyes towards Heaven § 4. Whether the Minister that Officiated wore a Surplice and therein of Ministers Habits § 5. Whether they Sung their Prayers and whether they used Responsals § 6. Of prescribed Liturgies The Lord's Prayer not always but commonly used by them § 7. To the Lord's Prayer they added other Prayers of their own Choice or Invention proved so to have been § 8. Whether their Prayers were divided into several Collects § 1. AS soon as the Sermon was ended then all the Congregation rose up to present their Common and Publick Prayers unto Almighty God as Justin Martyr writes that when the Preacher had finished his Discourse They all rose up and offered their Prayers unto God Standing being the usual Posture of Praying at least the constant one on Sundays on which Day they esteemed it a Sin to kneel whence the Preacher frequently concluded his Sermon with an Exhortation to his Auditors to stand up and pray to God as we find it more than once in the Conclusion of Origen's Sermons as Wherefore standing up let us beg help from God that we may be blessed in Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen And wherefore rising up let us pray to God that we may be made worthy of Jesus Christ to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen And again Standing up let us offer Sacrifices to the Father through Christ who is the Propitiation for our Sins to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen § 2. Accordingly the whole Congregation stood up and turned their Faces towards the East it being their Custom and Manner to pray towards that Quarter as Tertullian writes We pray towards the East Now the Reasons that I meet with for this Usage may be reduced to these Three or Four I. Out of Respect and Reverence to their Lord and Master Jesus Christ they prayed towards the East because the East is a