de Polycarp Mart. swearing by the Emperor and his Genius for not ‖ Omnes Dei cultores sacrificare vel mori cogebat Martyrium Ignat. sacrificing to Idols and the Emperors * Epist ad Trajan l. 10. 97. Statue And the Albigenses for not worshipping of Saints and Angels and the Host as the Papists call their Breaden God or thirdly For worshipping of him in an undue manner whether it be positively so as the Primitive Christians were persecuted by the Jews for not worshipping of God according to their manner after it was abrogated or naturally so as the Protestants are persecuted for not worshipping of him according to the corrupt manner of the Papists which is polluted with the worship of Creatures and with many Sacrilegious Idolatrous and truly superstitious Rites and Ceremonies which utterly deprave and defile the Religious offices to which they belong Or secondly upon a positive account for worshipping the true God as Daniel was persecuted for worshipping of God as afore-time after the decree of Darius was made not to ask any petition of God or man for thirty days except of the King So likewise with respect to matters of Justice and Charity a man is also persecuted upon two accounts either for not doing of something which is unjust or uncharitable as the Egyptian Midwives were in danger of being persecuted by Pharaoh for not murdering the Hebrew Infants and many of the Primitive * Clem. ad Cor. Epist c. 54. p. 114 Edit Oxon 1677. Rom. 16.4 Christians for not betraying or delivering up their Brethren into the hands of the persecutors or for doing some just or charitable action which ought to have been done as many of the Primitive Christians and Protestants have been persecuted for harbouring and relieving their distressed Brethren and many of his Majestie 's loyal Subjects for harbouring relieving and assisting of him These are all the cases for which a man ordinarily speaking can be persecuted it must be for matters of Faith or matters of Practice for matters of Divine worship which belong to the first or matters of Justice and Charity which belong to the second Table of the Law All righteousness or matters of Religion for which a man can be truly persecuted are reducible I say to Faith or Practice and all matters of Faith are either such as are necessary to be known that they are revealed and they are but few or that are necessary to be believed when they are known and they may be very many and all matters of practice in short are such as God hath made it either absolutely necessary or in such circumstances for man to do or not to do But if men will believe things to be Articles of Faith which God never made so and also make rules for matters of Christian practice and Communion which God never made if they will believe false or impious or uncertain Doctrines to be certain and true and set up new notions which Primitive and Virgin Christianity never understood or professed and revive old Errors and Heresies which were condemned by the Catholick Church In a word if they will impose upon their own and other mens Consciences and teach for Doctrines of God the Traditions or Inventions of private men let them suffer never so much or be never so much perswaded in their own Consciences of the truth of them yet they cannot be persecuted for them though when they are honestly minded with their erroneous Consciences and their errors do not tend to the publick disturbance nor thwart the common fundamentals of Christianity they may be too severely used I say men that coine new Doctrines and Rules and Precepts for Christian Practice and Communion which God never made let them suffer never so much from Authority in the defence of them yet they are not persecuted but rightfully punished and suffer not as Christians but as Criminals and though God will be merciful to their mistakes when they proceed not from an ill mind and pardon their ignorance when it is not wilful and affected yet they can neither suffer as Confessors nor Martyrs nor shall they receive the promised reward for their sufferings in the world to come No! whosoever is truly persecuted must suffer for Doctrines and Laws which God hath given us for the common principles of Christianity not for private fancies and inventions and therefore when you hear men cry out of persecution consider for what Scriptural Truth for what Article of the Creed for what * Because I have here made mention of the common principles of Christianity which I call Catholick principles I shall here explain my self in the words of the most Learned Dr. Beverege who hath deserved so well of the Church Catholick in his Prooemium before his Codex Canonum Vindicatus Si praegrande hoc omnium cujusque seculi Christianorum corpus quod Catholica sive universa Ecclesia vulgo appellatur ut ubique semper constitutum attenti perlustremus certa quaedam quasi communia in eo deprehendemus principia quae totum percurrunt omnesque illius partes sibi invicem capiti connectunt Equibus primum illudque è quo catera oriuntur est Sacram Scripturam sive vetus novúmque Testamentum Divinitùs esse inspiratam Verum enimvero haec sacra Scriptura etiamsi in iis quae ad cujusque salutem absolutè sunt necessaria praeceptis clarissima sit omnibus manifesta quantum tamen ad doctrinam spectat externam Ecclesiae disciplinam ea pro ipsâ suâ altitudine non uno codémque sensu ab omnibus accipitur ut observavit olim Vincent Lirinensis ex haereticis schismaticis satis supérque constat qui nempe singuli pravas suas opiniones praxésque è sacris Scripturis suo modo interpretatis cliciunt In hujusmodi itaque rebus si non errandi nec offendendi certi esse velimus imprimis procul omni dubio cavendum est nè privatis nostris aliorum opinionibus aut conjecturis pertinaces nimis adhaereamus sed nobiscum potiùs recolamus quid universa Ecclesia vel maxima saltem pars Christianorum de istis senserint in cá acquiescamus sententiá in quam Christiani per omnia secula consenserunt quemadmodum enim omni in re consensus omnium vox naeturae est ut ait Cicero sic etiam in hujusmodi rebus consensus omnium Christianorum vox Evangelii meritò habeatur Multa autem sunt quae licet in sacris Scripturis expresse ac definitè non legantur communi tamen omnium Christianorum consensione ex iis eruantur Ex. gr Tres distinctas in sacrosanctá Trinitate Personas venerandas esse Patrem Filium Spiritum Sanctum hósque singulos verum esse Deum tamen unum tantummodo esse Deum Christum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 esse verè Deum ac verè hominem in unâ eâdemque personâ Hac similia quamvis totidem verbis ac
syllabis nec in veteri nec in novo instrumento tradantur de iis tamen ut utroque fundatis inter omnes semper convenit Christianos demptis tantummodo paucis quibusdam haereticis quorum in religione haud major habenda est ratio quam monstrorum in naturâ Sic etiam Infantes sacro Baptismate abluendos esse sponsores ad illud Sacramentum adhibendos dominicum sive primam per singulas septimanas feriam religiosè observandam esse Passionis Resurrectionis Ascensionis Domini ad Coelum nec non Spiritûs Sancti adventûs commemorationem per singulos annos peragendam Ecclesiam ubique per Episcopos à Presbyteris distinctos iisque Praelatos administrandam esse Haec per mille quadringentos ab Apostolis annos in publicum Ecclesiae usum ubique recepta fuerunt nec ullam intra illud tempus invenire est Ecclesiam in ea non consentientem adeò ut quasi communes sint notiones omnium ab origine Christianorum animis insitae non tam ex ullis particularibus Scripturae locis quam ex omnibus ex generali totius Evangelii scopo tenore ex ipsâ religionis in eo stabilitae natura proposito atque ex constanti denique Apostolorum traditione qui Ecclesiasticos hujusmodi ritus generales ut ita loquar Evangelii interpretationes per universum terrarum orbem unà cum fide propagarunt Alioquin enim non credibile imò vero impossibile prorsus esset ut tam unanimi consensione ubique semper ab omnibus reciperentur Vid. etiam Cassandri defensionem officii pii viri adversus Calvinum Catholick principle for what part of Christianity for what Gospel Doctrine they suffer or in obedience to what Gospel Law for 't is no matter how much they are perswaded in their own Consciences and to what degree they suffer but do you enquire after their opinions and then try if they are any part of Christianity and if upon trial they be not found to be so their clamour and noise about persecution must be unjust and vain As for example there is now a loud cry among the Papists of the persecution of the Catholicks as they mis-call themselves and of the persecuting Laws against the Catholicks in England but suppose all our Laws were executed against them for what Article of the Creed for what gospel-Gospel-doctrine or Precept for what Catholick principle or for what part of Christianity would these Pseudocatholicks suffer are these Gospel-truths or Catholick principles that the Bishop of Rome is Christ's Vicar General and that he is Supream above all other Bishops of the Catholick Church Can they prove either by the Scriptures or by universal Tradition that he is infallible either in the Chair or out of it and that there is no Salvation to be had without the Pale and Communion of his Church Are these not to mention Transubstantiation Image-worship the Invocation of Saints and Angels Praying in an unknown Tongue c. any parts of the Christian system or did the Primitive Christians or so much as one Church of Primitive Christians know or profess these things No! they are not Articles of Faith nor gospel-Gospel-doctrines nor common notions of Christianity but contradictions to all these and the Doctrines and Traditions of men In like manner not to mention the late * Mitckel King Kid Hackston c. Malefactors in Scotland our dissenting Brethren here have made grievous cries about Persecution and their writings are full of reflections upon the persecuting Laws of invectives against the makers of the Law for Uniformity but for what Gospel-truth or Precept for what Catholick principle or for obedience to what Law of Jesus Christ did they ever yet suffer or can they suffer by those Laws Is this a gospel-Gospel-doctrine or Catholick principle that the original Government of the Church was Presbyterian and that the Government of it by Bishops above Presbyters and distinct from them is an alteration of the original Government and an usurpation over the Church of God If it be let them shew us when this disparity of Bishops from Presbyters began Let them assign the time of this universal Aberration and Apostasie from the Primitive platform whether it was done in the time of the Apostles or in the times next unto them If it was done in their time let them tell us whether it was done with their consent or without it or if in the times next unto them let them tell us the names of those Diotrepheses who did first attempt or atchieve it let them shew us so much as one Record that doth make mention of it or let them tell us how so great an alteration was made both over the Presbyters and over the Church and yet not one Church or Presbyter assert its right Or how it came to pass for example that Ignatius an holy Martyr Presbyter of Antioch should so early usurp the Ecclesiastical Government of * Ad Rom. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syria at a time when there were such vast multitudes of Christians in it and elsewhere that ‖ Epist ad Trajan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tyberianus President of Palestine told the Emperor Trajan under whom he suffered that he was wearied with punishing and killing the Galileans and * Neque enim civitates tantum sed vicos atque etiam agros superstitionis istius contagio porvagata est satis constat propè jam desolata templa Pliny Propraetor of Bithynia told the same Emperor that the Christian Religion had so infected the Cities Towns and Villages in his Province that the Heathen Temples were become desolate and unfrequented or if Bishops then had not many particular Congregations under their inspection how should the same holy Martyr in his Epistle to the Church of Smyrna distinguish between personal Communion with the Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and with another Minister licensed by him and disallow all other Communions but such In like manner is it a Gospel doctrine or Catholick principle that Book-forms of prayer are unlawful or that God cannot be so worthily worshipped by them or in so spiritual a manner as by extemporary prayers Is there one place in the Bible that prefers extemporary before prescribed Forms of Prayer Doth the practice of the Catholick Church prefer those before these Or is there any thing in Scripture or Antiquity to shew that it is a sin for a Minister to wear a Linen garment when he officiates in the Church Are National Churches unlawful or inconsistent with the progress of the Christian Religion or the notion of Christian Union and Communion Doth either the Gospel or any thing in Christianity teach us that the use of Ceremonies is unlawful in Divine worship or that the Sign of the * Clem. Alex. Strom. l 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tertul de resur Caro abluitur caro signatur De corona Ad omnem frontem Crucis signaculo terimus
Cross is now become unlawful in the Office of Baptism Are these Christian Doctrines or Precepts that the People have a right to chuse their own Ministers that no Power upon Earth at least no Secular Power can silence or suspend a Minister that Infant-Baptism is unlawful or that the Scripture is the Adequate Rule of Conscience and Practice or that nothing ought to be instituted in the Service and Worship of God which he hath not commanded or approved in his Word Are any of these not to mention others Articles of Faith or Gospel-doctrines or Catholick principles If they be how came they to lye so long undiscovered and never to be found out but by a few particular men among us some about an hundred and some about thirty and forty years ago What were all Christian Doctors before Popery and all since the Reformation from it but a few Dissenters of these Countries blind that they could never yet discern these Doctrines in the Scriptures neither in express terms nor in the scope and tenor of them these Doctrines which would make the professors of them now separate from all National establishments of the Protestant Religion as well as ours and which must have obliged them had they lived in the first and best Ages of Christianity to have separated from all the Churches in the world For there were * As Jaemes at Jerusalem and S. John the Apostle at Ephesus both which as a sign of the High-Priesthood for S. Clemens compares the Bishop to the High-Priest c. 40. ep ad Cor. wore the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Pontifical Crown or Frontlet wherein was written holiness to the Lord. Euseb lib. 5. c. 24. Epiphan in haer Nazar in haer 78. Marc at Alexandria who also is said to have wore the Pontifical Frontlet Vales not ad b. 5. c. 24. Eus not to mention Clemens Caius Archippus Onesimus Euodias Timothy Titus Ignatius c. who were all such Bishops according to Catholick Antiquity Bishops over several Congregations superior to and distinct from Presbyters in the Apostles times and the Christian writers of the next Age to them upon whose Authority we take the Books of the New Testament to be their writings did teach and believe the office of such a Bishop to be the Ordinance of God And in those pure and Virgin-times of Christianity they worshipped God by Forms of Prayer used Ceremonies in his worship united into * Euseb l. 3. c. 23. Can Ap. 34. Conc. Antioch c. 9. Metropolitan which answer to our National Churches used the Sign of the Cross at all sorts of Devotion received their Ministers from their Bishops at whose Election it is true they used to signifie their approbation as the People were wont to do at our King's Coronation but they never poll'd at them nor properly speaking gave any vote In those days also in the pure and Virgin Ages of Christianity while the Disciples of the Apostles governed the Church the Bishops silenced and deposed Presbyters who were not so much as to ‖ Ignat. ad Smyrn Philadelp Trull Can. Apost 39. Tert. de baptismo c. 17. Concil Ancyr c. 13. Concil Laod. c. 56. Hier. advers Lucifer preach or administer any Sacrament without their leave and consent They then also used and instituted many Ceremonies of which we have no account neither Precept nor Example in the Word of God Shall I mention some They always mixed * Just Mart. Apol. 2. Conc. sext in Trull c. 32. Conc. Carth. Can. 40. water with the Sacramental Wine to signifie that the Bloud of Christ had a cleansing virtue in it which mystery was also as they believed represented by the water which flow'd with the bloud from our Saviour's side They sent ‖ Just Mart. loc cit portions of the Sacramental Bread to the sick and absent to signifie that they were partakers of the same Sacrifice and belonged to the same Altar and they worshipped God towards the * Resp ad quaest 118. ad Orthodox East They gave ‖ Tertull. Clemens Alexand. forsan Barnab Epist p. 223. Edit Isaac Voss Milk and Hony to drink unto Baptized persons to signifie that they were like new-born Babes who ought to desire the sweet and sincere milk of the Word They sung Psalms * Plin. cit Epist alternately at the holy Eucharist They stood up in all their Devotions from ‖ Resp. ad quaest ad Orthod 115. Easter till Whitsuntide to signifie that Christ was risen from the dead They observed the four Apostolical Holidays the Passion Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord and the descent of the Holy Ghost Nay even in the Apostles days they * Rom. 6.4 dipt baptized persons over the head and let them remain a little space under water to signifie that they were buried with Christ in Baptism They also then had ‖ 1 Cor. 11. Love-feasts joyned with the holy Eucharist the * 1 Cor. 16.20 1 Thess 5.26 Just Mart. Apol 11. salutation of the holy Kiss and observed the Jewish custom of saying the Hebrew word ‖ 1 Cor. 14.16 Just Mart. Apol. 11. Amen at the conclusion of every Prayer These were the general besides the particular Ceremonies of particular Churches and in one word there was never any separation made or thought of in any of the Primitive Ages of Christianity upon the account of Ceremonies and therefore since the belief and practice of God's universal Church in the first and best Ages are contrary to the Doctrines and Precepts by which our dissenting Brethren in vain attempt to justifie their separation How can they be Doctrines and Precepts of the Gospel How can they be Catholick principles or parts of Christianity and how can they be persecuted in the defence thereof No! they are no parts of Christianity no Laws nor Doctrines of the Gospel but meer humane inventions meer humane fancies and opinions and most of them modern opinions too Primitive Christianity never heard nor thought of such things and notions but they have been invented and advanced to justifie the Schismatical practices of some Men who have not brought their Works to the Rule but the Rule I mean the Gospel to their Works In a word they are all Novelties or renewed Errors all Impious False or most uncertain Notions and those that Teach them be who they will Teach for Doctrines of God the Traditions and Opinions of Men. II. But this is not the case of our poor Brethren of the French Church 't is not for these nor any such Opinions as these that they suffer but for professing such true and denying such false Doctrines as God hath obliged them to profess and deny and for disobeying their King in doing or not doing of those things which God hath commanded them to do or not to do This is the second part of my Discourse wherein after having stated the true Notion of Persecution I told you I would prove they are