Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	bishop_n	church_n	presbyter_n	3,009	5	10.2861	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59215	Rex theologus the preachers guard and guide in his double duty of prayer and preaching : deduced from scripture, reason, and the best examples : in three parts ...	Seppens, Robert.	1664 (1664)	Wing S2560; ESTC R37366	44,281	75

ut apud Christianos veteres apud prisca secula de eorum scriptis edoceas adhiberi nomen Pastoris ubi de Episcopo non loquuntur And if Bishops be the Prophets and Pastors and Doctors of the Church to whom should the Office of Preaching chiefly and primarily belong but them The practice of the ancient Church confirms this In Justin Martyr the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stood up and made the exhortation i. e. the Bishop In the 19. Canon of the Council of Laodicea the style of the Church shews this was the practice of the Church at that time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the Homilies of the Bishops in Alexandria Soromon writes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishop alone of the City does teach St. Chrysostom in 1. ad Tim. cap. 4. saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the dignity of the Priesthood and teaching was great referring to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Priesthood Timothy was chosen to and that was the high Priesthood of Episcopacy Thom. Aquin. supplem 3. par quaest 36. artic 2. in prim argum calls Preaching opus Episcopalissimum the most Episcopal work Estius upon the Sentences speaking of Preaching saith verùm hoc munus principaliter Episcopis incumbit qui propriè secundum Apostolum Ephes 4.11 in Ecclesia constituti sunt Pastores Doctores Secundariò autem Parochis qui Episcopis in hoc subsidiariam navant operam But this Office of Preaching is primarily incumbent upon the Bishops who properly according to the Apostle are ordained Pastors and Doctors Secondarily the Parish Priests are to be subservient to the Bishop in this the Office of Preaching primarily belongs to the Bishop a subsidiary labour as the Bishops substitute belongs to the Presbyter Estius tom 4. lib. 4. cap. 20. But here there may be a question moved how the Presbyter hath the power of Preaching derived to him whether ex vi ordinis or ex licentia Episcopi by virtue of his order or from the Bishops licence But granting that all Presbyters receive a power to preach by their Orders as in the Church of England yet it is onely in actu primo not in actu secundo though they have a power conferred upon them yet the exercise of that power is restrained by the Canons till they have a Licence from the Bishop I have not met with any thing concerning the forms of Ordination used in the ancient Church but I suppose howsoever the matter of Ordination and Imposition of hands by a Bishop be an Apostolical Tradition yet the form of words used in Ordination is not so but of Ecclesiastical institution whence it comes that most Churches vary in their forms of Ordination In the Greek Church the form is divina gratia quae semper infirma sanat quae desunt supplet creat seu promovet N. venerabilem Diaconum in Presbyterum Dei amabilissimum Presbyterum in Episcopum The divine Grace which alwayes heales our infirmities and supplies our wants doth create or promote N. the Venerable Subdeacon to be a Deacon the Venerable Deacon to be a Presbyter the Presbyter most beloved of God to be a Bishop In the Western Church they use another form and in that confer a double power upon the Presbyter potestatem conficiendi corpus Domini potestatem ligandi solvendi power of Consecrating the Elements in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and power of binding and loosing Our Britanick Church which is a part of the Western hath a form peculiar to her self yet very much like the old Greek form mentioned by S. Clem. in his Constitutions l. 8. c. 16. wherein the power of Preaching also is conferred upon the Presbyter And yet I have reason enough to believe that actual Preaching especially according to the common understanding of that word now-a-days is not so essential to the Order of a Presbyter but that he may sometimes upon good grounds be debarred from it First because if a Presbyter be suspended ab officio from his Office of Preaching he remains a Presbyter still The Character is indeleble Nay if a Presbyter be suspended not only from the Office of Preaching but of Consecrating or Baptizing or in any kind Officiating in the Church nay if he be excommunicated yet his Character is indeleble he remains a Presbyter still and whatsoever he doth by vertue of that Character is valid de facto though contra jus This St. Jerom proves at large in his Book against the Luciferians that a Presbyter cannot lose his Order And St. Augustine in his Book de bono conjugali cap. 24. saith expresly Si siat Ordinatio cleri ad plebem congregandam etiamsi plebis congregatio non subsequatur manet tamen in ordinatis ordinationis sacramentum Et si ob aliquam culpam quispiam ab officio removeatur Sacramento Domini non carebit If their be an Ordination of the Clergy for the Congregation of the people although they have not a Corgregation or a Parish to attend upon yet the Sacrament of Ordination remaines in them once ordained And if for some fault any one be removed from his Office yet he wants not the Sacrament of the Lord. Secondly because I find that the Church in prudence anciently did not suffer all Presbyters to Preach but onely such as were eminent for their Prudence Gravity Piety and Abilities Presbyters and Deacons saith Grotius in his Annot. upon S. Luke 10.1 did not all Preach but they alone quibus docendi populum potestas ab Episcopo facta est to whom the power of teaching the people was granted by the Bishop which Presbyters therefore he saith were called by Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Presbyters entrusted with the explication of the word of God Thirdly because I see in the ancient Church there were Presbyteri Monachi Presbyters Monks Presbyters in Monasteries which had no cure of souls St. Hierome in his Epistle ad Dammachium tells us of five Presbyters they had in the Monastery of Bethlehem on purpose to administer the Sacrament to devout people there Such a Presbyter was Saint Hierome himself who preached not officio vocis by Sermons but by writing and did as many others quiescere in monasterio Lastly because I know the Church of England hath ordained allowed imployed many Presbyters who were no Preachers In the beginning of the Reformation 't is well known we had many Presbyters that never preach'd at all Within this 50 or 60 years amongst ten Presbyters there was not one Preacher In our Cathedralls at this day there are divers Singing-men Presbyters no Preachers And Presbyters they must be by the rules and statutes of their respective Churches wherein they serve and attend the Quire But if Preaching be not essentiall to the order of a Presbyter what office or duty is incumbent on him in case he be not qualified or licensed to preach Gulielmus Lunicensis in his book before alledged enumerates divers branches of the Presbyters office besides Preaching

Praeesse subesse orare offerre baptizare benedicere reconciliare communicare animas Deo commendare corpora sepelire It is his office to be subordinate to the Bishop and to obey him from the heart in all things lawful It is his office to govern his flocks to know the state of them and to direct them in their repentance It is his office to pray for the people It is his office to bless people in marriage It is his office to reconcile men in articulo mortis It is his office to communicate all the faithful It is his office to commend the Souls of the faithfull going out of their bodies to God by prayer It is his office to bury the bodies of Christian people So there are you see many offices of a Presbyter besides preaching and those not despicable but honourable and sufficient to take a great part of a mans time in greater Parishes And yet preaching is incumbent on him by the Canons of our own and the ancient Church also but still with this proviso that it be cum licentia Episcopi And by vertue of that a Deacon as in the Church of England may preach as well as a Presbyter For certain Origen did before he was a Presbyter Origenes licet nondum Presbyterii gradu positus ab Episcopis qui ibi erant non ad disputandum solum sed etiam ad Scripturas explicandas magnopere in ecclesiastico consessu rogatus est Euseb lib. 6. cap. 13. Origen though he had not yet attained the degree of a Presbyter yet he was earnestly intreated by the Bishops who were there present not onely to dispute but to explain the Scriptures in a Church-assembly Well then having advanced so far though with much weaknesse yet I hope with some evidence of truth That primarily Preaching belongs to a Bishop and but secondarily to the Presbyter ex licentia Episcopi There is one difficulty behind to remove before I leave this part of my undertaking concerning the non-preaching of Bishops For if they be properly the Doctors and Pastors of the Church it seems altogether inexcusable that they preach not at all or very seldome To this I offer three things to be seriously considered First that if they be hindred by Sicknesse old age or some other natural or even accidental defects that I suppose will be easily confest a sufficient reason to excuse them from it Secondly If they shall be encumbred with multiplicity of businesse in the Government of the Church as surely since the encrease of Christians and the enlarging of Parishes and Dioceses they find daily more than enough that also cannot but be allowed to be a most just and reasonable excuse Else why doth St. Paul make 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Governments an office in the Church An office which all must grant is of as great use as any in the Church of God and which the same Apostle appropriates to a Bishop 1 Tim. 3.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how shall he take care of the Church of God To take care of the Church of God is Essential to that superiour order as the very name imports Thirdly supposing there be no such Impediment yet if they send others as their Curates to instruct Christian people in all things necessary for Salvation they Preach by their Proxies as the Apostles Preached when they came not themselves by the Evangelist Valerius Bishop of Hippo being a Greek born and not skilled in the language of the Africans could not Preach to the people himself but imployed St. Augustine being then but a Presbyter to Preach in his stead And that was then contra morem Ecclesiae for a Presbyter to Preach in the presence of a Bishop And yet Valerius was an excellent good Bishop Possidon in vit August Fourthly that if they write Confutations of Errours or Comments upon the Scripture or Directions of holy Life as Epistles to their people for the admonition of them in their duty they Preach by so doing Many of the Primitive Bishops because they could not through distance of place instruct their people viva voce did it per Epistolas Encyclicas circular or orbicular Epistles of this sort were the Epistles of Clemens Romanus St. Ignatius St. Cyprian in whom are frequent Epistles to be found to the Clergy and people of his Diocese And of this sort were the Epistles of St. Paul and the Catholick Epistles of St. Peter St. James St. John and St. Jude But if none of these be satisfactory take for a full and final answer the Apology of Gregory Nazianzen a Learned and holy Bishop who being taxed by Keleusius the Governour for his silence and retiredness In an Epistle told him this Parable The Swallows upon a time derided and scoffed at the Swans because they did flie the converse of men and betook themselves to Lakes Rivers and Desert places were such enemies to Musick that they sung but little and when they did they sung to themselves alone and no body heard them as if they were ashamed of their Melody whereas they the Swallows affected the company of men and lived about Houses and Cities and sung continually The Swans at first would not vouchsafe to answer but when they did they thus excused themselves If any come when we lift up our wings to the West and warble out our harmonious Ditties they may perceive though we do not sing much yet our Musick is artificial But you make such continual chattering that you are grievous to them that hear you you enter into mens Houses and molest them with your daily obstreperousness and this is the cause why you dislike us because your selves are over-garrulous Thou understandest what I mean as Pindarus saith thou mayest find my silence better than thy garrulity For Conclusion I le tell thee a Proverb very short but true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then the Swans shall sing when the Jack-dawes hold their peace vid. Greg. Naz. Epist prima ad Keleusium Praesidem By this time the Judicious Reader may easily perceive how many things in His Majesties Directions concerning the Person employed in Preaching are taken out of the Archives of the Church and derived from Venerable Antiquity as First that actual Preaching by forming Discourses of their own upon the Scriptures was not anciently the work of every Priest being not simply necessary to their order Secondly that Preaching was restrained to the choicest persons for Gravity Prudence and Learning Thirdly that no Priest might Preach without a Licence Fourthly that none can justly give a Licence to a Priest to qualifie him for Preaching but the Archbishop or Bishop they being the sole Pastors of the Church CHAP. III. How it was managed in the ancient Church THe third part of my undertaking is to shew the prudent managery of this Preaching in the ancient Church And this thing if it were accurately done might serve as a pattern upon the Mount for us all to conform unto 'T is a rule in Metaphysicks that primum