two several times in the year in the Ancient Church set apart for it Easter and Pentecost called dies baptismatum which is Calvins and Bezaes or implying the double act in it the inward Baptisme of Christ and outward baptisme of John that is to say the Ministers which are Mr. (a) Answ tâ— Rhemist Comment on N. T upon this place Cartwrights words upon the place who also saith by a trope both Sacraments are here noted under one but I conceive that which we first gave is the best And 't is observable that the Apostle saith the doctrine of Baptismes 't is not the absolute want of it when it cannot be had but the rejecting of the doctrine of it that damnes 'T is possible that some of those three thousand converted by Saint Peters Sermon might have died before they could come to the water and yet be saved but if they had rejected the doctrine of it when they were bad to be baptized like the Pharisees rejecting the Counsel of God against themselves or like Naman who despised the river Jordan I question it A well ordered discipline is the ornament of the Church but upon the confession and doctrine of Saint Peter it was to be founded in which sence the Apostles and Prophets in their doctrines are called the foundation of it Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone and as some think is the sence of that Revel 21.14 that in the twelve foundations were the names of the twelve Apostles in relation to their doctrinals So much for that Now the next is the doctrine of laying on of hands Here is the great question What is meant by it That it is a Fundamentall cannot be denied if Baptisme be one this must be another see in the verse how like twins they are borne and bred under the same roof And 't is observable that in the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plural number doctrines referring to both In the search of several Authours I find these two expositions most worthy of consideration The first is Confirmation of children after Baptisme which hath somewhat of Antiquity for it most of the Writers of the Church of Rome incline that way and even Calvin is of that mind also and in his Comment upon this place stands much for it and wisheth it had not been laid aside hodie retinenda pura institutio superstitio autem corrigenda and produceth this custome of confirming of children in the Primitive times to be an argument they were then baptized but I conceive it cannot be the sence for this reason because 't is not a Fundamentall and hard to prove it was then like Baptisme and the rest esteemed to be of a necessary use and belief in the Catholick Church according to that of Vincentius Lyrinensis Magnopere curandum est ut id teneamus quod ubique quod semper quod ab omnibus creditum est hoc est enim verè propriè Catholicum contr haeresin cap. 3. That is to be held for a Catholick verity which hath been believed every where alwayes and by all And our Church saith children baptized have all things necessary to their salvation The Papists that hold it to be a Sacrament do not say 't is a Fundamentall and when it was observed by us we took it to be only an ancient laudable custome of the Church and whether it was so in Saint Pauls time in the Church of the Hebrewes it doth not appear The second Exposition is that it should be meant an ordained Ministery which clearly in Saint Paul's time we find was wont to be by laying on of hands This is Pareus his sense upon this place It was saith he (a) Initialis doctrina de ministerio Ecclesiae quia tum ordinabantur per impositionem manuum an initial doctrine concerning the Ministery of the Church then ordained by imposition of hands * Totum munus Propheticum c. Gualterus in his Comment upon this place saith In this is contained the whole function of Preachers c. designed unto it by imposition of hands But none so full as Mr. Cartwright in his answer to the Rhemists upon this place his words are these viz. By the imposition of hands the Apostle meaneth no Sacrament much lesse confirmation after Baptisme but by a trope or borrowed speech the Ministers of the Church upon the which hands were laid which appeareth in that whosoever believeth not that there ought to be a Ministery by order or Ordination to teach and govern the Church overthroweth Christianity whereas if Confirmation of children were a Sacrament as it is not yet a man holding the rest and denying the use of it might notwithstanding be saved And some lines after gives us summarily the sense of this verse viz. to be the doctrine of the Sacraments and of the Ministery of the Church Ye see in his opinion what a dangerous thing it is no lesse then the hazard of their own salvation to lay aside an ordained Ministery or to deny the doctrine of it which men now frequently presume And 't is observable the argument which he useth he produceth as a Maxime then in his time taken for granted not to be proved but supposed no man then so much as questioning the necessity of it for though there were then divers disputes about discipline and ceremonies in which this learned Authour then appeared yet both parties esteemed alike of Ordination to be a sacred institution none presuming to take upon them the office of the Ministery without it Well this I conceive to be the sence here of laying on of hands viz. That it was a Principle of the Catechisme taught to Christians at their first reception that there was to be a successive ordination or setting apart of persons for the Ministery for an authorative preaching of faith and repentance and administration of Sacraments called laying on of hands from the outward rite as the Lords Supper by breaking of bread And this was the judgement of the most Reverend and learned Father of our Church the late Arch-Bishop of Armagh which hath the rather emboldned me to employ my thoughts in the confirmation of it and surely if it be a fundamentall the knowledge of the sense of it is of a greater consequence then to be slighted First it is considerable how well this doth sute with Saint Pauls expression elsewhere speaking of Ordination 2 Tim. 1.6 Stirre up the gift of God that is in thee by the putting on of my hands 1 Tim. 4.14 neglect not the gift that is in thee given thee with the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery both thus sufficiently reconciled Saint Paul was the principal the Presbyters were his assistants according to the constitutions and custome of our Church in Ordination The Bishop is not to do it alone but with the assistance of at least three or four of the Ministers which was after the patteâ—n of the Primitive times The injunction of
ever in the Priests Pharises Scribes Sadduces c. yet as he permitted their administring of some rites for himselfe whether of circumcision or the offering made for him in the Temple at the purification after the custome of the Law in his infancy so at his manifestation about 30 yeares after he sends those that were healed by him to the Priests to offer what Moses commanded ye see he did not determine against the office for the personal defilements of their Predecessors or themselves 3. Nay under the Gospel about four hundred years after our Saviour Christ was not the world so over-run with Arrians that it groaned under it as St. Jerom saith when they had the commands of the Pulpits ordaining of Preachers children were baptized by them men put to receive the communion of them as Hilary and Basil say the Orthodox were hatched under the wings of the Arrian Priests yet upon a reformation and the renouncing of that heresie we read not of any rejecting of the succeeding Ministers because they were derived through such hands which I conceive to have been as bad as the Bishop of Rome and his followers The Church then was so wise as to consider a jewel looseth not his vertue by being delivered by a foul hand so neither is this treasure of the Ministry to be despised because it hath passed through some polluluted vessels to us which is appliable for the saving harmlesse our ordination though transmitted through the Popish defilements of some persons so much in vindicating the ordination of the Church of England from the scandall of being Popish Antichristian with which by some ignorant and rash people it is frequently aspersed Let me conclude with this short admonition Be not hereafter so unworthy as to blurre that Ministery with being Antichristian by whom ye have received the knowledge of Christ both by their translating of the Scriptures out of the Originalls into your Mother-tongue for your reading and their labour in the exposition of them for your understanding by whom you and your fathers have been baptized and instructed Be not such ill birds as thus to defile your own nests do not side with the agents of the Bishop of Rome in thus detracting and lessening the reputation and esteem of them Let them not say in their hearts so would we have it nor you with your tongues unlesse in your hearts you are Romish your selves Is it not strange that those who have been so great opposers of the errors of Popery wrot so learnedly and fully against them who have applyed that in the 2 Epist of the Thessalonians concerning the man of sin and that of Babylon in 17. Revel to the Papacy as Bishop Downham Abbot Jewell and the late eminent Primate with divers others that now they should with their very calling and profession be styled Popish can we think otherwise but that the hand of Joab I mean the Jesuit is privily in it Is it not a wonder it should so come about that such as have been the greatest enemies to the See of Rome should be reckoned as members and friends of it and thus perpetually yoked together as twins nay trod under foot as unsavory salt upon that very account as being Episcopall Is this a just reward of their labour in the defence of your profession thus to be aspersed by you as Absolon to Hushay Is this thy kindnesse to thy friend Certainly those of the See of Rome cannot but smile within themselves that they have thus covertly deluded us and so closely taken a revenge of those their adversaries How true is that speech of our Saviour A Prophet is not without honour save in his own country other nations French and German magnifie the Clergy of the Church of England by what is transmitted over Sea in many of their works onely despised at home as the off-scouring of the world what a preparative this is to the expectation of the Papists an able learned ordained Ministery having been hitherto the stop to the introduction of ignorance and superstition which if removed might flow in the more easily which God in his mercy prevent And thus I have endeavoured to confirm the Primates judgement upon this place viz. that by laying on of hands is meant an ordained Ministery The Primates judgement of the Sense and Vse of the Form of words in the former Constitution at the Ordination of Priests or Presbyters defended and enlarged viz. Receive the Holy Ghost whose sins thou forgivest they are forgiven and whose sins thou doest retain they are retained Which as an Appendix to the former subject could not well be omitted THey are the words of our Saviour John 20.22 to the Apostles and why they may not be continued to their Successors who are to succeed in that office of the Ministery to the end of the world doth not yet appear and 't is possible that the late offence taken against them to the disuse of them may arise from a misapprehension of the sense of them The Primates judgement of which I think fit to manifest who in all his Ordinations constantly observed them They consist of two clauses 1. Receive the Holy Ghost 2. Whose sins thou forgivest they are forgiven and whose sins thou dost retain they are retained 1. For the first Receive the Holy Ghost We do not here understand the sanctifying graces of the spirit For the Apostles had received them before in that they were bid by our Saviour to rejoyce that their names were written in heaven the evidence of which is heaven wrot in the heart here and had his witnesse that they had believed and had kept his word for whom he had also also prayed in that sense Sanctifie them through thy truth John 17. And if this had been the gift there had been no particular thing given to them for all that will be saved must in some measure partake of it Rom. 8.9 If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his And though it be the testimony of a good Christian yet 't is not a sufficient warrant for him to take upon him the Ministery 2. Again it cannot be meant of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost viz. Gifts of tongues c. For in that sense the Holy Ghost was not yet given till fifty dayes after viz. the Feast of Pentecost but this was given upon the day of his Resurrection So that a third sense must be had which was the Primates as followeth 3. Receive the Holy Ghost i. e. receive Ministeriall power of officiating and dispensing those sacred Ministrations unto which the promise of the holy Spirit is annexed and through which as the Conduit-Pipes this holy water is conveyed not so much meant for their own benefit as the good of others In this he gave them power as the Stewards of God to be dispensers of holy and spiritual things to the benefit of such over whom the Holy Ghost had made them overseers which is
THE JUDGEMENT Of the late Arch-Bishop of ARMAGH and PRIMATE of IRELAND Of BABYLON Rev. 18.4 being the present See of Rome With a Sermon of Bishop BEDELS upon the same words Of laying on of hands â—eb 6.2 to be an ordained Ministery Of the old Form of words in Ordination Of a Set Form of PRAYER Published and enlarged by Nicholas Bernard D. D. and Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grayes-Inne London Unto which is added a Character of Bishop BEDEL And an Answer to Mr. Pierces Fifth Letter concerning the late PRIMATE LONDON Printed for John Crook at the Sign of the Ship in S. Pauls Church-yard 1659. TO THE Right Worshipfull Sir WILLIAM ELLIS BARONET His HIGHNES Sollicitor GENERALL The Readers and Benchers With the Ancients Barresters and Students Of the Honourable Society of Graies-Inne YEe are thus intituled to these Treatises The occasion of publishing the First was a Sermon preached by the late Arch-Bishop of ARMAGH in your Chappell of the same subject Nov. 5. 1654. who out of his old love to this society whereof he was a member intended it as his last the request then made to him for the permission of printing that he did satisfy in his consent to the publishing of this For the other some parts of them have been long agone preached before you by the Authour though now in another manner enlarged which as a testimony of his due observance and respect to this Honourable Society he desires may be accepted from him who is Grayes-Inne Octob. 27. 1658. Yours in the service of Christ N. BERNARD To the Reader HOw Popery and (a) Though of late it hath had that latitude as to comprehend Episcopacy yet in Ancient Records which I have seen it was limited to the Deans and Chapters For this was then the form of the Arch-Bishops Provinciall visitation declaring that he would visit Episcopum Praelatos clerum populum Prelacy came first to be contracted is not my enquiry but sure I am they are here very far asunder such as do apply that of Babylon Rev. 17. and the Man of sin 2 Thes 2. to the Pope can hardly be accounted Popish which you find affirmed by the late Archbishop of Armagh and Bishop Bedell in their discussing of the same words And who are supported in it by the most Eminent Bishops of England and Ireland since the Reformation Archbishop Whitgift Bishop Jewell Abbot Bilson Andrews Downham Morton Hall Davenant Prideaux with others who have unanimously given their votes the same way as is hereafter shewn And indeed it could not be otherwise expected from some of them who had been taught to put him into their (b) Common Prayer in Edw. 6. Letany From the Tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities Good Lord deliver us So that if any of later years professing themselves to be the sons of those old Prophets have so far favoured the See of Rome as to divert the stream of that application some other way it appears they have in it degenerated from their Ancestors The first Treatise being the Primates three positions concerning Babylon was wrot above 40 years agone which appears by the places of Scripture rendred according to the old Translation and sent to an Irish Jesuit in Dublin as I take it (c) The first that broached that figment of the Nagge 's head consecration in England after 45 yeares silence of any other Author which in Bishop Bedells Letters to Wadesworth p. 142. is confuted Christophorus à sacro bosco there called F. Halywood the summe of which having been delivered by the Primate in a Sermon which he preached at Grays-Inne Nov. 5. 1654. and being much desired by some of the Auditours to be published he did condescend to permit this with that other Letter following in their satisfaction The learned Sermon of Bishop Bedels being of the same subject I heard him preach it in Christ-Church Dublin 1634. before the Lord Deputy and Parliament The occasion of his giving a copy of it was at the request of a Papist to have shewen it to some learned men of his own Religion and my opportunity to have it was the near relation I had to him for divers years in that See which after these 22 yeares lying latent with me I have taken this fit occasion to publish it That which I have added is by way of confirmation from some grounds out of Ancient Fathers the successive votes both of the learned Writers in those ages who lived under the Tyranny of the See of Rome as of our eminent Bishops and Writers since that yoke was cast off in England with the concurrence of our book of Homilies severall Synods of our own and other reformed Churches the determination of the * Synops Theol. disp 4â— de Christo Antichristo conclus Ex quibus apparet Pontificem Papam Romanum revera Antichristum filium perditionis esse c. Dutch and French Divines It being very observable that whatsoever differences there are in the reformed Churches in other matters yet there is a marvellous unity in this To which is added the like judgement of Arminius and some of the Church of Rome continuing at least in that communion who professe it out-right others by way of consequence Their chief Writers who meet us halfe way granting the place only disputing the time contending as much as we that Babylon Rev. 17. must be meant Rome the difference between us whether Ethnick or Papall For that of the Primates judgement seconded by some eminent Writers what is meant Heb 6.2 by laying on of hands and of the sense of the old form of words in Ordination viz. Receive the holy Ghost whose sins thou forgivest c. and the use of them to be continued I had leave from himself for the manifesting and enlarging of it And I suppose the last subject concerning a Set Form of Prayer will passe with the lesse opposition by the concurring of divers eminent and worthy Persons whom the contrary-minded cannot but highly esteem of Having both in the former and this taken up Saint Pauls manner of arguing with the Athenians as certain also of your own have said c. or as elsewhere one of themselves even a Prophet of their own c. And surely the Primates appearing so much against the See of Rome in the first cannot but be a preparative to the hearkning unto him the rather in the two later For my self I have no other design in the whole but the peace and unity of the Church which we are all bound to seek and without which end and aim all gifts whatsoever coveted by us are of no value and I hope to have that interpretation from such as are so affected Two things which have been enlarged by way of Vindication of the Eminent Primate from the injuries of Doctor Heylene came so in my way that I could not passe them which else by his being in the esteem of
is most certaine saith he by the name of Babylon the City of Rome is signified Ribera in his Commentary upon it saith the same adding also (z) Huic conveniunt aptissimè omnia atque illud inprimis quod alii convenire non potest optimè etiam convenisset◠quod in eodem capite mulier quam vidisti est civitas magna quae habet regnum super reges terrae all things fitly agree to it and somewhat that can be applied to no other then Rome as The seven heads are seven hills and The City which reigneth over the Kings of the earth Viegus saith (a) Existimamus nomine Babylonis Romanam urbem significari in hoc Apocalypsis opere ubi toties Babylon nominatur c. omnia quae his capitibus memorantur in Romanam urbem aptissimè quadrant We conceive wheresover Babylon is mentioned in the Revelation it signifies Rome and all things in the 17. and 18. Revel very fitly appliable to it According to that of (b) Johannes in Apocalypsi Passim Romam vocat Babylonem ut Tertullianus annotavit apertè colligitur ex cap. 17. Apocalyp ubi dicitur Babylon magna sedere suprà septem montes habere imperium super reges terrae nec enim alia civitas est quae Johannis tempore imperium habuerat super reges terrae quam Roma notissimum est supra septem colles Romam aedificatam esse lib. 3. de Rom. Pont. cap. 13. Bellarmine formerly quoted and Lessius (c) Roma à Johanne vocatur Babylon quia Babilon fuit figura Romae quibus verbis aptè designat Romam who saith John calls Rome Babylon as being the figure of Rome and by his words he elearly sheweth it to be Rome All which may well give a check to the Novelty of some among our selves who without the ballast of sound or sollid judgement have been carried about with the winds of other imaginations which yet I could easily believe some Popish Agents upon second thoughts have had their hands in to get it driven off the further from their shore Though how farre not-withstanding our aforesaid Writers and these are from an agreement in the above-said hath been made apparant in the two former Treatises viz. Those of the Popish Writers would have it Rome while it was Heathen and the fall to be with the Heathen Empire and ours Rome since it became Christian and the fall yet to come Those of ours who in defence of our Ordination from the scandal of Antichristian by its passing through the See of Rome have endeavoured to take off that See from being such in the aforementioned places as it was a needlesse refuge so the cure is worse then the disease And those who have with the Popish Writers yeelded the man of sin and the son of perdition by that manner of expression to be meant of a single person were not forced to it for it may notwithstanding be meant of a successive race of men in one place and government non de unitate individui sed speciei according to the like instance in Scripture Esa 23.15 Tyre shall be forgotten 70 years according to the days of one King i. e. of one Kingdom viz. The Empire of the Caldeans which after Nebuchadnezar and his successors Evelmerodach and Belshazar was given to the Medes and Persians and Dan. 7.17 the 4 beasts are 4 Kings i. e. the four successive Empires the Chaldean Persian Grecian Roman as the seven Kings do accordingly Rev. 17. signify seven successive governments and so the man of sin may be meant accordingly not of a particular man but of a race of men succeeding in that Tyranny as when they say the Pope is the Head of the Church they do not limit it to this or that particular Pope but mean it of the continued succession from S. Peter Neither is the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of any more force for the limitation of it to one man there 2 Thes 2. then it is in Luk. 4.4 Man lives not by bread only or Mark 2.27 The Sabbath was not made for man both includeing all mankind or 2 Tim. 3. ult That the man of God may be perfect c. which is not confined to one but takes in all the Ministery For which or any thing else concerning this controversie which I shall not enter into I shall referre the Reader to Bishop Downham Bishop Jewel Bishop Abbot with others from whom he may receive full satisfaction Only thus much in confirmation of the Judgement of those two Reverend and eminent Bishops a Vindication of it from the aspersion of singularity and novelty THE Late Arch-Bishop of ARMAGH'S judgement of the sense of that place Heb. 6.2 Of laying on of hands enlarged and defended THis and the former verse may well be called the Apostles Catechisme consisting of six Principles or Fundamentals of Christian doctrine as they are called in the former verse of which this is the Method The two former concern this life viz. Repentance from good works and Faith towards God The two latter the end of this life viz. the Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement The two middle viz. the doctrine of Baptismes and laying on of hands are in relation to both either as Conduits to convey the two former into us or as Chariots to carry us with comfort to the two latter That they are Fundamental Principles as well as the other cannot be doubted of by their being placed in the midst of them only the question is what is meant by them First by the doctrine of Baptismes I conceive is meant the Sacrament of Baptisme which is often joyned with the two former Fundamentals By our Saviour with Faith he that believeth and is baptized Mark 16.16 By Saint Peter with repentance Acts 2.38 Repent and be baptized Object The objection against it is that 't is Baptismes in the plurall number Answ Answ First the Syriack reads it in the singular number and Saint Augustine in his book de fide operibus renders it Lavacri doctrina the doctrine of the font from whence Ribera gathers there might be some Ancient Greek Copies accordingly But secondly it is an Enallage Numeri the plural for the singular as Genes 8.4 The Ark rested on the Mountaines of Arrarat which Tremelius by way of explanation renders uno montium Matth. 27.44 Theeves for one of them only Luke 23.39 So accordingly The Israelites having made one golden Calfe said these are thy Gods O Israel c. Exodus 32.4 and verse 33. Moses saith they have made themselves Gods of Gold yet verse 24. it is called by Aaron This Calfe Drusius hath divers of the like as Sepulchers for Sepulcher Cities for City c. and so here Baptismes for Baptisme I am not ignorant of other conjectures by learned men signifying a threefold Baptisme Sanguinis flaminis fluminis or the thrice dipping for sprinkling the number of perons coming to be baptized the
this authority Object One objection common in the mouthes of men is Why do you stand so much upon a ceremony as laying on of hands is Answ First that which the Apostle calls a Principle and a Fundamentall do not you call a ceremony according to that which was said to S. Peter That which God hath cleansed call not thou common for which we have both Precept and Example to three successions Paul and Timothy and those that succeeded him 2. 'T is a most honourable ceremony used upon other occasions Jacob in blessing of Ephraim and Manasses Moses in constitution of Joshua Naamans expectation of Elias healing him our Saviours in blessing of the children in the Gospel Saint Pauls at the Holy Ghosts coming upon the disciples of Ephesus in the gift of tongues The Prophets of Antioch upon the separating of Paul and Barnabas for a speciall work designed unto as others by way of benediction and confirmation 3. If it be an institution though how mean soever it is to the eye yet it must be observed or else water in Baptisme bread and wine in the Lords Supper may fall under the like contempt Circumcision was a carnall ordinance yet Rom. 3. the Apostle checks those who questioned the profit or vertue of it The waxe of the Seale hath little worth in it self but by the impression affixed to the pattent is of great consequence to the party the like application may be made to imposition of hands the Seal of Ordination Object But suppose laying on of hands be granted as we have said the question yet remains By whose hands Answ Answ Doubtlesse not by the peoples for it doth not stand with reason that any can transferre that authority which they have not The people may be said after a manner to give their votes in the election as it was the former and ancient custome that they were asked if they knew of any impediment or crime Book of Ordination for which the party ought not be received into this holy Ministry and desired to declare it and upon the objecting of any the Bishop was to surcease till the party accused should clear himself The people had liberty of allegation for or against the person to be ordained but it doth not follow that therefore they had power in constituteing and ordaining They are the persons to whom the Ministers are sent can they be the Senders they have their mission to them can they have their Commission from them we are Gods Embassadours not theirs neither do ye find any power this way derived or committed from Christ to them As my Father sent me so send I you saith our Saviour to his Apostles Lo I am with you and so with your successors unto the end of the world Saint Paul saith to Timothy Lay thou hands c. to Titus I left thee behind that thou shouldest ordain be it meant collectively of the rest of the Ministers as assistants with him also but no mention of the people in that act That of Numb 8.10 the people laid their hands on the Levits is not meant in their consecration but dedication or the donation of them to be consecrated to the Lord instead of the first born by Moses and Aaron It was but as Hanna's giving up her son Samuel to Eli to be consecrated to the service of the Temple or like the presentation of a person formally under the hand and seal of the Patron to the Bishop to be instituted or inducted such was this of the Levites only a signification of their act and deed under their hands in giving up their whole title and interest in them to be set apart for that end Object For that of Matthias his election before the people to be an Apostle Acts 1.16 alleadged by some for the power of people in Ordination Answ 1 1. Saint Peter only signifieth to them what they were about to do and doing it in their presence as in Saint Cyprians time it was the custome to have the Minister ordained praesente plebe sub omnium oculis c. in the presence of the people before the eyes of all c. like Eleazar invested by Moses with the Priests garments on the top of the Mount in the sight of the Israelites but the actions in setting two apart in casting the lots prayer c. were the Apostles Answ 2 Secondly This election here to the Apostleship was neither the peoples nor Apostles but Gods by a divine suffrage expressed by lot according to the prayer of the Apostles to God for it and so it makes nothing for the peoples act in ordination and so much for the first Question Whose hands must be imposed Quest 2 2. What if the ordainers being of the Ministry be found not to have been of clean hands themselves i. e. of evill lives is their ordination good Answ I answer Yes For 't is not a personal act but an act of office as 't is not the learning of the Judge makes any decree valid but his authority and commission for it A Popish Judge gives a just sentence in Court his sentence is not erroneous and Antichristian though himself may be so his act is good in Law how bad soever he is in matter of Religion so the act of Ordination being an act of office is not nulled or voided by personal defilements It was the errour of the Donatists to put the vertue of Ministerial acts wholly upon the holinesse of the person ministring no as Saint Augustine saith a foul hand may sow good seed Object But there is one objection more to be answered frequently in the mouthes of men viz. Your Orders were derived from Rome and therefore Antichristian Answ 1 1. Observe what contrary inferences are against us The Papists say we have no lawful Ministery because we have it not from Rome having renounced our subjection to that See others among our selves argue the same from our being deduced from it Answ 2 Secondly If they mean of our receiving it from thence immediately after the Apostles time which the ancientest of the Brittish Writers extant do not grant but averre that we received it from such as came from Jerusalem hither even in Tiberius his time it is no disparagement to us Gildas for it was then a famous Church see Saint Pauls Epistle to it as Ignatius after him But if they mean since the corruption and Apostasy of it we may distinguish between from and through as between the Fountain and Conduit we received it from the Apostles though running through some corrupt times of Popery of which since our reformation it savours no more then the Fish doth of the salt water or as the three children in the furnace when they came out there was not so much as the smell of fire found upon them Answ 3 3. If they mean of Austine the Monke sent from Rome in Gregory the great his time about 600 yeares after Christ there were then no such defilements of
doctrine in it that it should be a scandall to us either And yet we were not then to seek for an ordained Ministery there having been for many hundreds of years before that a flourishing Church among us which the Saxons whom he came to convert had been the persecutors and destroyers of as Gildas tells us so that in that or the former sense the objection is not worth the answering Answ 4 But fourthly I suppose they mean of later Centuries when that complaint of the Prophet concerning Jerusalem might be appliable to Rome How is that faithful City become a harlot it was full of judgement righteousnesse lodgeed in her but now murderers c. i. e. Since the Bishop of Rome became corrupt in doctrine and worship For this first we thus answer While we were under the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome it doth not appear that he ordinarily usurped more then a mandatory nomination of the Bishop to be consecrated which out of a blind fear of his excommunication was assented unto but the consecration was not by him but other Bishops here within our selves And I account the ordination or consecration to be derived from such as gave imposition of hands not from the mandate for them to do it Henry the eight and the Kings succeeding assumed the like power in the nomination of the person which accordingly might not be gainsaid but from thence it cannot be argued that our ordination or consecration was deduced from them for the Kings mandate served not to give power to ordain which those Bishops had before intrinsecally annexed to their office but only was a warrant to apply this power to the person named in that Mandate Now this being all which was usurped by the Bishop of Rome in relation to the consecrations of our Bishops in England when we were under the Tyranny of the Papacy there is as little force for our deriving our ordination from him also And if those Bishops of Sidon which as Arch-Deacon * De Minister Anglican Mason tells us assisted in the first consecration in Hen. 8. as in Edward the sixth's time were not meerly Titular but had their consecration from the Greek Church which is altogether a stranger to the See of Rome it would take off somewhat from the pretence of a totall derivation from thence Object But still it may be objected that we have at least received our Ordination from such as professed the Religion of Rome Answ First it could not be called properly the Religion of Rome till the Councell of Trent which determined many years after our falling off from the See of Rome The Papists ask us Where was our Religion before Luther we might reply Where was the Popish Religion before that time 'T is true most of those poysonous errours were sowen up and down the world before but not collected fully into a body and so owned and headed by the Papacy till then For till that time scarce any point we hold now against them but there were some of their own Authours who held it also So that to speak properly the now Romish Religion in their new Creed with other appurtenances was established since our form of ordination 2. Suppose we received our ordination from such who were corrupted with Popish errours yet if they retained the Fundamentalls of Christian Religion their ordination may be valid those like some part of the barke of the tree uncut may convey the Sappe from the root to the preserving of life in the branches What Saint Augustine saith of the Donatists in some things mecum sunt they concurre with me in other things they are defiled may be applicable to the Church of Rome and if so why may we not receive through them what was of Christs remaining in them without being defiled with that corrupt part which is their own why may not there be in this a separation of the precicious from the vile And in our reformation we withdrew our selves no further from her then she hath declined from her self in the Apostles time and from the ancient state and condition of it then as one saith well Nostra Ecclesia ab hodierna Romana Ecclesia contaminata recessit ut ad pristinam puram Apostolicam Romanam accedere posset We forsook the present corrupted Church of Rome that we might be nearer a kin to the first pure Apostolical Roman Church in the primitive times 3. In a word we do affirme that neither their corruption in opinion or vitiosity of life do or did void it to the party ordained none doubts of the Baptisme of our fore-fathers administred by those of the like in the Church of Rome as if there needed any reiteration by them who survived our reformation neither do we renew the orders received in that Church when any Priest is converted and betakes himself to our communion and why should it be questioned here Let the Seal be of Silver or brasse the impression is alike valid if affixed by order to the deed Parents in generation convey to the child what is essentiall to humane nature not that which is accidentall A maimed Father begets a Son like himself as he was before he lost his arme as the circumcised did and doth an uncircumcised child the like application may be made to the transferring of ordination in such a wounded diseased Apostatized Church as the Roman now is and by such corrupted persons in life and doctrine continuing in it so they do observe the * See Bishop Bedels letter to Wadsworth p. 157. My defence for your Ministry is that the forme Receive the Hâ—ly Ghost whose sins ye remit are remitted doth suciffiently comprehend the authority c. essentials in ordination other superstructures or corruption in the ordainers doth not null it either to the persons themselves or successors which might be further manifested by the pâ—actice of the Church in all ages 1. That Ministration under the Law the Priests of which the Jewish Writers say were consecrated by laying on of hands had as much cause to stand upon succession as any yet ye find often that the Priests the sons of Aaron and the Levites had corrupted their wayes were defiled with Idolatry in Ahaz and Manasses time and others as bad or worse then the See of Rome yet after a reformation the succession which was by their hands was not questioned Though the Priesthood ran through much filth yet retaining the essentialls of the Jewish Religion as circumcision c. they were owned of God again in a successive ministration See in the height of their Idolatry when they were offering their children by fire unto their Idols yet by retaining the Sacrament covenant of circumcision their children are called the Lords children Ezek. 16.20 Thou hast taken thy sons which thou hast borne unto me c. thou hast slayn my children in causing them to pass through the fire etc. 2. In our Saviour Christs time there was as bad a succession as
Saint Paul for it is accordingly 2 Tim. 5.22 Lay hands suddenly on no man i. e. ordain And it is the more observable that all are from one and the same Apostle it being one argument to prove Saint Paul was the Authour of this Epistle to the Hebrews by the use of this expression here which is not in the Epistles of any other Apostle 'T is true we read of extraordinary gifts of tongues c. given by laying on of hands in the Acts but they cannot be understood here for they were but temporary and ceased like Scaffolds which after the building of an house are taken down but what is meant here must be as the foundation which remains to the last and all falls with it that agrees to an Ordained Ministery which must continue for the preaching of faith and repentance and administration of Sacraments to the end of the world In which sence is that last speech of our Saviour Matth. 28. Lo I am with you unto the end of the world it cannot be limited to the persons of the Apostles with whose deaths those Administrations did not expire but must be understood collectively of the whole body of the Ministery then as it were in their loines who should succeed in preaching and Baptisme and through whom a successive powerful assistance of the spirit is to be transferred in and through those unto the worlds end This power of officiating was powred on the head of the Apostles and descendeth to the skirts of their garments in these dayes And how like a fundamental Ordination is may easily appear it began at the foundation of the Church and was one of the first stones laid in this Edifice and it must continue to the last for as the Lords Supper is to continue till the second coming of Christ so the Ministers of it have the same term also Ephes 4.13 He gave some Pastors Teachers c. Till we all come unto a perfect man unto the measure of the Stature of the fullnesse of Christ c. Rom. 10.15 Ye have a building of four or five stories high of severall Acts and Ministrations but Ordination of a Ministery is the Foundation Salvation is at the top of this Jacobs Ladder but Ordination at the bottome Whosoever will call on the name of the Lord shall be saved but how shall they call on him on whom they have not believed how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a Preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent c. See praying believing hearing preaching and then as the foundation of all a Mission of Preachers for that end what is said of the Commandements of the Law James 2. he that offends in one is guilty of all such is the concatenation of the principles of the Gospel break one link and all are endangered He that renounceth his Baptisme renounceth his Faith into which he was baptized even the death and resurrection of our Saviour signified by it Colos 2. Consider what ye do in renouncing the Ministery by whom ye were baptized and have believed 1 Cor. 3.5 if any efficacy be in the Sacrament according to the qualification authoritative faculty of the person officiating see what hazard you run in rejecting of such so ordained Ye know the speech of our Saviour Matth. 23.17 He that swears by the Altar sweareth by it and all things thereon and is not the contrary true he that despiseth the Altar despiseth not only that but all that depend on it If the Ordination or Mission of the person through Gods institution be of any efficacy to what is officiated I may leave the application to your selves Consider what ye do in a totall renouncing of an ordained Ministery as to Baptisme and believing through whom as instrumentals ye did partake of them If the foundation fall how can the building stand As ye see here Saint Paul makes an ordained Ministery a fundamental principle of Christian Religion So much for the sence of the Text what is meant by laying on of hands Now if Ordination be a fundamental principle hence then these 2 things may be inferred 1. A necessity of continuing an ordained Ministery in the Church and the neglect of it to be the underming of the foundation of it 2. That Ordination is not only an internal call from God but an externall from Man for 't is denominated here from laying on of hands First a necessity of continuing such a distinct Order and profession for preaching and other sacred Administrations This subject would heretofore have been accounted needlesse to be handled but it is necessary and seasonable now there being many set against the very function as if any man might of himself assume it To such I shall represent these considerations following viz. 1. That in all ages there have been some persons set apart for such divine Offices even before the Law or constitution of Aaron and the Levites as since see some appointed Exod. 19.22 Let the Priests which come near to the Lord sanctify themselves Chap. 24.5 called young men of the Children of Israel sent of Moses who offered the burnt offerings and sacrifice unto the Lord and this is usually interpreted to be the First-borne and that of the principall of the families instead of which the Levites were afterward taken see Numb 3.12 And what a setled Priesthood there was in Moses and Solomons time to the Captivity and after it upon their return who knows not see Mal. 2. A speech to the Priests and for that five hundred-yeer gap betwixt the Old Testament and the New when the Prophets ceased yet a Priesthood continued that the service of God then was not to put to the charity of Passengers as beggars are by the high way but some were appropriated to it Jeroboam that forsook the Temple yet retained a Priesthood though of his own corrupt appointment Object That of the Law was a Priesthood but we speak of a Ministery Resp 1. We stand not upon words or Titles neither doth the Apostle for as 2 Cor. 3.7 8 9. he calls the Priests of the Law Ministers and their office a Ministration so he implies that the Ministers of the Gospel might have that Title of Priests 1 Cor. 9.13 by taking his Argument for their maintenance from the Priests Altar and Temple as they that serve at the Altar partake of the Altar even so hath God ordained that those that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel and the name hath only grown ignominious by the Church of Rome's retaining it whom if by way of distinction they had been called by us sacrificers as Bishop Downham observes there had been no offence in it All that read the Fathers know it is the term used by them whose Tractates of the Ministery are intituled De Sacerdotio And the Apostle makes it only a change of the Priesthood Hebr. 7.12 not a nulling of it upon which change of a