it as evident that there never can be more than one Church in the World for those Nominal Churches which have not the same Lord the same Faith the same Baptism are no Churches and all that have are but one Which makes it a ridiculous Triumph of the Church of Rome as if we Protestants did not believe one Catholick Church or could not tell where to find it when we profess to believe but One Church and that all true Churches are Members of this One Church For it is plain from this account that though all the Churches in the World were united in one Ecclesiastical Body yet this external visible Union is not the thing which makes them the one Body of Christ They are one Body by being all united to one mystical Head the Lord Jesus Christ not by an external and visible Union to each other this external Union is a Duty which all Christians and Christian Churches are bound to observe as far as possibly they can but all true Christians and Christian Churches are the One Body of Christ whether they be thus visibly united or not But for the better understanding this matter we must consider I. The true Notion of the Catholick Church on Earth II. What the Nature and Unity of a particular Church is and how every particular Church is a part of that Universal Catholick Church which is the Body of Christ. III. What that Unity and Communion is which all distinct particular Churches ought to maintain with each other and whence this Obligation results I. The true Notion of the Catholick Church on Earth Now it is evident from what I have already discoursed that the true Notion of a Church is the caetus Fidelium or the company of the Faithful of those who profess the true Faith of Christ and are united to him by Baptism There can be no other Notion of the Universal Church in Heaven and Earth but the whole company and family of the Faithful who are united to Christ by covenant and are his mystical Body in the sense above explained And if the Universal Church in Heaven and Earth be the whole company of the Faithful the Catholick Church on Earth must be the whole number of the Faithful on Earth for we must still retain the same Notion of a Church where the whole consists of universal parts for there every part has the same nature with the whole I know indeed of late the Clergy have in a great measure monopolized the Name of the Church whereas in propriety of Speech they do not belong to the definition of a Church They are Members of the Church as they are themselves of the number of the Faithful and they are the Governours of the Church as they have received Authority from Christ the Supream Lord and Bishop of the Church but they are no more the Church than the King is his Kingdom or the Shepherd his Flock and therefore St. Paul expresly distinguishes the Church from the Apostles and Ministers of it 1 Cor. 12. 28. God hath set some in the Church first Apostles secondarily Prophets thirdly Teachers after that Miracles then Gifts of Healing Helps Governments diversities of Tongues These are placed in the Church for the instruction edification and good government of it and therefore are of a distinct consideration from the Church in which they are placed Thus 4 Eph. 11 12. He gave some Apostles and some Prophets and some Evangelists and some Pastors and Teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the Ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ that is the Church of Christ which is therefore distinguished from the Pastors and Teachers of it Thus in directing his Epistles to several Churches he gives us the definition of a Church 1 Cor. 1. 2. Vnto the Church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all that in every place call upon the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours that is the whole company of the Faithful 1 Ephes. 1. Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the Saints which are at Ephesus and to the Faithful in Christ Jesus Which is the true definition of a Church 1 Col. 2. To the Saints and faithful Brethren in Christ which are at Coloss. And 1 Phil. 1. he expresly distinguishes the Saints or Church as that signifies the company of the Faithful from the Bishops and Deacons To all the Saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the Bishops and Deacons The Learned Launoy has produced various Texts of Scripture for this definition of the Church that it is the company of the Faithful and has proved by the Testimony of the Fathers in all Ages even down to the Council of Trent it self that this was the received Notion of the Church till it was altered by Canisius and Bellarmine Canisius puts Christ's Vicar into the definition that the Church is the visible collection of all baptized Believers under one Head Christ in Heaven and his Vicar on Earth which makes the Church a Monarchy Bellarmine defines the Church to be a company of men united together by the profession of the same Christian Faith and the Communion of the same Sacraments under the government of lawful Pastors but chiefly of the Bishop of Rome as the one Vicar of Christ on Erath which makes the Church a kind of mixed and tempered Monarchy the government of Bishops and the Pope as Supream Vicar whereas before these men neither Pastors nor Bishops much less the Pope of Rome were ever put into the general definition of a Church for as for St. Cyprian's definition I shall account for it hereafter And indeed it stands to reason that they should not for Pastors and Bishops are set over the Church are Overseers of the Flock to instruct and govern it and therefore must be distinguished from the Church which they govern The Church is the mystical Body of Christ which is in subjection to Christ the Head but the Bishops and Pastors of the Church considered as such represent the Head and not the Body for they receive their Power and Authority from Christ and act in his place and stead as he tells them after his Resurrection As my Father hath sent me so send I you 20 John 21. And He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me 10 Matth. 40. and 13. John 20. And therefore as Christ the Head is distinguish'd from his Body so are those also who act under the Head and represent and exercise his Authority in the Church as private Believers they are the Members of the Church as Church-Governours they are the Vicars of Christ. Now from hence I shall observe some few things the use of which we shall afterwards better understand As 1. That Bishops and Pastors are not the Church but the Governours of the Church and therefore the Promises
learned men especially by the Learned Dr. Isaac Barrow in his Treatise of the Popes Supremacy which is a sufficient confutation of such a Claim yet it will be of great use to shew from the Nature of the Catholick Church and the essential Unity of it that it cannot be so and there are several considerations which will make this very evident 1. That there is no other Head for the whole Catholick Church on Earth to be united to but only Christ for the Catholick Church is the whole company of Christians and to whom can the whole company of Christians be united but only to Christ For the whole Clergy as well as Laiety are included in the Notion of the Catholick Church in the whole company of Christians and therefore unless you can find out a Bishop who is not of the number of Christians and such an one would be a very monstrous Head for the Christian Church he cannot be the Head because he is a Member of the Catholick Church and must himself with the rest of Christians be united to the Head Which I think is a demonstration that no Bishop can be the Head of the Catholick Church because it is a contradiction to be the Head and a Member of the same Body A Bishop is the Pastor and Governour of a particular Church and a Member of the Universal Church but to be the Head of the Universal Church of which he himself is a Member is a contradiction 2. Nor can the essential Unity of the Church consist in our Union to any other Head but Christ because it is our Union to Christ alone which makes the Church and that which makes the Church must make it one for what does not belong to the essence of a thing cannot be the principle of an essential Unity It is the Church of Christ because it is united to him and to him only by Faith and the Christian Sacraments and therefore it is the One Church of Christ because the whole Church is united to him and to him only as it must be if no other Union can make a Church and where there is but one Head of Union there can be but One Body No other Union can make a Church and therefore no other Union can be essential to the Unity of the Church 3. And therefore though our Saviour had appointed an Universal Pastor as the Bishop of Rome pretends to be yet he could not have been the Head of Unity to the Catholick Church he had in that case been the Supream Governour whom all Christians had been bound to obey nay more than that he had been the Center of Church-Communion to all Christians which is the external and visible Unity of the Church when all Christians live in the same Communion like one Houshold and Family But there is a vast difference between the essential Unity of the Church and the external Exercise of it in a visible Communion among Christians between being one and living in Unity Union to Christ alone makes the Church one but the exercise of this Unity in a visible Communion is a Duty which results from our Unity and must be expressed in such ways as Christ has prescribed of which more anone and had Christ appointed an Universal Pastor communion with and subjection to this Universal Pastor had been necessary to the external Unity of Church-communion but yet had not been that which makes the Church One which is one before and without it the not distinguishing of which has occasioned great mistakes in this matter as will appear in the process of this Discourse 4. I observe farther that there is a wide difference between being a Supream Pastor and a Vicarious Head of the Church a Title which is given to the Bishop of Rome not without great injury to Christ our Head. Christ had he pleased might have appointed a Supream Pastor for the Government of his Church but as he is Head of the Church he cannot have a Vicar or Vicarious Head for though a Head signifies a Supream Governour too in Scripture phrase yet Christ is not meerly a Head of Government but of Union and though a governing Head may have a Vicar or Lieutenant yet a Head of Union cannot no more than a natural Head can for the Union between Christ and his Church is as immediate as between the Head and the Members between the Husband and the Wife which will admit of no intermediate Vicars The Church is called the Body and Spouse of Christ as I have already observed for mystical reasons because it is formed out of his broken and crucified Body as Eve was out of the Body of Adam upon which account we are said to be Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone that is the Church is redeemed and purchased by the Bloud of Christ and thus he is the Head of that Body which he himself has bought at the price of his Bloud We are united to Christ by Faith in him by being baptized in his Name by feeding on the Sacrament of his Body and Bloud the effect of this Union is that we receive from him the pardon of our sins and the influences of his Grace and Spirit Thus Christ is our Head and thus none but Christ can be the Head not so much as the Vicarious Head of the Church as I think I need not prove We are redeemed by no other but Christ and therefore the Church is his mystical Body only we are united to no other by Faith and Sacraments our Union to no other person can entitle us to the pardon of sin and the grace of the holy Spirit and therefore Christ alone is the Head of Union to his Church it is a Church and it is one Church not by its Union to the Supream Pastor on Earth if there were such an one but by its Union to Christ for the Unity of the Church consist in its Union to its Head and it is evident that the Church can have no other Head but Christ and therefore can have no other principle or center of Unity Now from hence it plainly follows that no Christian can separate from the Catholick Church in this sense of it as it signifies the whole company and family of Christians which is the true Notion of the Catholick Church while he continues a Christian for that is a contradiction to be a Christian and not to belong to the whole number of Christians that is to be a Christian and to be no Christian for if he be a Christian he belongs to the number of Christians and then he is a Member of the Catholick Church and consequently not a Separatist from it Nothing can separate us from the Catholick Church but what forfeits our Christianity either a final Apostacy or such Heresies as are equivalent to Apostacy Which shews how vainly the Church of Rome charges us with Schism and Separation from the Catholick Church because we disown the Authority of the Pope their pretended Head of
but kept them in the state of Catechumens a great while till they were instructed in the Principles of Christian Faith and had given proof of a holy and vertuous life which is to expect that men should become new creatures before they are born again that they should walk in the Spirit before they have received the Spirit in Baptism that they should bring forth Fruit before they are implanted into this Spiritual Vine Now if Men who have lived very wicked Lives may be admitted to Baptism upon their profession of Faith and Repentance that in this Laver of Regeneration they may wash away all their Sins and become new creatures and receive the Spirit of Grace and Sanctification to reform their Lives this shews that the very Constitution of the Church on Earth is such that there may be very bad Men in it unless all who are baptized should infallibly prove good Men For bad Men who profess the Faith of Christ and Repentance of their Sins have a right to Baptism where they must receive Grace to mortifie and subdue their Lusts and renew their Natures and yet if after Baptism they resist the Grace and Spirit of God they will continue bad Men still and this the Ministers of the Church can never know whether they will or not Nay the Gospel-Covenant admits the Children of Christian-Parents to Baptism and it is impossible to know how those who are baptized in their Infancy will prove when they are Men and yet these are all Members of the Church and the Mystical Body of Christ at least till they are cut off by the Censures of the Church and there is no inconvenience in this if the Governours of the Church were but so strict in their Discipline as to prevent all Publick Scandals for since the Church on Earth is the School and Nursery of Vertue where bad Men may be reformed and become Saints since Christ is that Spiritual Vine from whom alone we can receive the communications of a Divine Life it is very fitting that all believers should be received into the Church and incorporated into Christ's Body for it cannot be known whether they will prove good or bad Men fruitful or barren Branches till they partake of the sap and fatness of the Root till they receive such communications of Grace as my renew them into a Divine Nature And therefore to say that none but real Saints are Members of the Church on Earth is to make no difference between a School of Tryal Exercise and Discipline and the state of perfect and consummate Souls between a state of Warfare where the Victory is doubtful and the triumphant company of Conquerors between those who run in a Race and those who have won the Prize for such a difference there is between the state of the Church on Earth and in Heaven We cannot run this Spiritual Race unless we be in the Church for there is no Prize no Crown to run for out of it And therefore those who lose as well as those who win the Prize must be in the Church and Members of it They are all in the same Covenant that if they overcome they shall receive the Crown good men conquer in this World and triumph in Heaven bad men are conquered and they lose their Crown and this makes the separation and difference between the Church in Heaven and Earth in Heaven there are none but those who have conquered on Earth all who run in the same Race and are engaged in the same Warfare are mixt together in the same Body and Society those who conquer and those who are conquered are of the same Company on Earth but none but Conquerors are crowned in Heaven Thus I have shewed wherein the Unity of the Church consists that the whole Church both in Heaven and Earth are united to Christ in the same Covenant which makes it his One Mystical Body and it was necessary to lay the foundation here for without this it is impossible to understand what the Unity of the Church on Earth means most of the mistakes in this matter being plainly owing to that first and fundamental mistake about the true Notion of Catholick Unity as that includes the Unity of the Universal Church part of which is translated to Heaven and part still militant on Earth Those who have been aware of this that the Church in Heaven and Earth is but one Church have hence concluded that the Catholick Church is only the number of the Elect that none but truly good men who are renewed and sanctified by the holy Spirit are Members of Christ's mystical Body which makes the Church on Earth as invisible to us as the Church in Heaven Others when they talk of the Unity of the Church never think of the Church in Heaven and therefore advance such a Notion of Church-unity as excludes the Church in Heaven as if the Church on Earth were the whole Church of Christ or that the Church in Heaven and Earth were not one Church or that the Notion of Church-unity must not relate to the whole Church but only to one part of it Thus as I observed before the Romanists do who place the Unity of the Church in its Union and Subjection to the Bishop of Rome which can concern only that part of the Church which is on Earth for the Church in Heaven is not under his government Others considering that the Unity of the Church consists in the Union of all the parts and members of it to Christ have no regard at all to the Unity of the Church on Earth as that also is one Body and Communion and therefore it will be time now to apply this Notion of Church-unity to the Unity of the Church on Earth CHAP. II. Concerning the Vnity of the Catholick Church on Earth IF the whole Church be one to be sure every part of it must be one with the whole and therefore one with it self with that same kind of Unity which belongs to the whole So that the Essential Unity of the Church on Earth that which makes a Church and makes it one is that all true Churches are Members of the One mystical Body of Christ as being all united to him as to their Head by the same Covenant So that whatever makes a Church a true Church makes it a Member of the One Catholick Church or of the One Body of Christ. And here comes in what the Apostle makes essential to this One Body One Lord One Faith One Baptism 4 Eph. 5. which signifies what I said before being united to Christ in the same Covenant For Christ is the One Lord to whom we are united the One Faith is the condition of this Covenant and the One Baptism is the faederal Rite of it or the Sacrament of our Union to Christ. Where this is not there is no Church and where this is there is but one Church how many particular Churches or distinct Communions soever this Church is divided into From whence
A DISCOURSE Concerning the Nature Vnity and Communion OF THE Catholick Church Wherein most of the CONTROVERSIES Relating to the CHURCH Are briefly and plainly Stated PART I. By WILLIAM SHERLOCK D. D. Master of the Temple LONDON Printed for William Rogers at the Sun over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet 1688. A DISCOURSE Concerning the Nature Vnity and Communion OF THE Catholick Church The Introduction IN the Preface to the Vindication of some Protestant Principles of Church-Unity and Catholick Communion from the charge of Agreement with the Church of Rome I promised a Discourse about the Church and intended to have discharged that Obligation which has been very importunately demanded of me long before this and indeed had finished what I now publish several months ago I shall not trouble my Reader with the Reasons why I then laid it aside I hope The Preservative against Popery will satisfie him that I have not been idle in the mean time but the true and only reason why I have delayed to publish this Part which has been so long finished was because I intended to finish the whole before I published it which would have given more general satisfaction to my Readers But I have not leisure for that now and think it more advisable to publish a part than none at all especially since what I here publish is an entire Discourse concerning the Nature and Vnity of the Catholick Church It is sufficiently known that there is no Argument of greater consequence in our Disputes with the Church of Rome than the Vnity and Authority of the Catholick Church Nothing will serve them but to make the Church of Rome the Catholick Church and then no body is a Member of the Church Catholick who is not in Communion with the Church of Rome and since no body can be saved but in the Church all Hereticks and Schismaticks who are not in Communion with the Church of Rome must be damned and there is a sad end of us all Thus the Catholick Church is an Infallible Teacher of Faith for who dares say that the Catholick Church can fail or err in Fundamentals since Christ himself has promised that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against his Church and therefore the Church of Rome which is the Catholick Church and Principle of Catholick Vnity must be Infallible and no Christian ought to dispute any thing which she has determined in matters of Faith. The Bishop of Rome is the Head of this Catholick Church St. Peter's Successor and Christ's Vicar upon Earth and therefore he is the Supreme Governour of the Church from whom all other Bishops derive their Authority and to whom all Christian Princes and Emperours themselves are subject in Ordine ad Spiritualia which will go a great way to a Temporal Soveraignty and Vniversal Empire These pretences indeed have been sufficiently baffled by Protestant Divines ever since the beginning of the Reformation but we have to deal with men who have confidence enough to be baffled and not to own it to see all their Arguments confuted an hundred times over and to repeat them again with a good grace without replying to those Answers which have been so often given them or so much as taking notice that there ever had been any Answer made to them But after all that is said on one side and t'other I am very sensible there never will be an end of these Wranglings without setling the true Notion of the Catholick Church which though a great many good things have been said about it I think was never thoroughly done yet what my present Performance is I must leave other men to judge but if my Notion be right I am sure there is an end of all the vain and arrogant Pretences of the Church of Rome as will appear to any indifferent Reader who peruses this Discourse with Care and Judgment The foundation of all I have laid in an Inquiry into the true Notion of the Vnity of the Church Catholick which gives occasion to state the true Notion of the Church and most of those Controversies which depend on it I have here only considered what is meant by the Vnity of the Catholick Church as that signifies the whole Church of Christ both in Heaven and Earth and the whole Church of Christ on Earth What relates to the Nature and Vnity of particular Churches their Government Vnion and Combinations into one Catholick Communion must be reserved for a Second Part. ERRATA Page 5. line 3. for intent r. extent p. 5. l. 13. for for r. far p. 32. l. 15. for universal r. univocal CHAP. I. Concerning the Vnity of the whole Catholick Church in Heaven and Earth IT is acknowledged by all Christians that Christ has but One Church which is his One Body but then we must consider the intent of this One Church The Church on Earth indeed is but One but this One Church on Earth is not the One Church and One Body of Christ but only a very little part of it Christ has but One Church and One Body in all and therefore it must comprehend the whole Church from the beginning to the end of the World at least from the first planting of a Church by Christ and his Apostles till the last Judgment for they all belong to this One Church and this One Body of Christ so that for the greatest part of this One Church is already translated into Heaven and the Church on Earth is but a very little part of the whole for the Church in Heaven and the Church on Earth are but One Church and One Body Here we must lay the foundation if we would rightly understand what makes One Church for since this Unity comprehends the whole Church we cannot argue meerly from the Churches being One to infer any other kind of Unity but what makes the whole but what unites the whole Church in Heaven and Earth into One Body for that only is the true Unity of the Church because the whole Church in Earth and Heaven is the One Church And therefore to place the Unity of the Church in any thing which can concern only one part of the Church but not the whole as suppose that part only which is on Earth not that which is in Heaven is manifestly absurd because it does not give an account how the whole Church is One and yet the Oneness of the Church properly relates to the whole not to a part for a part be it never so much One can be but One part not the One Church Now hence we may learn wherein the Unity of the Church does not consist and wherein it does 1. Wherein the Unity of the Church does not consist As 1. The Unity of the Church does not consist in its being One organized Politick Body under the government of One visible Head on Earth for tho a visible Head on Earth might make the Church on Earth One yet it cannot unite the Church on Earth and the
Church in Heaven into One Body unless this visible Head on Earth be the Head of the invisible Church in Heaven too for if the Unity of the Church consists in being united under One Head that Head must be the Head of the whole Church or else the Church is not united in the Head if the Head which is the principle of Union be not the Head of the whole Now I suppose no Papist will say that the Bishop of Rome is the Head of the invisible as well as of the visible Church and then the Church is not one by being united under the Bishop of Rome tho there are some things which would make one suspect that the Church of Rome did believe the Pope to be the Head of the invisible as well as of the visible Church for if his Authority be confined to the Church on Earth one would wonder whence he should pretend to canozie Saints in Heaven or to release Souls out of Purgatory unless his being Christ's Vicar on Earth makes him his Vicar in Heaven and in Purgatory also but this by the way If they say that when they speake of the Unity of the Church they mean only the Unity of the Church on Earth and that the Pope is the visible Head of this Unity I answer 1. That they must grant then that they speak very improperly for the Church on Earth is not that One Church which is the One Body of Christ and therefore the Unity of the Church does not consist in the Headship of the Pope but they ought only to say that the Unity of the Church on Earth consists in its Union to the Pope 2. And therefore they must quit all their Arguments for the Pope's Headship taken from the Churches being One the One Body of Christ for the Church on Earth is not this One Body of Christ and therefore it does not follow that because Christ has but one Body therefore the Church on Earth must have one visible Head. 3. Nay they must confess that the formal and essential Unity of the Church on Earth does not consist in its Union to the Pope For the Church on Earth is One with the Church in Heaven they being both but One Church and therefore must have the same essential Unity for how they should be one by two sorts of Unity that is be one without the same formal Unity is very mysterious and near a kin to a contradiction And therefore since the Unity of the Church in Heaven does not consist in its Union to the Pope no more does the Unity of the Church on Earth the Unity being the same in both And thus all their Arguments from the Unity of the Church on Earth to prove an Universal Visible Head of the Church are lost too 2ly Nor does the Unity of the Church consist in joyning together in the external and visible Acts of Worship or in maintaining mutual intercourse and correspondence with each other these are Duties which result from Church-Unity when they are practicable as I shall shew more hereafter but the Unity of the Church cannot consist in them for the Church in Heaven and Earth are one without them and so may distant Churches on Earth be one Church without any such visible correspondence 3ly Nor can the Unity of the Church consist in such Articles of Faith as have not always been the Faith of the Christian Church For since the whole Church in all Ages is but One it can have but One Faith and that cannot be the One Faith which has not been the Faith of the whole Church And therefore it is ridiculous to talk of such a Power in the Church of every Age as to make or declare new Articles of Faith unless there be Authority to make a new Church too in every Age but then how the Church should change its Faith in every Age and yet continue one and the same Church is worth inquiry As far as any Church has altered the Faith of the Apostles and Primitive Christians it is become a new Church and a new Church I think is not the same with the old the Unity of the present Church considered as a Church does not consist only in its Unity with it self but with the Church also of former Ages for unless it be one with the Apostolick Churches it cannot be the One Church of Christ and therefore thô all the Christian World should at this Day unite in the Faith and Worship of the Council of Trent it would be as much divided from the One Church of Christ as it differs from the Faith and Worship of the Primitive Church I shall only observe here by the way what a contradiction the Worship of Saints and the Virgin Mary is to the belief of One Church For if the Church in Heaven and in Earth be but One Church then the most glorious Saints in Heaven not excepting the blessed Virgin herself are but Members of the same Body with us which makes it as absurd to Worship them in Heaven as it is for one Member of the same Body on Earth to Worship another for they are the same Body still and thô there is a great difference in honour between the Members of the same Body yet that relation that is between them will not admit of the Worship of any Member For it is no Act of Communion in the same Body for one Member to Worship another To pay Divine Honours to erect Temples and Altars to the greatest Saints advances them above the degree of fellow-Members and if they be not Fellow-Members of the same Body then the Church in Heaven and in Earth is not One Church From whence we may learn who they are who divide the Unity of the Church they who command the Worship of Saints and the Virgin or those who refuse it We believe the Church in Heaven and Earth to be the One Body of Christ and that the most glorious Saints are but Members of the same Body with us and therefore not the Objects of our Worship but of our Brotherly Love and Honour but those who Worship Saints destroy the Unity of Christ's Body by dividing the Church on Earth and the Church in Heaven for nothing is more contrary to the sense of Mankind than to Worship those of our own Communion And therefore the natural Interpretation of that Worship they pay to Saints is that they are not Members of the same Body with us but are as much above us as the Object of our Worship is and ought to be 2ly This Notion of Church-Unity that it must include the whole Church from the beginning of Christianity to the end of the World as well that part of it which is already transplanted into Heaven as that which still sojourns on Earth which is all but one Body may direct us wherein to place this Unity of the Church which to be sure can consist in nothing but what belongs to the whole Church any Notion of Unity which does
not explain how the whole Church is but One must be false because the Unity of the Church properly belongs to the whole and not to a part Now as this Unity respects the whole Church it is impossible there should be any other Head of Unity but Christ any other medium of Unity but the Gospel-Covenant nor any other kind of Unity but the Unity of one Spiritual Body Communion or Society that we are all united by the Gospel-Covenant in One Body to Christ the one and Onely Head of the Universal Church 1. The Unity of the Church must consist in its Union to some one Head. This is acknowledged by all Christians and therefore I need not prove it and it is as evident that none can be the Head of the Universal Church but only Christ and that for this plain reason because it is Union to Christ alone which makes the Christian Church The Church is the Church of Christ and therefore he alone is the Head of his own Church This the Romanists themselves grant that Christ alone is the Head of his Church and that the Bishop of Rome is only a vicarious Head Christ's Vicar on Earth But when we speak of the Unity of the Universal Church part of which is translated to Heaven and part still militant on Earth it must be united in Christ alone for as he needs no Vicar in Heaven where he himself is immediately present so there can be no Vicar on Earth as a common Head of Unity for the Church on Earth and in Heaven and therefore the Unity of the whole Church cannot consist in its Union to such a vicarious Head as I observed before and then there can be no other Head of Unity but only Christ. 2. It is as evident also that the only Medium or Bond of this Union between Christ and the Church is the Gospel-Covenant for that is the Foundation of our relation to Christ He is our Head and Husband our Lord and Saviour we his Subjects Disciples Spouse and Body by Covenant And therefore the Sacraments of the New Covenant Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the Federal Rites of our Union to Christ Baptism is our Regeneration or New Birth whereby we are incorporated into his Body in the Lord's Supper we spiritually eat his Flesh and drink his Blood which signifies and effects as intimate an Union to him as there is of our Bodies and the Food we eat and this proves that there can be no other Head of Unity but only Christ because the Gospel Covenant unites us to none else which I take to be St. Paul's meaning when he reproves the Corinthian Schism 1 Cor. 1. 12 13. Now this I say that every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ. Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the name of Paul That is that there is no other Head to whom we can be united but only Christ who purchased the Gospel-Covenant by his Death and into whose Name we are baptized His alone we are to whom we are united by Baptism we are in Covenant with none else and therefore belong to him alone if they might have owned any other Head besides him who died for them and into whose Name they were baptized if Christ had made Peter the vicarious Head of Unity as the Romanists pretend St. Paul's Argument against these Sidings and Factions that one said he was of Paul another of Apollos a third of Cephas or Peter had not been good for at least those who were united to Peter were in the right but St. Paul knew no other Head of Unity but only Christ because the Gospel-Covenant which is the only Medium and Bond of Union unites us to no other Head and therefore those who said they were of Peter or belonged to him as their Head and Center of Unity which is the case of the Church of Rome at this day were as great Schismaticks as those who said they were of Paul. Now this Covenant extends to the whole Church and therefore unites the whole Church to Christ. For those who are translated into Heaven are still united to Christ by the same Covenant with the Church on Earth There are several Duties indeed of this Covenant which the Saints in Heaven are exempted from because their state and condition there is above them Their Faith and Hope is turned into Sight and Enjoyment their Spiritual Warfare is accomplished for there is no Devil nor Flesh nor World to tempt them the Mystical Supper of our Lord is celebrated by them not in external Symbols and Figures but in a more divine manner in the immediate presence of the Lamb but thô the Duties of the Covenant change with their state and condition of life yet the Covenant is the same still by this Covenant it is that they are in Heaven and still expect the completion of their happiness in the Resurrection of their Bodies immortal and glorious and by the same Covenant it is that we hope when our Warfare is accomplished also to get to Heaven and to rise together with them at the sound of the last Trumpet And therefore the whole Church in Heaven and Earth is One by being united to the same Head by the same Covenant 3. The Unity then of the Universal Church can consist in nothing but this that the whole Church both in Heaven and Earth is united in One Body to Christ. For since there is no other Head of Unity for the Church but Christ the formal reason of this Unity must consist in the Union of the whole Church to Christ which makes the Universal Church the One Body of Christ and this is the Unity of the Church For I think it is no less than a demonstration that the Unity of the Universal Church which is part in Heaven and part on Earth cannot be the Unity of an organized Body which must consist in a regular Subordination of different Ranks and Degrees of men as the Church on Earth does For the Church on Earth and in Heaven which is the One Church of Christ is no such one common governed Society and therefore the Unity of the Church cannot consist in the Unity of one External Government But how then is the whole Church but one Body Truly I know no other way but that they are all united to Christ in the same Covenant and all who are thus united to him Christ accounts his One Body Thus Christ as bearing his Church is compared to a Vine all whose Branches we know are united only in the Stock or Root 15 John 1. and to an Olive-Tree 11 Rom. 17. and to a Sheepfold which consists of single and individual Sheep which are one Fold only because they are under one Shepherd 10 John 16. It is true indeed the Church is called also the Body and the Spouse of Christ but as that relates to the Universal Church it does not
made to the Church do not belong to the Bishops of the Church as that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it which certainly proves that the Church shall never totally fail but does not prove that the Bishops or any Bishop of the Church shall be Infallible For the Bishops are not the Church there are distinct Promises to the Church and to the Pastors and Ministers of it and they ought to be kept distinct which will put an end to a great many Controversies between us and the Church of Rome Thus if St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy 1 Tim. 3. 15. calls the Church the Pillar and Ground of Truth whatever that signifies it belongs to the Church or to the company of the Faithful not meerly to the Pastors and Bishops of it and therefore the Infallibility of the Pope or General Council can never be proved from it though the Pillar and Ground of Truth should signifie Infallibility Thus whatever Authority Popes or General Councils may challenge in matters of Faith yet if they decree any thing contrary to the common Faith of Christians their Decrees are not the Faith of the Church but the Faith of Popes and General Councils who are not the Church though they are the Governours of it and yet under this venerable Name of the Catholick Church every packt Conventicle challenges an indisputable Authority to its Decrees 2. Nay as Bishops are not the Catholick Church so neither are they the Representatives of the Catholick Church much less is any one Bishop the whole Catholick Church virtual The Office of a Bishop is not to represent but to govern the Church and therefore Bishops are not the Churches Representatives by Institution no more than the King is the Representative of his Kingdom How then do they come to be the Churches Representatives Did all the Christians in the World who are the Catholick Church ever intrust them with this Power Did they ever resign up their Faith into the hands of their Bishops This never was done and yet no man has a Representative but by his own consent and if it could be done Bishops then must sit in Council not only as Bishops but as Lay Representatives if two such different capacities are not inconsistent and yet Bishops have challenged this Authority only as Bishops and excluded the Laity nay Presbyters themselves from any Votes and therefore such Councils of Bishops who acted only as Bishops could not be the Representatives of the Catholick Church In matters of Discipline and Government Bishops act not as Representatives but Governours of the Church by that Authority which they have received not from the People but from Christ and their Decrees and Constitutions about such matters have a sacred and venerable Authority when they do not contradict any divine Laws and Institutions But Bishops have no Authority over the Faith of the Church nay the Church herself has no Authority to alter the Faith and therefore can give no such Authority to her Bishops however if she could she never did and therefore no Council of Bishops can be the Church-representative in defining Articles of Faith. As Bishops are the Supreme Pastors and Teachers of the Church they may declare what the Faith is and agree what Doctrines shall be taught in their Churches and consent to censure and excommunicate those who will not profess to believe as they do but if they make any Decrees contrary to the common Faith of Christians no Christian is bound to believe them nor is ever the worse for their Anathema's and Excommunications and it is a ridiculous thing for them to call this the Faith of the Catholick Church which is only the Decrees and Definitions of some Bishops in it who are far enough from being the Catholick Church And this I think sufficiently proves that the most general Council that ever was may err and yet the Catholick Church not err for Bishops are not the Catholick Church nor so much as the Representatives of it and therefore could it be proved that the Catholick Church could not err this would not prove the Infallibility of a General Council which is not the Church for the Faith may still be preserved pure and uncorrupt among private Christians even when General Councils err 3ly I observe farther that the whole Catholick Church on Earth is not one organized Body for it is only the whole company of the faithful and no Ecclesiastical Ministers or Pastors belong to the definition of it and yet unless some Oecumenical Pastor be essential to the Notion and Definition of the Catholick Church it cannot be one organized Body The Catholick Church indeed is organized by parts that is the whole Company of the Faithful are distributed into particular Bodies under the government of particular Bishops which makes a particular Church and is essential to the definition of it of which more presently but the Catholick Church itself is the whole Company of the Faithful who are united in one Body to Christ only who is the only Head of his Church Now hence it evidently follows 1. That no organized Church can be the Catholick Church nor the Bishop of it an Oecumenical Pastor because the Catholick Church is not organiz'd but every organized Church is a particular Church Which shews how vain the Pretences of the Church of Rome are to be the Catholick Church and of the Pope of Rome to be the Universal Bishop 2. It as evidently follows that there neither is nor can be any visible Tribunal of the Catholick Church which shall be the Center of Catholick Communion and have Authority over all particular Churches in Matters of Faith and Worship and Government For the Catholick Church being no organized Body it has no Authority and can have no Tribunal 1. It has no Authority For the whole Company of the Faithful which is the true Notion of the Catholick Church are the Mystical Body of Christ and in subjection to him as a Wife is subject to her Husband The Catholick Church is made up of particular and individual Christians who are all immediately united to Christ their Head and are made one in him and though Bishops as the Ministers of Christ have received Authority from him to govern the Church which they exercise in particular Churches over which they are placed yet as Members of the Catholick Church they are not considered as Bishops but as private Christians for it is not their Authority in the Church but their Union to Christ which makes them Members of his Body and thus they are united to Christ no otherwise then all other private Christians are Now if the Chatholick Church be only a company of private and particular Christians united immediately to Christ and made one Body in him the Catholick Church has no more Authority than particular Christians have which is none at all The Catholick Church is united to Christ by a belief of his Gospel obedience to his Laws and a participation of his
Spirit which is a state of perfect and absolute subjection to him and therefore can have no Authority to alter the Faith to make a new Creed or a new Gospel which would be to have power over Christ not to be subject to him To be sure unless we will grant this Authority to every particular Christian the Catholick Church cannot have it which is only the whole multitude of particular Christians who are united singly to Christ and made One Body in him and therefore are not such a Body as can make a new Faith and new Laws but are made One Body by embracing the same Faith which they must receive from Christ but have no Authority to make because their receiving this Faith unites them into One Body in Christ and they continue One Body in Christ no longer than they profess this Faith and therefore never can have Authority to change it where a multitude of Men unite themselves into One Body or Civil Society to form and model their own Government and to make Laws for themselves there the whole Authority is in the Community and they may make and alter and repeal Laws as they please but where a Society is formed by a voluntary submission of single and particular Persons to known and stated Laws and no man can be of this Society without submission to these Laws nor continue longer in it than he does submit to them it is a contradiction to say that such a Body of Men have any power over the Laws because it is only their submission to such Laws which make them such a Society The whole Society in this case have no more Authority than a single Man for they are not a Society for Government but for Obedience and Subjection Christ indeed has placed an Authority in his Church for the Instruction and Government of it but an Authority in the Church and the Authority of the Church are two very different things The first signifies the Authority of Christ who is the Head the second is the Authority of the Body which is the Church the Head has Authority over his Church and may appoint what Ministers he pleases to exercise this Authority but the Church has no Authority at all no more than the Body has which is subject to the Head. This may be thought a very nice distinction between the Authority in the Church and the Authority of the Church but it is as useful as it is true For thô the Authority of Christ must be much more sacred and venerable than the Authority of the Church whatever Authority it were supposed to have yet the name of the Catholick Church is thought much more venerable than the name of Bishops thô they are the Ministers of Christ and therefore those who would impose upon the Faith of Christians talk of nothing less than the Authority of the Catholick Church which sounds very big and frights people into a submission While they pretend only the Authority of Christ's Ministers private Christians make bold to examine their Commission and how far their Authority reaches â—d whether they do not prevaricate in the exercise of this Authority as it is possible Ministers may do but the name of the Catholick Church strikes all dead for who dare oppose the Decrees of the Catholick Church which is to condemn the whole Catholick Church of Error or Heresie who dares separate from the Catholick Church which must be an unpardonable Schism and a state of Damnation since it is universally agreed that there is no salvation to be had out of the Catholick Church and thus when a packt Conventicle of Schismaticks and Hereticks usurp to themselves the name of the Catholick Church they impose upon Christians under so venerable a disguise and enslave them to their own Dictates but now all these Amusements vanish when we remember that the Catholick Church has no Authority that whatever the Authority of Bishops in or out of Council be it is not the Authority of the Church but the Authority of Christ and it is not his Authority neither when they exceed their Commission and teach such things as he has given them no Authority to teach and therefore we may reject such a Council of Bishops without condemning the Catholick Church and renounce their communion without separating from the Catholick Church And this very consideration that the Catholick Church has no Authority and therefore cannot innovate in Matters of Faith nor alter the Laws and Institutions of our Saviour is little less than a demonstration that there is no Authority in the Church neither to do it For the Bishops and Pastors of the Church as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ's Ministers so they are themselves Members of the Catholick Church now as they are Members of the Catholick Church they must receive nothing but what Christ has taught for the Church is founded on the Faith of Christ and has no Authority to alter it Now is it imaginable that Bishops as private Christians and Members of the Catholick Church are obliged to believe nothing but what Christ has taught and yet as Bishops or Christ's Ministers have Authority to teach what Christ has not taught that is that as Bishops they have Authority to teach that which as private Christians they themselves must not believe if they will continue Members of the Catholick Church nay can we imagine that Christ has given Authority to his Ministers to teach that which the Catholick Church must not receive for if the Catholick Church has no Authority it must no more receive new Doctrines than make them I know indeed no body will pretend to an Authority of making new Articles of Faith but only of declaring what the Faith is but this is the very same thing if this Authority of Declaring be such as to oblige all people to believe such Declarations without any Dispute or Examination for then they may make a new Faith under a pretence of declaring the old as we see the Council of Trent has done which has declared such Doctrines as the Christian Church was a stranger to before and there is no difference that I know of between declaring and making an Article of Faith which was neither declared nor made before And therefore Christian Bishops and Pastors have no such Authority either to make or to declare Articles of Faith as can oblige all Christians to believe it meerly upon their Definitions and Declarations It is their Office to Preach the Gospel to convince and perswade gainsayers by Scripture and Reason which obliges all Christians diligently and impartially to attend to their Instructions but yet leaves every man at liberty to judge whether they Preach the Gospel of Christ or their own Inventions 2ly That the Catholick Church has no Authority is evident from this also that it has no visible Tribunal wherein to exercise this Authority For the Catholick Church is nothing else but the whole company or multitude of individual Christians who are all singly united to Christ
and made One Body in him and considered as the Catholick Church are not the One Body of Christ nor can be under any other notion So that had the Catholick Church any Authority it could be exercised only by the whole multitude of Christians for nothing else is the Catholick Church and this is as impossible as it is for the whole multitude of Christians to meet together in one place But cannot the Catholick Church meet and act by its Representatives as Kingdoms and Common-wealths do I answer I have already proved that all the Bishops of the Church much less any one Bishop cannot represent the Catholick Church for as Bishops they are not the Church but the Governours of it under Christ and no man ever yet thought of any other Representatives for the Church and it is evident de facto that there are no other Representatives for the whole multitude of Christians never did make choice of any such Representatives and no man can be represented but by his own consent and if there could be any such Representatives made by the unanimous Vote of all the Christians in the World which I think is morally impossible yet then the highest and most soveraign Authority in the Church would be derived from the People which I suppose the Church of Rome will not very well like Nay indeed it is absolutely impossible that the Catholick Church should be represented for the Catholick Church is the whole multitude of Christians considered as the whole company or multitude now a multitude as a multitude can never be represented by any thing but itself there can be no formal nor virtual multitude but the whole entire number The Catholick Church signifies all Christians and if you leave out any of the number it is not all and therefore is not the Catholick Church Now if the Catholick Church have any Authority it must have it as it is the Catholick Church that is as it is the whole company of Christians for particular Christians have no such Authority as all men grant and therefore that which destroys the Catholick Church must destroy its Authority too and any thing less than all makes it cease to be Catholick and therefore the Catholick Church cannot be represented by a few of the whole number because a few are not all and therefore not the Catholick Church It is a different case indeed when every particular man has an original right and share in the Power and the whole power is not formally seated in the whole Body for then it may by common consent be contracted into one or more hands by particular mens giving up their share in the Government as some fancy that civil Societies were first formed but where the power is formally seated in the whole and not in particular Members as the Authority of the Catholick Church must be if it be the Authority of the Church considered as Catholick there it is evident the Authority must continue in the whole and can by no consent be put into a few hands and then it is impossible that the Catholick Church can have any Representatives nor consequently any visible Tribunal And yet that Dispute between the Church of Rome and some Protestant Divines which is managed with so much warmth and zeal about the perpetual visibility of the Church issues in this controversie about a visible Tribunal of the Catholick Church for nothing else will do the Protestant Cause any hurt or the Popish Cause any good We do say and we may safely say that there always has been and ever will be a Visible Church for while there are any men who visibly profess Christianity there will be a visible Church And what then what then Why then you must hear the Church then you must submit to the Authority of the Church then you must believe as the Church believes and receive your Faith from the Decrees and Definitions of the Church But pray why so Has every visible Church this Authority No but the Catholick Church has Suppose that but how shall I speak with the Catholick Church which is dispersed over all the World and is nothing else but the whole number of Christians all the World over Now it seems impossible for me to speak with all the Christians in the World and to know what their Belief is in all matters of controversie and though the Catholick Church is visible and part of it is to be seen in England and part in Holland and part in France c. yet no man can see it all together nor speak with all the Christians in the World together and therefore tho' the Catholick Church be visible it cannot determine any one controversie unless there be some visible Catholick Tribunal from which we must receive the Faith of the whole Church This the Papists assert and make the Church of Rome to be that visible Catholick Church or visible Tribunal of the Catholick Church to which all Christians are bound to submit Now besides what I have already proved that the Catholick Church neither has nor can have any such visible Tribunal suppose such a thing might be yet this Dispute about the visibility of the Church is nothing to the purpose for though the Church be visible it does not hence follow that the Catholick Church has such a visible Tribunal to which all Christians must submit and if the visibility of the Church does not prove one Supream Catholick Tribunal what do the Papists get by the Churches visibility or what do the Protestants lose by it The Church of Rome is a visible Church and so is the Church of England and if meer visibility give this Authority to a Church the Church of England has as good Authority as the Church of Rome because it is as visible a Church 4. In the next place I observe that the essential Unity of the Catholick Church is not an external and visible Union of an organized Body because the Catholick Church it self is not an organized Body There is and can be but one Catholick Church because the whole company of Christians is this Catholick Church but then the essential Unity of the Catholick Church does not consist in an external and visible Union of all Christians which is the Unity of civil Societies of Kingdoms and Common-wealths and other inferiour Corporations which are united under one visible Government which knits and tyes them together as Nerves and Sinews do the Members of the natural Body but though there be an external and visible Union in and between particular Churches of which more presently yet the Unity of the Catholick Church consists only in the Union of all Christians to Christ which makes them his one mystical Body This is a very material point in opposition to the Pretensions of the Bishop of Rome who will needs be the Supream and Oecumenical Pastor and Head of Unity to the Catholick Church and though the Christian World never owned him so as has been abundantly proved by